Subway Sketcher is Watching

The very act of Subway Sketching is like a meditation. After a while the Sketcher detaches from the physical presence, and moves closer to being the Observer. In a sense they become a Channel , a remote witness- perceiving the universal character of humanity as expressed incrementally through the people he or she draws.

The Subway Sketcher Rules!

When the Subway Sketcher arrives in the studio later that evening, they greedily open the sketchbook to sift through the gems collected that day. A glance, a smirk, an elusive quiver in the lips- they are all uncut diamonds of human experience caught in the net of the Sketchers sketchbook.

The Subway Sketcher

More from New York City subway sketchbooks. For the figurative and portrait painter, the New York City subways are a goldmine. I can think of no other place where the most authentic and interesting characters are available for the artist to draw. The model is compelled to hold their pose for an indefinite amount of time- perhaps the entire route from Times Square to Flushing or from the Bronx to the furthest reaches of Brooklyn. Conversely it may be for only one stop.
The Subway sketcher has to be swift and have a penetrating gaze. They must be able to encapsulate the character and the anatomy in their visualization field and pull from their memory.
The Subway Sketcher must also melt into the background, swiftly glancing from half closed eyes at their Subject and then quickly averting the gaze to the sketchbook, lest the subject be alerted to their being observed. As the doors open , commuters pile in, finding an available seat or position from which to settle in, and the Subway Sketcher immediately sizes up the new opportunities, scanning the faces and postures for the most interesting attitudes. The Sketcher prioritizes instantly, selecting those poses that will most likely change while mentally scheduling the sleeping commuters for later, picking those most transient and beautiful "shells on the beach" first, before they are swept away.

Subway Sketcher Strikes Again!

Here are some more NYC sketchbook drawings- these being portraits.

The Subway Sketcher Sees All!

Characters out of my sketchbook. Authentic New York City people with stories to tell.

The Female Form

Charcoal drawings of the Female Figure from Life Class.
Charcoal, willow vine and jumbo with Ivory NuPastel and Conte White Soft

Artistc Anatomy- Sumi Brush

The Artistic Anatomy Class with Keith Gunderson is held both at the Woodstock School of Art and at the Barrett Art Center. The ultimate goal of this class is to train the student to obtain a three dimensional visualization of the human figure's occupancy of space- like a virtual hologram. Anatomy-the study of the human skeleton, musculature and tendons, along with the system of levers upon which the physics of translocation and exertion is based is an important part of this study, yet it is the visualization of volume which forms the core foundation of this investigation.

We use a variety of techniques to facilitate this, foremost among them is the Canon of Polycleitos and it's accompanying modalities of Rythmos, Isonomia, and Symmetria. Additional techniques such as sumi brush, negative space, bi-lateral symmetry, action line, and the tandem arcs are also employed. Lastly and most importantly, aesthetics is covered and the development of a personal approach to drawing.

Life- Sized Charcoal Figure Drawings

Here are some more large scale charcoal demo drawings from the Artistic Anatomy class.
Working big on rolls of grey Canson or Borden_Riley charcoal paper with 57J Jumbo Charcoal and Ivory NuPastel. To see more artistic anatomy drawings click here:

Encaustic Painting

Here are some Encaustic paintings I have completed over the last few weeks. It is a wonderful medium that has real expressive capabilities. Learning how to control the fusion action of the torch/colored wax is the challenge to understanding the huge potential this medium has.

Life- Sized Demonstration Drawings

Here are a few Big Figure Drawing Demonstrations from my Artistic Anatomy Class
For these drawings I used Generals jumbo vine 57J, Nu-Pastel Ivory for the lights, on a large rolls of Canson Mi-Tientes of Borden Riley #410