Jason Divad

Just a quick note, as this poor blog has been neglected again. I've been having a great summer so far, doing lots of teaching and drawing and painting. I also have big plans for the end of summer that I am looking forward to. I did finish the painting of Jason Divad, and last night also decided to do a sketch of him juggling knives. Fun stuff!

This Friday, I will have some other new works on display at Hilliard Gallery in the KC Crossroads Arts District. Stop by and take a peek: 3 drawings, 1 painting.

Finished Burlesque Painting, Start of a Fire Painting

Finished this 24" x 18" painting of the lovely Eartha Delights, and then moved on to the painting below of the amazing Jason Divad spinning fire. I am not sure why I decided to torture myself with the bricks in the background, but I think it adds to the story or at least should look cool once I straighten it all up.

I also have another big one going at the studio, and I'm wondering what I should share when. Or if I should share it? Maybe it should all be one big surprise next year...

Working from Life

My 'regular' paintings and drawings, ie: the ones I typically send to the galleries and put up on my website, are usually done from photographs out of financial necessity and time constraints. However, I regularly work from life, which really helps and improves my work from photographs. When I paint or draw from life, I am really engaged in looking at my subject, and learning about their shape, proportions, form, musculature, etc. It is at once more challenging and easier, since all the information is right there in front of me, untranslated. This is more difficult because I have to organize the information on my own, and there are the issues of the model's movement (even if just breathing!) and binocular vision and my own movement to contend with. But I never run in to the problem of fighting with the color or value in front of me, like I sometimes do when working from photography.

The model in the drawing above was a delight to work with. She chose a very dynamic and interesting pose, and she smiled the whole evening! It's nice to work with a model who seems to enjoy herself. The model in the portrait painting was not as pouty as I made her... I haven't painted a portrait from life in some time, so I'm a little rusty. I will get one more chance with this portrait this week.

I absolutely treasure my time drawing and painting from live models. There's something extremely rewarding about it, even when the resultant work isn't great.

Figure Drawing Demo on YouTube

New Burlesque Painting In Progress

I am super excited about this new painting. This is just the first layer on a 24" x 18" panel.

Coy - Finished

24" x 18"

Trying to think of a good title. This is a portrait of Crazy Boy Coy, but he isn't looking too crazy in this so I hope to come up with something that better matches the mood here.

Coy - Getting Closer

Late Spring and Summer Adult Classes

Figure Drawing From Life

Location: Red Door Studios in Downtown KCK
738 Armstrong, Suite 200, Kansas City, KS 66101

May 15, 22, 29, June 5, 12, 19 - 12:30 - 3:30 pm
6 - 3 hour sessions
$220 includes all sessions and model fee

In this class, we will cover several different approaches to figure drawing, including gesture drawing and learning various ways to judge and measure proportion. Everything from properly setting up an easel to creating a pleasing and accurate contour will be covered. Anatomy, shading, and composition will also be explored. This is the perfect class for beginners with little to no experience as well as for artists looking to add to their knowledge.

Please email Lacey to sign-up for this class in advance. Students must register and pay in full by May 10th to reserve their spot. All students will also be given a $5 discount on Open Figure Session Attendance for the duration of the 6 weeks.

Realistic Oil Painting

Location: Red Door Studios in Downtown KCK
738 Armstrong, Suite 200, Kansas City, KS 66101

May 16, 23, 30, June 6, 13, 20 - 3:00 to 6:00 pm
6 - 3 hour sessions
$250 includes all materials!

Treat yourself to an oil painting class! Lacey Lewis will present various oil painting techniques and lead you step-by-step through the process of painting realistically. We will discuss color theory, sound/archival painting methods, and composition along the way.

Class will meet every Sunday from 3-6pm beginning May 16th. Materials will be provided for you, but please bring an easel if you have one. (Even a table easel will work!) You must sign-up and pay by Sunday, May 9th to reserve your spot.

A Typical Day for an Artist

Perhaps every now and then I will outline a "typical" day for me. I use quotes there, because practically every day is different depending on what I need to get done, and what lessons, classes, meetings and family schedules I'm weaving other work around. Here's what I did yesterday:

Wednesday:
7am- Wake up after 6 hours of sleep (painted late the night before.) Have breakfast, get the kiddo off to school by 8:20.
9am- Errands: Gas station, 2 different banks, post office.
10am- Head out to private painting lesson.
12pm- Arrive back home after lesson. Get subs with the husband, go to the grocery store.
1pm- Start painting! Work on grants on the computer intermittently during breaks. Receive paperwork from fellow artist.
3:30pm- Very tired, take a nap.
5pm- Respond to email, make lists of tasks to accomplish over the next few days.
6pm- Go to the park and run 2.5 miles. Stretch, little bit of strength training, then dinner.
7pm- Start painting again, while watching Hamlet on PBS. (It was awesome, David Tennant and Patrick Stewart in one show!) Stop once an hour to do some kind of chore: dishes, brushing teeth, laundry check, etc.
11:30- Pack up and clean up after painting, feed the animals and try to get to bed by 12:30!

