To me, Mary dances the Magnificat. The Magnificat is Mary’s song of Thanksgiving after the angel Gabriel comes to tell her she will become the mother of the Messiah (the Annunciation). When I read Mary’s Magnificat song in Luke 1:46-55, the language is so exuberant that I can’t imagine her standing still.
This new painting depicts the Basilica of Saint Benedict of Nursia in its current partially-ruined state, after the earthquakes, enveloped in scaffolding. Fragile. Waiting. Precarious. It has become more poignant in recent months…
I created these church interior drawings as studies for a previous series of paintings of cathedral architecture. Each intimate drawing explores the space and emotion of the beauty of sacred space. As a result, they hold new poignancy during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time many of us have been separated from our houses of worship and faith communities due to social distancing regulations.
About eight years ago pen and ink became my medium of choice for figure drawing. I love the way the ink flows from the nib. The warm browns of the walnut ink create a more lifelike color story in the ink figure drawing than black ink.
Failure in figure drawing can be a result of mislaid expectations. Beyond the appearance of the subject lies mystery, memory and beauty.
One of the miracles of creative collaboration is the momentum it creates, continuing to create new work beyond what was originally envisioned. After the model session, once my drawing was photographed and titled and shared, Olivia wrote this poem in response to the drawing.
A few days before Easter 2019 we all watched in shock as fire enveloped a great monument of Christian architecture, Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris. Just a few days before I had discussed with my two homeschool co-op classes about Pope Benedict XVI’s charge to be “custodians of beauty”. In his address to artists in 2009 he tasked artists with the responsibility of being “custodians of beauty”. I strongly believe the call is to all of us.
Divine Dimensions Exhibit My figure drawings and architecture paintings will be featured in “Divine Dimensions”, a two-person exhibit at 20North Gallery in downtown Toledo from April – June 2019. The…
The group of yoga illustrations can be viewed at: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/33yogiillustrations/. A beautiful collection of artworks inspired by Katy Sainz’s Instagram feed, it really becomes an art exhibit, just like a group show in a gallery exhibit it is organized around a theme.
In every model, old or young, large or small, male or female, I see one God’s amazing creations. In the process of drawing I try to capture just one small portion of the magnificence, delicacy, and beauty of what He made.
Curated by Leslie Tane, there will be seven other artists participating in the exhibit entitled “Gaze” at ArtSpace Maynard in Maynard MA from April 6-29, 2016. Several of my…
Drawing Proportion Figure Drawing has always been an anchor for me. It was how I began my serious study of art when I was a Freshman at Gordon College….
Another drawing from my figure drawing session a couple of weeks ago. This pose was extremely difficult: the “corpse pose”, as it is known in yoga. Initially I was sitting…
Last night I attended the second session of a workshop on Drawing Figures from the Imagination: Anatomy Simplified, offered by Damon Lehrer of the Boston Figurative Art Center. The idea…
Back to the Figure Drawing board, anyway! It has been soooooo long since I went to figure drawing group and I have missed it! I have also continued to sell…
I’m starting work on a new series of paintings (well, a continuation of the figurative series based on Mary from several years back). So I’m starting work on a new…
I’m very excited to have my work at Sloane Merrill Gallery on Beacon Hill in Boston as of this week! I will have two paintings in the winter small works…
I love having a model with a shaved head because I am able to see the structure of the head so much more clearly. In this drawing we can see the beautiful way in which the ink bleeds across the wet paper.
Click Here to Purchase. Shaundra Reclining. In this drawing I like how I managed to simplify the hands and feet just by using a few careful lines. Hands and feet can be overwhelmingly complicated.
The Boston Figurative Art Center is sponsoring at juried exhibit at Sloane-Merrill Gallery in Boston on the theme of “Back to Back”.
I use a traditional pen nib with walnut ink for these drawings. I love the way the old-fashioned pen provides such variation in the lines – variation of thickness, weight, and value. The line has its own cadence as it moves around the figure.
Another drawing from the Tuesday night session. I love the unpredictability of ink. It can be a very controlled media, but but I often prefer to let it have its own life.
After several months pause from work I am getting back into things again. Miriam Rose Paine was born October 30, 2012 and she is beautiful.
This summer has been a wonderful summer for figurative art – both in my own work and in Boston! I have been regular attending a few figure drawing groups and really enjoying the opportunity to really engage with the figure outside the classroom. I have been so busy the last couple of years teaching my figure classes that I haven’t actually taken much opportunity.
The compositions of frescoes by Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Luca Signorelli (to name only a few), are so complicated they can be overwhelming for a viewer — and even more overwhelming for a student of drawing. I have found that working on a team and looking for simple moments of overlap and intersection can allow an entry point into serious investigation of some of these masterpieces.
When classes are in session I don’t always have the time I would like to engage in long studio sessions, but I always try and keep things moving by doing small drawings, watercolor studies, or even just taking a few minutes during my figure drawing class time to make a few gesture drawings while the model is posing. These drawings are some small studies I did in my parish church (Our Lady Help of Christians in Newton).
I visited the Art Institute of Chicago on Thursday during my vacation for their Target-sponsored Free Thursday evenings. What a wonderful a gift to the people of Chicago city to offer free admission from 5-8pm once a week – there was a line to enter at 5:00 and the museum was packed with people all evening. The new wing is huge, with the capacity to give their spectacular collection of 20th century art the viewing space it deserves.
© 2024 Michelle Arnold Paine.
