Newberry, Eve Back Study
Big mark making, ink and white chalk on paper
Drawing for me feels like forcefully sculpting the ether. With this drawing I aimed to make the form feel as physically solid as possible. Strongly making mark that suggest how my thumb would massage the woman's back. It is a sensual rough feeling.
Often when I am working on big painting, I will take time to make studies from a photo reference or life. I like drawing in ink (Bic) because it does not smudge, so the studio can be littered with drawings because they don't need a lot of protection.
Below is the finished painting of Eve. She is the other half of the large triptych, Adam and Eve.
The most tricky element is that shadow is relatively vague and ethereal compared to light. The best shadows only suggest and give all the attention to light. So it is an irony to imbue shadow with a lot of substantive form. If one's study is too vague then it is not much help in using it as a reference for painting. I was exceedingly happy with how I managed to work both elements: substance of the shape and subtle nature of shadow.
Michael Newberry, Idyllwild, 1/14/2021