The Model and Gas Works in Three Hues

 

7/29/21 Stephanie posing at Gas Works Park

Joining a plein air painters’ group again, I had the opportunity to sketch model Stephanie at Gas Work Park. Like last time, I warmed up with a couple of sketches that were about the equivalent of five-minute poses (though the pose remained the same for the entire session, as many of the artists are interested in portraiture).

Then I settled down for 20 minutes with – you guessed it! – the Caran d’Ache primary triad I have been playing with. My original intention was to blend some of the hues the way I did at the McMenamins Anderson School, but for life drawing, I sometimes find that activating watercolor pencils ends up looking too harsh, especially on the face. I really love the softness of dry materials when depicting the body. So instead of blending and activating, I tried a sort of color-block style.

I took advantage of the model’s 15-minute break to use the same triad to sketch some of the gas works in the distance. It’s fun and challenging to play cool against warm hues and simply push myself to not be so literal with color.

As excellent a model as Stephanie was, I was tired of the pose, so for the next 20-minute session, I sketched a different “model.”