This sketch was an exploration into how I can manipulate warm and cool light on a white object using a palette of just three colors. For me, this was so interesting as my eyes opened to more chroma on the subject and I felt my drawing/painting begin to search for using changes in chromatic planes to suggest value. This is a quality I believe is very tough to learn and teach. I am thrilled to be exploring this section of working with oils alone in my studio. More than ever, I am believing that color is so relative that personal exploration is the most sane way to learn about color. At the end of the day, no one sees what you see…..

3 Color sketch! Ult Blue, Quindocent Red, Cad Yellow

 
 

Pilea Peperomioides

I’ve been playing with how I arrange my easel for set ups and catching light from my window. I’ve also been enjoying mixing from a minimal palette with more chromatic yellow lately (cad yellow light), to play with how I express my visual experience of a subject I am entranced by. Hope you enjoy these small piece and the set up images below.

The chromatic highlights were might focus for this entire piece. The rest of the painting is designed to serve the bright greens and blues in the upper most leaves.

The block in before the fun begins!

The set up, using comparative measuring and visual impression for this painting.

On the Easel

The comical picture above summarizes well what it can be like to paint in a studio space during the storms of life. We all do our best to ride the wind when we can hold our ground when we must!

I created this miniature oil painting to interpret John Singer Sargent’s “ Blonde Model.” I aimed to convey a light effect similar to the painting he created but to let loose while I painted and disappear while I sorted out the colors in my own experience. It isn’t very easy to develop a sensation-based painting while being heavily analytical. Not that either process is separate from the other…. but enjoying the intensity of creating a painting while being free in connection to the subject is an indescribable experience. The sense of balance I experience is like nothing I’ve ever felt.

Cheers to balance, living through storms, and learning to enjoy it all.

Fresh from Life

The light in my space has improved since November - January …. yay for a hint of spring and some indirect light in my space.

The top photo shows the setup, the first phase of the sketch, and the second phase of the sketch to prep for the painting.

The second group of photos shows how I look for flat shapes and local value, color, and temperature, and then all smaller shapes following the same design principals on top of the the larger shapes.

Head Studies with studio Escalier

This week I was so excited to begin meeting up to listen to lectures and utilize videos of models posting with Michelle Tully at her Atelier , Studio Escalier near Paris. I have love her holistic and thorough knowledge sharing and resources she is sharing. Its very autonomous and asynchronous which I really enjoy when it comes integrating ideas and finding focus.

In the first sequence I believe the middle phase of this portrait is the most successful. I enjoy the shape design, number of values, simplicity, and the darkest darkest are reading really well. The later phase of the drawing there are some added planes I will edit out now. But for the sake of keeping on keeping on…. I tend not to dwell and just analyze my efforts and move on. Below is another drawing sequence from week 1.

This drawing is also early on in the phase of work. By the 3rd drawing its only 4 hours of work. I have added enough value to seek where I will changed some structural points and then continue to add value. However, these are intended for paintings so I am leaving the graphite for now and moving onto the painting. :)

Thanks for reading.

Enjoy some drawing today.

Head study and personal expression

Check out this journey of progress shots on how I see and move this drawing along. I am beginning to see, that I actually see a lot more than I give myself credit for. So instead of looking for a smooth perfect drawing, I really allow myself to leave the patches of light I chose to create. I believe it’s my eyes perceiving warm and cool next to one another. I’m not controlling the drawing process at all and therefore leaving room for my brain and eye to do as they please while Im studying this image. The inspiration image is sourced from “ Drawing the Head”, by Oliver Sin. I can sense that when I made this drawing I was definitely thinking of painting. To me, for work to not be grueling I have to be able to lose control. So fun. here is the video below.

study from Drawing the Head , by Oliver Sin

Quick video reel of the progression of a study I did early in July.

Courses and Musings

In this post, I share a bit about the course I’ve been doing, a philosophy of realism teaching, and my favorite painting from the course.

Read More

Progressions of Pet Portrait

Progressions are one of the best ways I keep track of how I am painting and what I enjoy about my process. Here is a fun recent progression from a dog portrait. I kept painting on this painting after these images. Tracking the evolution was only something I managed until this point in the painting. Check it out.

Line, Mass, & "the wipe out" method in oils

Oil paint is such a fun and flexible medium. This underpainting was massed in with a mix of ivory black, raw umber, and light amounts of gamsol. The primary effects are done with a smooth consistency of mostly paint.

The set up is an adjusted sight size set up. An actual sight size would be performed with the easel directly beside the still life. I really enjoy doing this adjusted set up to test my ability to use a visual approach to sight size concept.

I mixed up some color for the next layer, and I’m looking forward to creating a simple painting that has a graphic and modern feeling using this traditional approach to image making.

I’m rearranging my studio space lately, which I’ve only been in for 7 months… so I’m still getting used to the space. I’m excited to get a set up going that will allow me to be sure I’m getting more life drawing in. I’m so grateful for the latest emergence and openness of other artists working from photos and ipads which helped me getting painting and drawing again. We all need the touch stone of why we feel in love with realism in painting…painting from life.

Cisco Drawing

Well folks, Sometimes what you have been seeing in paintings sticks with your brain and shows up in your work. Hopefully, when this happens it happens with an authentic energy that makes the essence of what you observed become your own and show up in a personal form. I am into all things energetic…. it’s everywhere. I love noticing it and riding those waves to tap into what I am seeking for that day… a feeling, a skills use, or an effect…. you get it…

My puppy Cisco is slightly older than 1 year and has the coolest personality coming through and I was delighted it showed up in a drawing I did of him last week.

