Creating art while surrounded by art

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At center, Luciana Borbley and at right Dianne Vollrath look closely at artist model Marcus Nickel. Borbley and Vollrath are friends who are part of a group of 12 that meets twice a week to “play art” and to share tips and encourage each other. In the background from left to right, Edward Reginald Frampton’s ‘The Voyage of St. Brandan’ painting, Nikolai Alexandrovich Ionin’s ‘Cable Factory (Sevkabel Factory)’ painting, Samuel Levi Jones’ ‘Joshua’ piece, and Truman Lowe’s ‘Feather Tree’ sculpture.
Photo by: Althea Dotzour

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Linda Endlich sketches a during a 20-minute figure study. Endlich retired from UW after working for 36 years in the art department on graphic design. Since retiring, Endlich returned to watercolor painting and drawing.
Photo by: Althea Dotzour

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At center, Ten Juza, undergraduate student double majoring in graphic design and art history, gets advice on figure proportions and alignment from instructor Philip Salamone. Juza says, “I’m more used to ceramics, and I’m getting back into two-dimensional art like painting and drawing. I saw the Chazen offered this free class, and I was like, ‘Okay, gotta take advantage!’” Artist Truman Lowe’s ‘Feather Tree’ sculpture is seen in the foreground.
Photo by: Althea Dotzour

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At left, figure drawing model Marcus Nickel poses in a contrapposto position, which in Italian means “counterpoise.” At right, drawing instructor Philip Salamone explains to the class how the model’s weight is shifted to the back foot, his shoulders are rotated from the hips and the pelvis is tilted at a diagonal.
Photo by: Althea Dotzour

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Salamone demonstrates a technique of looking at a subject backwards by using a mirror to get a new perspective. Salamone said the mirror technique is like a friend that tells you about your weak points. He uses a mirror to find out what’s wrong when his sketch doesn’t look like the model. Other perspective-shifting techniques include squinting or blurring your vision.
Photo by: Althea Dotzour

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Dianne Vollrath, Luciana Borbely and Ali Beyer, left to right, sketch model Marcus Nickel. In the background from left to right, artist El Anatsui’s piece ‘Danu’ and Xu Bing’s painting ‘Ten Thousand Trees’ hang in Chazen Gallery 17.
Photo by: Althea Dotzour

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Dianne Vollrath gets advice on her sketch from Salamone. Salamone shared that the ‘shape’ of a figure is one element and that ‘placement’ and ‘size’ are separate considerations when drawing.
Photo by: Althea Dotzour