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The model drawings were produced in a figure drawing class that meets twice a week in the evening for nearly 3 hours. The first time I took the class, we primarily used a male model. The second time, we had a female model who was excellent. This year the models have been kind of hit-or-miss. We spent a lot of evenings without a model, but when we did have one, it was usually a very good one.

I started drawing (as most students do) with graphite on white paper about 6 years ago. It's a good way to learn line and value. I spent a long time just doing graphite, mainly because a teacher told me that I should use a medium until I got sick of it. When I finally wanted to do a drawing with color, I switched to colored pencils and did nothing but colored pencils for a while. I still really like both of those tools, but I have moved on to other media.

As you can tell, I really like to do charcoal. I think it is a very versatile medium and easy to use. It is messy, though. Some of the charcoal drawings you see here are produced by making a tone ground--covering the paper with a layer of charcoal at a mid-range on the value scale, and then drawing with an eraser and heavier pressure on the charcoal. I really like this technique (as you can see from all the drawings). I think it is because I have done so much black and white photography--it's just easier for me to see value than line.

There is also pastel and acrylic here. Pastel keeps me from getting too much detail in my work--something I have to fight now and then. I started a continuing ed painting class at the local junior college last fall (Sept of 2001). It's not so much a class as it is a place to hang out and paint for 3 hours a week and get some criticism from other artists. I'm getting more comfortable with the paint and it has changed my drawing quite a bit. You can see that in most of the new drawings from this fall (2002).

I have been taking photographs for many years--you will see a sampling of that here as well. I use my computer and digital camera for more and more of the imaging. I have a good scanner/color printer setup. I have kind of given up on the Bryce3D program until I can buy a new machine. The things I want to do can take hours and hours to render and I get bogged down when I spend all that time waiting and it does not turn out the way I want it to.

Enjoy!