Paper and Threads

Domenic left this message for me on the EDM message board and that led to our agreement to each sketch more figures and specifically faces by September 13th.

It was helpful for me to have the challenge because this was my usual fall back behavior when practicing figures.

I started the challenge immediately by sketching one figure with a face from a magazine photo, and then a face from an old master art book that I have.

But a real challenge for me was to sketch from the photo of a dancer, and actually feel confident enough to add a face.

Yesterday, while at the FIT Museum looking at the Gothic Fashion exhibit, I decided to even sketch the face of the mannequin when sketching a fabulous silk evening coat.  Her eyes are wonky, but I could have resorted to my "blank face" and didn't.  I love Margaret's frames that she puts around her journal pages - and quickly discovered that I'm not patient enough to do those fabulous frames, not even her dots!

This was a good mini-challenge for me.  I definitely need to have a specific goal to keep me stretching my daily sketches.  Hopefully Domenic hasn't forgotten and we'll get to see his figures from our challenge before long.

Posted by Shirley at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

I spent a fabulous day with Casey and her husband - who are visiting New York City as part of their trip to the US.  Casey and I did some sketching in the morning, then had lunch with her husband, and walked down through Central Park to the Museum of Modern Art to see the Kirchner exhibit and the permanent collection.

Casey and I have very different styles and I love to watch her work.  Although she won't be back in France for several weeks, I hope that she posts her two drawings that were done of the same subject as mine.  If I could work side by side more than once each year, my sketches might get a little looser and my watercolors more brilliant!

We went to the Central Park reservoir and sketched the skyline on Central Park West.  Here is my journal page of the ElDorado.

Then we walked to the Delacorte Theater and sketched the Romeo and Juliette sculpture in from of the theater which is used for Shakespeare in the Park during the summer.

Lunch at the Central Park Boathouse Restaurant was as lovely as usual and here are two photos from our time there.  Casey did a lovely panaoramic painting from her seat looking out over the water towards Bethesda Fountain.

While they enjoyed their first visit to MoMa since the big renovation, I sketched several more Kirchner women from his sketches that are in the exhibit - some in his sketchbooks.

We had such a fantastic day with them, that my husband and I both look forward to future visits.

Posted by Shirley at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

I totally forgot to upload this journal page from our visit to the Central Park Zoo with Henry (5), Sydney (3), and Robbie (3) - our 3 oldest grandchildren.   The Zoo worker in the Penguin House asked the children "why don't polar bears eat penguins?" 

The drawings were made from photos that I took during our visit.  I love sketching animals and someday intend to spend a some quiet time at the wonderful Bronx Zoo.   

Posted by Shirley at 6:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We have two ceiling fans in our apartment, but I sketched part of one for a previous challenge.  This journal page shows multiple views of a battery-operated personal fan - and I have no idea where it came from.  However, it was perfect on that very hot night in August 2003 when New York City and much of the East Coast had their last blackout.  That was the very last time it was used, and I almost didn't remember I had it because it is so small (3 3/4 inches high) and inconspicuous sitting on a corner of my book shelves.  The image on the bottom right is a frontal view when the fan is on.  It goes so fast that I couldn't see the soft black "blades" at all.

Posted by Shirley at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This was a very difficult challenge because I immediately thought about "stuff."  But the "stuff" I always wanted a decade, or a year, or a week ago, I either got or no longer want.    I am extremely fortunate that I did get the big things I wanted.  I have a fabulous husband , 3 grown children with wonderful spouses, and 5 grandchildren ages 5 months to 5 years.  I have a medical career AND I am a wife and mother - something considered impossible/improbable when I was developing my dream.  I saw many parts of the US and had an opportunity to live in several regions that partially shaped me:  The Northeast, the Midwest, Southern California, and Texas - and now I live exactly where I want to be for this time in my life - New York City.  And I have always had creative passions and the ability to move among them in cycles to keep me happy and to make things for those I love.  So after a full week contemplating this challenge, and because I am surrounded by many people who have to learn to live with ill-health, I chose to paint my stethoscope and continue to hope that I have "good health."

There are fewer EDM members posting this challenge than most - so I think others must be struggling with it. 

Posted by Shirley at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)