Paper and Threads

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.

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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

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Love Life Drawing and Croquis Café, both You Tube channels you can subscribe to, sponsored a daily challenge this month.  Kenzo gave 4-5 minute lessons at Love Life Drawing, and Larry Withers introduced the model session at Croquis Café, each day.   The models posed for three 1 min, two 2 min, and one 5 minute pose.  Obviously you could pause the video for as long as you wanted, but I tried to finish the drawing in the allotted time, and usually just had to pause for another minute with the 1 minute poses.  These are a few poses I really loved drawing.  Kenzo said that all of the videos would remain indefinitely. 

In the first images, I made a quick sketch in pencil and then finished it in ink after the time was up.   In the second images I sketched in pencil, and then darkened a few lines after the sketch was done.  Even if I paused the video, I never took more than 20 - 25 minutes for all 6 sketches, probably because I used small scrap papers for all of them.  This was so enjoyable that I only missed several days so far.

Figuary B

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My husband and I scheduled an afternoon and an evening performance at Lincoln Center and then needed to decide how to spend the hours between the events.  The Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle is a perfect place to browse and eat, making a trip back to our apartment less inviting.  Landmarc is big, and it has a large enough menu for any time of the day.  I sketched what I saw right in front of me and added paint at home.

In the afternoon we saw a working rehearsal of the New York City Ballet.  It was fun to see the 3 principle ballerinas all in gowns, and their partners all in random class clothes.  This was obviously not only a rehearsal of "In the Night" set to a Chopin Nocturne.  The dress skirts had many, many layers and these dancers were getting used to their costumes as well.  This dancer came out to warm up for a few minutes when the lights were still on, and I tried to capture her arabesque from memory, because it was over in an instant.  In the evening we saw the Juilliard Orchestra, conducted by Barbara Hannigan, and she is the most physical conductor I've ever seen.  No sketches possible!

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These are my line of action figure drawings from the 2nd half of January.  I call these Art After Breakfast because I do these 5-10 minute drawings while I'm finishing my coffee, and paint them immediately.  I cut them out and collage them in my sketchbook later.  Each drawing is easy for me to do because my photo reference book, quarter sheets of copy paper, pencil and pen are kept together.  This is the 2-page sketchbook spread.

Left Page:

Right Page

First I draw a pencil line of action, and then I draw the figure with a black gel pen. I really enjoy drawing these - they are quick, low stakes, small sketches, and they keep me drawing even when other projects and demands intervene.

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