Figure Drawing Exhibit at Atelier 6000

Many artists consider figure drawing (or life drawing) to be a crucial foundation skill for artists. Though you don't have to be able to figure draw to be an artist, drawing the figure from life (not photos) does engage your eye and heart in a different way than any other type of artwork.

From an early age, figures and faces were what first brought me to art. Though I've not made a career of drawing the figure (yet), I have regularly drawn from life for over two decades. Dipping into and out of the art of figure drawing over the years is like revisiting favorite classical music pieces. As I've changed with age and experience, my appreciation and enjoyment of figure drawing as deepened.

I put a few conte and charcoal figure sketches I've done over the years in this month's exhibit at Atelier 6000 in Bend, Oregon, June 2010. Be sure to check out the show of drawings. It is probably the most figure drawings to be exhibited in Bend, Oregon in a long time.  Dawn Emerson curated the exhibit. Thanks so  much Dawn!

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Charcoal and Chalk Drawings of Chili Peppers and a Goose Foot

Pulling from my creative well when I'm painting or creating with any of the other art forms I do seems to be much easier when I remember to fill that well. Drawing is one of those things I do for myself. I like to explore both the mediums and the image. Regardless of how many times I've looked at something or made a drawing of something, each time, there is something new I discover.

Chili peppers from the plant growing in my bedroom window are in a shape that reminds me of a hand. I didn't consciously draw them that way, but I've been spending some time drawing the human hand skeleton (at the local college science lab), so I'm not surprised to see that influence  in this charcoal drawing.

The goose foot was a gift from my friend, Terry Scoville. She's a hunter who shoots only for food. She seems to use everything when she harvests an animal. The foot was shockingly beautiful. It looks so much like a water plant. Terry told me about the circulatory system in the birds feet. What amazing structures.

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Co-Teaching a Workshop at A6 in Bend, OR

Patricia Clark and I are co-teaching the class, "Infringing Upon Barriers - Icons & Iconography" at Pat's beautiful print-making studio, Atelier 6000 or A6, in Bend, Oregon next week. It's going to be a lot of fun and very interesting. A6 is a "green" studio which means you won't be smelling toxic oil based printing inks. The light is beautiful, the workspace serene and well-balanced and Pat is lovely.

Here's what you need to to know about our class:

Workshop: Tue–Fri, Jun 2–5, 10:30 am–3 pm
Invite freedom and flow into your art and jump-start your creativity in this exciting class that breaks down the barriers between the artistic practices of painting and printmaking. Veteran artists Pat Clark and Cristina Acosta will demonstrate their process and techniques for you. You’ll learn to combine painting and printmaking techniques to create something new and different on canvas or paper. Not only will you be inspired, informed and empowered, you’ll have accumulated class techniques and processes to inform a portfolio of unique drawing and painting outcomes.
Adult. $151 + $35 studio fee.
389 SW Scalehouse Ct. Suite 120, Bend, OR 97702, 541.728.8527

We'd love to see you there!

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Sidewalk Chalk Murals for Kids

Drawing in public can freak out a normally well-adjusted adult, sending them shyly scampering at the mere question. On the contrary, most kids will excitedly step into the project. After my career as a window painter and billboard artist, I became so used to people watching me as I paint, that I can easily block them out, as long as they don't start talking. Even then, if I get very focused I can block them out.

That's why I was excited to help my friend Cameron Clark of C3 Productions. Cameron hired me to help with a neighborhood Earth Day event at Northwest Crossing in Bend, Oregon. My job was to facilitate the kid's chalk drawing mural.

It was a fun project. Cameron gave me a bucket of chalk and pointed out a 20 foot long section of sidewalk I would oversee. I drew a border around the area, then segmented out land, sky and water so that the kids could draw something within the Earth Day theme. The plan was for all of the images to come together into one large casual mural.

The kids did it!! I started a few drawings so anyone wanting to fill in the lines would have a start. Quite a few kids made their own drawings. After they finished and walked off I'd add a few bright lines to delineate the work or to freshen it after small feet and other body parts inadvertently rubbed off some of the chalk.

As you can see by my pant legs and shoes, I managed to sit on a drawing more than once!

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Sketchbook: Drawing a Portrait

People are one of my most favorite things to draw. I love the expressions of energy and personality the body conveys whether moving or still.

Lately I've been going back to my artistic roots to redefine the direction of my artwork. Reconnecting with the discipline of figure drawing is kind of like getting back into an advanced exercise program. It takes me a little time to readjust my eye hand coordination so that every move of my hand expresses the feelings and sensations my eyes and mind coalesce.

I've been dropping in on figure drawing sessions at our local college, with a sketchbook and drawing tools. I prefer graphite pencil, charcoal and roller-ball point pens. I especially like the permanent trail of marks the pen makes as I draw -- it's a very tight discipline.

The portrait drawing above is a pen drawing of our model, Eric.
www.CristinaAcosta.com

Drawing as Thinking

Ask most anyone (who is not an artist) to draw you a map to their favorite store. Give them a pen and paper and you'll get a map with all sorts of streets and landmarks. Ask them to doodle while talking or listening and you'll be amazed at what you'll see.

Give that same person a pencil, tell them you're an artist, then ask if they can draw. They'll usually say no. (That's been my experience.) It's time to get over the mind-set.

The truth is that anyone who can write, can draw. The eye-hand coordination necessary to shape letters and the understanding of symbols (the letters and their combination) is a form of drawing (ask any calligrapher). Making that drawing beautiful or up to whatever standard you have for yourself is a different subject. Even if you're drawing "ugly" drawings, you're still drawing.

And -- even if the drawing is a very realistic looking rendering, it is still a map of the artist's thoughts. That is what I love so much about looking at drawings -- they are very clear representations of the artist's thought process as they looked either with their eyes, or in their mind's eye.

So own up to the drawing you do, no matter what it looks like. Do more drawings, and when you look at them rather than assessing whether they are "good" or "bad", notice how your mind traveled and what you placed your attention upon (the reason one part of a figurative (realistic) drawing may be out of proportion compared to another part of the same drawing).

Note: Both of my drawings shown here are very different because they are conveying different things. I made the drawing of the Caring Hands to illustrate a poster for the play "Of Mice and Men". The goal for the piece was to look realistic, rustic and a little foreboding. The drawing of the Marching Man was created to illustrate a design concept related to shapes. Both of my original pencil drawings exhibit different intellectual and emotional goals.

The Marching Man drawing is available for sale through High Desert Gallery. High Desert Gallery has locations in Sisters, Oregon and Redmond, Oregon.

www.CristinaAcosta.com