More Nudes in Ink

More figure drawing from '96. Even with the false start on the arm, I was pleased with the composition of this one. As you can see it's testing the limits of my new scanner.

Nude with Dog Collar

Another figure drawing from 1996 or there-abouts. I was drawing directly in ink using an old steel pen nib that I'd uncovered in an old trunk I'd inherited from my grandmother. The nibs were pretty inflexible, so a varied line was few and far between. Drawing directly in ink taught me to (try to) commit to a line, an exercise I highly recommend.

Figure Drawing in Ink, '96

Feeling guilty about my poor post rate lately, I dug through the archives for something new. Here's a figure drawing from 1996, Diana Blackwell, model. I was sitting in on Frank Stack's figure drawing class twice a week at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Diana was one of the best models I've ever drawn. She was imaginative, engaged, and seemed to treat modeling as a performance.

More Bridgman

More pen and ink exercises with Bridgman.

A Bridge Too Far

My Sister gave me some Dover editions of Bridgman's Life Drawing sometime in the '70's and I've referred to them ever since. I heard Gil Kane speak at the '94 San Diego Comicon and he mentioned how Frazetta had copied all of Bridman's Life Drawing in one night. Occasionally I get the urge to do the same, then fizzle after 4 or 5 pages. Here I'm more concerned with goofing with my new mix of ink than anything else.
I've always loved Bridgmans drawings. Note the "sack of oatmeal" quality around the rib cage. He was one of the biggest influences on early 20th century illustrators, and it's clear when you look at the dramatic contraposto poses of cartoonists like Alex Raymond and Hal Foster. Heck, even newsters like Jim Lee have put in time sweeping up Bridgmans peanut shells. I have no idea what I meant by that.

Frank Figure

Last Saturday at the open figure drawing session, M.U. campus Columbia Mo. The legendary Frank Stack a.k.a. Foolbert Sturgeon, still runs this quiet session every Sat. from 10-1:00. I used to come to these often when I lived there, but it'd been 15 years or so, and naturally Frank didn't remember me. Not much had changed, though. Frank knows something about everything, and talks constantly throughout the session.
While I drew the above, he set down his materials, pulled a chair up to my left and talked non-stop about newspaper strips from the 30's to Nixon to Texas Art Museums to health care issues to politics poisoning social interaction. It was a treat and I'm not being sarcastic for once!It's the number one reason for living in Columbia,and I've resolved to drive down every other month or so. (sorry for the murky photo)

Figure, Ink 'n Brush

Last Thursday night's figure drawing session. Having been frustrated with the performance of my pen the week before, I took a brush with me this time. Size and the lack of time made a friend out of dry-brush.
If I get an influx of talent one of these days, I'll finish it.

Figure, Pen n' Ink

Week before last, at the Thursday night figure drawing session. I decided to try my luck at pen and ink. I'd recently trained a Hunt 102 to be fairly cooperative at least on my sketch book, which has a smoother finish. The bristol I took to the drawing session had a vellum finish and probably a little more tooth than my pen nib was comfortable with. For the life of me I couldn't get light, delicate strokes- hence the detail in the hair where I could afford to be heavy-handed. Oh, well, worse things happen at sea .....

Close-up

Same pose and angle as below, from last weeks drawing session. The model had a wonderful corkscrew mane, so I abandoned the drawing below and I decided to concentrate on hair. I tend to draw a bit more academic or conservatively at these sessions- not as loose as I'd like. I have to say that returning to figure drawing sessions has really cleared the cob-webs for me. A big thank you to Dave for making me go!

Figure Drawing

Last Thurs. figure drawing session. Another extended pose done in hard charcoal and china marker. I think I'm bringing ink with me tomorrow night.

Different Angle

Same pose as below, other side of the room, same crappy camera. The model was squeezing sponges to keep her hands from exploding. Models deserve a special place in heaven! These sessions are designed for painters and portrait artists as they use the same pose over 2 weeks or so. The Artists Guild also offers another session of multiple poses, gestures, etc, aimed at us "drawers", but the personalities of the people who run that session bring an uneasy uptightness to the evening. For some reason, they take offense if someone leaves early. Who needs all those negative vibes bringin' you down when you're doin' art 'n stuff.

A Long Pose

A friend of mine recently bullied me into returning to evening drawing sessions sponsored by the St. Louis Artists Guild, and I'm glad he did! (Although it does cut into my drinking and TV watching). Now if he'd only bully me into buying a decent camera, I'd post better photos. I think it's china marker and a hard charcoal stick, 2 or 3 weeks ago.

Committing to a line with Frank & Doug

Between 1995 and 1997, 2 teachers- Frank Stack and Doug Compton completely changed the way I draw. Thank God! Above is an example of the kind of obsessive scribbling I was doing as of '95 ( a friend's sheep and Frank Stack). I thought I was Feliks Topolski.

Underground Comix legend Frank Stack was teaching at the University of Missouri where I worked at the time, and he allowed me to sit in on his figure drawing classes. He would patiently talk to me about the importance of committing to a line while drawing, resisting the urge to sculpt a figure out of thousands of tiny, searching scratches. If one continues to draw using a series of timid 1/8th inch long tic-marks, the result is a fuzzy image that's probably not proportioned very well. I was fussing, not really drawing.

I hardly paid any attention to him. I was clearly a genius and besides, other students thought I "drawed real good!"

By the time I hit the Joe Kubert school in '96, I realized something had to give. I look at most of my figure drawing during that time makes me wonder what kind of rash the models had that coated them with such moss made up of tiny line segments.

By the summer of '96, I was committed to cleaning up my act. I would still search for a good line with pencil, but at least they were honest lines. I was amazed at the improvement. In 2 months, my sketchbooks looked like they belonged to another person.

In '97, I began the animation program at the Kubert School. Our instructor for in-betweening was Doug Compton. He was my living nightmare. He'd worked for Warner Bros., Ralph Bakshi, a lot of big names. He was storyboarding Pinky and the Brain at the time. He was a perfectionist and he wanted us to be too! Imagine! I spent most of my time in his class re-doing assignments and choking back tears of frustration.

A cruel caricature taken during class.

I noticed, however, that when he wasn't eviscerating someone, he was drawing. He never stopped drawing. When I had the chance, I'd pass his desk and watch in amazement as he'd lay down the richest, juiciest lines- fast. It was like the drawing was finished in his head and he was hurrying to catch up. No hesitation. When he drew, he took no prisoners! I learned from Doug what Frank was trying to teach me years earlier! Commit to a line- everyone searches for the right form and shape, but search with a strong, bold line and move on!

Two scans from my animation portfolio in '98 that got me work. Please buy Frank Stack's books available from Fantagraphics Publishers ( I think ) and visit Doug Compton at http://www.karmatoons.com/. Whenever I draw, they're both rattling around in my head!

Academic

An unusual one for me. I'm more of a slog-with-the-point-of-the-pencil-till-you-get-it-right type of guy. Shoot straight and take the hits with the misses. Mind you, that's a drawing philosophy, not an endorsement for any kind of personal responsibility. That's really more my wife's type of thing. She also has lovely hands, and the above is how one of her's looked around the turn of the millennium.

I must have been inspired at the time by a documentary or magazine article on how real artists draw.