Paper and Threads

Week 2 of this wonderful online course is "drawing people in motion".  Like Week 1, there are several artists drawing figures in motion demonstrating their specific method for this difficult task.  I draw lots of figures, some in action poses from reference photos, and now from photos I am taking out on the streets of NYC. 

Drawing People in Motion from My Photos: These are the current batch from the sidewalks of NYC.

Drawing People Live:  I also draw people live, sitting in one place, and these don't make me nervous.  These are ones from the bus, or at a restaurant.

Drawing Someone in Constant Motion:  The only time I draw people in constant motion is at concerts.  During week 2 I sketched this wonderful flautist, at a Juilliard Historical Presentation Concert. She played a Bach flute solo, 4 movements, and her entire body continually moved as she bent and straightened her torso along with her playing.  I am still unable to draw figures when their movements are NOT repeated occasionally.

This week, week3, covers foreshortening of the figure.   

Posted by Shirley at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am taking the 5 week Sketchbook Skool class called People Drawing People.  I go to figure drawing, both nude models and dressed models, and I often draw people on the bus, or subway, restaurants and concerts.  I feel comfortable drawing in these settings.  But I find it very difficult to draw bodies who are really moving - i.e. head, torso, arms, and legs, all at the same time.  For at least a year I've been doing line of action drawings from photos of moving people, but I still lack the confidence to draw someone live who is running, dancing, etc. 

Today is the beginning of week 2 in the SBS class and there are 4 demos of artists drawing people in constant motion.  Just looking at the class demos this week brings out Mildred - my inner critic.  For my own practice, I took a number of photos the last time I was on the Lincoln Center Plaza - of people walking, running, or standing still for a moment in front of the Metropolitan Opera.  And these drawings, 1-6, are from those photos.  The final 2 drawings were done in restaurants, i.e. live direct observation.   

People in Motion:  

My Next Deliberate Practice:  I will try to draw the constantly moving models in videos from class this week.  And then I need to go into Central Park and try to draw people in all kinds of motion.  Yikes!

Posted by Shirley at 6:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Screen Print on Fabric:  For the 3rd of our projects this semester, we had to create two "positive" images, and burn them into screens, registered, and make 2-color prints on fabric.  Registered means that you can easily place the print from one screen exactly on top of the print from the other screen.  I had the fashion model with the horizontal stripes on one screen and all of the calligraphy/typography on the other screen.  The first screen was printed in black (figure) and the second one in charcoal gray (typography).  The print measures 15 X 19"  The background fabric is white.  

Original Art Inspiration:  I sketched a live model in a Fashion Illustration course last year and then collaged over the drawing. 

Creating the designs for the Screens:  The positive images for the screen #1 were created by collaging black paper and typed words, that were printed on a transparency, to create the blouse.  All the pieces were taped to heavy vellum to photograph (burn) them onto a photoemulsion screen.  The calligraphy for screen #2 was printed on transparency sheets and cut out and taped to a second piece of vellum to make the other screen.  Here are the two sheets of vellum clipped together for me to test the image.

Posted by Shirley at 6:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Asia Week in New York City 2019

My friends and I love the Southeast Asian Modern and Comporary Auction Previews at Sothebys and Christies.  These are painters from the 21st C, and several of our favorites were in a group that began modern Indian painting.  I went to both big auction houses to see the auction previews during Asian week, and just painted portions of a few of my favorites.  The paintings on the left were from Sothebys.  The paintings on the right were from Christies.  All of the images are from India, except the middle figure on the right.  That was copied from a very long Chinese scroll.

Posted by Shirley at 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Figuary is over for 2019, and I really enjoyed Kenzo's short instructional videos and drawing Larry Withers Models.  I sketched a pregnant model many years ago, and was delighted that Croquis Café had one on Day 3.  In 2010 I enjoyed converting the images into Quilt Journal Pages  (8.5 X 11") using dyed fabric and several methods to transfer the images. 

The model at Croquis Café on Day 3 of Figuary (Feb 3, 2019) was excellent.  These are most of the sketches that I did of her.   

Pregnant Model (I, 2, and 5 minute poses - some finished on PAUSE)

In 2010, I even took some of my drawings and made stamps - and here is a small folded book of stamped images, and the envelope that I made for the book. 

Stamps and Small Folded Book with Envelope

Posted by Shirley at 5:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)