Off Days

I love painting outside and while I would love nothing more than to wake up every morning and head out to see what scene might inspire me to stop and move medium around a canvas substrate, I can’t. I have two kids, a full time job and an ever-expanding list of house projects to attend to. Not to mention a dog that likes to be walked thrice daily.

While I may not be able to get out everyday, or even put pigment to canvas, I can still try to keep my eyes keen, and my hand and arm limber. One of my favorite methods of doing so is sketching and figure studies.

I sketch incessantly. I really like sketching while watching movies or when I’m out somewhere with lots of people about or interesting architecture. I also like to do figure studies. I live in the burbs and there aren’t many convenient places to go partake in live model sessions, but I’ve found a few online resources that I love.

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Croquis Cafe

The Croquis Cafe features a weekly, pre-recorded, nude, live model session which typically feature 5-one minute poses, 4-two minute poses and 1-five minute pose, running roughly 25 minutes each.

They have a deep catalog (350+ sessions and counting) and models with a variety of body types and ages, all filmed in more or less the same fashion with variations of poses from model to model.

The great thing about these sessions, despite being viewed through a screen, is that the models are filmed live, so you still get the slight variation of movement and (so long as you don’t cheat) the quick poses are great for sharpening your attention.

The Croquis Cafe is a project of On Air Video, Inc., a husband and wife team who operate on a donation basis through Patreon and their own site. The videos are free on Youtube but I cough up a donation as often as I can to keep this invaluable resource going.

Draw This!

Draw This! Is similar to Croquis Cafe in that it films live models and shares the video via Youtube. The differences though, are two-fold.

First, Draw This! live streams their videos each Friday (though they seemed to have temporarily stopped), allowing you to really sit in on the session and feel like you’re taking part. They encourage their users to post their progress to social media with the hashtag #FEFDRAW (Friday Evening Figure Drawing). The second is that these sessions are much more extensive, with most videos running in excess of two hours.

Each session builds slowly, much like a standard live model session, with multiple 1-2 minute short poses, building up to 5-10 minute poses and ending with one longer 15 minute pose.

I love these sessions, though I don’t often have the time to spend on them. Even more rare is catching them live, but having done so in the past, I can attest to the fact that it’s a treat.

Draw This! Seems to be transitioning away from Youtube, in favor of operating on their own platform www.drawthis.com, which has yet to be launched. In the meantime, you can view their back catalog of wonderful live session on their Youtube page.

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A few products I’ve grown accustomed to using when doing figure studies include a big drawing board (mine will hold sheets of paper up to 18” x 24”), newsprint, charcoal pencils, gum eraser, and sanding board. While non of these things are necessary to draw, they sort of put me in mind to take what I’m doing seriously. Still, a good ole Bic pen and a scrap of paper will serve just as well.

Newsprint has a fine texture suitable for quick, fine lines and the tone of the paper isn’t as shocking as pure white paper. Drawing boards help hold paper down and allow you to work at a more ergonomic angle by leaning it against a desk, back of chair, or drawing horse. I’ve had this drawing board for about 20 years.

I keep all my figure study utensils in a little box, they include: a pliable gum eraser, razor blade for sharpening charcoal pencils, General’s charcoal pencil 557-2B Medium, Conte A Paris 1710 drawing and sketching charcoal pencil, Derwent solid graphite pencil 2B, sanding block.

Drawing from live models, whether at a cafe, bar, on the bus, or from a dedicated model in a controlled environment is an excellent practice for all artists. The practice trains your eyes to see shapes relative to those around them and helps you see proportions, perspective, and light and shadow. All of which can be applied to any visual endeavor.

Portrait of my son watching a movie. Figure studies helped me establish structure quickly, so I could go about adding color and detail. “Odin” 11x14, oil on canvas, 2018.

Do you do figure studies? Have a favorite method of doing so? Share in the comments section, or shoot me a message, I’d love to hear what other folks are doing.

Painting By Bike

Carrying a full French easel, over a dozen tubes of 200ml paints, paper towels and canvas (or canvases) can get heavy. I’m always looking for ways to ease the burden of conveying my gear into the unknown with as little physical debilitation as possible, leaving me (relatively) fresh to take in the subject upon arrival.

The finished painting “Summer Field”

When I began painting outside, I worked small, and I worked mostly in water media. So, my whole setup was compact and fleet-footed, fitting neatly into a regular sized backpack. As I’ve made the transition from water media to oils, I find that, not only am I carrying more stuff, the stuff I am carrying is a lot heavier. This isn’t so much a complaint as a realization. I love painting thickly, and to do so I must use a lot of paint.

One possible solution to this problem of conveyance is the Burley Coho XC trailer. The Coho XC was designed to be hitched to off-road bicycles and I had the pleasure of trying one out and reviewing it for Dirt Rag magazine (see my full review here). But this post isn’t about the Burley in particular, but rather, trailers in general as a means of plein air equipment hauling.

One benefit straightaway was the fact that the Coho XC held all f my gear easily. Good thing too as I needed my limbs for pedaling and steering… Anyway, the fact that all my gear fit into one compartment was great and liberating. It’s also quite open, so everything is reachable, unlike stuffing everything into a giant backpack (which I’ll probably talk about in another blog post).

All loaded up and ready for the return trip.

As per my review guidelines, I took this trailer through some rigorous mountain biking trails, which was met with mixed results as far as paint supplies are concerned. I tried navigating a particularly dicey downed tree and ended up going ass-over-tea-kettles and spilling part of the assembly in the trail. My French easel took the worst of it, damaging one of the legs, but otherwise everything, including me, was fine. The easel still works as well, just has a little scar tissue now. Subsequent outings with the Burley have been less eventful and more (thankfully) predictable.

This particular painting was done in mid-morning at the height of summer 2018. It was already incredibly warm and being western Pennsylvania, quite muggy as well. I chose this spot because I liked the high grass and wild flowers in the foreground framed in by the dark treeline in the background. My vantage point was not only immediately off trail, it had the added bonus of being under tree cover, sparing me from the worst of the heat.

My perch from the shadows. Not a bad way to spend the morning.

I took the inbound trip much more carefully than the outbound, avoiding excessively aggressive trail features wherever possible. As I hit the pavement marking the end of the off-road portion of my journey I cracked a big smile. Not only had a gotten out to a nice vista to paint in good time, I didn’t have to schlep all my gear over shoulder. And I got a ride in!

Still, there were some drawbacks. While the French easel will hold canvases in transit, the wet paint is left exposed to the elements. In this case, the dirt and trail debris that was kicked up from my rear tire (an added talking point to its future owner, I’m sure). A wet box would fix this problem.

Little dirt flecks and trail detritous embedded in the wet paint.

Another thing is, unless you can roll out of your garage, fully set up, you have to break the whole ensemble down and cram it into your vehicle. It’s not so bad for me, I have a truck and a bike rack, but it is a few extra steps and sometimes those are the niggley little thoughts that can talk you out of getting out and painting.

I’ll certainly keep the trailer in my arsenal though, as much of a deterrent as setting up and breaking down can be, having alternate means of conveyance can equally inspire you to get out to new places.

Have you tried carrying your painting gear around in a bike trailer? Or have some other contraption you prefer to carrying thing with your hands? Leave a comment, or shoot me an email, I’d be happy to chat with you.