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“Krystyn,” charcoal, 22″ x 30″, 1989
A: At the age of 33 I was a Lieutenant in the Navy, working as computer analyst at the Pentagon. I was very unhappy with my job. I began looking for something else to do and discovered The Art League School in Alexandria, VA. I enrolled in classes with Lisa Semerad, then spent the next two years developing my drawing skills using black and white media (charcoal, pencils, conte crayon, etc.).
After that I moved on to color media and began studying soft pastel with Diane Tesler. During this time I was still in the Navy, working the midnight shift at the Pentagon and taking art classes during the day. I was a very motivated student.
After three years or so I was getting quite proficient as an artist, entering local juried shows, winning prizes, garnering press coverage, etc. Prior to my career change, I worked hard to develop my portrait skills. I really didn’t know how I could make a living other than by making commissioned portraits. I volunteered to run a weekly life drawing class at The Art League School in Alexandria, VA, where I made hundreds of figure drawings using charcoal.
I spent a semester commuting between Washington, DC and New York to study artistic anatomy at the New York Academy of Art. I spent another semester studying gross anatomy with medical students at Georgetown University Medical School. Over time I became skilled at making photo-realistic portraits. In 1989 I resigned from the Navy and have worked full-time as a visual artist ever since.
Comments are welcome!
Filed under: An Artist's Life, Creative Process, Inspiration, Pastel Painting, Photography, Working methods Tagged: Alexandria_VA, artistic anatomy, black and white, career, change, charcoal, classes, color, commissioned, commuting, computer analyst, conte crayons, developing, Diane Tesler, drawing, enrolled, entering, figure drawings, full-time, garnering, Georgetown University Medical School, gross anatomy, juried shows, Krystyn, lieutenant, life drawing, LIsa Semerad, living, local, looking, media, midnight shift, motivated, Navy, New York, New York Academy of Art, pencils, Pentagon, photo-realistic, portrait, portraits, prepare, press coverage, prizes, professional, proficient, resigned, semester, skilled, skills, soft pastel, student, students, studying, The Art League School, unhappy, visual artist, volunteered, Washington_DC, winning, work Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
