Draw from Life with Doug Boomhower

In the videos below, Doug Boomhower offers some insight into how to draw expressively from life.  Enjoy ...

Part 1 of 2:

How To Draw From Life on Howcast

Part 2 of 2:

How To Draw From Life, Part 2 Of 2 on Howcast

Get to know Doug Boomhower. He is the artist behind the website   "Learn To Draw Expressively."

This is Doug. Well, this is Doug when he was a child. He tells us that he wasn't always a charcoal pencil portrait artist, although he started drawing at the age of three or four - he can't remember exactly when.  I think I started about the same time - whatta ya know.  Although, now that I think about it, I can't draw like Doug Boomhower.

Like most kids, he drew cartoons, animals, trees, flowers, houses, and birds. He drew a lot.

When he was a boy, his parents rented a room to a teacher.  Doug would draw pictures, leave them on the stairs in his home that led to the teacher's room, and he would listen for her comments as she passed by. "How else can you get objective criticism at the age of four?" says Doug.  He says parents are biased and will always tell you that your drawings are good, even if they are not. Thanks to some very positive, objective reviews, he continued to draw. 

Personally, I think Doug was a pretty saavy and smart 4 year old.

When he was eight years old (until about age 11), he took private oil painting lessons, but he says he didn't have the patience to wait for the paint to dry - he wanted more immediate gratification, so he went back to the basics - back to pencil and paper and black and white.

Around age 13, he started playing in a rock band, which lead to studies in jazz and jazz musicians, the subjects of most of his work.

Now, skip ahead a few years... 

As you can see from the picture, Doug is swimming in a sea of black & white sketches.

As a charcoal pencil portrait artist, he always found drawing faces to be the most challenging.  I think we might all have to admit that to be true - and since the age of four, he tells us he has drawn a "few."

Doug has displayed his artwork at jazz festivals in the United States and Canada.

New Orleans was particularly great because his booth was very near to the Gospel tent...entertainment day and night. The young visitors thought his were "cool drawings," an appropriate comment considering they were drawings of cool jazz musicians.

Doug tells us that as a charcoal pencil portrait artist, if you were to ask him about his philosophy of art and drawing, he would say: Draw honestly, and strive for power, clarity and emotion.

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