Nudes with Values

[Debra Norton]

Steven, great to see your work! The charcoal of the woman is beautiful! Very well done.

I wasn't surprised to see the pencil of the man, (is it proper to use his name?), we're using him right now for our long pose, plus another student and I are sharing him as a portrait model. He's told us a few "Bougie" stories......

[Steven Sweeney]

Yes, "the man." He keeps up a running commentary on how he's going to quit modeling, but year after year, he shows up in drawings and paintings, at this student show or gallery or that State Fair art show. I think he likes the hours -- not really an 8-to-5 kind of fellow. The first time I saw a painting of him with some clothes on, I was a bit disoriented. Perhaps that's because all he was wearing was a black leather vest and mini-skirt and fishnet stockings, with a cowboy hat and saddle as props, in a piece called, as I remember, "The New West." (This preceded "Brokeback" by years.) The founders of the Atelier were reportedly not amused.

Some of Daniel Greene's studio models have the same ubiquity. Not only do I see them in various published images by assorted artists, but Greene himself uses them as "extras" in his populated works (such as the auction house scenes).

I'm sure there are a few Bougie Studio stories to tell. (I've got the good dirt on a couple of folks, which I'm holding in reserve, pending my tell-all memoirs.) We were a small-studio microcosm of nearly every "artiste" stereotype and neurosis. In the balance of all things, I've heard more than a few Atelier Lack stories . . .

(But none about you, Debra. Yet.)

[Allan Rahbek]

Hi Steven,
I wanted to reply to this wonderful drawing for some time now, but have been stressing with something else as you might well know.

Everybody should go through the process of doing such a solid work. It might seem like a lot of work, sort of like going to America; it is only a matter of getting the boat into the water and begin to row......but it can

[Debra Norton]

Steven, that mini skirt is one of the things he pulled out of his suitcase when he came for his first sitting for the portrait. We were "hard put" to find something suitable in there that wouldn't make him look like the painting you just described. We finally decided on jeans, a white tank top, and a leather jacket - the clothes he came in.

I'll try to keep my nose clean so you won't have any stories to tell about me.

[Sharon Knettell]

OOh! I would have loved to paint that!

[Steven Sweeney]

I thought I could find a couple more drawings at my present location, but so far only this one. A very light pencil drawing and, so, extremely difficult to photograph. My apologies for not being able to supply a better image.

Though this was a quicker, single-session drawing (about 2 hours total drawing time) and isn