Summer Shadows - Figures on Friday

Summer Shadows, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2023

SOLD

This summer sure has gone fast!! It has been a full one, with LOTS of great family time and LOTS of fun. We are still having very hot weather, but school is back in session, and it's time to get back to some routines... like, Figures on Friday!

I painted this piece back in June on a trip down to the Georgia coast, and am just getting around to posting it. I loved the light on this little pathway to the beach, AND the light on my painting buddy as she searched for the perfect view. (It's nice to have a painting friend for a subject... she was willing to walk out there a few times for me! Thank you A.T.)

Wherever you are, enjoy these few days of summer!

And the Walking Girl Walks - Figures on Friday!

And the Walking Girl Walks, 8 x 6, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2022

NFS

Meet my sister. Two years my elder, we grew up together through thick and thin! She is fiercely independent, a brilliant musician, the leader of the pack, and a lover of the morning walk (the earlier the better.) Maybe you can catch a glimpse of her personality in this painting... not much gets in her way!!! 

Oh, and always the wild one... she got grounded for life by our dad in high school (a week-long penalty never quite got her attention). So, technically, she is still grounded! ;)

2023 SPRING WORKSHOPS (click HERE and join me):
April 14-15 - The Contemporary Austin Art School in Austin, TX (Full with wait list)
May 4-6 - Anderson Fine Art Gallery in St. Simons Island, GA

Special Post - 1

Seated Female, graphite on newsprint, 10 x 10, L. Daniel © 2014

20 minute pose

As promised, I am going to let you in on a little secret I have been keeping... I have been taking life drawing classes since the fall! It's something I haven't had time for (or MADE time for quite honestly), since college. I quite forgot how much fun it is and how good it is for training the eye (and the hand, and the heart, and the brain.) It's simply great discipline for any artist, regardless of chosen genre. My teacher is David Everett, an incredible sculptor here in Austin who is really good at explaining proportions and the relationships between weight and body masses. I am never ready to leave when the sessions are over. 

Like many life drawing classes, we start with 3 minute gesture drawings to warm up before going to the longer poses. The idea is to catch the attitude and mood of the pose with very few marks. Below are a few from my sketchbook that seemed to come close. It has been great practice, and very humbling at the same time. I have so very far to go!!! (Maybe that is why I kept it a secret.)

 

3 minute gesture drawings