Seated Woman in Lingerie

"Seated Woman in Life Painting Class" (18"X14", Oil on Canvas, $300)

This painting is the result of more model problems that culminated in the instructor having to call a friend of his to come in and pose. She wasn't a real model (though she was quite pretty), so she wasn't comfortable with posing nude, hence the green lingerie and the blue workshirt, which was the instructor's. She did a good job (I think she had filled in for unreliable models in the past) and I fell like I was able to do a good job with this one-night pose.

I like the way David Penna (my favorite instructor) had her drop the strap of her bra down her shoulder in a tribute to John Singer Sargent's "Madame X" portrait. It's a subtle thing, but it adds to the sensuousness of the pose, rather than making it look like an underwear ad. The lighting, from the lower middle left, also adds to the drama. Dave liked directional lighting, which certainly helps in establishing light-and-shadow-shapes, instead of having bright overhead lighting that actually flattens out the subject and makes rendering it more difficult.

I wish I'd had longer with this model and this pose, but I'm happy with the results.