"Jake, Seated" (sold)

12"x6"

Oil on board

$200 plus $10 domestic s/h

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Jake is a great model. When I was in the class this last Friday, the warm up poses weren't the quickly-changing gestures I expected, but one very long--8 or 10 minutes, maybe--and very slow movement during which he went from bending at his waist to his arms stretched above his head, then out wide and back down. He held a scarf in his hands that was stretched taut between his arms the entire time. His body was twisting into different positions through all this and was full of a contained tension. Pretty cool!

"Model #1"

7"x5"

Oil on Gessoboard

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

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It's good to be back!!! I finished the 73 illustrations and got them shipped off and am happy to be back to the painting again! I took advantage of having time to go to a life-drawing session yesterday to draw as well as take a few photos to paint from. I can't remember how long it's been since I've worked from a nude model. How wonderful to do it! I'd forgotten how much I love just seeing the subtleties in the body and the lyricism in the way the bones and muscles flow together.

Getting back to painting again has been painful! I worked on a little one Thursday that I scraped off three times before I finally realized I wasn't going to get it that day! Not painting very much for nearly three months definitely takes its toll. On the other hand, I need to be reminded to have a certain humility in the face of what I do--and once I start to feel pretty sure of myself, I tend to forget that. I also saw what huge expectations I had as far as what I'd hope to accomplish once I got back to work--once again, to quote my dad, "let it go, Louie, let it go"!