Warm Ups

Most, but not all, of the drawing sessions I do start with a series of short gesture poses.  Depending on the instructor or the session monitor, those gestures can range from ten seconds to two or three minutes.  These gestures serve as a warm up for the artists as it gets them used to seeing and drawing, moving their arms rapidly, making marks on their pages.  But it also serves as a warm up for me, the model.  I get to move quickly, taking poses that I couldn't hold for longer than two or three minutes, stretching my muscles and getting my blood flowing.  When doing anything shorter than three minutes, I always count the seconds in my head (unless the class is instructed and the teacher prefers to keep time), changing quickly from one pose to the next.

I have always been complimented on my gestures throughout my long modeling career, in my ability to come up with interesting and challenging poses.  I had never seen myself doing gestures though, only the quick sketches that have been the result of those poses.  I wanted to actually see (and critique) my poses, so, at a recent open drawing session, I took video of myself doing a series of one minute gestures.  Watching the video was surreal.  I was impressed that I was able to hold some of the poses so well, although I don't think I got the camera in the best angle to record those poses.  Of course, I was posing for the artists and not the camera.  One thing I did notice was that each pose was a little bit longer than a minute.  My counting to sixty was just a little bit slower than a regular clock.  Here is the video though, if anyone is interested.  Naturally, there is nudity in the video...

Hand Model

The Texas Academy of Figurative Art just finished an 11 week Wednesday night anatomy course.  It was my honor to have been the model for all eleven sessions.  The course started with an overview of the body, then had sessions focusing on the head, the neck and shoulders, the upper and lower torso, the back, the upper and lower leg, the upper arm, the forearm, and the hand.  Last night's final session was on the structure of the hand.  Katy, an advanced student and the artist who produced the drawing that sits atop this and every blog entry here, took a few photographs of that last session.

Cabin Fever

Today is Day Two of the big Dallas/Fort Worth ice storm.  It hit Thursday night.  I was told by my full time job to try to get to work.  I made a half-hearted effort Friday morning, but I ultimately decided to not risk the icy roads.  Worse than the icy roads are the other drivers.  So I have been in the house for over 48 hours now, minus a few minutes in the car Friday morning.  I really miss the warmth and the sun.  Our high temperature on Wednesday was 79 degrees.  I woke up at one point in the night last night and checked the weather app on my phone.  It said the current temperature was 15.

The novel is progressing, but I feel like I'm getting bogged down.  The entire manuscript is over 72,000 words now.  My November total was just over 60,000 words, and I've been writing a minimum of 1000 words per day since December started.  I'm pushing through.  It will be at least 90,000 words, I think, when the first draft is done.  Then the real work will start.

I have one more anatomy class at the Texas Academy of Figurative Art.  I then have a morning life drawing session at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center on December 17th and a Sunday session at the Dallas Creative Arts Center on January 19th.  After that, the spring semester will have started, and I'm hoping to pick up some modeling gigs at the University of Texas at Arlington.  It's just getting past this slow period that is the challenge.  If only the streets would thaw so I could get out...