Pastel III (NUDE, probably NSFW)

[Heidi]

If I spoke Italian better, I'd take a life drawing class. Instead, I've relied on a classical nude reference photo.

Royal Talens Rembrandt soft pastels (NOT oil pastels) on Canson Mi-Teintes toned paper (160 g/m2).

[Forkboy]

1. It's a sad state of affairs when fine art might be NSFW.

What's the world coming to?

I have a problem with the nude in art. And that is, there's too much reliance on it to the point where we seem obsessed with ourselves. We live in a universe full of a millions of things to draw and we focus almost religiously on the human form. In two years of art courses we spent almost all of that time doing nudes. What's the term? Human centric or something like that? We should focus on seahorses or something, I think. :)

Yeah, my art professors didn't buy my argument either. x(

Having said all that, this is still a really nice piece, so don't get me wrong. I still appreciate this stuff, but I want to see us artists branch out. Let's all paint a cauliflower or something! ;)

[Heidi]

2. I've spent 10 years painting other stuff. Now I want to explore the human body.

I didn't have the benefit of a formal art education. My university education was in journalism and political theory. I haven't had an art class since seventh grade. :(

[Forkboy]

3. I'll trade.

Because I have no clue what I'm talking about on DU half the time. :rofl:

Keep that between us, btw. :D

[Heidi]

4. I don't believe you for a minute.

You strike me as extremely informed when you discuss art. :hug:

[Forkboy]

5. Yeah, but read my posts in GD and GD-P.

I'm an ignoramus. :P

That's why I'm down hear, where I can wield my mighty ego with no repercussions. ;)

[Heidi]

6. Sorry. I'm still not convinced.

Any friend of ulysses is a friend of mine. :hug:

Edited for typo.

[Forkboy]

7. Ooops, bagged.

:D

Uly is definitely one of the good ones.

:hug: back atcha!

[Heidi]

8. He and I grew up about 15 miles apart!

And then we "met" on DU. :rofl:

[AllenVanAllen]

9. You're a Godzilla fan I presume

you can't be all bad!

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

10. It's wonderful!

As one self taught artist to another, you are where I want to be :toast:

[Heidi]

17. I do it every day.

That's the only way I make progress. Navigating by vibe (painting only when I'm "in the mood") just doesn't work for me in terms of acquiring new skills. x(

Thanks for your kind words, Dyedinthewoolliberal! :hug:

[EFerrari]

11. When I started drawing figural bodies

I used to wind up using my body as a model because there wasn't any other one around that would be still. It was a little bit like juggling and a little bit like drawing from the inside out, e.g., from how a wrist feels in that position and so on.

I like this one. There's one around here somewhere that has almost exactly that part of a nude sleeping body except angled about 30 degrees more away from the viewer.

[Kind of Blue]

12. I don't know how I missed this wonderful

piece! Just beautiful. I see it is Number 3. Have to find the first two. Thanks very much, my sister in pastels. Love the medium, as well :)
By the way, what does NSFW mean?

[Heidi]

15. Hi, Kind of Blue!

Thank you for your kind words. :)

NSFW means "Not Safe for Work" -- some employers don't like for their employees to view any sort of nudity on the internet(s), so I added the NSFW tag. :hi:

[Kind of Blue]

16. Ah, okay. Thanks for that.

:hi: I learned it the hard way when my stuff was considered unacceptable for some sites because of nudity :(
:rofl: :rofl: internets, that name will live in infamy.

[AllenVanAllen]

13. This very nice!

I love working with pastels but I get them everywhere! I can't help making a mess.

[Heidi]

14. Work vertically, and never, never, never blow the dust away!

I work vertically on a Talen's easel, and gently tap the back of the substrate to allow any loose dust to fall into my easel tray, then when I'm finished for the day, I just vacuum out the tray. :7

I hope you won't give up on pastels because messy prior experiences! :hug:

[onestepforward]

18. Beautiful! You are very talented!