Cay Denise

  This art journal piece is unfinished, but I'm liking it as is -- even with the different skin tones in it.  So, based on advice from an artist peer -- I'm taking a break from working on it.  I'm satisfied right now that it has movement, and it conveys the twist of the body, and has a believable expression emerging on the face.  This is not realism.  Rather, it is more like an expressionist painting approach.  It is much freer than I usually work and is a painting over a study (on a different subject).

I've been having fun sketching shapes of faces/body poses with a black Stabilo pencil that is activated (with water) after the sketch is complete--for a darker outline.  By doing this practice, I've learned a lot about subtle shape changes in arms and legs with various poses, and foot positioning in different stances or when sitting.   As a challenge down-the-road, I'm thinking about reducing the number of lines I allow myself to use to capture the essence of the figures drawn.  Here are some examples: If you're a visual artist, have you done this type of activity as part of your regular practice?  If so, what was your experience?

The Narrative course with Ardith Goodwin is coming to an end, and I've learned a great deal--once I got to work and started doing the work. Part of that has been sketching, and I will say my sketching practice has improved markedly! I did a few sketches today thinking I'd try new Tempera Paint Sticks on watercolor paper.  But after testing one, I didn't like how it looked after activating the paint on the paper. So, I painted one of the sketches and this is the result.  I'm really pleased with it, especially the classical sense that comes across, and I learned you don't have to have a busy background for a painting to be delicious.