The Beautiful Troublemaker

Top:

Nude on the Couch (from the movie The Beautiful Troublemaker). 2019. Vine Charcoal on Old Master's Paper. 10" x 18.5". Casey Klahn. Actress Emmanuelle Béart.

Bottom:

Nude on the Couch Seen from the Back (from the movie The Beautiful Troublemaker). 2019. Vine Charcoal on Old Master's Paper. 10" x 18.5". Casey Klahn. Actress Emmanuelle Béart.

It's not the best practice: using a photo for your reference. Worse, yet, someone else's photo. Worser, yet, from a movie. But, I told myself when I started this 200 Figures Project, that instructional figure model videos were allowable. After all, I'd be needing practical, fresh sources on a constant basis, and it is about practice.

La Belle Noiseuse (1991, which is The Beautiful Troublemaker, is as much an instructional video as any other. It features long shots of the model posing, and also long sequences of the artist just drawing, or re-arranging the studio furniture. I think that's courageous of the filmmaker; it dares to bore the viewer. I wasn't bored at all! I grabbed my iPad and started sketching along with the sessions.

I am a little more than halfway through this project, but it doesn't help that I go through and cull out works occasionally (I got rid of 2 this morning!). Most of my source work is sketches from life models, and I am constantly re-mining those for new works. I am allowing master copies, and by my count those make up 9-10% of what I've posted. Instructional sources, such as Croquis Cafe and this movie, are fewer, yet. 

Thanks for following along. 

Mojo

Female Nude Standing with Arms Up and Behind Head. 2019. Pastel, Vine Charcoal, Dry Ground & Spray Acrylic Varnish on Old Master's Paper. 18.5" x 12". Casey Klahn.

As I approach a hundred figure drawings on my 200 figures project, I have been culling the worst of them. I actually have done well over the hundred, but rejected before finished, or else after looking at them on Pinterest, I scratched my head, and deleting them. This is a fresh look at one of the rejects, and what I did was go to Edgar Degas for certain body parts as reference material.
Some artists don't like Degas, but for me he is the top of the heap. As it turns out, I did not copy the body part, but got his attitude; his mojo. Maybe I should've titled this one "Mojo."

You can see my 200 figures progress on Pinterest.

200!

19 of 200 figure drawings completed now on week two. Can he make it? 

Since beginning this series, I have adjusted the goal from 100 to 200. The idea is to ingrain the figure into my mind and hand as it once was so many years ago. The difference is, now I am informed by real models and master examples. 

See the progress at Pinterest.

shown on top:

Study for Good Hair and a Russian Bear Hat. 2018. Vine Charcoal on Brown Paper. 24" x 18". Casey Klahn.

shown on bottom: 

Vermillion & Green. After Degas. 2018. Pastel, Dry Ground & Vine Charcoal on Townsend Sanded Paper. 22" x 18". Casey Klahn.