Figure Drawing Weekend!

This weekend was glorious in Los Angeles weatherwise so I just had to fit in some figure drawing. It's very relaxing for me. Some folks go to church, but for me, figure drawing is a religious experience. Saturday I drew Deron, whose very much a renaissance man as well as visually striking. If ever there was a walking Belasco drawing, he's it. When I first saw pictures of him I thought, "he looks like the kinds of guys I doodle out of my head!". He has very dynamic facial features that make him very easy for me to capture. After being introduced through a mutual friend, the amazing photographer, Desi Hytner of www.zedneram.com, I quickly set up an appointment to draw him. He was quite shy at first but has since come out of his shell. This figure drawing was done very quickly and then I went in and added color, which is something I don't do usually. What's interesting in the way we work is that he can't really hold a very long pose (nervous gemini energy! lol) so I'm forced to draw a lot faster and use short hand. But then I can go in with markers and add color because it doesn't matter then if he moves a bit. It's forced me to push my eye to mentally edit and only draw the essence of what's in front of me. Normally, I like to take my time and fuss over a drawing which can lead to overworking it. It's always nice when a model/muse brings energy that challenges my skill level. I'll post more from this session soon as well from as the figure drawing gathering I attended this past Sunday held by the gracious, uber talented artist, Miguel Angel Reyes. He has a talent for finding top notch models and newbies. Oh, and I haven't posted the drawings I did from the fabulously successful drawing salon from a week ago, but I will soon.