Today: I should paint at least 4 hours, meeting with a fellow artist to discuss workshop possibilities, teleconference regarding grants in the evening, and I posted a new class on Facebook! Isn't it exciting?

Coy Progress

Lucky DeLuxe, A Few Life Drawings

I believe this painting of the *amazing* Lucky DeLuxe is finished. 30" x 24" oil on canvas... Thank you Lucky for posing for me!

Here are some life sketches from the last couple weeks:

This one was not a full 3 hours. I started with a little sketch in colored pencil before I moved on to this one... wish I would have spent more time drawing this model but perhaps I can bring him back in the near future.

Standing poses are really tough on the model! This drawing is a little larger than I usually go when I only have 3 hours, but I still got a decent amount of info down.

This drawing of a back was done during my Saturday figure drawing class... we are in our final 2 weeks now!

Finally, here is a portrait drawing done from life. This gentleman was a great model and kept very still and was very patient... a pleasure to draw.

The funny thing about this post is that I am known for my focus on women, but here I am with drawings of four men! I can't express how much I love drawing from life, and I am so glad that I get to do it at least once a week.

Summer Classes for Kids and Teens

I have created a schedule for summer classes for kids and teens at Red Door Studios in downtown KCK. You can sign up for classes by following this link, or send me an email/give me a call! (Contact info is at the link.) Here are the classes I have listed thus far:

Drawing Session 1 – Ages 8-12
Mondays, 10am – 12pm 5/31, 6/7, 6/14, 6/21 (4 Weeks)
$120/student includes all materials
In Drawing 1, we will start learning the basics of how to see shapes and proportion, and use line to express the contours of the subject. Drawing will be done from 2D references and from life.
Registration deadline: 5/14/2010

Drawing Session 1 – Teens
Thursdays, 10am – 12pm 6/3, 6/10, 6/17, 6/24 (4 Weeks)
$120/student includes all materials
This course will assume that the student has some drawing experience. We will start by working on good methods to achieve good proportion and interesting lines, and work towards understanding value. Work will be done in graphite, charcoal, and white charcoal working with toned paper in the final projects.
Registration deadline: 5/24/2010

Drawing Session 2 – Ages 8-12
Mondays, 10am – 12pm 7/12, 7/19, 7/26, 8/2 (4 Weeks)
$120/student includes all materials
In Drawing 2, students will move from line drawing to shading and value. A strong focus will be on getting correct proportions before moving onto shading, and light logic will be taught as students move into charcoal drawing on toned papers.
Registration deadline: 7/2/2010

Beginning Painting – Teens
Thursdays 10am – 12pm 7/1, 7/8, 7/15, 7/22, 7/29, 8/5 (6 Weeks)
$250/student includes all materials
Students in this class will start with a simple, monochromatic painting to warm-up to the mechanics of a fluid medium before exploring color theory, color mixing, and color schemes. Early work will be done from photographs provided, while later paintings will be done from arrangements made by the individual students.
Registration deadline: 6/21/2010

Perspective Intensive – Teens
Monday through Friday 1-3pm 6/7 – 6/11
$150/student includes all materials
This class will cover 1, 2, 3, and multiple-point perspective! This is a subject that is challenging to many, but will be presented in a logical, step-by-step manner that is easy to understand. We will create images from our imagination using perspective, but will also see how it is visible in the world around us.
Registration deadline: 5/21/2010

People/Faces Intensive – Teens
Monday through Friday 1-3pm 7/12 – 7/16
$150/student includes all materials
Proportions of the head and face will be covered as we also dive in to the characteristics of the individual features themselves. We will strive to understand the underlying structure of the face and features, and learn how to draw and shade them in a realistic way. We will work from photos, historical drawings, and life.
Registration deadline: 7/2/2010

Drawing from Life Intensive – Teens
Monday through Friday 1-3pm 7/26 – 7/30
$150/student includes all materials
If you can learn how to draw what you are looking at, you can draw anything! This class will focus on how to accurately portray anything that lay before you, from a still life to a landscape to a building to a person.
Registration deadline: 7/16/2010

Crazy Boy Coy, Lucky DeLuxe

Above is the drawing from last week's open session with Crazy Boy Coy! This week we have Kiki Severe coming to pose for us... don't miss it.

I'm also working of a painting of Coy. Stage 1 is above, just a simple 'cartoon' right now. 24" x 18" oil on canvas.

I also have a slightly larger painting of the talented Lucky DeLuxe in the works! The skin areas are the only parts that have moved out of the cartoon stage at this point.

I'm excited about these paintings, and have others I am preparing for, too. Hopefully within the next couple weeks I will also be starting on my next large Sins painting.

Open Figure Session This Week: Crazy Boy Coy!

This week's open figure session is going to be super cool... talented performer Crazy Boy Coy will come in to both amaze and inspire us! Don't miss this one. Red Door Studios, 738 Armstrong Suite 200 in KCK 6-9pm. Just $10!

Also, this weekend my Beginning Figure Drawing Class begins. I can't wait! Meanwhile, I have been working away on some drawings, including a secret portrait commission and I had a lovely couple in the studio getting figure drawings done to commemorate their 20th anniversary. A couple paintings are also in the works, but more on those later.

