Frank Mason at the Art Students League

Sketches of Frank Mason at the Art Students League and at the Stowe, Vermont plein air class he conducted every June.

Ssumi brush figure drawings

Here's a few brush drawings from last week....

Figure Sketch Last Week

Here's a few from the Unison sketch class

Figure Drawings

Figure Drawings from Life

Subway Sketcher Revisted

More musings from the Subway Sketcher. These are all graphite drawings, executed with 2B leads in a retractable Koh-I-Noor lead holder- my trusty drawing tool. Along with my sketchbook, they are always with me.

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.