Little Girl Reading on the Butterfly Bench
I think this is my best one yet. It was difficult and took months to finish. I wouldn't call this realism.

I changed the perspective a lot, and made up the shadows.

Cleopatra
This is my study of the marble sculpture by William Westmore Story at the VMFA.

He was a self taught American artist who went to Italy to learn marble carving. They say this is when Cleopatra was contemplating suicide. After drawing it, I think she's in the act of suicide here. She's looking a little creeped out by the snake on her arm. She's extended her arm and leaned away. Maybe that's not a bracelet. Maybe she picked up the snake thinking it would bite her on the hand, but instead it's crawling up her arm and it might go under her sleeve.

That's my interpretation, I don't know if William Story would agree.

Nature
This is my study of the bust by Mucha at the VMFA.

It was cast in metal. Her skin is silvery and so highly polished that I didn't draw shadows, because of all the reflections. When I worked on this drawing I noticed that her eyes are almost closed. I didn't have to draw ears, because they're under her hair.

I think Mucha was saying that nature's not aware of us. The peice has a remote and dreamy fluid quality. I like the way he made her hair flowing in ribbons around the base in irregular spirals.

Dancer
Here's my study of a small statue by Agathon Leonard at the VMFA.

Pictured here with my smudges and measuring lines. I didn't finish the skirt, and the tambourine goes off the top of the paper. I need to plan the picture at this point.

I might draw a grid on this figure and change the scale. I think it looks like my friend Shelby Pizzarro who leads the Egyptian Moon Dance troup in PA. And I want to put her in the scene dancing on the stage at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

I hope I can get it finished and put it on the web site in a couple months when I update again.

Little People
This is an exercise to help me develope a memory for the figure.

I sat on a bench in Hollywood Cemetery overlooking the James River. From there you can see people on Belle Isle in the river and on the rocks, but they're tiny, because they're far away. So I looked through binoculars and tried to remember a pose. Then I drew it small without looking back. It's a challenge and I might have to do a few hundred before I get the hang of it.

Then I'll make a finished drawing of people enjoying Belle Isle and the river. I'm forcing my brain to switch gears with this exercise, because it breaks my normal drawing habits. So I'll keep on it, and eventually it'll improve my drawing skill. but I can tell it won't happen overnight.

Male Nude
I enjoyed drawing this model because he stood as still as a stone.

The model takes a break every 20 minutes or so. Then he got back in the exact same pose. That makes it a little easier for me.

I worked on this for about 2 hours.

The Fisher Boy
This is my study of the marble sculpture by Hiram Powers at the VMFA.

He was an American artist who went to Italy.

Powers said the fisher boy holding the conch shell to his ear represents the boy listening to "the still small voice of God."

The Water Nymph
This is a study of Egeria, carved in marble by Chauncey Ives at the VMFA.

The story is, she was the wife of the 2nd king of Rome. When he died she morphed into a pool of water.

I took these photographs of my drawings, and the graphite looks shiny in the photos.

Before The Egg Hunt
When I was planning this picture I scouted Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens
for a scene that the figure would fit into.

I stood under the weeping cherry tree and looked at the garden through the branches. I thought it was beautiful with the white blossoms like a veil, and put it in the foreground.

When I went back a few days later the petals were falling like snow under the tree.

Charcoal and Conte Pencil Sketch for the Egg Hunt
This is the first step. I wanted to draw the figure at 10" because I planned to put her in the middle ground. It still took me a long time to get this rough.

I want to be as accurate as I can with the charcoal, because I can't make her more beautiful than the statue. If I go off at the first step it's harder to correct later.

The Conservatory in February
I got the charcoal sketch of the figure started before the snow.
I enjoyed drawing inside the conservatory when snow was on the ground for weeks.
It was fun for me to put one of my favorite statues from Hollywood Cemetery
into the flowery interior at Lewis Ginter's garden.
I think her dress is flowery too.

Angel with a Rose
An old drawing trick I learned in art school is to hold your pictures in front of a mirror and look at the reflection. When you’re working on a drawing you can’t see it unless you step back. If you look at the reflection, your mistakes are easy to see.

When I looked at the reflection of this drawing, the hand holding the rose seemed to reach out off the paper. So I knew I had drawn it right.

The Goddess
My model is a sad stone angel on her knees at a grave, holding a lap full of flowers. When I was
drawing with charcoal I noticed her knee isn’t touching the ground. This drawing was difficult
the whole way. I wanted to make her less sad. I changed her arms and hands, and made up a
horn of plenty. The still life was a problem. I had to do one piece at a time, and the fruits and veggies spoiled before I finished.

When I was finished I was excited, because it worked out finally. And I like looking at it because
there’s a floating feel to it that wasn’t planned.

My Father Captures His Dragon
My model is a boy angel with flowers in his left hand. His right arm is raised, but the hand is broken.
I've always liked dragons, so I drew one here to have fun. I sketched his hand holding a sword, and
a dagger. Then I decided he should be roping the dragon and twisting it's ear, while standing on it.

I thought it looked like Dad and made up a story to go with it. You can make up your own story about an
animal lover you know, and change the title if you want to.

The Fairy
This is the same statue I drew in the picture of the goddess. I changed her angel wings to
fairy wings. And gave her a big leaf to hold so you can imagine a close up of a little fairy.

My Hand Study
Sometimes when I'm stuck with a problem in a picture, I do a classical exercise to take a break.
I've always liked symbolism in art, and a lot of it is spiritual.
When you see a hand posed like this it means submission to God.

Remember Neda
When I worked on this drawing it made me think of the people living under oppression. Some of the people responsible for my freedom are dead.

I want to thank the vets and everyone serving in our armed forces.