Untitled #108

Untitled #108

24" X 36"

Charcoal on Paper

2013

Most facial expressions are short lived, but on occasion you will find a consistent expression on a models face throughout the duration of a pose. It's usually not an ebullient one given the strain that life modeling at length can cause, as in this 25 min. pose.

The truth of observation is one of the richest rewards and goals in drawing from life. To see things as they are, and not as we would wish them to be is not often a simple or easy task. Given this, I think it's no small accident that humanity existed for countless generations before the advent of the scientific revolution in Europe. Perhaps due in part to the natural aversion we have to truths that don't conform to the stories we have concocted. It is painful - the truth; but as they say, "No pain, no gain."

It's remarkable to think that so much of the technological and scientific advancements of the last 500 years began just with simply looking, truthfully, at what is in front of us however beautiful or painful*. Faithful observation is at the heart of progress and Life Drawing is a wonderful way to connect with that tradition. 

*The model's hand only presented three fingers to my angle of view. I could have added another one, but hey, that was the painful truth. ; )