"Vanity" Completed, I Think

It looks like this painting is finally finished! I worked on it Monday and signed it, but I wanted to make sure I didn't immediately see something I wanted to go back in and change. That urge is not coming to me right now... perhaps in the near future I will see something and decide to make a small change, but for now I think it's done. :-)

It took 2 days to convert all the video footage I had from the last time I made a video update in December. I didn't work on the painting at all in January or February, because of all that was going on, but I had done quite a bit of work in December and it was left with just a couple sessions of work to do.

Hopefully soon I will have the last of the videos up, and then make one quick video of the entire process! For now, I am working on a secret pencil portrait commission, and getting started on some new work that I am pretty excited about.

P.S. The blue haze around the girl and the right side of the painting is not part of the painting, it's just the light from outside bouncing off the surface of the black paint on that side.

Monster Drawing Rally, Open Figure Session

Last night's open figure session was *awesome!* We had an amazing model with lots of stamina. I needed a break before she did. She will pose for us next week, too, don't miss her!

Friday night I participated in the Monster Drawing Rally at the Arts Incubator in KCMO. Had a great time, met a couple new artists and saw a couple old friends. Thanks to everyone who came out to support Hope House, and to the kind gentleman who bought my drawing in the silent auction!

It's not my usual style, but I only had an hour. ;-) I had this idea to use both the bristol and the vellum they offered, using the transparency of the vellum to create a gray skyline in the background. I spent all my time working on that part, so the upper layer was a bit rushed. Had a great time though and worked outside my comfort zone!

New Class Offering: Figure Drawing from Life

Hi All, I wanted to pass on the info for this class I have finally decided to hold. This class is perfect for beginners, yet I plan to keep it small enough that I can offer individual attention to help along more advanced students as well. In the meantime, don't forget Open Figure Session is ongoing every Saturday 6-9pm!

Figure Drawing From Life

Location: Red Door Studios in Downtown KCK
738 Armstrong, Suite 200, Kansas City, KS 66101

March 27, April 3, 10, 17, 24 and May 1 - 12:30 - 3:30 pm
6 - 3 hour sessions
$220 includes all sessions and model fee

In this class, we will cover several different approaches to figure drawing, including gesture drawing and learning various ways to judge and measure proportion. Everything from properly setting up an easel to creating a pleasing and accurate contour will be covered. Anatomy, shading, and composition will also be explored. This is the perfect class for beginners with little to no experience as well as for artists looking to add to their knowledge.

Please email Lacey to sign-up for this class in advance. Students must register and pay in full by March 22nd to reserve their spot. All students will also be given a $5 discount on Open Figure Session Attendance for the duration of the 6 weeks.

I Finished a Painting!

The other day I finished this painting! It was a commission for a private collector, so as soon as it is dry and ready for a varnish layer (there is a lot of sinking in and such that a varnish will take care of) it will be out the door and in its new home. My plan was to have this completed 4 weeks ago, but my father's passing changed those plans. The collector was empathetic, though, and imposed no deadline on me. I am so glad I had the extra time, because for a while it felt like I had forgotten how to paint!

Meanwhile, I've focused a little more on drawing and sketching. I have a pad at home to doodle in, and of course there are the Saturday sessions. Going forward, I want to continue more drawing, and am also looking forward to *finally* finishing up Vanity! I have some other painting ideas on the horizon, too. Getting back to work feels good.

Speaking of drawing, I am participating in Kansas City's Monster Drawing Rally this Friday night. Come by to see me draw and support Newhouse!

More Sketches from Open Figure Sessions

Here are some more sketches that I have done recently at the weekly open figure sessions at Red Door Studios. If you are local, feel free to come by and join us any Saturday 6-9pm for just $10. The address is 738 Armstrong, Suite 200, KCK. In a couple days, I should have a painting to post!

~Update~

Wow, it's February and I am finally getting around to the *first* post of 2010!

After my last post, I continued working on "Vanity" and also started gathering references for a commission. The holidays hit, and work slowed, of course. The kiddo ended up with an extended vacation clear into the 2nd week of January with all the snow days that came! So, progress was delayed once again.

Just as I was finally back to work and had layer one of my commission complete, my Dad unexpectedly passed away January 12th. That, understandably, brought everything to an immediate halt. The aftermath was a bit more difficult and draining than I expected... I had no idea I would be this tired or this uninspired. As I have attempted to paint and draw, I feel like I've forgotten everything I had learned and I don't know what I am doing anymore. Slowly, I feel it coming back, and I am hopeful that I will be able to produce again this week. I had a decent drawing session last Saturday, just fiddling around with some Conte, and certainly continuing to teach is really helping, too.

So, partially this post is just about my hope to return to some kind of productive normalcy.

Otherwise, I did want to pop in and say that I hope to have new progress images, new finished paintings, and maybe even a new video to share very soon!

Also, the Saturday figure sessions have continued uninterrupted, and will continue to be held every Saturday 6-8pm. We are still rotating between male, female, nude, and costumed models. Next time I am at the studio I will take some pictures of my efforts from the last month. In the meantime, check out what Doug Bell has been doing!

~Hoping to be back full force soon.~