My Drawings...

black and white charcoal on pale green drawing paper, 18"x24"

I thought I'd share a few of my drawings with you. Above is my favorite!

I completed a Fine Art degree at the University of West of England, Bristol. However, I didn't really get a chance to embrace this kind of work I love doing until I moved to NYC! 

So for my own enjoyment, I signed up for a semester of portrait drawing classes at the National Academy on the Upper East Side last Fall. I loved going here, even though the classes were long after a day at work, and I was tired - it was totally worth it! The people were great, and we all chatted away at breaks, at the end of the semester we even brought in cheeses and other food goodies - I made jam tarts! yum!

After this I joined the Spring Street Studio life drawing classes, they have a wonderful plan where you can buy a coupon for 10 classes for $100, and then go to any of the classes you want! From quick sketches, long poses, and two models together, this is a great chance to get into life drawing. The place fills up quickly, it's first come, first gets a seat - but everyone is very kind, and will squeeze you in where they can! My suggestion - get there early!

So the four I have here are from my National Academy classes, I've found I'm much more interested, and better, at doing long poses - where I can get into the drawing and work through it. I'm pretty proud of these, so I hope you enjoy looking at them!

2b pencil on white drawing paper, 18"x24"

2b pencil on white drawing paper, 18"x24"

black and white charcoal on royal blue drawing paper, 8.5"x11"

When It Rains?

It pours in New York....

It's a soggy wet Friday night in New York City... and what's the best thing to do when the weather is terrible? But stay in the warm, curl up under a blanket, request the presence of Mr. Ben and Mr. Jerry, and gather some wonderful reading?!

Well, that's exactly what I did! The last time I gobbled up a tub of Ben & Jerry's by myself was back in Summer '06!! (can you believe it?!) In my glorious mailbox today I found my new figure drawing book - and I'm loving reading it!! (now time to put it to some more practice!) Below are just a few pictures of my three items of reading material from my evening!

A Glorious evening - it's been too long since I last spoilt myself!

Mr. Ben & Mr Jerry!

My evening's reading material!! "Master Class in Figure Drawing" by Robert Beverly Hale, "A Century of Interior Design 1900-2000" by Stanley Abercrombie and "Attention to Detail" by Suzanne Trocme.

Above images from "Master Class in Figure Drawing" by Robert Beverly Hale. This book is a wonderfully illustrated and amazing book - jammed full of very helpful hints and descriptions!! Robert Beverly Hale (1901 - November 14 1085) was an Artist, a curator of American Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and an instructor of artistic anatomy at the Art Students League of New York before retiring in 1982. A great book I will use often and keep forever!

1950!

1926!

My favorite images and years of design are in the above images from "A Century of Interior Design 1900-2000" by Stanley Abercrombie. This is a stunning book, I would recommend any interior design enthusiast to have in their collection! Although this isn't a complete history, It covers so much - year by year the book tells the story of interior design, furniture, architecture and all major events for designers, creators and inspirations within this most eventful century! 

Just a snippet! London's Suzanne Trocme's "Attention to Detail" - This is a wonderful book full of visual eye candy! It has a ton of inspiration and some just stunning photography by Andrew Wood!! Oh my head is reeling with the possibilities!!