Bruce Hedges Fine Art - Drawings and paintings

Yellow rose

2011-12-04T21:03:00.000-08:00

Oil on panel 8 X 10 inches. Can be viewed at Segil Fine Art Source in Monrovia, CA at the 9th annual Small Works Show from December 3 through 31.

Virginia's house

2011-09-05T14:44:00.001-07:00

Graphite on bristol.

Portrait of Holly

2011-08-05T15:13:00.001-07:00

Charcoal and white pastel on toned paper. Head study 41 of 50.

Self-portrait

2011-06-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

Charcoal and white chalk on toned paper. Head study 40 of 50.

Portrait of Richard's grandmother

2011-03-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on toned paper. Head study 39 of 50.

Head study - 38 of 50

2011-02-25T11:47:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study -- 37 of 50

2011-02-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on toned paper. Strathmore 400 Moonstone.

Head study -- 36 of 50

2011-02-15T20:13:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on toned paper.

Head study -- 35 0f 50

2011-01-20T17:29:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint.

Head study -- 34 of 50

2011-01-20T17:27:00.001-08:00

Graphite and charcoal on bond paper.

Head study -- 33 of 50

2011-01-20T17:25:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on bond paper.

Head study --32 of 50

2011-01-07T16:54:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study -- 31 of 50

2011-01-07T16:53:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study -- 30 of 50

2011-01-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint. This is a duplicate -- the same model and photo reference I've used before -- but a new drawing I did today. I repeat subjects sometimes, because my supply of photos is limited. Or sometimes just because I feel like drawing a particular subject again.

Head study 1/5/11 -- 29 of 50

2011-01-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study 1/5/11 -- 28 of 50

2011-01-06T10:25:00.001-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study 1/5/11 -- 27 of 50

2011-01-06T10:20:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study -- 26 of 50

2011-01-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study -- 25 of 50

2011-01-04T20:49:00.001-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study -- 24 of 50

2011-01-03T21:20:00.001-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint.

Head study -- 23 of 50

2011-01-03T21:18:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint.

Head study -- 22 of 50

2011-01-03T21:17:00.001-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint.

Head study -- 21 of 50

2011-01-03T21:14:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint.

Head study -- 20 of 50

2011-01-02T19:53:00.001-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study -- 19 of 50

2010-12-30T21:27:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on newsprint.

Big form studies

2010-12-28T18:45:00.000-08:00

As the title says, these little oil studies have only the big forms of the head; no detail and no small forms. Comparable to a basic clay sculpture before finishing details are added... no irises, eyelashes, eyebrows, or nostrils, and simplified forms in the hair.

Oil on canvas. 5.3 x 6 in.

Head study -- 18 of 50

2010-12-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on bond paper. 8 1/2 x 11 in.

Portrait of Ashley

2010-12-25T19:11:00.000-08:00

Charcoal and white pastel on toned paper. 16 x 20 in.

Head study -- 17 of 50

2010-12-24T12:29:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas. 6 x 8 in.

Head study -- 16 of 50

2010-12-23T17:42:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas. 6 x 8 in.

Head study -- 15 of 50

2010-12-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas. 6 x 8 in gesture sketch.

Head study -- 14 of 50

2010-12-22T19:44:00.001-08:00

Oil on canvas. 6 x 8 in. gesture sketch.

Head study -- 13 of 50

2010-12-22T19:42:00.001-08:00

Oil on canvas. 6 x 8 in. gesture sketch.

Head study -- 12 of 50

2010-12-22T19:40:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas 6 x 8 in. gesture sketch.

Head study -- 11 of 50

2010-12-21T19:22:00.001-08:00

Charcoal on bond. 8.5 x 11 in.

Head study -- 10 of 50

2010-12-20T19:38:00.001-08:00

Oil on canvas. 6 x 8 in. Burnt umber, raw umber, & white. A gesture sketch. (I ran out of burnt umber and switched to raw.)

Head study -- 9 of 50

2010-12-20T17:10:00.001-08:00

Oil on canvas. 6 X 8 in. Burnt umber & white. This is a gesture sketch, done in one hour. Pretty sketchy and loose, but good training. Especially for someone who tends to be a perfectionist.

Head study -- 8 of 50

2010-12-20T17:03:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on drawing pad. 11 x 14 in.

This paper has too much tooth for the drawing technique I used (shading with the side of the charcoal). So it's pretty grainy. A learning experience, as all of these drawings are.

