Portraits and Poster Studies

I came to the realization that if I was to fully take advantage of my time here while studying at the Grand Central Academy of Art I needed to seek help from God and allow Him to influence my efforts. In my prayers I have tried to be more specific, asking not just for help, but how can I improve my portraits?, turn better form?, and what can I do to better understand my teachers critiques? I have noticed that as I pray more specifically and put more effort into my prayers I find the help I am asking for. As I ponder on my questions thoughts come into my mind that hone my efforts and increase my understanding. The last several weeks have been some of the most growing and rewarding weeks in my art education. I have noticed my work getting better and better.

(above) portrait of class mate

Here are a few things I've been doing lately.

This is a poster study of Jacques-Louis David's The Death of Marat

The idea is to do a quick painting with emphasis on capturing the same values(light and dark). I would like to start doing a poster master copy once a week.

Here is a close up

(left) This is a sketch I did on the train on my way to school. The guy slept the whole way up. It was a good exercise since I couldn't really use comparative measuring... it would have been too obvious. I'm happy how it turned out.












(right) These are copies I did out of Vanderpoel's "The Human Figure. He was an incredible drafts-man.









(left) This is one of my anatomy sketches I did on the train out of Goldfinger's Anatomy Book. I have been studying a lot of anatomy lately. Not the easiest subject... it has taken a lot of work. In the spring I will be taking a ecorche/anatomy class. We will be sculpting a skelton first and then sculpting the muscles on top of that. I'm really excited.