Light Source

Dexter Dozing (2013)
Oil on canvas

Dexter is a frequent model at the Art Academy, a former professional athlete who's in amazing shape. The Instructor set up a weird, misshapen lamp next to him in order to create more dramatic lighting, and I thought it looked so interesting that I decided to incorporate it into the painting.

Stylized

Julia with Shadows (2013)
Oil on canvas

This was actually the first painting I did in the 8-session Figure Painting class with I took with Matt Wright at the Art Academy, but it's the last one of the paintings I did during the sessions that I actually finished. I didn't get very far with the painting in class, but I liked the composition, and the shadows on the wall behind Julia, so I took it home and kept working on it. When I do that, the painting tends to become more stylized.

Experiment

Angela Reclined (2013)
Oil on canvas

Even though I've been doing a lot of work at the Cincinnati Art Club lately, I decided to take a Figure Painting class at the Art Academy of Cincinnati for a different perspective. For this two session pose, the Instructor, Matt Wright, suggested that we spend the first class using only black and white, and not adding color until the second session. The result is, in my opinion, one of the best paintings I've done recently. Trying something different and getting out of your comfort zone can sometimes yield great results.

Crouching Tigress

Julia Seated (2013)
Oil on canvas

Julia is a wonderful model, with a Rubenesque figure and a head full of wild, curly multicolored hair. She was able to stay crouched in this pose for three hours, allowing me to create a painting that suggests energy and movement.

Earthy Youth

Alan Seated (2013)
Oil on canvas

This handsome, athletic young man posed for a session at the Cincinnati Art Club. After the sitting, I decided to re-do the background in various shades of green, in order to complement the earthy colors in his caramel skin.

Amazon

Standing Female Nude (2013)
Oil on canvas

This beautiful, young red-haired model at the Cincinnati Art Club posed standing for 3 hours, exuding a confident, almost masculine energy. Wit her french braided hair and steady gaze, she reminded me of an amazon.

Portrait

Seated Female Nude (2013)
Oil on canvas

I've been doing a lot of figure painting lately, so when this pretty, redhaired girl sat down to pose, I thought I would focus on her face and paint a portrait. The lighting really created a lot of great shapes, shadows and colors on her face and in her hair that I wanted to capture.