Back with the living

For today's life drawing Alexis came back. I was afraid... very afraid. Mainly because i've never been able to draw her before. But i stayed confident... meaning without any expectations. I kept it simple, kept it light. Focused on the drawing, and watercolor layed at lighting speed. Otherwise I mingle with details and hit my head with endless conundrums. Unexpectedly, before my eyes, she became a muse.

Drawing the deads

I found a new activity that i'll try to do at least twice a month. Body Worlds exposition is currently available in Singapore,  from October to March 2010. This is my chance to make some anatomy studies, the way old masters did. Looking at the real stuff. I was a bit uncomfortable when i was thinking about it, having real dead person in front of you can only remind you your own fate. But the opportunity is too great to miss. One day i'll be dead anyway, there is no point hiding from this fact. I took my aquabee sketchbook 11 by 14, 3 waterbrush, one with a diluted ink, some pencils. When i got there, first thing I realized, It's actually not gross at all. The bodies look like sculptures, with a meat texture. Unimpressed I started sketching. They starred at me starring at them, whispering... "One day... it'll be you".

In Darkness with Lee Jia Ling

An interesting session we had yesterday, we turned off all the lights, and kept a small spot on the model. The entire room was plunged in darkness, it was a bit hard to see the paper, pencil mark & washes. But being able to observe the light on the volume was priceless. It was effortless, I was even able to outline them. It's usually difficult to interpret the range of values on a model's body and then simplify it in your mind  before painting it. I am willing to try this again using another spot of light, meaning having 1 spot on each side. It was the second time with Lee Jia. I used my butcher's tray, with Blue Cerulean , Red Cadmium & Raw Sienna or Cadmium yellow light. Paper is Super Deluxe Aquabee 93 lb.

Peer Metze

Ah Foong in 2 Washes

Life Drawing again, I was getting bored few weeks ago during these sessions, caught up in my way of doing things, repeating the same mistakes over and over. So this time i decided to apply what I tried last week, complete a painting with only 2 washes, and dark accent in the end. It went ok... I did a lot of mistakes, often confused in what should be 1st wash and must be 2nd wash. These poses were 25 minutes, so I had very little time to paint because of the drying time. I used a butcher tray (I'm really starting to love this), with a limited palette of Indigo, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna. And yes she kept smiling.

Long time, no see

I havent paint in a while, I wanted to, but I'm very good at finding cheap excuses to not too. Yesterday I was in VivoCity at Page One, and I got a book i had in my amazon wishlist for a while. Trevor Chamberlain, A personal View, Light and Atmosphere in Watercolour. I sat in my studio and started reading it at night, then some more in the morning, at 1:oopm the urge to paint was unbearable. Seduce by such simplicity i've found my challenge. To paint outdoor, using only 2 washes + descriptives brushstrokes. And to focus only on lights & Shadows. This is the result after 45min. which most was spent thinking hard about thoses 2 washes before actually doing it. In my mind Mr. Chamberlain sat next to me, explaining how he would tackle down my subject. I couldnt see where i was going only when start putting the shadows. My fav part is the lower right. I think I really capture the plumbing sunlight. I use a butcher tray palette, so colors ran and mix freely. Cobalt Blue, Raw & Burnt Sienna, Cadmium yellow. The paper is Saunders Waterford Series 140lb Rough.

Ah Foong