The Human Figure

What we need is more sense of the wonder of life, and less of the business of making a picture. (Robert Henri)   

Robert Henri's "The Art Spirit", is a book I often pick up and read at random. I feel as though I found a kindred spirit in a man who lectured and wrote about art in the early 1900's... There is this dicotomy in how he views life and art - a certain childlike wonder that comes through as profound wisdom... hard to beat that!

What draws me into my studio? A sure-fire thing, is to have a model, bits of charcoal, a few sheets of paper, (it can be cheap cartridge paper or a delicious piece of BFK Rives, no matter). The human figure is the single most inspiring thing for me to paint or draw. Robert Henri says it perfectly when he states:

There has never been a painting that was more beautiful than nature. The model does not unfold herself to you, you must rise to her. She should be the inspiration for your painting. No [artist] has ever over-appreciated a human being.   

The two drawings above are from a commission I have just completed. Soon, I'll be moving studios, I look forward to a new space (above ground) with good northern light...