This week's live models

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This weeks drawings at the International Art Club of the Hague...with thanks to Pien Hazenburg, for her help with the portraits. Drawing from live models is such fun. These poses were from 10 to 30 minutes. It is great going so fast, you really have to draw only what you see, not what you know. I like the strength of the model in the full figure pose, and the expression in the face of the woman posing for the portrait.

Portraits this week - Petra

These stands are between 10 and 30 minutes. The model, Petra, was really fun to work with, since her portraits just drew themselves. The entire class was inspired, everyone did great work.

This week's drawings from the IAC

I wasn't really that happy with this week's drawings, but here are a selection. Drawing from live models is a great way to improve one's ability to observe closely, and to learn how to quickly translate that observation onto paper.

The drawings on this page took between five minutes to 30 minutes.

Bob Hagen portrait sketch

A last portrait of my dad, of course wearing his stocking hat. He left today, and we had a great trip. I took lots of pictures while we explored the town and the countryside, and will use them as inspiration for a new painting series called 'abstract landscapes.' Here's hoping that the series will be slightly less gloomy than the weather and outdoors appears now.

Bike ride in the dunes and harbor

Dad and I went for a bike ride in the dunes near Scheveningen and Den Haag. These dunes protect the inland areas from flooding. The pictures give a sense of the muted colors and somber beauty of the dunes.

We stopped by the harbor on our way out of town. I always enjoy the brightly colored boats and unusual shapes that can be found there.

On our way out to the dunes, I mad my dad stop so I could take a picture of our front gate with spiderweb.

Dad enjoys the crossword puzzle in the teahouse

It's cold in the teahouse, but dad likes to go out there for the crossword puzzle and a coffee. Here's some sketches of him puzzling.

My dad does not like the weather here

"It's so cold, and its so bleak, but at least it is not raining today. Thank God I wasn't born here."

I don't think my dad fully appreciates the weather here in Northern Europe. Maybe it is time for us to take a trip to Amsterdam. He does not understand - it is beautiful, once you've been here awhile. There's fungicide to take care of the mildewy bits, and hey, you can always wear layers. He's missing the watery romance revealed by the green moss lining the brick walls along the bike paths. He's missing the eloquent Indonesian puppet poetry in the long shadows of the mid-day sun. We did have sun, during one of the days he has been here.

Shiva, cat slut

My dad the cat whisperer is visiting, pictured here. He is one of only 6 people who have significantly pet our cat Shiva.

Notice the wool hat?

On a call home to my mother, my dad said that "I brought 3 pairs of long underwear, and I STILL had to go out and buy a wool hat. Damn it's cold here! It's a wet cold that goes right through you. It might be 40 or 50 degrees, but it feels like how 15 would feel back home."

Winter at East Twin Lake, Minnesota

I've been taking an abstract painting class at the International Art Club of the Hague. This is a painting of a lake in north-central Minnesota in winter, from memory. It is kind of an abstract landscape, in that it comes entirely from what I remember, without reference to a photo. Painting this way is very liberating, allowing me to "see" and apply the paint in a very different way. Because I am not trying to represent what is in front of me, I am free to explore the paint's texture and color and its application becomes much looser and freer.

New work of the week

I posted this week's new "Work of the Week" on my art website, which can be seen at

http://potamoi.com/WorkoftheWeekgallery.html

It is based on a drawing I made of the "Uncertain Future" digital image, which was the "Work of the Week" for August 24-30. This digital image was based on photos I took of a various ceramic sculptures by Ah Xian in his first show here in Europe and then manipulated using software. So in other words, this week's work is a painting of a drawing of an image of digitally manipulated photographs I took of several sculptures by Ah Xian at his show here in Den Haag.

Oil Painting, part 3

Yesterday I worked on the house again, and it was a classic, pulling of teeth do-not-accomplish-anything kind of painting day. I ended up nitpicking the details and ended up with a painting that looked little different from what I started with, completely losing all momentum, rhythm, and gesture. It was hard because neighbors kept stopping by to say hello, which was nice, but it didn't help the painting process. And I ended up with something that looked more like a precious moments painting or Thomas Kincaid. Some art just shouldn't be photographed. So, no picture of that step. This morning I worked on it again for a couple of hours, this time in the studio so I could concentrate and get a rhythm down. And it worked, and the painting is much looser and something I would show. Here it is, the final and signed version.

Oil painting - part 2

Yesterday, I had an hour to do some more painting and so worked on the project from the day before. Here's what the painting looks like now. Fortunately, we've had two sunny days in a row, so I've had ideal conditions for outdoor painting. The house is lit by the late afternoon sun.

It is still in progress, and will change significantly. I am starting to get some of the colors down, but have a lot of work to do. For example, the darks can get darker, and some of the whites that are not in sunlight should be darker.