White Pencil Drawing of Nude Male Figure Florence Italy

Cari Amici,

Not too long ago, I hired one of the many charming Italian models here in Florence to pose for other artists and me for a two-hour sketch (including breaks). Since sculpting the bronze “I am You”, I became even more interested in how different individuals or specifically even men and women carry themselves.

So, on this evening, I asked Mauro to try to imitate the pose that you saw in the charcoal drawing of Ilaria that I posted yesterday. He really could not get into the pose, which I found interesting. But he did an acceptable job of holding the gesture that he did give us.

Here you see my work of a white pastel pencil on black paper. I am really enjoying this idea of light from darkness. I hope you do as well.
His price is 125 USD, plus $20 for shipping and handling. Contact me if you are interested in “Mauro in Light.”
Thank you for reading.

Kelly

Figure Drawing Charcoal

Cari Amici,
What possesses me to share these images escapes me. I am the queen of macchiata (blotchiness). What you see here is my work-in-progress of my figure drawing in charcoal of the Italian model Valentina. I wrote about her transfer to the Umbria paper on this blog on 24 Febbraio.

Here you see that I have not only established my three main tones, but now I have begun to work the darks to get the figure “to turn” (look 3-dimensional) and try for a movement of tone in my background. Hence the blotchies. Apparently, as I have heard many people here in Florence, Italy, say, I draw like a sculptor. I exaggerate. I have yet to find this truly objectionable, but it does mean that I have to do more work. If I would simply lay in the tones correctly, I could create more art.

Instead, I exaggerate and then must settle it down. I justify my behaviour by explaining that I do not have access to the model for nearly enough time and need to make these notes to myself of what I have observed and chosen to do about those observations. But then, we all justify our behaviour, si?