Take a Load Off

Last week I went to the library to spend a little time looking at art books. I found some great ones that show beautiful examples of drawing the human form. As you might expect, they are drawings of nudes. Now, our library has a rather large reading area with lots of comfortable chairs. It probably seats about 20, spaced out with tables and lamps. I was there, and one other person... about 10 feet away. In comes a nice older gentleman... he grabs a magazine and where do you suppose he sits? Yep... right smack dab next to me! I don't usually mind people in "my bubble" but I did feel a little awkward "studying" nudes with grandpa looking over my shoulder!

I drew this man with pencil, from a photo taken by Karin Jurick. Karin is the creator of an artists' challenge website called, Different Strokes from Different Folks. Every couple of weeks, she posts a photograph and challenges "folks" to paint or draw from it. The idea is to motivate you to try new things. The artists send their drawings or paintings by email to Karin and she posts them. It is absolutely amazing to see all the ways one picture is interpreted. To see the refernce photo and everyone's submissions, click here: Different Strokes