Pirogh Hesse

Clarinha at la Guitoune. Sanguine, about 65x50cm. Life figure sketch, about 15mn.

Back in Grenoble after a travel during the holidays, I continued watercolor sketches from the quais and river bridge.

Then, I visited my family in the Alps, first in Lovagny where there live in a chalet and then in Novalaise where they restored an old farm.

Watercolor, about 21x30cm.

During a bike trip with saddlebags and camping tent, I painted on the spot some watercolors of the scencic landscapes of the south of France. I left Grenoble, joined the via Rhôna and I then, reached Saint-Agrève and later, Rodez:

I drew fitst a quit sketch using a fineliner-pen and then introduced the watercolors. I used a small A4 sketch book that I've done myself with some watercolor paper, a cardboard sheet for the back, a transparent slide for the top and a a string for the binding. As for sketches in less than 10mn, I fixed here to finish each watercolor in about one hour.

Going back, I stopped few days in Die:

This is a charming small town circled by Gallo-Roman city walls:

Watercolors, about 21x30cm.

In february 2021, Kenzo Fry, from the Love-Life-Drawing web site, animated the Figuary 2020 event, together with excellent tutorials and advises. In march 2021, the drawing classes at l'EDSAD brutally stopped, due to the covid have come to a sudden halt due to the pandemic and strict lockdown. So, I finally subscribed to online lectures with Kenzo Fry at Love-Life-Drawing. The lectures focuses on life drawing sketches, wih concepts such as landmarks, boxes, simplification and gesture.

We also trained to short time drawings, here 3mn and 2mn:

The rerences for these drawings are photographs of models from the Croquis Cafe data base. Charcoal, about 65x50cm.

I started to study ink at l'ESAD with a night view of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral:

I based on a reference photography and used chinese ink with pen and brush, it is of about 32x50xcm. Then, I mixed it with charcoal and few color inks:

This is a personnal interpretation of the famous Gauguin's armchair painted by Van Gogh in 1888.

I discovered Lane Brown by the two presentation [part 1, part 2] by Kenzo Fry from the excellent Love-Life-Drawing web site. Lane Brown uses charcoals. I was very impressioned, I studied his style and try to reproduce some of its drawings.

Photographies of the original work by Lane Brown can be founded in [L1, L2, L3, L4 ], also archived as [A1, A2, A3, A4 ].

Charcoal, about 65x50cm.

I started to study charcoal at l'ESAD with a still-life:

I then turn to a portrait:

The model is Alice from Croquis Cafe: I worked from a video capture from the week 459, at 11'45'' of the video (8th pose). Unfortunately, the access videos became later non more free.

Charcoal, about 65x50cm.

I started to study charcoal portraits with the head of the Aphrodite of Cnide , known as head Kaufmann:

I observed the original sculpture in the Louvre museum in Paris and then worked with charcoals from a reference photography. I then turned to morphology, with the Écorché de Houdon, which is conserved at Villa Médicis, in the French academy in Rome. I founded references in volume 15 of the excellent encyclopedia Peindre et dessiner edited by Larousse in 1995: it just got an used version of the complete collection, with 120 volumes and 30 videos for 50 euros. Finally, I got a a 3D printing of it in resin of about 40cm high. Here is the result:

I used sanguine and some color pastel pencils. I then switched to the Vénus de Milo, that I also observed in the Louvre museum in Paris. Finally, I drew the David by Micheangelo which is exposed in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence while a copy is still in the street, in front of the palazzo Vecchio. I founded a free 3D computer's model of it in the amazing wikimedia project.

Charcoal and pastel, about 65x50cm.