Portraits in charcoal, Li

Li is a model for the Beauty Project, but sometimes sits for us at the International Art Club. (I'm responsible for arranging the models and coordinating the class.)

More portraits...

obviously, these four portraits are not all of the same model. Three were done today here in the Hague at the International Art Club, and the fourth was done two weeks ago. There's something so satisfying about drawing in charcoal, from life.

A perfect day in the studio, in English and Dutch

Pictured, a perfect day. It is my studio, and I spent the entire Friday there painting. By my side, a warm cup of tea and Nora Jones on the ipod. Her first album really moves me, particularly the song "If I were a painter, and could paint a memory..." All in all, the studio setting, the 6-foot (2-meter) tall painting to work on, the music, the tea....it really couldn't be any better than that. Plus, a six foot tall canvas has really inspired me. On my deathbed, if I could live any one day, it might be this one.

Het meestal, slap ik niet uit. Vandag, vrijdag, is hetzelfde. Wij staan op om 6:45 uur. Ik maak het ontbijt. Na het ontbijt ik opruimen. Tamara helpt een beetje. Ze vertrekt naar het werk om 7:45. Op vrijdag krijg ik het huis klaar voor de schoonmaker. Ik breng de vuilnessbak buiten. Ik maak de kitty litter schoon, ik doe wat wasserette. Ik maak het kantoor tabel duidelijk, en wat schone gerechten uit de droogrek. Ik doe wat email. Vandag, begin ik om 8:30 te schilder in mijn studio. Ik werk er de hele dag. Soms vergeet ik te lunchen. Maar vandaag eet ik een kopje soup. Ik eet bij de gootsteen, omdat ik terug snel naar schilderen wil gaan. Deze dagen, is het raar een hele dag in de studio te hebben. Ik vind het zo leuk te doen. Ik heb een pot lekkere en warme thee bij me de hele dag. Ik heb mooie muziek op de ipod. Ik werk op een heel groot doek, ongeveer 2 meter hoog. Ik stop rond 5 uur s’avonds en begin mijn pensilen en pallete te schoonmaken. Bij 5:30 ben ik klaar. Vanavond ontmoet ik Tamara voor het diner om 6:30 in een leuk restaurant in het centrum van Den Haag. Het is Japons, en wij eten sushi. Wanneer wij terug in thuis zijn, kijken we een stand up comedy routine op televisie. Een leuke dag, en een hele leuke avond.

My biggest canvas

I have started work on my biggest canvas yet. It is a little over 6 feet tall, and will be a portrait for the Beauty Project. Wish me luck!

An 8-minute sketch

Sometimes, the best sketches are the shortest. This was an 8-minute sketch. When you have to draw so quickly, you can't stop to think. You have to draw as you see, without the brain's idea of an eye or an ear interfering with what is actually in front of you. Otherwise, the idea of an object can interfere with how it is drawn.

Some drawings from the IAC

I love drawing this model. These drawings are from this week at the International Art Club of the Hague.

Texture of a canvas

The sun came into my studio this morning, something of a rarity these winter days in Holland. It just caught the edges of the painted surface of this canvas, which nicely revealed the texture of the paint. The canvas was painted with a palette knife.

Some recent drawings at the IAC

These drawings are from short poses (15 to 20 minutes) by a live model, Heny, done at the International Art Club of The Hague this week.

winter landscape

This is a big painting, almost four feet tall. Inspirations were the winter colors here in the Hague, the Irish landscape to the south of Dublin, the Dutch painter Tom Schulten, and the abstract expressionist painter Nicolas de Staël (1914 –1955). Examples of Schulten and de Staël paintings are pictured below. The de Staël is titled Les Toits (the roofs), pictured second from the bottom and can be seen in the regular collection of the Pompidou musem in Paris.

Monique

Charcoal on paper, 2 by 3 feet.

This is a 20 minute sketch from life. I've been working hard on portraiture skills, and feel like I'm making progress. What I like about this drawing of Monique, is that the drawing captures what she looks like. Which is what I'm trying to learn how to do. Now, the challenge is to do this with more reliability.

Monet's monument to peace, the Musee de l'Orangerie, Paris

This is a wonderful, smaller museum in Paris. Go, if you have a chance. It sits in the shadow of the Louvre, and is not heavily visited in the winter. Monet's work fills two oval shaped rooms. The project is dedicated to peace, and was painted just after WWI. The two rooms are filled with paintings of water lilies, and are configured in a shape that evokes the infinity symbol. There are four panels in each room, each panel is about 50 or so feet long. The lighting is filtered, and makes the rooms and paintings glow with a quiet and radiant beauty. After the paintings were finished, Impressionism went out of style. The museum was not much visited and fell into disrepair. It wasn't until 2006 that the museum was renovated, and fortunately the paintings are well preserved. It is a masterpiece and to me is Monet's crowning achievement.

My office today

Today I made my first outdoor snow painting! It was fun, and the cold was refreshing. It is my Norwegian blood.

Skating!

Everyone straps on the skates when the weather drops below zero for long enought to freeze the lakes.

Ah, winter sports

Down the block from our house, there's some serious sledding and skating action.