I have been drawing since I was a child but discovered the figure in my late 20s and fell in love with it. That love affair continues in ever new ways.
I consider the figure one of the most challenging subjects to draw because there is so much to see, to feel, to sense, to consider, and to translate. Bringing the figure to life on the page in a drawing and allowing the subject its voice is an amazing feat. To me, it's a meditation and a primeval experience, something that connects me to this world and the divine.
Drawing the figure allows me to deepen my skills in anatomy, proportion, perspective, expression, learning to see and observation. Rembrandt’s masterful capture of the psychology of his sitters, DaVinci’s and Michelangelo’s anatomical studies, Käthe Kollwitz’s emotional expression, and many other eminent artists’ foci remain my inspiration.
Over the years, I have been fortunate to have had some exquisite teachers, including Sharon Pearson of San Francisco City College, artist Alan McCorkle, both now gone yet their work remains, and of course the talented models of the Bay Area Models Guild. Much gratitude to them all.
Although I draw in various media, including watercolor and pen and ink, my preferred medium is charcoal. Charcoal can be hard or soft, dark or light, malleable, adaptive to various surfaces, and using this medium expresses some layers I see. Charcoal also allows for wiping it down, in which case a faint remnant of the first drawing adds depth to the piece.
My ongoing work explores the human form through compositional elements, volume, light and shade, and the list goes on, all to express the physical and emotional attitudes, essence and beauty of the models I draw.
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