There was too much life taking over this week, so I didn't accomplish much. I believe I have all the leaves finished for the branch I've been working on. It's surprising how much time is involved in cleaning them up. With luck, I'll actually mount them on a branch this week! (Hover over image to enlarge)

Over the past year, a friend of mine had been trying to talk me into life drawing as a means to improve my drawing skills. I finally started last December. Sometimes, I find it hard to tell if I am actually improving, but I believe I am, at least, getting more consistent. There are days when it seems to come a bit easier and then there are those that it seems nearly impossible. The images here are the better drawings over the last five months. They are all 20 minutes drawings. The first one is done in pencil in early December. (Hover over photos to enlarge)

I started using charcoal in late December. This one was done in mid- to late-January.

I have also tried some pastels. I find there are some benefits and some drawbacks to using pastel, but I really like the look. This one was done in late February.

Here is one done recently in compressed charcoal.

And finally, I took a closer look at faces last week.

My next wall sculpture involves a number of tree branches, leaves, and other assorted ground foliage. It has been quite an experience trying to figure out how to put these things together. It has also been very, very slow. If I do this again, I might try a different method. Here are a few leaves of leather and stems made of leather-wrapped wire. These still have a little work left in them to cover the stem ends, then they get attached to the branch - also leather-wrapped wire. (Hover over image to enlarge).