Blog Bragino » Figure Studies

Ballpoint Pen drawings

Bragino — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 21:41:37 +0000

A friend of mine asked me why I draw with a ballpoint pen the other day. When I first began learning to draw the figure I chose to work with pen initially so I couldn't erase. The thought process of having to accept and work with the marks that you put on a page still intrigues me to this day. It generally forces me to be braver when I draw and that always helps create more dynamic drawings, mistakes, and nuances that identify me as an individual. I like to see the struggle of the artist on the page and using a pen or any other permanent tool to make marks with encourages that. Here's some images drawn with a Ballpoint pen.

This is a drawing of Craig who regularly attends the Draw Humans sessions at Theceeflat.

Here's a few drawings of Gestural poses. These were about 2 minute poses

Here's a complete figure drawing from a 20 minute pose of Laura

Subtle figure drawing

Bragino — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:17:06 +0000

I drew this last week at figure drawing and wanted to share it with you. I feel I captured the subtlety of the model and her relaxed pose. I used the pillows and the fabric in the front to lead you into the composition and to contrast the human form and frame it. Let me know your thoughts about this one.

Seductive Poster Design

Bragino — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:10:21 +0000

Sometimes you choose to lean towards a more dreamlike state in design. This poster has that mysterious seductive feeling to it. There are a few elements that I think help accomplish this type of look. Here they are:

Vintage paper texture in the background > This is an easy way to call to a bygone era. In this case the texture adds a mysterious element to the design.

Script fonts > They always have a sexy feel to them especially when they're treated the way these are. Very organic and stylized.

Soft color palette > Notice there aren't any blacks in this image so we're getting a soft feeling. The cream color is delicate and pink will most often give you a feminine feel.

Subject matter > Curvaceous female form slightly hidden in the shadows undisturbed except for the trickle of light falling on her back. Yeah that pretty much works.

All in all I think you get the point. With all these elements put together you get a certain feeling. I'd like to point out that these elements came together for me in an intuitive process. I didn't plan for them to happen. I more or less analyzed why they worked after the fact. The point I'm trying to make is that you should go with the process and see where it leads you. If an element is working then move forward and add another element and hopefully that works as well. If it doesn't work then try something different. It's all like a puzzle that needs to be solved and in the end you wind up with something that surprises you and hopefully speaks to you as well, as this poster design did to me.
And finally after all that analysis here's the actual poster. Let me know what you think in the comments section below…….

Oil painting of Sarah

Bragino — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:00:59 +0000

For the past two weeks during our Friday night Figure drawing sessions we've been opting to paint one long pose over the 4 hour time instead of the 20 minute poses we normally draw. It's good to paint, especially with oil paint, and to give yourself some time to really get involved with the process. Oil painting is surely a slower process and it's fun to work with mixing color and all the odds and ends that come with producing something in oil. It's a tough medium that needs to be worked with often to get a feel for. This is only our second week but the lessons learned so far have been immeasurable. Here's a few things I've learned so far:

Here's a shot of the gallery and some of our handy work. Paintings pictured by Mandy Gor, Kevin Corcoran, and myself.

Here's what I painted that night. It's not finished yet but getting close. waiting for it to dry before I go in and refine the many things that need work..
I was generally going for a more accurate color to what I actually saw. The subtleties in color between her skin tones and the clothing were so close. I
wanted to test myself to see if I could create color in a very closely related color palette..

Figure sketch

Bragino — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:16:01 +0000

There's something about this image that I really like. It's most likely the graphic quality of it. Structurally I think it has strength as well which I'm happy with. I believe the gesture of the pose and the shape the figure makes also feel good to me. It's images like this that keep me studying. There might have been a hand full of images before this that I didn't like but then when you least expect it you hit on something you've been thinking about and striving for. It's like being reborn into the excitement of learning and making new discoveries which is always a great place to be…

Sketch page Jan 2011

Bragino — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 10:15:37 +0000

Here are some sketches of Bianca Dagga that I did one night at our Friday night figure drawing session..

Drawing of Tania

Bragino — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 10:29:29 +0000

Here's an image that I drew of a new model we worked with at the end of the year. This is Tania….

This is Jazz

Bragino — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:26:37 +0000

If you've been checking out my blog for some time you may have recognized that I draw Jazz often. She's a very powerful woman with energy to back up her physical strength. She's one of the hardest working dancer/model/actors in Ny. Here's yet another image I've drawn of her. See her official website here..

Figure studies Jazz

Bragino — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:03:37 +0000

Here's a few images drawn of Jazz from one of the recent figure sessions…

Figure Study Adrienne

Bragino — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:00:37 +0000

Here's 4 image from a one night session with Adrienne, aka "Apathy Angel". Adreinne is an amazing model and a Burlesque performer. The thing that sticks out to me about this series of drawings is the consistency of image. To me that means that she looks like the same person in each drawing which is something I've been working hard to do, make each model look like themselves. It's easier said than done but in this instance I feel like I've done a good job of keeping her looking like herself and I'm proud of myself for that.