Dan Kirchoff
Drawing of the Week
I’ve been doing something called “Drawing of the Week”for some years now.
Listed here below, are drawings and a brief description for each week
starting with January, 2024. Drawings are done with my trusty Rotring
Artpen on a variety of paper.
01/06/2024
Santiago was our model at Saturday Morning Figure Drawing. Great profile and I loved drawing the bun in his hair.
01/08/2024
Another morning drinking a cafe au lait at Zoot Coffee in Camden, Maine. Drawing the people sitting in the big front window. They’re backlit with the light from outside, my favorite.
01/15/2024
Sure, everyone looks at their phones while drinking coffee in the mornings. It does make it easier for me to draw them, as they remain stationary for quite a while (or until the coffee gets cold).
01/27/2024
Alyson was our model and her expression is one of indifference. It almost looks like she’s doing an eye-roll, as if to say “Art? Modeling? Whatever....”
02/03/2024
I’m showing you the progress of drawing Pam’s portrait at figure drawing. I never do a pencil underdrawing, but rather go directly to ink. It makes you brave, as you go right in....
02/08/2024
These are some small scenes from an illustrated map of Maine created for a self-publishing minister. He was rewriting the Gospels as if they took place in 1970s Maine.
02/15/2024
This is a political cartoon outlining the dilemma of the “unenrolled” or independent voter in Maine. Semi-open primaries is a new thing here.
02/22/2024
Here is a colorized scene from an illustrated map created for a self-publishing minister. This is Halfway Rock Light, featured on the book cover.
02/26/2024
I’m still working in color and acrylics is my color medium of choice. I enjoy setting these simple still lifes up on my desktop as it allows me to go in deep with the color and detail.
03/05/2024
My wife and I did an overnight in the big city of Portland, Maine. The next day we explored the city a bit and came across the historic West End Cemetery. It was in rough shape, as you can see, but that added a lot to its character.
03/12/2024
I’ve been working on a story about a fairy and an elf. It’s rather like an adult fairy tale, and like fairy tales, there’s a lesson to be learned. This story teaches you to trust your gut instincts.
03/18/2024
Can you tell I enjoy my coffee? This is the business end of the espresso machine at Zoot Coffee in Camden, Maine.
03/26/2024
Don’t you love the passageways and arches of these 19th-century fortifications? This one is Fort Knox, near Brunswick, Maine, originally built to protect the northern border of the country
03/30/2024
This is a portrait of Danica. Portraiture has had a rather stuffy reputation as of late, showing people from the usual angles, using the usual medium. I'm going for the profile, and sometimes even draw the back of the head. Rather different, eh?
04/02/2024
Food trucks are my favorite. Well, in good weather, they’re my favorite. I guess I just like supporting the little guys, and enjoy the innovations they can afford to do, being just a food truck.
04/06/2024
What do you think of adding someone’s hand in a portrait like this one of Arial? That is, if you can draw it so it’s not too put-on. I like adding surprises into portraits.
04/23/2024
Visiting my mother down in Montrose, Alabama, across the bay from Mobile. It’s a different world there, full of flowers and greenery while up in Maine, we’re still in Mud Season.
04/30/2024
My Aunt ’Rommie, my grandmother’s sister, once told me “A train sounds like progress.” This is something I’ve always agreed with, but many in our society think trains are past-tense. I believe trains are our future.
05/10/2024
As the spring weather warms here in Maine, I took my first opportunity to draw the boats outside on Camden Harbor. Generally, I like the traditional, wooden boats, but when it comes to drawing, I’ll take what I can get.
05/13/2024
Wild turkeys were endangered for a while here in Maine. No longer. Seems at every turn, there’s a whole gaggle of them wandering around. They don’t bother anyone, and are good about cleaning up any extra bird seed in your yard.
05/21/2024
This is a plein-aire experiment, drawing outside with a B-nib pen, which is much thicker than I’m used to. The Armistice Bridge in Belfast, Maine, is a pedestrian way across the river.
06/01/2024
Ruby, our model at figure drawing, said she was up pretty late the night before. Those kids. So as she kept closing her eyes, I decided to draw them closed. You have to roll with the punches....
06/03/2024
One of those days when I just draw, draw, draw the boats. In Camden, Maine, on the harbor, sketching the small boats before going to work. Frankly, there’s nothing better in life....
06/14/2024
More drawing the boats before going to work at the newspaper. I suppose I could sit here and draw all day. Maybe if I figured out how to make this my job. Hmm....
