Paper and Threads

Pen Pockets for Sketchbooks:  I decided that I wanted a pocket to keep on my Daily Sketchbooks and designed this pattern last summer.  It fits around a book cover that measures 7 1/2-9 inches in height and  has a Velcro closure.  The pocket easily carries 5 drawing tools.  The Velcro tabs can even be wrapped around the whole book if you want to keep it closed when packing it in purses, travel bags etc.  The tabs can be seen on the Back cover of the Blue Purple Sketchbook.

Pen Pocket for Travel Sketchbook:  I took this recycled book, that I made a watercolor paper page block for, and added the pen, eraser, and 3 pens before we went to Spain last Fall.  The pocket fits around the front cover, so you can easily grab whatever you would like and I frequently sketched standing up as I followed our Walking Tour Guides. 

I make hand-dyed fabric and selected coordinating pieces for each sketchbook, but my friends each used my PDF tutorial and made one with a single piece of cotton fabric.  It only take 1/2 yd of fabric. 

Tutorial for Making Pen Pocket:  I created a 4 page PDF Tutorial for making this pocket, and would be delighted to share it by email.  Leave a comment on this blog post and I will get your comment, with your request in an email.  I'll then send it to you as soon as I can as an email attachment. 

Posted by Shirley at 5:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (37)

My husband and I joined friends on Thursday and Friday for rehearsals of the New York City Ballet (NYCB).  We sit in the first ring for these rehearsals, far enough away from the stage not to distract the dancers.  When we sit down, they are usually milling around the stage for a few minutes - some in costume (principle dancers) and the others in practice clothes.  Once the lights go down, it is so dark that I can't see my sketchbook.  So I watch the dancers for those first few minutes, memorize a few of their practice positions as they warm up, and scribble very quick sketches.  The ink and paint are added at home from memory.

 Thursday:

Friday

On Saturday we were taking 4 NYC grandsons to the New York Philhamonic Young People's Concert.  Just as we were ready to leave the apartment to pick them up, Lincoln Center cancelled the Concert.  We took a walk in the snow near our apartment, but hurried back because of the winds.  Before 9AM on Sunday we walked to Central Park and enjoyed the beautiful, still very white snow.  The paths were packed and we walked in crunchy white snow as the dogs were frolicking!

Looking South over the Great Lawn. 

By 9:30 AM on Cedar Hill:  Parents and children were already crowding the best sledding hill just south of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

This was the second biggest blizzard measured in Central Park - ever - and it missed the old record by 0.1 inch!   

Posted by Shirley at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Yesterday I watched the video of Danny Gregory doing his Jill Weber homework, and was inspired to make my book immediately.  I have many creative passions, and therefore find it hard to focus and work in a series.    When I was considering a theme about myself for the book, I decided that I needed to catalogue my passions as they developed over my life time.  I decided that I only had several hours to devote to this homework project this week, and selected and printed many of my sketchbook pages from the past to tell my story.  An accordion book was perfect to document my 6 current creative pathways.  The cover and quilt square were new drawings, the rest were collages.

Link to Danny's Blogpost which had me giggling as I watched it. 

http://dannygregorysblog.com/2016/01/25/inspiration-monday-handmade-book/ 

Accordion Book:

Cover and Page 1:  Seamstress

Pages 2 and 3:  Seamstress and Quilter:

Pages 4 and 5:  Surface Designer and Artist

Pages 6 and 7:  Bookbinder and Writer

My friend Benedicte sent me a wonderful article about Polymaths, and a new name for creatives that can't focus on one passion.  The new name is Multipotentialites.  The article and link to the Ted Talk are both interesting reading.

http://goinswriter.com/change-medium/ 

Posted by Shirley at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And what an amazing day it was with my artist friends Benedicte, Pat, and Teri!  We intended to visit 4 Galleries, but it was really cold and we found other really interesting exhibits in two of the buildings, so we didn't have to go outside as often and saw more wonderful art as inspiration. 

I first learned about William Kentridge, a South African artist through his one man show at MoMA.  The Met then had an exhibit of one of his video art pieces within the last two years.  I'm fascinated by him and was completely shocked that Marian Goodman Gallery had two of his new megasize video installations.  What a thrill to be surrounded by his art combined with music, dance, and South African actors.   Here is a link to the Video of "More Sweetly Play the Dance."  But watching on video it isn't as amazing as being in the large space.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-n5Kvw9v4A

 Deliberate Practice:

I sketched two of my two favorite paintings and two wood sculptures from our visits. Each copy is an education for me as I try to learn more about lines, ink, and the use of watercolor to approximate the oil paints used.  I also practiced more handlettering on these sketchbook pages for my Sketchbook Skool 5 homework.

A Painting by Paula Modersohn-Becker (1875-1907), a German Artist who died at age 31 following childbirth. 

Peasant Woman Carrying a Branch circa 1898. 

Two sculptures by Chaim Gross (Forum Gallery) and Frank Walter (Hirschl and Adler Gallery).

A Painting (Untitled) by B. Vithal at DAG Modern Gallery.

Posted by Shirley at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I saw the Picasso Sculpture Exhibit many times since the preview on September 11, 2015.  Last week I went with my husband for what may be my last visit, although there are still more favorite sculptures I would like to draw.  While at home painting two pieces I just drew, I went back and painted a drawing from an earlier visit, and I used these 3 Picasso sketchbook pages to practice handlettering.   Koosje Koene, the first teacher in Sketchbook Skool 5 -Expressing. gave several demos on hand lettering, and our first homework for this week was to practice one serif and one sans serif alphabet.

Years ago I printed upper and lower case alphabets and numbers of fonts I liked from Word and Word Perfect (see sample below).  While I've used them on some occasions, I rarely use them for sketchbook drawings.  On these 3 pages, however, I did look at saved samples and started my homework.

These are my 3 sketchbook pages, now with a variety of hand lettered fonts. 

Posted by Shirley at 6:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)