July 2007

"This sucks", I told John, just after I posted last week's blog. If you read last week's entry, you'll remember we had Dwight in a pose inspired by The Dying Gaul. "We didn't paint The Dying Gaul, we painted The Gaul with a Light Tummy Ache." John agreed, and we both committed to getting emotion in our work the next week. In anticipation, I pondered how to make Dwight suffer - in the painting of course. So reminding myself to 'slay my darlings', I took a broad brush to my work from last week. I first went from a tummy ache to The Constipated Gaul. ****! We told Dwight about our struggle, and being an artist and actor himself, he empathized and helped us by assuming the emotions we were trying to convey. As I progressed, it got worse. Frustrated, I almost asked Steve or John to kick me in the stomach to see if that would help. At some point, it began to work. If you don't emote it, you can't put it on a canvas. I welcome any feedback. Steve, John, Ken and I were in the AM session, and we welcomed a great newcomer, Jeff. Don:    Steve:   John:  Ken:

When Denny Doran walked in at 9:00 am.  Of course, he hadn't slept since I last saw him at the pool table in the Slip Inn much earlier that morning. But it made me very happy to have him drawing in my studio again. Denny used to run a Wednesday life drawing session years ago. It was always a sensational atmosphere and I adopted many things from his sessions into mine. Lisa brought a friend, Sal - thanks for coming! - to extend a three week streak of newcomers. Always exciting to meet new artists. Jeff was back, James, John, David, and arriving at 4....Robert! The last few weeks, we've been very light on the bad jokes. Aralyn (morning model) thought she was at the wrong studio due to the lack of terrible puns and goofy banter. Then that afternoon Robert arrived for the first time in a while. And we made up for three weeks in just two hours. Special thanks to Danielle, who modeled in the afternoon on short notice and put up with our definition of humor. Here is a drawing Denny did of Liza at the studio a few years back, Liza at Thacker Studio. It is on display at Norwood-Flynn gallery (www.norwoodflynngallery.com):    Jeff Cancelosi:        Don Thacker:    (in progress) John Kuehne:     David Terry:    Robert Opel:  

Every now and then, a model is a no-show. Unfortunately, this morning was one of those times. It is a miserable feeling to have a room full of artists and no subject. Especially as we've had such great turnouts and a lot of creative momentum lately. After an hour delay, though, I was able to produce for the group one of the most handsome and inspiring models they've ever seen. Then in the afternoon, Chris was our model. He quickly settled into a great seated pose, which we will continue next Sunday. It turned out to be a fabulous session after all. John Kuehne:  (and above) Sandy Ibach:    Steve Armes:   Sal: David Terry: Ken Michelson:   Jeff Cancelosi:    Don "The Muse" Thacker: