Category Archives: Charcoal

The oldest, most basic tool for drawing. I use it for five minute (or less) quick figure sketches – on cheap sketching paper.

Figure Drawing, charcoal pencil on white drawing paper. 30 x 42 cm or 12 x 16.5"

Figure Drawing, July and August 2025

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Figure Drawing, charcoal pencil on brown recycled paper. 35 x 50 cm or 14 x 20"
Figure Drawing, charcoal pencil on brown recycled paper. 35 x 50 cm or 14 x 20″

Open figure drawing sessions usually stop for the summer here in Bruges, but luckily, this year they did not. A stalwart stepped up and volunteered to organize them. So the usual cast of characters, including myself, jumped in. Hooray!

Due to the instruction I have been receiving at the Watts Atelier in Encinitas, California though, my approach to figure drawing has changed – pretty radically. The Watts approach takes you back to basics so you can build up (correctly) from there. No one (who has already been drawing from the figure for decades) signs up for this unless they have become convinced of their (classical-method) ignorance.

Figure Drawing, charcoal pencil on brown recycled paper. 35 x 50 cm or 14 x 20"
Figure Drawing, charcoal pencil on brown recycled paper. 35 x 50 cm or 14 x 20″

So I’ve learned how to sharpen a pencil (seriously!). I’ve also learned how to hold that pencil (double seriously!!). I’ve learned how to create a line firmly and succinctly, without the chicken scratch of hesitation. I’ve learned how useful cheap, smooth newsprint can be (which strangely enough is not available in Europe!!). And yes I’ve learned anatomy, but perhaps more importantly I’ve learned methods of abstraction so as to quickly locate gesture and then turn it into meaningful form and structure. At all this I am still a rank beginner, but every once in awhile, I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Here are a few of the more successful drawings from this summer. September still beckons with regular sessions recommencing soon at the Hoeve Hangerin. We’ll see what happens.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Figure Drawing, Bruges, October 2, 2024

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Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Finally, the local artists consider the summer holidays over so that figure drawing sessions here can resume. Hooray!! Personally, I see no reason to stop during the summer but it appears I am in the minority on that one. 😉

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

So we began again. My friend Dominique was our model. At first I felt a little rusty, in the sense that I was too slow, so there were lots of good starts – for a pose that ended far too soon. As the evening wore on, the poses lengthened and I warmed up.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Here then are three keepers. My favorite is the spotlighted one above (available only in the online view). I like it because I feel that with this one especially I was able to get inside her pose and describe it from the inside-out. Yummy. The anatomy I have been learning this past year truly kicked in. It helped me to locate the important structures, to provide emphasis to the dynamic thrusts of her gesture: leaning against the wall with a protruding abdomen.

And I realized later that the importance of the intellect in figure drawing truly is outside the session. There you do your homework – so that in the moment, with the figure, you can truly let go – yet in an informed way. That’s craft. And in many ways all that (craft) has nothing to do with your ability to feel. We all feel, some perhaps more intensively than others, but when craft and feeling come together, yum, IMO that’s when the magic happens – and also effective aesthetic communication.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Figuur tekenen, figure drawing, June 26

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Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Tonight was our lest session of the season. Here in Europe people really do take the summer off – and it pretty much follows the school year. So, end of June to the end of September.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Our model tonight was Dominique. She sat for us a few weeks ago. Since then we have become friends. Nice.

In terms of approach I  decided to keep with my new attempt to integrate the highlights quickly after laying in the figure. It’s often the case that I have about two minutes to do so, but if the figure is right the placement of the highlights takes no time and even less decision making.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Here are a few keepers of the evening. So for now, relax, enjoy and have a great summer!

figure drawing on recycled paper, 35 x 50 cm

Figuur tekenen/Figure Drawing, June 19, 2024

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Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

I spent the afternoon out in the field working on a new landscape watercolor, so I was really tired but also artistically lubricated by the time the weekly figure drawing session rolled around. Nice. Thus, after a few warm ups – and getting a more or less intelligible figure down on paper – I felt inspired and ready to jump back into laying in the highlights quickly (the way I used to do) but now also (at least hopefully) more accurately.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

The three minute poses were still too incomplete – I’m still too slow. That will come, but for now, nothing to see here. I’m far more interested in getting accuracy first.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Anyway, our model tonight was a fellow we had about three weeks ago. His body is remarkably easy to read. I found myself joyfully discovering, first and foremost, the thoracic arch and the pelvis, the two (fixed) bookends upon which the torso rotates. That’s basic Bridgman – and I really appreciate it. From those landmarks the rest can follow: abdomen, external oblique (the “love handles” – not that this fine fellow had much to grab), clavicle, acromium process – and all that’s just the torso. The limbs extend from there. Here then are some keepers from the evening.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Figure Drawing, May 22, 2024

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Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

A different model tonight. A pear-shaped Venusian woman. She took good, challenging poses, though I confess I had difficulty reading the anatomical features which were so prominent last week in our tall, skinny, lightly ripped model. Tonight then was different.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

I was glad to find that at the end I did have a few keepers. In particular, one seated gem featured at the top of this webpage. All are fifteen minute studies.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

One change I made this week was reverting to the smooth instead of the rough side of the recycling pad of paper that I usually use. The Watts Atelier , where I have sometimes taken figure drawing classes, encourages using smooth newsprint – not rough. Thus, I have found that the smooth side makes it easier to rub away light marks, when you want to. Inevitably there are changes to be made in your drawing, but this can happen without using an eraser. Just a little finger rub, one more thoroughly tactile way to engage with the experience of drawing.

Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper.

Figure Drawing, Brugge, May 15, 2024

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Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

After a looong hiatus from Bruges but also from live figure drawing, I’m very happy to be back. During this particular interim I’ve been concentrating on studying the anatomy of the human figure: bones (skeletal), muscles, tendons, ligaments; but also differing schemes for abstracting figurative essentials in an accurate way. Mostly, these studies were done at the Watts Atelier in Encinitas, California – and most were done by using photo references from books. Tedious, perhaps. Uninspiring, well, yes; so you just had to supply your own. Which I did.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

My own inspiration then, my own questions, after drawing from the figure on and off for about forty years, were and are very specific. I have or have had no difficulty feeling the figure or expressing my feelings on paper but I certainly have noticed that I don’t always get the proportions right and, relative to anatomy, I have felt myself to be quite ignorant. In the world of Modern/Contemporary Art, neither of those things are a problem so long as you say something “personal” and that was what I was taught back in the day at my liberal-arts-college art department. Personal distortion is more or less expected. But there, for whatever reason, my temperament begs to differ: I feel awkward if things are off while my body tells me with a distinct sense of relaxation when I get it right.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Descending into these “left-brained” studies then has been deeply frustrating. I’ve had to retrain the dog so that, at least temporarily, I became ignorant and uncoordinated. My movements were slower and unsure, as analysis replaced intuition. My drawings were incoherent. Some instructors assured us that there was light at the end of the tunnel. I certainly hoped so. The good news was that I was instructed to use cheap and simple charcoal pencils. Nothing fancy or expensive, so any attempt was easy to throw away, but also no high-end crutch to rely upon. 😉

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

So here tonight, after returning to Brugge, I can feel and see some progress being made. My three minute gestures are currently trash (I am still moving too slowly) but all of the fifteen minute studies were “keepers”. Before I began my studies my batting average was maybe 50%? So my proportions are improving and I experienced great joy in discovering the various skeletal protrusions I had studied. Even the final pose of the night, a five minute energetically expansive one, fell into place quite quickly. Ha!

Five minute gesture study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm.

Five minute gesture study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm.

I can imagine that over time I will be able to return to the chiaroscuro I used to enjoy so much. That is, placing highlights and shadows quickly – but accurately. For now though, placement on the page with proportional and gestural accuracy is improving so I’m happy.

Fifteen minute study. Conté crayon tightened with pastel on tinted Canson paper. 32 x 50 cm.

Figure Drawing, August 22, 2022

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Three minute gesture study. Charcoal on tinted sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm.

Three minute gesture study. Charcoal on tinted sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm.

Fifteen minute study. Conté crayon tightened with pastel on tinted Canson paper. 32 x 50 cm.

Fifteen minute study. Conté crayon tightened with pastel on tinted Canson paper. 32 x 50 cm.

Last night I was happy to see our beautiful young man there again. He has slowly become more relaxed and creative as he learns the posing ropes. Nice. But indeed it was to be his last evening modeling for us, as the summer winds down and soon he will be off to school. But I did discover his name, Kobe, like the Lakers’ famous basketball player. Ha!

Additionally, I had also heard that last night was going to be our last evening at the kasteel (!) but in fact, that’s next week. 😦 Turns out, is was only a summer lease as there is no heating in the place and barely enough electricity for some spot lights, so we will have to go elsewhere. Apparently a new location has already been found – and with a year’s lease. Though sessions will not begin again until the end of October. OK.

Fifteen minute study. Conté crayon tightened with pastel on tinted Canson paper. 32 x 50 cm.

Fifteen minute study. Conté crayon tightened with pastel on tinted Canson paper. 32 x 50 cm.

Three minute gesture study. Charcoal on tinted sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm.

Three minute gesture study. Charcoal on tinted sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm.

Back to tonight. It was one of those evenings where for some reason it took me awhile to warm up. The first half did not yield any keepers but the second half did. I had purchased some new Canson paper in a grey-brown hue which I was eager to try out. The two fifteen minute studies displayed here are from that batch. Since it is a lighter tonality than the sepia I have been using, I can see that in the future I will want to leave enough time to zap in some shadow accents, too. As it is, I feel these two displayed here are quite successful though a little too light overall in tonality.

As the evening progressed I found myself repeating an artist’s mantra that a friend of mine who studied at the Ecole de Beaux Arts back in the seventies once shared with me:

  • mise en page (placement on the page)
  • circulation de la lumèire (circulation of the light)
  • ne tombe pas dans les détailes (don’t fall into the details)

The first one is appropriate for any two dimensional drawing (like the three minute gestures) but the second two are especially useful for the fuller development of any drawing (for example, the fifteen minute poses included here). Also, you do not need to restrict yourself to figurative work to apply these rules. They apply to abstraction and can help you to evaluate why a good abstract piece actually works – when it does. And, as I think about it, I would add a fourth: the appeal of texture. En français: l’attrait textuel?

Fifteen minute figure study. Conte crayon highlighted with patel chalk on Canson paper. 30 x 50 cm

Figure Drawing July 25, 2022

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Fifteen minute figure study. Conte crayon highlighted with patel chalk on Canson paper. 30 x 50 cm.

Fifteen minute figure study. Conte crayon highlighted with patel chalk on Canson paper. 30 x 50 cm

A new model tonight. A classically beautiful young man. Strong, healthy. He reminded me of a young puppy that is now growing/becoming a big dog. So his head, hands and feet were slightly larger proportionally than the rest of his body. At maybe 17 years old, he appears to be on the cusp of catching up. A wonder to behold. Shy, actually tense: this was his first time.

Fifteen minute figure study. charcoal highlighted with pastel chalk on sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm.

Fifteen minute figure study. charcoal highlighted with pastel chalk on sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm.

I really enjoyed drawing him though, allowing even his tension to reflect through. As it turned out, I think the fifteen minute studies were the more successful. This is because a three minute pose is all about gesture. And it took him awhile to get gestural, to relax. With one exception, his short poses were not very interesting (to me). I had difficulty getting a quick read. But the longer ones allowed time for roving and searching and because he had such a solid figure there was plenty of material to feel my way through.

Fifteen minute figure study. Conte crayon highlighted with patel chalk on Canson paper. 30 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Conte crayon highlighted with patel chalk on Canson paper. 30 x 50 cm

Three minute gesture study. Charcoal on sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm.

Three minute gesture study. Charcoal on sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm.

A few fifteen minute studies. and one three minute gesture.

Conté crayon on pastel paper.

Figure Drawing, July 18, 2022

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15 minute pose. Charcoal on toned sketching paper.

15 minute pose. Charcoal on toned sketching paper.

Rear entrance to Kasteel Rooigem in Sint Andries, Belgium

Rear entrance to Kasteel Rooigem in Sint Andries, Belgium

After a very long hiatus (2.5 years!) the open studio figure drawing sessions here in Bruges have finally resumed. Hooray!!! During this interim, while the pandemic raged, Bruno Van Dyck, our resident artist-host, moved to a new studio in an old castle. Thanks to him, we now have a lovely setting for drawing in an outbuilding of the (former) Bishop’s Palace, on the outskirts of town. A great setting: some clouds do have a silver lining.

3 minute pose. Charcoal on toned sketching paper.

3 minute pose. Charcoal on toned sketching paper.

15 minute pose. Conté crayon on toned Canson paper.

15 minute pose. Conté crayon on toned Canson paper.

So the place is new but the crew and the set-up is not. Bruno too, has passed the baton to a new “master of ceremonies”, who now collects our coins and instead of delicious jazz or fantastic guitar licks plays Piaf and French chansons. For a Belgian castle it all seems quite appropriate. Maybe next week we’ll get Jacques Brel? As the session began I wondered how rusty I would feel but as it turned out, there were a few keepers for the night. Included here are a few – plus the castle’s back door entrance.

 

Figure Drawing, December 23, 2019

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The model tonight was a lady named Angie. I scrawled her name across one of my drawings so I would not forget it. She is a large, jolly lady who I enjoy drawing. She takes good poses and seems to know intuitively what would be interesting for those of us on the other side. Below, two pastels on tinted Canson pastel paper and five charcoals on tinted sketching paper.

These drawings are posted much later than usual. They were done just before we departed Bruges for a three month trip – which became five due to the travel restrictions of the covid virus.

 

Conté crayon on tinted Canson paper, 32.5 x 50 cm or 13 x 19.75 in.

Conté crayon on tinted Canson paper, 32.5 x 50 cm or 13 x 19.75 in.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.