Head study -- 7 0f 50

2010-12-17T16:35:00.001-08:00

Charcoal on bond. 8.5 X 11 in.

Head study -- 6 0f 50

2010-12-17T16:32:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas. 6 X 8 in. Burnt umber/white.

Head study -- 5 of 50

2010-12-16T18:14:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas. 6 X 8 in. Burnt umber/white.

Head study -- 4 of 50

2010-12-16T18:12:00.000-08:00

Charcoal on bond.

Head study -- 3 of 50

2010-12-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

Oil on canvas, 6 X 8 in. Burnt umber and white. Time: about 2 hrs. 40 min.

Head study -- 2 of 50

2010-12-15T14:24:00.000-08:00

Oil on un-stretched canvas, 6 X 8 inches.

I'm going to do some monochrome oil studies in addition to charcoal. This one is burnt umber and white. Approximate time: 3 1/2 hours.

Head sketch -- 1 of 50

2010-12-14T17:27:00.000-08:00

Pencil on bond paper

Head sketch 12/13/10

2010-12-13T23:23:00.001-08:00

Charcoal on toned paper

Head study 11/12/10

2010-11-13T21:50:00.000-08:00

Pencil on copier/printer paper.

Posted 11/13/10

Head study 11/11/10

2010-11-12T16:46:00.000-08:00

Charcoal and graphite on copier paper.

Head sketch 11/5/10

2010-11-05T17:09:00.001-07:00

Charcoal on sketch paper

Head sketch 11/3/10

2010-11-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

Pencil on newsprint.

Head sketch 11/2/10

2010-11-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

Pencil on sketch pad.

Head sketch 11/1/10

2010-11-01T19:16:00.001-07:00

Pencil on sketch pad.

Head sketch 10/31/10

2010-11-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

Pencil on newsprint.

Head sketch 10/28/10

2010-10-28T21:17:00.001-07:00

Pencil on newsprint

Head study 10/27/10 Part two

2010-10-27T20:20:00.001-07:00

Charcoal and white chalk on toned paper.

Head study 10/25/10 Part one

2010-10-25T22:21:00.001-07:00

Charcoal on toned paper

Head study 10/15/10

2010-10-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on bristol.

Head study 10/14/10

2010-10-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on toned paper

Head study 10/14/10

2010-10-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on toned paper.

Portrait of Paul, age four

2010-09-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on smooth Strathmore bristol.

Head study 9/16/10

2010-09-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on Canson toned paper.

Yeah, I know -- it's been a while. Not much, how 'bout you... no, wait, that's an old song.

This isn't finished yet, but I thought it could go on the blog anyway. I'm still working on toned paper. I want to try a toned paper with less tooth. There's a youtube demo of a charcoal drawing on smooth paper toned with a watercolor wash, by artist Jonathan Linton. It's worth a few minutes to watch it. Very good drawing. Just search his name and go to his blog. He has a link to the video.

Head study - 8/12/10

2010-08-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

I'm editing this on 8/13/10. This photo replaces yesterday's photo (8/12/10, below). That is, it would replace it if I could figure out how to delete the old one. This was shot in stronger light, (sunlight), so there is less blur, or none.
This head study was done with charcoal pencils (General's; hard, medium, soft, and extra soft), and white chalk (General's white charcoal pencil, as well as CarbOthello 1400/700, which is a very light grey pastel pencil), on toned paper. I forgot to write a note on the paper, but I'm pretty sure it's Canson Mi-tientes; color is moonstone. Blending was done with paper stumps, soft dry paint brushes, and a paper towel. No fingers. I had to resist the impulse several times. But the tools work well, and don't leave oil on the drawing.

I shot sequence photos during the process, for those who are interested in such things. (Isn't everybody?)

It's a pretty nifty way to work, especially with portraits.

Block-in. This is the first stage, which I posted several days ago. An "eyeball" lay-in.

Measured and corrected. I used a measuring stick for comparative measurements, and adjusted the angle of tilt on her brow line, and correspondingly on the mouth.

Outline finished.

Shown here with reference photo. This is a photocopy of a photo from an old magazine. I blew it up to see it better. For this exercise, a large reference photo was more important than image quality. The subtle tones are lost, but enough of the image remains to work from. This is almost sight size, but not quite. I blocked it in without measuring, so it's close to the same size as the photo, but not exactly. I plan to do some sight size head studies, too. They are a good way to train your eye to see not only proportions, but also the big effect.

If you're not familiar with sight size drawing, a Google search will lead you to some good information. There's even a website about it --- sightsize.com.

