Maria sat for over 30 hours.
It was at the Studio Incamminati, Philadelphia, on Thursday evenings each week for 10 weeks, the sessions were led by Darren Kingsley. Sitting for 20 minutes at a time, taking 5 minute breaks, and then very carefully resuming her pose, getting it correct, Maria would continue sitting for the next session.
Twenty minutes goes by very quickly when working, you become very conscious of the time and the need to get as much accomplished as possible before the next break,… correcting a shape, a value, an edge, making adjustments, applying new line and values,… and then before you are ready, the time is unexpectedly ended for that session.
We were all too preoccupied to think about much other than resolving the various challenges and problems that too much or too little care and attentiveness to the work of the pencil, brush, or eraser can result in. And at the same time, in comparison to our busy activity, there in our midst sat Maria,… calm, still, quiet, distant and lost in her private thoughts.
My artworks have been predominantly of landscapes without figures, wherein the human presence is eluded to by the representation of buildings, roads, boats and other humane-made objects. Therefore it surprises some to learn that I have a prior history of working from the nude since my days in college figure classes. For a number of more recent years I have left this particular art study aside in pursuit of other objectives. But since re-locating to the Philadelphia area it has been a pleasure to again take the time and available opportunities to learn from and improve my skills through the study of the human form. I am not a portrait or figure artist, but I firmly believe that the benefits of working directly from the figure are incalculable for any artist at any level of their development.
If you happen to live within the Philadelphia area I strongly recommend the figure and portrait classes at both the Studio Incomminati and at the Fleisher Art Memorial. The faculty in both locations are excellent in their teaching, and in their craft as attested by the fine quality of their professional work.