For a number of years, I’ve been drawing &
painting regularly from a series of
very talented models. All
of them have been adept at deciphering my vague instructions. They’ve also been
strong and skilled enough to hold a tough pose with grace. Doreen, the subject
of these drawings, has been an especially dedicated and good-natured co-conspirator.
 |
| "Contemplative"- mixed media on paper, 12" x 9" |
 |
| "Imitating Sleep"-mixed media on paper, 9" x 12" |
People have asked about this mixed-media process. I came up with it through trial &
error, though, inevitably, others have probably gotten there before me. I lay down a layer of gray acrylic,
usually on Bristol, then draw the basic composition with black tempera in cake
form. The tempera lines can be altered with a clean wet rag or a q-tip. Highlights and value shifts
are added in white watercolor crayon, and everything is reworked with a wet
brush. Though the drawing ends up with some of the qualities of a print, it’s a fairly unstable finished
product (“fugitive” in artspeak) so I wouldn’t recommend it.
 |
| "Regarding The Viewer"- mixed media on paper, 12" x 9" |
 |
| "Doreen In The Quilted Skirt 2"-mixed media on paper, 12" x 9" |
For the six drawings included here, I've made good
use of a faulty road map. In life-drawing or painting sessions, I try to store up visual
information. Photographs are taken,
cropped or otherwise manipulated, then reduced to black & white. The
original drawings and paintings, the altered photographs, and my
less-than-reliable memory are all sources for the construction.
To get to the final image, the model interprets the role, the artist
misreads it, and the mood of the pose becomes a collective invention.
 |
| "A Public Privacy"-mixed media on paper, 7 1/2" x 5" |
 |
| "Doreen In The Quilted Skirt"-mixed media on paper, 12" x 9" |
