Painted with Plein Air Painters of Chicago again last Saturday at Randolph and Halsted. Really nice group; they even brought donuts and coffee. This is me channeling Sloan and Hopper.
Tag: Chicago
First Plein Air in Five Years!
I went out to paint with the Plein Air Painters of Chicago last Saturday in Pilsen. Here’s the result. I’m happy with it. A great group of really nice people who were very welcoming. The weather was perfect.
Beyond iPad
The difficulties of iPad sketching were getting in the way, so I've gone back to traditional media. This is last Friday open drawing at the Palette and Chisel. A half-hour pose which I first sketched in pencil then painted in gouache and finished up with ballpoint pen. I was really inspired by a great… Continue reading Beyond iPad
Struggles with ipad quick sketch
A little more than a month of weekly quick sketch sessions plus practice at home has yielded the top sketch, a half-hour one, and bottom, a more typical 5-minute sketch. I'm using a Procreate brush that changes width with speed so I can get a nice fine line if I use quick strokes, but the… Continue reading Struggles with ipad quick sketch
Three Teachers, One Drawing
I owe this 25-minute quick sketch at last night P&C open studio to lessons taught to me by three teachers: for being able to set up a overall layout on a page, Max Ranft; for how to use Prismacolor pencil, Bob Schultz; and for how to construct a convincing human form in space, Michael… Continue reading Three Teachers, One Drawing
Constructive Figure Drawing
This 25-minute drawing was done with the specific intent of practicing figure construction. Since I love quick-sketching the figure, I look for any way to improve my technique (I'd also like to better understand why an artist draws the figure, but that's a whole other topic). One significant way to improve I've found, is to,… Continue reading Constructive Figure Drawing
Second Ipad Drawing from Sketch
Here's my second Ipad drawing based on a figure drawing from quick sketch studio at the Palette and Chisel. Here's the woodcut by Hakutei Ishii (1882-1958) in Modern Japanese Prints 1912-1989 that I based the composition on, and my original approximately 20-minute sketch:
How I Quick Sketch
Above is the last drawing at last night's quick sketch session at the Palette and Chisel. In this post I'll describe how I create a drawing like this using my evolving procedure for half-hour quick sketches from the model in charcoal. My materials are: 1. 18 x 36 inch Strathmore Drawing Pad (80 lb. off-white… Continue reading How I Quick Sketch
Never Give Up
Two drawings from last night's quick-sketch at the Palette and Chisel. I was tired: I get up in the dark and travel over a hundred miles to make it to the morning session and now it was dark again after a long day in Chicago and the model was late for the evening session.… Continue reading Never Give Up
Got My Charcoal Working
After much searching and experimentation, I've found a good working combination, using compressed charcoal on Strathmore #400 18 x 24 inch paper plus a really hard eraser. I've been forcing myself to get the whole figure down in one minute before refining. This drawing is 25 minutes, the longest I can handle without getting bogged… Continue reading Got My Charcoal Working
Ken Crocker Artist 