Paper and Threads

This was our 2nd Battery Park City Figure Al Fresco session for 2018, and I had one more page left in my Non-Dominant Hand Sketchbook.  My plan was to draw with my non-dominant right hand, scan and resize the image, and collage it onto that last page.  I had 2 Sketch and Wash Pencils and my waterbrush in my left hand, when the model began his 2 minute warm up poses, and without realizing it, I sketched him with my dominant left hand without even realizing it!  I was both happy and sad - happy that I could comfortably use my injured wrist for drawing, and sorry that my enforced challenge with my other hand could be ending. 

Five Minute Pose

Ten Minute Poses:

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My cast is off, and my "Non-Dominant Hand Drawing Sketchbook" only has one more empty page.  But I definitely need physical therapy to use my dominant hand without pain.  Yesterday was my first session of 6.  These were "line of action" drawings done over 3 days, after my breakfast.  I will probably continue these, but really need to try to capture people in action, not just still photo images, now that the weather is nicer.  I also miss painting with colors, and need to paint several spring flower drawings that are in my watercolor sketchbook.

Posted by Shirley at 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I saw my hand physician yesterday, and my cast was removed!  It will take me several more weeks, and some hand physical therapy, before the residual pain is gone.  I'm thrilled!  And I only have a few more pages before I finish my Non-Dominant Hand Drawing Sketchbook. This was a wonderful way to stay happy for these 6 weeks.  Thanks again Maureen.  It was a brilliant gift that gave me the push I needed! 

Wednesday was the first day of the Battery Park City Adult Art Programs.  It was a gorgeous day, and the flowers in Wagner Park were wonderful.  NY Harbor was busy, with ferries and other boats zipping around. 

Figure Al Fresco is an outdoor figure drawing session with clothed models, and it was a great way for me to test my recent drawing skills with my non-dominant hand.  I used a Sketch and Wash pencil and waterbrush for these drawings, each of which took about 10 minutes total.

More Poses done before the above ones.  They were 5 minute poses, and I fiddled around with them with my waterbrush for several more minutes.

Posted by Shirley at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sketchbook Revival Video from Session 3.  I signed up for this free online course because I need inspiration as I enter the last few weeks of my dominant hand wrist fracture with cast.  Danny Gregory, who I first discovered in the Fall of 2005, with his Yahoo Group Everyday Matters, made me realize how much I wanted to draw and paint in sketchbooks.  I was partially retiring from Medicine that summer, and couldn't think of any skills I wanted to develop more.

While watching his video in Session 3 of Sketchbook Revival, I sketched him - while he was talking.  This was a new way of challenging me with my non-dominant hand and I used a simple 2B mechanical pencil, and a Sketch and Wash pencil without water for his sweater.

More "line of action" figure drawings from after breakfast:  These are perfect little opportunities for me to sketch in pen on quarter sheets of copy paper after breakfast - using a Pilot G-2 10 pen.  Before breakfast I haven't had enough coffee!

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Franz Marc  The Shepherdess:

I finally finished my last drawing from the exhibit at Galerie St Etienne.  I wanted to use my brush pen again, because I have lots of difficulty controlling it, even with my dominant hand.  For this I had to sit down and rest my book on a table, not on my cast.

Line of Action Drawings: I like doing these small drawings on scrap paper (5.5 x 4.25") using photos from a clothing magazine.  The pencil lines are the quick line of action/arms/legs, and then I draw the figure in ink.  I'm periodically cutting them out with very fine scissors and my non-dominant hand, and collaging them into my non-dominant hand sketchbook. 

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