Life Drawings by Steven Vander Meer

As the host of a weekly life drawing group, I have to show up whether I feel like drawing or not. This has given me, over the years, a lot more discipline for the medium than I would naturally practice. So every week I draw, and every week I produce more paper that needs to be recycled. Once in a while a drawing will turn out likeable, and I'll post it on my blog, stick it on my studio wall, or make a digital print from it.

Sometimes these favorites become the inspiration for a new rubber stamp design. But, for the most part, the weekly activity of figure drawing is not about the making of objects. It is about practice, staying in shape and, hopefully, improving. The "keepers" are just icing on the cake.

Although my original pencil drawings are not for sale, I do sell photographs of the drawings that I have digitally enhanced (most people like a bit of color) and the small size of the reproduction makes them affordable. A collection of over 100 of these small gems is on display at StewArt Studios in Arcata, in the hallway gallery there. (Map)