Paper and Threads

I like to draw sculpture when I am in art exhibits, and recently sketched several sculptures, and then painted around them in my sketchbook, leaving them as single line drawings.  Henry Moore made many Mother and Child sculptures and I love all of them.  This small one was in the Impressionist and Modern Auction at Christies, estimated selling price $70-90,000. 

Argentinian artist Adrian Villar Rojas created this year's Met Rooftop Garden this summer.  He spent months at the Met collecting nearly 100 pieces of art from various parts of the world and different centuries.  Each was then resized, recreated by 3D printing and other similar techniques, and combined with large human figures in many combinations.  Each piece was painted with multiple layers of car paint to protect them outdoors. As I understand it, he is representing art that is now no longer in context and deconstructing the Museum by the combinations created creating a labyrinth. 

http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2017/adrian-villar-rojas 

I liked one of the black sculptures which included a recumbent Indian youth and multiple small female figures on and around him.  Here are three of the figures I really liked.   

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These are the sketchbook pages that I did of constantly Moving Preople, as contrasted with my Architectural Sketches done while sitting and having coffee, wine, or dinner.  I like figure drawing and I love trying to capture some aspect of people who I'm watching when they are in constant motion. 

Musica Palazzo:  The Barber of Seville at a Palazzo on the Grand Canal.  There was a small audience and moved through 4 rooms as we watched.  I was never more than 10 feet away from the singers.  Fun!

Our Tour Guide from a long walk through Cannaregio:

Cellist From Chamber Orchestra at Chiesa San Vidal - mostly Vivaldi Concertos.  Excellent and we even got an encore. 

I almost filled my sketchbook, but thought these 3 blog posts captured my favorite Venice scenes and how I made time for sketching while on vacation. 

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We had a beautiful view from our apartment balcony, and could even see a portion of the Grand Canal.  I went out for a morning look and quick photo each day, and finally sketched the scene.  I've never painted red tile roofs close-up before, however, and after finding a excellent online tutorial, I waited until we came home to finish the painting.  The tiles really looked that varied and were so many colors.

View of Window on the Side Wall of Ca' Rezzonico Museum from Our Apartment:

Here are two additional sketchbook pages from the final days in Venice - one drawn while drinking wine in the late afternoon and the other at our last dinner before departure.  These are more examples of just drawing what was in front of me.

Side wall of Chiesa Zanipoli (Castello Sestiere) as we sipped wine in an outdoor restaurant:  

My view from dinner in the garden at Corte Sconta Restaurant- a favorite of ours from a prior visit. 

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We just returned from Venice - 9 nights in a lovely apartment in Dorsoduro sestiere.  It is a wonderful section of Venice - and it felt like being in a small town.  I love keeping a travel sketchbook and was able to fill 20 pages with watercolor paintings while we were there.  My mantra - just draw what is in front of you!  Thank you Sketchbook Skool for that sage advice.

When I travel with my husband we either stop for coffee late morning or a glass of wine late afternoon - and walk enormous distances each day.  I sketched buildings when sitting in Campos, enjoying the view and people while drawing.

Here are some of the sketches done while sitting over coffee and relaxing.  In most instances I sketched, took a photo for colors, and then painted them later.  I buy my husband a book of NY Times Crossword Puzzles before we leave for vacation, and he is happy doing one while we drink our coffee!

On Novo Strata in Cannaregio  

In Campo Santa Margherita: 

In Camp San Barnaba: 

We were having coffee on Giudecca island, talking to another couple from the UK, and I sketched the church across the Giudecca canal.  That really helps to simplify an image! 

I also sketched people - a tour guide, opera performers, and a chamber orchestra cellist while they were moving constantly.  I'll include those in my next blog post. 

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Painting some Venice scenes from my photos from an earlier visit helped me fill my sketchbook during my 2012 visit.  I don't know why I had such a "fear of failure" before our visit, perhaps my love of the city would make it hard for me to even paint the first page.  Instead I concentrated on just capturing our visit by painting what was in front of me, as a visual memory, instead of looking for the iconic Venice sketches (like Basilica San Marco).

Here are a few of my sketchbook pages from that visit - reposted.

View from our rental apartment living room: 

Campo Santa Margherita where we stopped one afternoon for a glass of wine:

Gondolier Fashions sketched over several days:

One of many gorgeous masks in a lit store window as we were returning late one evening from dinner:

A 7AM trip to the Rialto Market to buy fish for dinner:

An early morning walk and a quick sketch of "Salute," leaning on a garden wall on the opposite side of the Grand Canal: 

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