Keilani

This is my sketch from last night's class. This sketch took about 2.5 hours. The model's name is Keilani and Bill told me that she has modeled for him in the past. This drawing was based off of a photograph he took of her from one of their drawing/ painting sessions. Bill told me that she is half Japanese and half Irish, but spent much of her childhood in Hawaii. He also mentioned that she was Miss Arizona in 2000. :-)

Looking through the stack of photo reference is an overwhelming experience, as he brings seemingly hundreds of photos with him. Once I stumbled across this photo, though, I was instantly compelled to draw from it. The lighting, the perspective, and her salt and pepper hair struck me as rather interesting. Her eyes seemed to communicate a certain confidence and wisdom that comes from having a few years " in the books" so to speak.

This week was much easier with the charcoal as I've been practicing through out the week, trying to get better with the medium. Next week we will be drawing from a live model (who might be Keilani, much to Bill's excitement!) I'm hoping I can carry some wind from this week's class into the next one.