Cease and Assist The Greats..?

My sketch yesterday from life, two hours

Sketch from a year ago, done from photos I took

Sketchbook sketch from life

Block-in for painted sketch

Chelsea has the type of face I love to paint. Not to mention being a super person. I hadn't seen her for a year since my stint at "Weekend With The Masters" assisting the inimitable master painter Morgan Weistling. http://www.morganweistling.com/

It was fun to re-visit with her when she arrived at the studio of another inimitable master, Jeremy Lipking, http://www.lipking.com/, to model for his packed three-day workshops. Lucky for me, I was also assisting Lipking on this day. I find Lipking to be in a painting world class all of his own. That is why I choose to assist him.

Someone close to me asked me the other day:"Why are you assisting another artist? Aren't you too far along with your own art career to be 'seen' doing that?"

Well, quite frankly, no. Being around brilliance often makes one raise one's own art game. There is no fudging this level of mastery however you try to sugar-coat it. Also, the greats I have been lucky enough to be around, work very hard I have noticed, on top of their natural born gifts. They are also incredibly generous in spirit too to an artist like myself wanting to get to the next level.

So between my assisting duties (and of course watching Lipking's magnificent ethereal morning demo) I squeezed in a two hour sketch of my own yesterday afternoon. Top image. I also post one I did of Chelsea, a year ago, from photos I took, after the Masters weekend. Also, a drawing I did of Chelsea from life quietly in my sketchbook while assisting Weistling.

It is interesting for me to see the difference. A year is a long time in an artist's life. The darks in my old sketch are now too heavy for my liking.

For details on Lipking workshop schedule and his regular Tuesday night class go here: http://www.lipking.com/

For details on Morgan Weistling 'everything' go here: www.morganweistling.com/

For details on Everett Raymond Kinstler, N.A., (I don't paint anything without thinking of this great man every day) go here: http://www.everettraymondkinstler.com/