Katrina Willis, Composition in Blue ( Aurora, Bangkok, Chicago), 2008.
Acrylic on panel, 36 × 60 inches.   © The Artist
http://www.katrinawillis.com

This is a thumbnail of the painting I finished this weekend with the Orchard Community in Aurora.  (Feel free to click on the image to see more detail.)  Themes include: convergence of the local and global, awareness, connectivity, isolation and hope, suburban living, images of the city, sex trade related atrocities in Thailand, and other current issues facing North Americans.  The picture reminds me of a painting a completed a few years back on the conflict in the Sudan and Northern Africa; the latest was finished live over a period of approximately three hours, and I’ve included photos of the picture in progress below along with an image of the Out of the Bush painting on Northern Africa!

Katrina Willis, Out of the Bush, a Sudan Painting, 2002.                               
Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 60 inches.   © The Artist
http://www.katrinawillis.com 

Photo by Mark Willis

Photo by Mark Willis

 Photo by Dan Anderson

Photo by Dan Anderson

Photo by Dan Anderson  © The Artist
Click to see more of Dan Anderson’s Photos

If you are interested in purchasing prints of the studies (or the studies themselves) from this last weekend, please see the Purchase Work page.  I’ve also included a sample from that page below in this post.  Thanks for all of your support!

Katrina Willis, Community (with the artist), 2008.
Charcoal on paper, heightened with white, 36×60 inches.   © The Artist
http://www.katrinawillis.com

Here’s a picture of my dirty hands after drawing the Community picture at the Orchard Community this weekend.

Katrina Willis, Community, 2008.
Charcoal on paper, heightened with white, 36×60 inches.   © The Artist
http://www.katrinawillis.com

Here is a better look at the final product.  I drew this in three stages - from left to right - and the product has a different feel than my studies.  I’m fine with that, considering the number of figures involved, the circumstance of live drawing and the time constraints.  Not to mention, the sea of figures looks a lot like a landscape to me.

I adore drawing on brown paper with charcoal.  It reminds me of one my teachers from my undergraduate art classes, Jack Maxwell.  He was always drawing on this.  Overall, I really enjoy doing this sort of drawing.  For a chunk of the time, I draw to live music– what a treat.  Sometimes my drawing changes because I can’t stop dancing to the music.  :) This is a good problem to have.

Katrina Willis, Study for Community #2, 2008.
Pencil on paper, 8×13 inches.   © The Artist
http://www.katrinawillis.com

I sketched this on brown paper with charcoal and white conte crayon / pencils.  In the first study, I established the compositon.  In this study, I’m exploring form and more detailed expression.

Here is the final installment from this last weekend’s session at the Orchard.  This final painting had a high level of appropriateness for this family as a hybrid illustration between contemplation and grieving.  Definitely a neat group– I enjoyed meeting everyone.

I’m working on some ’secret’ sketches for a large painting project, so I wont be posting  those special sketches on these pages.  More daily (public!) sketches to come soon! : )

I didn’t really get a photo of the second painting I completed at the Orchard, but here are photos of the progress mid-picture.

Katrina Willis, Contemplation 1, 2008.
Oil on Canvas, 24 x 36 inches.   © The Artist
http://www.katrinawillis.com

This weekend I painted live at the building of the Orchard community in Aurora.  This was the first of three 24×36 figurative gesture paintings I completed in a little under one hour each.  The model, Essex, was such a trooper!  He sat the entire length without a single break - amazing.  I enjoyed the entire experience.  More pictures to come soon!