One More Time

 I got up this morning and expected some wet ground- after all, it had been raining when I went to bed.  Some rain was predicted for today, but I didn't see it from inside. However, I went out to get the newspaper and could feel a constant misty rain, moisture in the air even if I couldn't hear it fall.  Not a problem for going to Ocean Grove- my car is enclosed, my Studio has a ceiling, there are two floors above it, and a roof over that.  I'd be dry today.  The small ad on the lobby table and the information on the website still listed the usual time for the figure group.  Next week we have Thanksgiving, so I assumed there would be no drawing that day, and today was the day.

I got there and had plenty of time to go downstairs and get my big pad, drawing board, and soap for clearing my hands of charcoal.  The first thing I noticed was the room was quite warm, more than it had ever been in recent memory.  I assumed this was for the model, who would be nude and far more affected by cold than the artists would. She showed up eventually, and after the first series of poses, actually asked if we could turn the heat down a little. No problem for me. We had 6 in attendance- not our biggest crowd, but enough to pay the model.  Not a model I particularly liked, but a body is a body, and she was fine for drawing practice, which was my main reason to be there.  

We started with gestures and other short poses at first, which are not my favorite either, but do serve a purpose.  Some of mine weren't bad, but I never had a whole page (pencil in my sketchbook) that I liked enough to photograph.  We closed with two 20 minute drawings, one of which I did in pencil, and the last was charcoal.  That's the one I showed above. Not great, but acceptable.

Toward the end of the session we got the big but expected news.  No class next week for the holiday, and then after that it will move to Wednesday nights.  I probably won't be going to those.  In the past I did go to figure drawing on Wednesday nights in Belmar, but that was when I was much younger, and the trip from my apartment to Belmar was a lot shorter than my current trip from my home to Ocean Grove.  I expect to be busy with other pieces for next few months, I don't think I need that much more practice, and I don't need any models in the near future.  So I will save the money and the drive up there.   Did my drawing today, and that may be it for a while.

No new decorations in the lobby, but a lot in the basement.  I stopped by the office, but Jeanne wasn't in today, so no new information about the end of current show, and my status after that.  Hope I can find out next week.