Art of Nathan Yeager

2009-12-03T18:33:00.000-08:00

Portrait of Simone

2009-09-14T18:45:00.001-07:00

New Portrait in Oil

2009-07-21T15:37:00.001-07:00

Portrait

2009-06-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Portrait of Betsy - Oil

2008-12-24T10:47:00.000-08:00

The last painb\ting I did relied on grisaille and multiple layers of glazes. This one started off that way in the face, but evolved into alla prima in the chest and shirt. It looks more alive in these places.

Can you tell it was painted from a photographic reference? It's difficult to guess the colors from a photo. If I work this way agian I'll do some color studies with the model and use black and white photos for the structure.

Self Portrait

2008-12-24T08:06:00.001-08:00

This portrait was drawn a couple weeks ago following Anthony Ryder's technique.

Back to Charcoal

2008-10-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

This drawing was challenging. A gray shirt on mini blinds on a white door. I must say the subject matter was not the most interesting, but I am forcing myself to undertake such subjects. The point is to keep studying and getting better.
The composition resembles a Trompe L'Oiel set up in how all the objects are on a flat surface with severe shadows thrusting them forward. It is an interesting and relatively easy effect to achieve.
I stayed as faithful to the actual values as possible, even though charcoal seems to want to move to the dark side very quickly and easily.
Getting away from the toned paper was a nice change. I much prefer toning myself to using toned paper. The process is much more organic. Highlights look more like actual light than bits of white out on dark paper.
In reality the color is cooler than this warm almost sepia hue. Must lean more about photo editing.

Studio Incamminati

2008-10-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

My wife an I recently took a short vacation to Philadelphia. It's an interesting place. The buildings are beautiful, the weather was perfect, the bars were out of this world - tons of great cheap microbrew and amazing vegan dishes in almost every place we went. All that said, the real reason for me to visit was Studio Incamminati.

I have never seen any place like this. Beautifully restored old building in dowtown Philly. The school occupies the full top floor and parts of the lower floors. Founder Nelson Shanks was not there, but several instructors were present for an open house. Stephen Early was giving a demonstration.

Seeing the studies of all these great artists was nothing less than inspirational. I do hope to attend one of their workshops in the near future.

Thanks to the three people who showed me around that place.

Hand Study

2008-10-26T13:13:00.001-07:00

This picture contains a few studies of hands drawn this past Friday and Saturday. Carbon Pencil and White Charcoal were used. The technique I used to get the proportion is the one that both Ted Seth Jacobs and Anthony Ryder use.

You create an envelope and continually refine the contour until you have a blueprint. It's astounding how easy this technique is. All mistakes are easily corrected by this procedure. There are no artifial structures to work with (oval for head, cylinder for arms etc.) It is daunting at times to continuously remind yourself to represent what you see rather than the preconceived notion of the object before you. You may tell yourself that a shoulder, for example, should be more rounded, but does it truly appear to be more rounded? Is there really a full value range or do the shadows tend to stay in the middle range. With all that said the right hand still seems a little off, but that just means more improvement.

Cast Drawing

2008-10-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

This image is a drawing of a cast of my own hand. I'm fortunate enough to have know someone who can make these casts and it didn't cost me a dime, but they do normally charge for them. If anyone is in the Memphis area and would like a cast ask for Tim.
This drawing was done on gray toned paper with vine, compressed, and white charcoal. This is one of a few pieces done lately on toned paper. Not sure that I'm a fan of toned paper. The image somehow doesn't seem as real. I plan on working more from a toned wash and pulling the light values back out with those wonderful kneaded erasers.
This one was a test of that omnipresent struggle of deciding how much detail to allow. Will adding detail detract from that overall effect? It does feel that the right balance was achieved in this piece.
Norman Rockwell's autobiography My Adventures as an Illustrator deals with this subject in funny anecdotes. He would use techniques such as using his left hand, painting with a brick or a shingle, or even painting drunk in order to avoid tightening the work up too much.
My wife loves this one. Not that the work is that good, but that fact that it is on this website means the setup is no longer occupying the dining table :)

Belvedere Torso

2008-09-17T04:22:00.000-07:00

This study of the Charles Bargue plate the Belvedere Torso was a great learning experience because it really forced me to focus on my weak areas. Every bit of this drawing is covered in detail. The measuring and remeasuring was excruciating at times, but without it the drawing would have been hopelessly flawed. This one was my second attempt. The first one will not make an appearance here.

I will be posting drawings from my own casts. One of my friends was kind enough to make a mold and cast of my hand. Time to take what I've learned in these copies to the third dimension.

Drawing of a Glass

2008-08-05T04:26:00.000-07:00

I found this one in the attic. It was probably drawn about two and a half years ago. It's amazing the drawings you completely forget about.

Drapery Drawing

2008-08-05T04:21:00.000-07:00

This one took a couple hours. Pencil only.

Foot Study

2008-07-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

I read Anthony Ryder's book Figure Drawing about eight years ago and was quite impressed. I was pleased with the few drawings I did following his technique. The book was lost during one of my many moves, and as a result so was his technique.

Amazon was happy to send me a replacement. Eight years later the tools are just as good.

The drawing above took about one hour to complete. It seems that the overhead light caused strong lights and shadows.

Self Portrait in Carbon Pencil and White Chalk

2008-01-21T16:22:00.001-08:00

It has been below freezing the last few days, and since we are trying to conserve energy and money, my portrait reflects it. I believe I was wearing five layers at the time.

This is my first drawing using carbon pencil. It is quite a strange medium. The effect is similar to charcoal, but the application is closer to graphite. One aspect I learned about carbon pencil is the matte effect you get with a fixative. The darks stayed very dark and uniform. Once the fixative dried I applied the white chalk which really made the highlights pop on the nose and cheekbone.

I also experimented a little with the lighting. Limiting the light forced me to focus on large forms rather than the details I normally head straight toward. I am pleased with the result and plan on exploring this approach further.

New Studio and First Painting

2007-12-23T14:09:00.000-08:00

These are pictures of my garage recently converted to a studio, an easel I built, and my first painting in at least three year. The painting is a copy of a portrait by Pietro Annigoni. I was studying the amazing skin tone he achieves. It took about thirty hours to complete.

Robin

2007-11-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

Portrait of Betsy

2007-10-30T20:32:00.001-07:00

2007-10-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

This one was drawn last night.

Purchase

2007-10-26T17:55:00.001-07:00

2007-10-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

2007-10-26T17:42:00.001-07:00

I've been working my way through the Charles Bargue drawing book. This is one of my favorite images so far.

2007-10-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

2007-10-26T12:00:00.000-07:00