Valentina Charcoal Drawing

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I have been sifting through my piles of life drawings from models that I drew in Italy and trying to figure out what I can do with them. I want to keep many of them as studies or pose ideas for future multi-figure works that are brewing in my head. Others I simply like as they are and consider them finished works.

This next charcoal drawing is one of those. Usually I put the dates on my work, having a memory that focuses more on emotion than data. This one I did not, but I suspect that I drew this figure art in early 2009 when I was hosting an Open Studio for artists in Florence, Italy. If it was not 2009, then it was in 2008 near the time that I did a drawing of Francesco on this same-proportioned paper. [You may view the framed hands of Francesco here.]

I have drawn Valentina many times. She is a terrific model and a fun person. This horizontal composition of a lovely woman’s torso as she reclines with her arm resting along her body’s top edge is available framed for only $150 + $15 shipping (sales tax added, if applicable). Surround yourself with Valentina’s luscious curves…

“Sketch of Valentina”

6” x 17” (framed)
charcoal drawing on watercolor paper
copyright 2008-2011 Kelly Borsheim
$150 + $15 shipping (and maybe sales tax)

P.S. Please pardon the glare on this framed image. It is so hard to photograph some things! Here is an image before she was framed:

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!

Charcoal Figure Drawing Damaged

Cari Amici,
I had taken my disegno di carboncino (charcoal drawing) home from the studio these past two weekends to try to improve my tonal quality and work on the background of the figure drawing. On the 9th of March, I had a small accident and my drawing fell off of my easel. As I tried to catch it, my sleeve collided in the most unattractive and slightly random ways with the paper. I include an image here so that you can see how many steps back I took.

I seem to be having a problem getting the darks to stay on this Umbria paper. But then, I do not feel that I have created enough disegni di carboncino to be quick or perhaps have developed a better technique. And so, I continue to learn . . .

The second image of my drawing of the beautiful Valentina was taken on the 21 of March, my last day of working with this model. Now the drawing is safely in my flat. I want to add more narrative to this work, but this is really a new skill for me, so it may take me some time. Now that I have a photo of the near finished work, I will play in Photoshop to arrange shapes and decide which composition ideas will look the best. That way, I can minimize any problems with the carta by too much charcoal or too much erasure.

This morning, I went to the grocery store Standa to buy last minute food items for the lunch I am hosting tomorrow for Pasqua (Easter). I love these giant chocolate eggs wrapped in bright and glossy papers, but I cannot afford them right now. However, I love it that dolci is displayed right next to the Italian wines. I usually do not think that sugar and alcohol should be imbibed together, ma I like the idea of life’s little decadences.

And I ran into my friend Alessandro while in Standa. He is the partner of my friend Susanna; both are fiorentini and wonderfully kind people. I have always been partial to smaller communities and feeling that I know the people that live around me, so it is always a treat for me to hear my name while I am out and about. Buona Pasqua. A domani!