Paper and Threads

Still Life #1  We had limited props for our still life drawings yesterday, but some of the clippings from the Park Conservancy, including pussy willows, were lovely.  I decided to play by drawing the arrangement with a brown watercolor pencil and then painting with watercolor over the watercolor pencil.  Brenda Swenson sketched with a watercolor pencil and then painted with watercolor in her demo in Sketchbook Skool Seeing.  And I haven't used the technique since then. 

Still Life #2:  My 2nd still life was set up with childrens' art tools from a supply closet, and two of my brushes.  This was another experiment - using glazing like Felix Scheinberger demonstrated in Sketching Skool Expressing.  I put water on my watercolor paper and then dropped in 4 colors to make the background.  After it dried completely, I sketched the "tools" in pencil and then painted them in their original colors as a glaze.

I feel completely free to play when I'm at these art sessions and quickly get in the flow and experiment.  It feels great. 

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I was intrigued by Andy Warhol's use of this technique when seeing it in the 2015 Warhol exhibit at MoMA, and attended one of their art sessions to learn the technique for making these transfers.  Here is information and photos of Warhol's prints, and my transfers from the museum.

http://www.paperandthreads.com/2015/07/warhol_blotted_line_prints.php 

Last week, on Sketchbook Skool Semester 5, Penny Dullaghan, an artist illustrator, taught her technique for making blotted line image transfers as one of 4 print-making techniques, and she used a brush and India ink, instad of a fountain pen and water-soluble ink like I tried at MoMA. 

This was the image I created at MoMA using a disposable fountain pen - and tracing paper (left) and smooth Bristol paper (right) that were taped together for us in a packet.   The ink was soluble so I didn't add watercolor.

Here are 3 images I transferred using a brush and India ink per Penny Dullaghan's method in Sketchbook Skool 5.  I used Canson Vellum tracing paper, Fabriano Atistica 140 lb watercolor paper, a #1 round brush, and India ink.  I like the expressive lines best when transferring the leaves.  The faces are more messy and would need more practice and probably a smaller brush.

Brush and ink - Leaves:  I like the random blobs of ink. 

Axel: 

Face:  The dots paper to the left side of the face are me experimenting with transferring dots, instead of 1/4" segments of ink with the brush.  I liked Warhol's dots (as seen in my blog link above) and think there are times when I might want to use them.

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Wednesday was figure drawing day in Battery Park City.  I sketched the figures with a soluble graphite pencil (Sketch and Wash by General) and then added water to move the graphite for shading.  Several minutes later I added watercolor to the figure. 

These two 10 minute poses were drawn and painted over a previous watercolor background. 

These are two 15 minute poses drawn with the soluble graphite and then watercolor. 

Next Week at BPC:  Still Life Painting 

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We are alternating figure drawing with still life drawing at our weekly Battery Park City Art Sessions.  There were many different objects available for creating a still life, even winter cuttings from foliage in the many parks.  This was my first painting.

By the time I was putting together my next still life, the staff added many toys they found from the "childrens" programs also held in the space.  I've always been fascinated by the story of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, a British sculptor who made dinosaur sculptures using their skeletons as a basis.  The sculptures were featured in the Crystal Palace Exhibit in London in 1854.  Sadly, New York City's Tammany Hall objected to putting these sculptures in Central Park, after Hawkins toured the US with his dinosaurs.  It is said that "gangsters" destroyed the sculptures and they are buried in the SW corner of Central Park.  These stories can be easily found online and in a lovely Children's book.

 For my last drawing/painting, I used one stem of the foliage that was donated by the BPC gardeners.   I loved the delicacy and orange colors!  Can anyone identify this winter planting?

Posted by Shirley at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hope everyone has an enjoyable Valentines Day and Presidents Day weekend in the United States.   

We have 6 Grandchildren spending the night with us today and I made Axel Valentines to go with the new books I bought for them.

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