Paper and Threads

Matisse Cut-outs opened at MoMA in mid-October and it is quite wonderful.  There are several that I've never seen, and many that I'm thrilled to see again.  It is extremely crowded and it is recommended that visitors get timed-tickets online for the day of their visit.  When I was there last Thursday, the line for general admission/timed tickets for 10:30 was already very long by 9:30! 

MoMA has an activity project to accompany the exhibit, much like Print Studio in 2012 when they had two huge Print Exhibits in the galleries.  I loved Print Studio which was open in the education building 6 days each week.  Last week I went to the exhibit in the morning and to the opening afternoon of Beyond the Cut-Out with friends. Here is a description of the activity program.

Opening Day at Beyond the Cutouts:

There were scissors, glue, and many different plain and printed papers to play with and I chose the project inspired by artist Arturo Herrera.  For this I made cut-outs that will be made into a book.  I love Matisse's figure cut-outs, so that was my focus for the afternoon.  Here is a series of 4 I made as a start.  

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I started attending drop-in figure drawing sessions at the Society of Illustrators in New York City on September 16, 2009.  This was a huge step for me, mostly because I had just retired and was finally ready.  But I asked a friend to accompany me so she could ease me into a setting that she already knew.

I loved it and set as my goal one session per month and was able to keep on that schedule until 2013 when I replaced my monthly drop-in sessions with a weekly Figure Drawing class at Fashion Institute of technology.  Since then I have combined drop-in sessions at Society of Illustrators, Battery Park City (from May through Oct), and even Parsons.

Last week at Battery park City we started with 30 second sketches for warm up and then did 10 one minute sketches of John.  We usually begin with 2 minute sketches at Society of Illustrators and I was pleasantly surprised with my quick 1 minute gesture drawings.  I couldn't do this before, so progress is being made!!! 

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I love figure drawing.  And often practice drawing faces from photos that I collect.  This portrait is an exercise from an unknown source, but it allows me to try to work with the same facial proportions as the original photo.

I also clip and copy hand photos from magazines in order to practice drawing hands.  Live model poses are too short to draw hands carefully, and slowly I am making progress.

Battery Park City Figure Al Fresca uses clothed models and here are my first 4 one minute sketches and 3 ten minute drawings.  These are photos from 11 X 15" paper.

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The Battery Park Conservancy has several free adult art programs from May through October, weather permitting.  I love to go to Figure al Fresca, the 2 hour figure drawing session using clothed models.  But between our beach travels and weather, this was only my second session for this year.

We started with 15 one minute poses - which I did on newsprint to loosen up.  These are the 4 five minute poses which were all done on a large sheet of watercolor paper with a General Sketch and Wash pencil so I could add water for shading.  The sheets were photographed because of size. 

Here are two 10 minute poses, one 20 minute pose and one portrait done during the 20 minute pose because I had so much trouble sketching her head shape. 

This program continues through October - in the South Cove area of Battery Park.  It is from 2:30-4:30 on Wednesdays and art supplies are provided for visitors.  So join us if you visit NYC. 

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New York's Battery Park Conservancy offers free figure drawing (clothed models) every Wednesday afternoon from May through October.  They supply the art supplies, so visitors walking through Battery Park are even invited to join in.

This was my first visit this year, and I was surprised by multiple 30 second sketches to warm up - a first for me.  This is one of mine, just to show my basic approach -  a gesture drawing, of the model, who held a big stick and had her hair in a top-bun to combat the heat.

I sketched four 5 minute poses on an 11 X 15" piece of paper, using a General Sketch and Wash pencil (soluble graphite).  These big sheets were photographed, not scanned.

These are two 10 minute poses and one 20 minute pose.  Because I had lots of time I tried to add a few facial features - MISTAKE- and then rubbed them out!

Posted by Shirley at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)