At the Drawing Club...

I don't find my way to The Drawing Club at Gallery Nucleus nearly often enough these days, and miss it!  The best models in Los Angeles make regular appearances there...and always great themes.  Bob Kato and his crew create a wonderful environment with music, lighting and a background...not so many props as the old location, but the mood is there just the same.

Here are a few drawings from (fairly) recent visits...most all of these drawings are some combination of watercolor and gouache with pencil or crayon.

Larva as a wonderfully cinematic Cleopatra...

Debra brings the look and the attitude of 1950's glamour...

From some Sunday sessions...

Sarah Streeter is radiant in a Pre-Raphaelite theme (I often like my thumbnails better than drawings I spend more time on).

Mark is a very dignified character from the era of John Singer Sargent, and Larva sets the mood in an Edward Hopper-inspired theme...

The Drawing Club

Once a month, The Drawing Club in at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra hosts a 3 hour "long pose" session on a Sunday morning.  This brings out the painters--who work in all kinds of media.  I like the opportunity to experiment with something that lands somewhere between drawing and painting...working back and forth.  Most all of these are some combination of pencil, water-soluble crayon or litho crayon, watercolor and gouache, and occasionally some acrylic.


I like to start with small thumbnails to explore different compositions or approaches--I often end up liking these more than the "final" drawing!  Always it's an experiment...

Here is elegant Daniella Traub in a Klimt-inspired theme...
drawn and painted here on orange paper.

From another session, Sara Streeter as a flamenco dancer...

Peggy Moore is a wonderful character model...here she recreates "Helga", Andrew Wyeth's favorite model...

Here in Los Angeles, we are so lucky to have so many talented actors who are also great character models!  Another is John Mackey, who brings the era of the Ashcan School vividly to life...an art movement in the early 20th century that depicted the grittier side of city life...

Lauren is elegant, posing here in a sort of Art Deco-style Western Painting theme.  Bob Kato, who runs The Drawing Club, projects an image behind the model--here it's a beautiful Edgar Payne landscape which I couldn't help but try to suggest...

A Night at the Moulin Rouge...

...at the Drawing Club in its new location at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra...Sara Streeter brings us the era of Toulouse-Lautrec...

The Drawing Club Moves On...

Hard to believe that The Drawing Club is pulling up stakes, and moving to a new home...Gallery Nucleus!  I'll miss the old "Club" atmosphere, but looking forward to the tradition carrying on in new surroundings.  Here are some last sketches...

Daniella is elegant in a Mucha-inspired Art Nouveau theme...

Sara brings back the era of Toulouse-Lautrec's Moulin Rouge...

...and Jee Teo is the Hawaiian Dancer...