Female nude sketch 5min pose from life drawing on paper

approx. 8 x 10 inches vine charcoal on Strathmore Artist paper
Quick sketch from the live draw event that I attended Saturday night, this was a 5 min pose, the idea is to get best out of a short pose in a compressed amount of time without too much thinking.
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"Ecstatic" 8x10 Semi nude figure female charcoal drawing

approx. 8 x 10 inches charcoal on Strathmore Artist paper
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I wanted to do a different angle on this one, kinda unconventional with the figure receding in the back and concentrated on the large almost abstract shapes in the front, for this I just use the wide side of a vine charcoal stick and trying out a few different white sheets of paper for charcoal, haven't found the 'perfect' one yet..

Belfort Ufc mixed martial arts figure drawing

approx. 6 x 8 inches pastel and panpastel on Canson paper
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New fighter drawing this week, the pose is more on guard, ready for whatever may come on the way! I did this one only with the harder pastel sticks, sometimes the tools used in a certain piece determine themselves on their own.

"Immersed" and Step by step drawing progression

Here's a step by step progression of this drawing, I thought it would be interesting to take snapshots during the creation of this piece, I'm sometimes surprised myself how this sketches come together

 

approx. 6 x 8 inches charcoal on Strathmore Artist paper

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Mostly vine charcoal here, the large masses are established with the broad side of it, at the start up I like to get a feel of the general proportions and then develop it further, the darker values are done with a charcoal pencils, they go from hard to soft, I tend to use 2b or 6b a lot, also some papers are better then others for charcoals like this as I'm actually finding out right now.

"Tara" 6x8 Fine Art Charcoal drawing with white chalk on paper

approx. 6 x 8 inches charcoal, white chalk and PanPastel on Canford paper

As you can see I spent more time on this drawing then on my quick sketches, I paid attention on the values and edges especially, you can never explore enough the drawing fundamentals and how far can they be pushed, I always learn something new with each drawing and try to keep that mindset throughout the creative process, otherwise my brain will tune into its usual comfort stand by mode.

Silva UFC Mma Original fighter figure pastel drawing

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Capturing the figure in motion was the goal here, getting the correct gesture in the beginning is crucial with dynamic figures like these, its all about the rhythm of the major outlines and suggesting the body's movement and energy in a particular moment.

Portrait of man 6x8 original charcoal drawing on paper

approx. 6 x 8 inches charcoal on Strathmore artist paper
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In a more contemplative/meditative pose, will be on a 7 day auction.

Study for Adoration female portrait with pastels

approx. 6 x 8 inches pastel with panpastel on Canson paper
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This pose is pretty common in traditional art, the female face looking downwards is depicted in many religious type of works throughout history, I wanted to do my own take on it and push the color a little bit with a more emphasized strokes of pastel, if you look at art history many works were interpretations of previous artworks, what makes something unique is the individual's input, his subjective angle on things, the theme can be anything, how successful the work will be really depends on the artist's involvement.

Reverie reclining female nude charcoal b&w drawing

approx. 7 x 9 inches charcoal, white chalk, black panpastel on Canford paper
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Here I started with a large block in first, meaning I loosely decided the large measurements first before going into smaller shapes, this is a good way to start if you want to have a general idea where the drawing is heading from the beginning, the tweaking of the small shapes comes later, I like to use a simple vine charcoal as I draw the first lines since its very flexible and easy to erase (I heard many of my students complaining how difficult this tool is for them), then I can follow up with a more 'concrete' charcoal pencil like 6B.

Henderson Ufc MMA Original figure drawing

approx. 6 x 8 inches pastel and panpastel on Canson paper
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Not your typical Ufc figher, this guy tends to stay relaxed and calm in the most difficult situations with a zen-like mind, and he is the lightweight champion of the world btw, I chose this pose cause it suits the fighter and conveys the emotion that defines him as a person, not just as a fighter.

Sonnen UFC Mixed Martial Arts Drawing

approx. 6 x 8 inches pastel and panpastel on Canson paper
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With the popularity of mixed martial arts I see more gyms popping up all over LA, well and some are closing, like the Gracie that just closed two locations, one in West LA and Beverly Hills I think, so today I stumbled upon a new traditional martial school in my neighborhood, it seems there's still a big interest in old school styles, in a time when everyone wants an instant result there's people that want to learn something more substantial, something that just can't be learned in a couple of months.