What got me there was sorting through the paper I’d collected and being picky about what I felt like using that day. I had also recently stocked up on willow and vine charcoal and got lucky that all the pieces I had purchased were accurate in their hardnesses. I sharpened everything and organized it on a table the day before…. and you guessed it, being prepped let the drawing time truly take place.

Here is the progression. And if I can link it I’ll share the french musician I was listening to for the piece.

1 Start broad

- Begin with a rough envelope block in of the entire form and then move forward once you have drawn lines around the “exterior” of your form. Use soft mediums and light lines so that as you determine your interior shapes that will truly dictate the entire form you can get rid of envelop lines.

-Follow up by looking for big shapes, and blocking them in the same way you did the exterior shape. Be soft still and remember to squint

- Add a bit of mass to help you check for the overall impression and accuracy you would personally like to express.

2 Darks & Shapes

- Be as concious as possible while you are looking for shapes and the quality of shape edges , and think like a painting is being created. Remember you are NOT photo printer this is about how you are experiencing the subject and how you are seeing the light.

- experiment with how you can hold and use various edges of your tool/medium to create the feeling you see in particular areas of the form.

Focal Area

- Be selective as you go so you maintain the feeling you got at the start of the drawing. This will keep the drawing feeling fresh and avoid “overworking” certain areas.

- If you recognize anything, remember to celebrate! This will balance out the inner critic and allow you to have the bravery to change areas you might be

hesitant to change yet truly they need to be edited.

- Take a break and ask if you have the feel you intended and be sure to stop when you answer yes!

Have a lovely weekend, Laura

Rocko Portrait Drawing Progression

 
 

Hey There, happy new year. I am sharing a drawing progression I worked on last month. This was a really fun little buddy to draw, his name is Rocko! This year in my drawings I am really loving drawing animals and searching for shapes and structure relationships. I love the start of a drawing. I think the initial stages of a drawing reveal where the piece really began in the eyes and mind. To share clearly the initial stages of this drawing I’ve shared large images below.

This drawing was originally started with the intent to be painted over. However, the surface of this paper and the structural nature of the drawing inspired me to maintain it as a drawing. I hope you enjoy the images and have fun drawing.

Have a great one, and reach out if you’d like to chat about drawing or teaching.

cheers,

Laura

3 Moves, 2 Dogs, 1 Biz, and a degree later ...

I’m back at it folks and ready for some art talk.

Never let it be said that grass has been growing under my feet.

The last several years were a whirling blur. At the start of my blog and studio, I had newly arrived back in the States, married, figuring out life, and suddenly relocating to live in Seattle for my husband’s career all in 3 and a half short years. Maybe, we can all agree that those initial years into your 30s are a doozy ?…

I had spine health complications to cope with during this time so it’s been a heck of a time. My health journey led me to a tunnel of research and a degree in Kinesiology, Human Movement Science. As much as I am able I have healed myself. The entire experience has deepened my life. My passion for remaining well and assisting other in the busy world of health and wellness became a small business where I care for others with wellness challenges. ( see laurahausler.com) I had a few bumps in the road on the way…. I didn’t expect that I would be teaching my body to walk again in 2019 or learning about the somatic movement back in 2015. In my movement work I have woven together a beautiful wellness opportunity I hope you will visit the work at some point. The anatomy of my movement expertise was born from my experiences in life drawing. I learned that in wellness when you view patients as their own masterpieces amazing things happen!

the years of 2020 and forward were for many of us “survival modes”.

For me moving back east, being near family, and enjoying a slower rhythm have been wonderful restarts for my senses.

So…. I’m here again. remade a room into my studio, with my easel, and my drawing tools. There is a bit of natural light pouring into my small window. I hoped against the odds I’d get back to it…. and here I am. The funny thing, I’m more confident and stronger at drawing now than ever. A little older, more gracious with myself, and genuinely experiencing my work as a joy in life.

Halo, Hat, or Abstract shape

I learned a great deal from a recent self portrait. I really broke it down into 5 stages. My Method written out on the Student part of this site expands on the images you see below. 

Student Work

" Whatever the soul knows how to seek it can not fail to obtain" - Margaret Fuller -     

I love this quote. While we have very little control of a great many things, there is a very strong will married to the existence of creativity and exploration. I believe that when it comes to learning you very much need this strong creative will and it can take you anywhere! This is why I teach. 

I wanted to add some photos of two student works to the teaching blog.  When I am teaching I get almost giddy as I see students beginning to nail down the process of seeing like an artist. Drawing from life is huge shift in thinking and seeing. I can't help but cheer in my mind when my students are gaining ground in their understanding. These two images were exciting to me because of the efficiency and questioning these students used to create their block ins. Like I said, I was  definitely cheering in my mind as they were drawing. The word proud won't do justice to the effort I see growing in the studio. Bravo everyone. 

Efficiency and visual experience of a form achieved in a block achieved by a young artist Rileigh.

Efficiency and visual experience of a form achieved in a block achieved by a young artist Rileigh.

The middle stage of his drawing, by a young student Weston, who is beginning to merge this solid construction with value and mass.

The middle stage of his drawing, by a young student Weston, who is beginning to merge this solid construction with value and mass.

Progression of Structure and Value

Hopefully the below slide show will speak for itself. Please stop and review previous pictures and flip forward to the proceeding ones, and go back and forth as much as you can. I placing these images here for the ability for student to see works in progress.