Plein-Aire Hyde Park Marina July 2012

We had a plein-aire class today...Sunday mornings everyone!... at the Hyde Park Marina, just north of Marist College. For most sunny day morning scenes the emphasis is on the great Morning Sky Progression...i.e., the two overlapping progressions of the horizon to zenith of the vault and the strengthening morning sun vortex that emanates from the East.

Triceps

From last weeks Ecorche class..."The Triceps"

• The primary function of the triceps is to extend the elbow, which results in straightening the arm. 
• The secondary function of the triceps is fulfilled only by the long head of the muscle, which is to adduct the arm (or to bring the arm down towards the body). The triceps shares this function with the latissimus dorsi (back muscles).

Interesting to note the placement of the Long Head and how it traverses the medial and lateral heads. On flexion it bulges out prominently at the tricep tendon sheath- a flat band of tendon that angles from the elbow up and lateraly. Check it out.

Here's the painting I submitted to the Instructors Show currently on exhibit at the Woodstock School of Art.
It's a scene I painted while at the Art Student's League of New York. At the time , my scholarship duties included tending the clay pit- a large wooden box with a lid that contained hundreds of pounds of terra cotta, used by the clay modeling students. It had to be hosed down and turned at least once a day so as to be supple enough to work with. Some evenings however, I'd stay late into the evening at Carneys drinking beer with Nelson Shanks and fellow students in his class or perhaps with George Sotos and his crew and would neglect my clay duties.This meant that I'd have to stumble over to the League very early and turn the clay before the Sydney Simon or Jonathan Shan class would begin at 8:30.. Fortunately I lived only a few blocks away in a huge four story walk up on 55th and Eighth Street that I shared with five other art students In order to give the clay some time to soak I'd arrive early, around 6:30 , and Washington, the caretaker, would open up and let me inside.As I walked through the dark basement to the back studios where the sculpture studios are, I would see the north light streaming down the corridor and then as I emerged into the studio, that full magical glow would envelope me from the high street level skylights.It was pure magic , being all alone in this most holy of artistic spaces.

Portrait in Clay and The Ecorche

Here are a few views of the Friday "Portrait in Clay" Class and the "Ecorche" Class  at the Woodstock School of Art.

Serratus Muscles

In the Woodstock Ecorche class we are covering the muscles of the brachium- the shoulder- and these are recent class drawings of the positions of the Serratus muscles. TThese include the Serratus Anterior, Serratus Anterior Superior, and the Serratus Posterior, both the superior and inferior groups.

 

Artistic Anatomy Demo Drawings

Here's a few recent demo drawings from my Artistic Anatomy Class held at the Woodstock School of Art and at the Barrett Art Center.- The  drawings are drawn with with Coates Vine Charcoal and highlighted with  NuPastel  hard pastel "Ivory".

 The surfaces are Canson Mi Tientes 19" x 25" paper and Borden Riley grey 48" charcoal paper roll.

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.