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Here is one fresh off the easel and ready for my show that starts this Friday!  Amy Foster and I are having a two person show in Northville featuring figurative drawings and paintings.  The show is called Line and Brush; Amy loves line and gesture and I am always happy to push pigment around.  The show runs from the 5th of April to the 27th at the Northville Art House in Northville, MI.

This pastel was painted from an oil study of a model in my figure class last year at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center.   Amy had mentioned the model, John, owned a vintage gold smoking jacket.  Right away I began to envision the pose.  I brought in rich satin cloths, the cane and some vases.  I went into the library, grabbed some books and stacked them next to him.  Suddenly the studio became a mansion with it's wealthy owner receiving company.  The model was great at role playing and slicked back his hair and took on an attitude.   Setting up scenes for the model to pose in are more interesting than simply painting someone in the chair.  As an artist it is inspirational to have a story to paint too, hopefully it is more interesting for the viewer as well.