Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Longing


Silverpoint

I meant to post this months ago, but never got around to it for some reason, laziness maybe. I'm not really sold on the "Longing" title so if anybody has a better idea I'm open to it. This has always struck me as more of a drapery study with an incidental figure than a true figure drawing. I used to hate drawing drapery like this, but somewhere along the line I got to like it. I suppose it has something to do with the more you do, the easier it gets. By the way, the full size image is about the actual size of the drawing.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a virtuoso performance of silverpoint, Dave. Absolutely lovely. I like your dynamic and iconic composition that forces the viewer to look up and admire the model. It is inspiring. What kind of ground do you prefer. I love talking shop. Thank you for your nice comments on my blog. (want to link?

Dave B said...

Thanks so much. I'd love to take complete credit for the composition, but most of it was the model and gravity. I just had the good sense to see it.

Grounds. . . . I've used all kinds starting with a watered down acrylic gesso which felt like working on a fine grit sandpaper. Adequate but not particularly good. This one is a zinc white gouache ground on Strathmore bristol board. Maybe a bit pedestrian, but it works well, is fairly easy to apply and gives a nice smooth surface. Studio Products makes a nice ground even though it's on the pricey side. If I remember correctly it's in an amber gum binder and has some bone dust mixed in. All in all it's really not much different from gouache though. It does have a really nice silky texture. If the feeling grabs you to try it, get the white and tone it with gouache yourself if you prefer a toned ground. The colors are too dark and cool for my taste. I get into this shop talk stuff too.

Linking? Love to. I'm embarrassed that I didn't think of it and just bookmarked your page.