Italian Nude Male Drawing

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Sometimes an artist gets lucky and works with a model that has almost no fat. It is like having a living écorché! Italian-born Gianni is like that. Gianni has been an artist’s model for many, many years and on both sides of the Atlantic. He says he does not work out much, but he has always had this physique. I tried to capture the feel of his muscular form, but in the brief time that I had, I know that I left out so many nuances of shapes in the back.

Still, I really enjoy this original drawing, in part because it reminds me of historical drawings of male nude figures.

“Gianni – 18 March 2009” is an original drawing in charcoal on Arches paper. This paper is strong with some texture and very lovely. The dimensions of this nude figure drawing are 28 x 18 cm (approximately 11” x 7”). He is currently available for $150, which includes free shipping from Florence, Italy.

Send check or money order to:
Borsheim Arts Studio
P. O. Box 340
Cedar Creek, Texas 78612 (USA)
Or pay conveniently online with your credit card by clicking on the PayPal link below.

Thank you for your interest and support.


Plus, I thought this was of interest from my weekly e-mail from artsjournal.com:
Article: Arts World Weight-Sharing Techniques (How Artists Can Help Businesses)
http://www.thebulletin.us/articles/2009/03/18/arts_culture/doc49c0d3b88e20e987634465.txt

Nude Figure Drawing Florence Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Hello again! I would like to present to you another nude figure drawing of Italian model and friend Valentina. I drew this seated pose with carboncino (charcoal) on a slightly off-white thick textured Arches paper (from France). The paper is larger than this, but I like a cropping of the paper that gives an image size of about 31 x 24 cm (12 x 10”)

“Valentina – 11 marzo 2009”
charcoal drawing of nude

SOLD (updated 20 aprile 2009, kb)

Thank you for your interest and support. And Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Construction of a Painting

I started one of my “Naked Gondolier” series paintings this past Sunday. I am doing it in my spare time, whatever that actually means. Anyway, I used the drawing I did of “Mario” that I showed you recently in a previous blog entry as the step-off point. I like the idea of the light in a figure emerging from darkness.

However, I also wanted to imply the gondola, as well as a bridge. I mean, what else spells out Venice (Venezia) in bella Italia? I am not looking to create details, but I do want to elicit an emotional response to the romance of this city. So, I began my disegno, starting with line and a vague idea of three tonal values. I photographed my beginning and then, in Photoshop, started playing with various lighting effects.

Not happy with any one thing, I decided to just start painting. Sometimes these things have a way of speaking for themselves, you know. Yesterday, I asked the Maestro John Angel if he could give me some pointers. I felt lost because I liked the light under the bridge, but it might not work in this particular painting. I was not sure that I wanted the reflection of the bridge to alter the shape of the dark water on the left. And the list went on. I could see why artists do works in series – it becomes possible then to choose one element for each artwork and play with it. Too many notes being played at once only makes noise, not music.

Allora, I concluded my confession to the Maestro with a, “I think that I am trying to do too much with too little.” Tilting his head slightly and with a pensive hesitation, he responded, “You took the words right out of my mouth. But also, I think you are afraid to lose too much.”

Wow. He just summed up my life.

So, I will add the darks and get back to you.
Thanks for reading.