1st entry for June 15, 2014

I went back to Artisans at Work on the Sunday morning, as a couple, Holly and Andrew, were back working. Once again it was good to have a couple who were so comfortable with each other's bodies, and who could keep still for extended poses.
The top three studies are 3-minute ones. The ones below that are around 10 minutes, and the botttom one is a 15-minute study. For the last two, I used a quick pencil underdrawing, but in the case of the bottom one that led to some preciousness in rendering Holly's head that doesn't work as well. Underdrawing can help with organizing proportion, but can also lead to trying to over-describe details.
Around this time I was halfway through teaching a 6-week costume and clothing class, and I think that shows in the handling of the couch ad its cloth covering.
All these are Pitt calligraphy-point pen on 18 x 24" sheets of paper; the top five are on Canson Recycled Sketch paper, and the bottom one is on Strathmore series 300 paper.