Male Nude

This fall I have begun doing life drawings of live nude models. It takes me back to my college years when I had the opportunity to draw nudes several times a week for all four years. . .an experience that I, for the most part, took for granted at the time. 

Our sessions begin with a series of action poses - each pose lasting only a minute. I try to capture motion, the energy flowing through the body, stretching and straining of the muscles in my gesture drawings. 

After doing several gestures drawings we settle into longer poses, such as the one here.  I begin with a simple contour drawing tracking the edge of the figure with my eyes, while simultaneously drawing the contour very slowly, in a steady, continuous line as if I am tracing my pencil along the contour of the body. I then develop the drawing by focusing on the interplay of light on the body and the areas around the body using conte crayon on the toned paper.
Mixed media drawing. 18 x 24 inches. 2016