Today I was really wishing I could spend at least an hour on each pose. There is one session at the studio that’s one almost-four-hour pose, but it’s on Tuesday mornings and those are filled with important work meetings. Maybe some vacation week, though that would most likely be family time.

The breakthrough realization of the day was on shadows, which sometimes have sharp edges, sometimes soft ones. This is true even of small dimple-like shadows. Laying down the long edge of the charcoal and drawing the charcoal away from that point creates that clear edge better than drawing a line along the edge. I haven’t liked the smudgy, indistinct appearance of some of my shadows, and this really sharpens them up.

……….

I got so caught up in details that I lost track of proportions a little. Hard to keep all the balls in the air.

I was interested to learn that there’s a worker-owned art supply store in the city, so I checked it out after class, also enjoying the excuse to get dim sum, since the store is two blocks from Chinatown. Prices and inventory are good–it’ll be a pleasure to make it my regular source.

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