Darks blocked in (and a few halftones).

Three fourths finished.

The finished drawing. This is a blurry photo. A clear photo is at the top of this post.

Three fourths finished

2010-08-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

Charcoal and white chalk on toned paper.

Head starts

2010-07-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

Pencil on sketch pad. From photos.

A few quick-sketch straight-line head gesture block-in starts

2010-07-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

Graphite (mechanical pencil) on sketchpad. From photos.

Beginning block-in - 7/22/10

2010-07-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on toned paper.

This is the first step in a head study. More later.

Head sketch - 7/21/10

2010-07-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint. From a photo.

Head study - 7/20/10

2010-07-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint. From a photo.

This is the same model (photo) as yesterday's post; but larger, slower, and taken farther. Now I'm embarrassed when I look at the one I did yesterday. Neither drawing is a good likeness of the subject, but today's study is fair. Her face (now that it's finished) is a little too wide. Yesterday's is a little too narrow. You can take a drawing to a high level of finish and have a good-looking drawing, even without an accurate likeness. That's OK for practice, but not if you're working for a client. So my goal is to get to the next level and achieve an accurate likeness every time.

Head sketch - 7/19/10

2010-07-19T21:49:00.000-07:00

Mechanical pencil on sketchpad. From a photo.

Head sketch - 7/15/10

2010-07-15T23:13:00.000-07:00

Prismacolor black on sketchpad. From a photo. This isn't today's sketch. I'm having a bad drawing day.

Head study - 7/14/10

2010-07-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint. From a photo.

Head sketch - 7/13/10

2010-07-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint. From a photo. Actually, a photocopy of a photo.

Head sketch - 7/12/10

2010-07-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

Mechanical pencil on sketch pad.

This is a small quick sketch. Enlarging a small drawing makes it look less refined, rougher. Reducing the size has the opposite effect, refining the image. This head is about one and three quarters inch high. From a magazine photo.

Head sketch - 7/6/10

2010-07-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint - from a photo of a classic movie set.

Head sketch - 7/5/10

2010-07-05T23:56:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint - from a photo

Charcoal head study-7/2/10

2010-07-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

This started as a 30 minute sketch, but I spent probably another 10 minutes fixing things before I shot it and posted it. From my file of magazine photos titled "Photos for practice drawings."

Charcoal head study

2010-07-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Laurel

2010-06-25T19:35:00.001-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint.

From a figure drawing class at California Art Institute. When it's enlarged a lot, the printing dot pattern shows up. So it's best to look at it at a smaller size. I shot this from a school brochure.

Head study - 6/3/10

2010-06-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study - 6/1/10

2010-06-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Sketch - 5/31/10

2010-05-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study - 5/30/10

2010-05-30T21:53:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Basic forms

2010-05-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

A good exercise when I'm too tired to do anything more challenging.

Plastic horse number two

2010-05-28T19:48:00.001-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Plastic horse

2010-05-28T01:47:00.001-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Figure quick sketch

2010-05-27T00:05:00.001-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Quick sketches were used for warmups in our head and figure drawing classes at California Art Institute, but we had figure quick sketch classes, too. We spent the whole three hour class doing two minute and five minute poses. They are sometimes compared to strengthening your muscles, training your eye to see what is important: The big shapes, the big proportions, the long lines, the action or gesture of the pose.

After Andrew Loomis

2010-05-25T00:42:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Study after Andrew Loomis, a wonderful illustrator and author of artist instruction books in the 20th century.

Head study - 5/18/10

2010-05-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study - 5/15/10

2010-05-15T20:47:00.001-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Another pretty girl. Do I ever get tired of drawing pretty girls? No, not yet. I did this one a few days ago.

Head study - 5/14/10

2010-05-14T17:56:00.001-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study - 5/6/10

2010-05-06T17:07:00.001-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Pet portrait

2010-05-03T20:48:00.001-07:00

Oil on canvas - 12 X 16 inches

Head study - 5/2/10

2010-05-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on bristol

Portrait - 4/30/10

2010-04-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on bristol

Sketch - 4/29/10

2010-04-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Sketch 4/28/10

2010-04-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study - 4/27/10

2010-04-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Head study - 4/26/10

2010-04-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

A small 3 1/4 inch charcoal drawing. More finished than a sketch, in spite of its size.

Sketch - 4/25/10

2010-04-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

Sketch - 4/23/10

2010-04-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on newsprint

We're getting kind of sketchy here. I sometimes set time limits that are too short.