Carmen (2005)

B pencil on acid-free sketch paper

For some reason I find myself drawn to images of dancers, especially the Latin dances. This is a sketch from a photo of a woman dancing the flamenco during a production of Carmen. I found it on Google Images, a great source of material for painting and sketching.

The original is on this German flamenco site; since I don't read German, I'm not sure exactly what it's about.

Maternal Instinct, after Pino (2005)

Oil on canvas, 11"x 14"

This is an exercise which the whole art class did together for
the last three classes of the session. It was very interesting
to see the range of interpretations of the same original painting.  After another hour of playing with it at home, I think I have it about the way I want it, not identical to Pino's original but complete in itself, with a soft but slightly rough look to it.

The original is Maternal Instinct by Pino. I had never heard of Pino before this class but I have since learned how indebted we are to him, as the man who discovered and made famous the irreplaceable Fabio.