Costumed Life Drawing

I really enjoy costumed life draw sessions. Since I like drawing goofy costumed characters from my imagination, being able to study the way cloth behaves on a real figure is right up my alley. And I love the relaxed, unpretentious, and friendly atmosphere at Helikon Life Painting.

Have to admit that I got burned-out on drawing and painting nudes in college and art school--nude pose was the only rule back then. And yes, it was great for learning the figure and anatomy, and I don't regret the experience, but give me a costumed figure any day at this point in my career.

In these sessions, I'm not into drawing and painting beautiful pictures to sell. I'm into studying and learning more about the clothed figure and trying out new media. Also, since seeing accurate values is not my strong suit, the exercise is definitely necessary and helpful.

I don't mind doing the occasional nude study...

...and these fishy-net stockings were cool to draw.

Partially clothed figures are always interesting...

...but being able to study a costume like this makes for a truly great session. This is Cayce, the director at Helikon Gallery and Studios, doing a three-hour pose in the medieval outfit from his own collection. There was so much detail to study that even coming close to finishing proved impossible, but what a learning experience!

Life Painting at Helikon Gallery happens every Saturday from 5 to 8 pm. Come and join us--here's the link on Facebook:

Weekly Life Painting

Thanks for reading!

Character, Outline, and Texture

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

I'm working on many pieces simultaneously right now, using a variety of media. As always, I am studying--and hopefully growing as well. Three ongoing chases:

1. Character

2. Integrating outline

3. Texture

 The Night Walkers. Honore Daumier.

Daumier is one of my favorite artists. Three aspects (among others) strongly appeal to me: 

1. His characters

2. His use of outline
(Scientific studies have shown that the outlines in his oil paintings are either lithographic crayon or charcoal.)

3. His use of texture.

Recently I've adopted him as my mentor.

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

I'm continuing my life drawing practice with an eye on character.

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

 St. Joseph the Worker (detail).
Just completed a commission in which I used both charcoal and black paint for the outline.

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

And this work-in-progress is a study in character, outline, and texture. It's also prep-work for an upcoming project.

If I can produce a good painting and learn more in the process, it's been a good day. Thanks, Daumier!

And thank you--for stopping by!

How to be an Expert?

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

Numbers.

I read somewhere that one has to put 100,000 hours practicing a skill in order to become an "expert" at that skill. First, that seems sort of a random number. Second, I'm not certain if that means in general--for example, one would be an "expert artist" if one completed 100,000 hours drawing, painting, and sculpting; or if it means in specifics--100,000 hours painting from the model, 100,000 hours painting still lifes, 100,000 hours drawing goofy characters, etc.

I don't know what the author meant, and it seriously is kind of a dumb thing to try to quantify.

Most of the illustrators/artists I know are many years my junior, and they are more skilled than I.

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

I've put years worth of hours into practicing art, in many different forms. Even conservatively, my figures still get me to 160,000. I'm not sure what that author's definition of expert might be, but I'd be hard pressed to label myself as one.

Don't get me wrong; I know a lot about art--both art history and art techniques, and am confident in many of my abilities. But I'm maybe most confident in my ability to learn. By practicing. And that's all I really care about.

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

So I continue to hit the Life Painting sessions at Helikon Gallery (where I mostly life draw), and get outside to paint, and draw and paint in my studio--and anywhere else it's appropriate. My aim's not to become someone's definition of an expert, but to keep getting better at it all; including the ability to share what I've learned--of the abilities I have at any given time--with others.

If I'd have liked numbers, I wouldn't have become an artist in the first place.

Thanks for reading.