Life Drawing Workshops

I like to go to life drawing workshops! When it gets around to the 25 minute poses, I turn and start to draw the whole room instead of just the model. Makes for some fun composition!  Here's a couple recent studies

Rereading Robert Henri: The Art Spirit

I'm going to read the book "The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri. I'm guessing this is episode 1 of 6 (or 8?) I'm not the best reader, but I desire to read this book again in anticipation of an artist in residence I'm partaking in at the Robert Henri Museum later this year and I know that doing it live will help me concentrate www.paintwithalex.com

Takin’ It To The Street

New easel works great! Totally love it and recommend it: Mabef M27. Test drive on the corner of 7th and Grand in downtown Los Angeles

New Easel!

I've used the old Jullian  French Easel for as long as I've been painting, but I am trying a new (to me) smaller more compact style. This is the Mabef M27. Gonna take it out soon! Right now I'm test driving it in the studio. Photos of it in use and folded up. Super simple and handy rests to put your palette or whatever. Much smaller and lighter than the Jullian too and frees an arm up when walking around.

Time to seriously get back to the Blog

I just discovered that I can have my blog show up on my website, paintwithalex.com, and I suddenly feel a rejuvenated spirit to get back to posting here, on my blog! That explains this post, and I'm also going to start "flashback reblogs" reposting an oldie but goodie, which explains the previous post :) Finally, here is a drawing of my old friend in his garden for something to look at. Just posting some random visual content to enjoy, which I will do much more often...

Flashback Re-Blog: Santa Anita, orig.posted 01/27/07

Here's a couple pics of the Santa Anita composition I'm working on. The races have started so the place is exciting again! I went with my sketchbook and did a drawing of the center ring where all the action happens. I also took a bunch of random photos which I cut and pasted and composed in photoshop over the drawing so I could get a nice feeling of the crowds and movement. The first photo is the sketchbook drawing of the overall environs and then with the people composed in. The next photo is the first stage of the painting, a freehanded underdrawing to arrive at the overall placement. The last photo is how the painting looks now. I went over the preliminary drawing in acrylic with a limited palette of white, burnt umber, deep violet, and ultramarine blue. I like how it looks so far, nice and sunny! The blue and the burnt umber neutralize to a greenish black and then the deep violet is just enough red to counteract as well as enhance the slight green. I think if you used a raw umber as well as the burnt, you could suggest even more color, especially in the greens and yellows. I plan to take this to the racetrack soon and go over in oil en plein air for even greater realism and truth in color.