06/22/2024
Ainsley was our model, and going for my usual, from the side or behind vantage, I got a nice drawing with her leaning on her elbow. A nice change up doing portraiture.
06/29/2024
Ruby is interesting to draw, as she always looks like she’s deep in thought. Well, at least she kept her eyes open on this one. Usually, she admits to being up late the night before and starts to drift off.
07/06/2024
An interesting experiment. Drawing Alyson and on the left, you can see the detailed, carefully rendered pen-and-ink drawing I did with my F-nib Rotring pen. After, I took my thicker B-nib pen and dashed off the right-hand drawing. Which is better?
07/14/2024
French & Brawn is a grocery store in downtown Camden, Maine. Often, I draw the boats in Camden Harbor, but wanted to draw something different for a change, so French & Brawn it is.
07/16/2024
For two summers my wife and I rented this camp on a lake in Washington County, Maine. It was a classic Maine “camp,” a three-season rustic cabin with no water or septic, sometimes power, but always peaceful and restoring.
07/28/2024
Ainsley was our model at Saturday figure drawing, and I had more trouble with the foreshortening of her arm than I would have anticipated. I finally nailed it with this “cartoon,” drawn quickly with my B-nib pen.
08/06/2024
Fort Edgecomb is located near Wiscasset, Maine, on the Sheepscot River. It is an octagonal blockhouse, built in 1808 and served in the War of 1812. The construction is fascinating, how the beams come together inside the building.
08/14/2024
My cousin contacted me about drawing a portrait of his son who recently died in an automobile accident. It was tragic, and I wanted to do the portrait for him and his wife. I thought it came out pretty well.
08/24/2024
I’ve drawn this woman before at figure drawing, but can’t remember her name. She had the most amazing tatoos all over her body, just about everywhere. Great to draw.
09/03/2024
In my column for the local paper, I talk about opera houses in Maine, and specifically the Camden Opera House, which sports this beautiful arch over the main entrance.
09/07/2024
Recently, at the Saturday figure drawing group, our model didn’t show, so my friend Michael sat in. Always great drawing him.
09/10/2024
Here is the pen-and-ink stage of a wrap-around book cover for an anthology of poetry and writings about Maine's north woods for a local publisher. He gave me a list of requests for the cover, and I will be adding color in Photoshop.
09/19/2024
I draw political cartoons for the local newspaper, and this one depicts Rockland’s City Council debating the issue of short-term rentals, much like playing a game of “hot potato.”
09/25/2024
Back in June, I experimented with some plein aire drawing using a B-nib pen, thicker than my usual, and drawing it large on a portable easel. This is The Gothic building in Belfast, Maine.
10/05/2024
Drawing Ainsley at Saturday morning figure drawing. While I tend to draw profiles, this one had me drawing from below the model, thus giving the sense of looking up at her.
10/09/2024
A Maine book publisher asked me to illustrate the cover of an anthology of writings about the Maine North Woods. This is a wraparound illustration, with the image going around the spine to the back cover as well.
10/16/2024
I recently wrote and illustrated a piece about the Mighty Gondola at Sugarloaf USA, a western Maine ski mountain. It was taken down in the 1990s, but the cars are still seen on local ski shop signs.
10/26/2024
Merrillee was our model at figure drawing and I was pleased with the portrait I drew of her. Loved how she had her hair all pulled back in a bun, as it always adds interest to the drawing.
11/02/2024
Dylan was a great model at Saturday morning figure drawing. Always nice to have a guy to do a portrait of.
11/16/2024
It was interesting drawing May Thu. I first did her portrait in my standard F-nib pen (right), then with the time left, I drew her with my thicker B-nib (left). Both are good, with different qualities.
11/23/2024
Ainsley is always great to draw at Saturday Morning Figure Drawing. She was backlit, which is my favorite lighting, and I love the necklace she was wearing.
11/30/2024
Jared Golden is our Maine Second District Representative to Washington D.C. Recently, he was ganging up with some other members of Congress to work on our elections. I’m hoping he succeeds.
12/06/2024
I’ve been taking to drawing at the local food co-op in the morning. I sit at the little cafe area, drink coffee and draw the cashiers. The co-op management like the drawings and asked me to do more. All good, right?
12/13/2024
I’ve been working with acrylics and as I live in Maine, and sooner or later you have to do a lighthouse. So I did the West Quoddy Head Light up in Lubec, Maine, the easternmost point in the U.S. There yah go.