As much as I enjoy my bold, distorted paintings, I've been focusing a lot of my recent energy on strengthening my representational work. Spending time working in realistic techniques helps develop richness and depth in the drawings and compositions that are the bedrock of my work. As part of this study, I have been participating in figure drawing sessions with live models. Working quickly with a mix of charcoal, graphite and ink, these sessions help refine the way I view and capture subjects.

Getting warmed up with gesture drawings. Every session begins with 20 minutes of rapid fire one and two second poses. The challenge is to capture the essence and movement of the subject, not necessarily the proper proportion and shading. Some of my favorite images coming out of the sittings tend to be these quick studies.

Throughout the three hour session, the model will hold poses for 7, 10, 20 and sometimes even 40 minutes. Using a system of bars and ropes, the model is able to highlight different muscle groups and provide a series of challenges for the artists.

And while the focus of these sessions is developing my representational work, I of course can't resist the occasional abstracted figure...