I started going to figure drawing sessions in September 2009, and averaged one session per month over the whole year. There is now a summer break until after Labor Day and that seems a long time away. I think I'm making progress, and more frequently sketch faces during the longer poses. Here are the two 10 minute poses and two 20 minute poses done this week.
A new Matisse exhibit opened at MoMA on Sunday - entitled Radical Invention, 1913-1917. The paintings were somber in color and he was definitely experimenting with the human form, culminating in his painting The Bathers. I sketched faces from one of his paintings and several of his prints for the Prisoners of Bohain-en-Vermandois.
I then use3d one of the drawings to inspire my "Eyedropper Face" which is Lab 13 from the Carla Sonheim book Drawing Lab. I used a small eye dropper and FW acrylic ink to draw the face, then painted it with watercolor.
I'm really enjoying the "labs" in the Sonheim book - and will continue to work through them even though my art buddies returned home after our evening art sessions at our beach week.
Our group met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday, instead of in Central Park, because of the threat of inclement weather. Our first drawing session was a major challenge - the Starn brothers bamboo structure on the Museum rooftop. I decided to really limit my scope and to focus on the method that they used to connect the bamboo and creat a structure which supports many people on internal walkways.
Our next drawing session was in the current exhibit called The American Woman - from the costume institute. I already sketched some of the fashions in the exhibit on a previous visit and this time concentrated on the room called "The Heiress."
Our 3rd and final sketch was in 19th C. European Paintings. I am studying Cezanne's card players over a several year period and this time did a simple line drawing of one of the card players. For more information about this project and my 2007, 2008, 2009 paintings, click here.
Our Central Park Meetup Group met at the Conservatory Garden again and it was beastly hot. However, there were enough non-wilted flowers to paint. They are not labelled and I have little practical knowledge of flowers - but I love drawing individual blooms.
There are two wonderful fountains in the Garden. One of the fountain areas was the site for a lovely wedding. The other fountain, the Three Dancing Maidens, was in bright sunlight. But we discovered that we could dangle our feet into ice cold fountain water until the guards reprimanded us. I drew this fountain twcie before (see here and here) and this time I decided to just draw one of the maidens. I had just enough time before the guards came!
Following Meetup, I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a special afternoon program on Picasso to go along with their huge current exhibit. Francois Gilot gave a long and excellent lecture on her encounter with Picasso, She lived with him for 10 years and had two children with him. Professor Michael Fitggerald presented detailed information about the first private American collectors of Picasso's paintings and the history of the Met vs MoMA and their Picasso acquisitions. Then there was a wonderful French film (The Mystery of Picasso - 1955) in which Picasso drew on one side of a support and we the audience just saw the lines forming and colored inks being added. It was mesmerizing.
There are two weekly figure drawing sessions at the Society of Illustrators in New York City - and in one of them models are partially or fully clothed. Last week was the first time that I was there when two models were fully in costume - a Marie Antoinette type costume for one and a pirate costume for the other. It was the hardest sketching I've done there - a huge challenge.
Here is one of my 2 minute sketches of the woman model - complete with an elaborate wig and full ruffly gown:
Here is one of my 2 minute sketches of the male - in pirate costume, but without all of the braid and other decoration on his jacket, belt, and hat which I just didn't have time to include.
They proceeded to disrobe before the longer poses at the end of the evening. This is one of the 20 minute poses:
We took my 6 year old grandson Henry to Lincoln Center for an open rehearsal of the New York Philharmonic. He takes violin lessons and is very interested in music - and seemed excited when we invited him. He read some great children's books about composers and I sketched before the rehearsal began. It was the first time that I sketched live musicians while they played.
Yesterday I went to a panel discussion about creativity and sketchbooks - presented by Rice Freeman-Zachary (whose 2 books I loved), with my friend Melanie Testa, and Wendy Hale Davis. Rice is such a colorful character that I just had to sketch her while I listened. And I didn't even put on all the jewelry that she was wearing.
Although the Meet-up Group usually sketches in Central Park during the non-winter months, this past Saturday we sketched at Bryant Park which is located behind the New York Public Library. It was a beautiful day and the Park was full. We sketched in 3 separate areas in the Park and shared our sketchbooks at the end of each. Here are my 3 watercolor journal pages from the afternoon. This is the fountain on the west side of the Park.
There are umbrellas, chairs, and lamposts everywhere!
These were the flowers blooming in the big planters that were scattered all around the Park.
I spent the day yesterday, with my art buddies Pat and Benedicte, at the Central Park Zoo. It was a beautiful, but hot day, and every school class in the City was there for a field trip! I love sketching at the zoo - it is a real test of how fast you can achieve an image of some type. I sketch in pencil and then take a photo so I know how to paint the animal when I get home. These are the first 4 pages (out of 6) that I painted.
Gentoo and Chinstrap Penguins
King Penguin - These are new penguins in the exhibit and they are bigger than the others.
Three Scarlet Ibis:
Tortoise and Hornbill
Only one more day in May to post a daily sketchbook page!
Yesterday my husband and I went to the Museum of Modern Art early to see the current Henri Cartier Bresson photography show and the Picasso print exhibit. This is the 3rd HCB exhibit I've seen and it was by far the largest - and included photos from many of his photojournalist articles in major publications. I really like his photographs, probably because they are such quick snapshots in the lives of people around the world.
The Picasso exhibit has a few of the same prints that are in the big Picasso exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art - but I never get tired of seeing his drawings, prints, and linocuts. I remain fascinated with his ability to capture so much in so few lines and sketched his drawing of Francoise Gilot - I think hoping that I will achieve his skill through repitition! I still have to draw quickly in pencil before using the dreaded Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. My added color is from a Neocolor II crayon.
The Whitney Museum was open around the clock for 3 days as their Biennial Exhibit draws to a close. It is usually very conceptual and not very interesting, but my friend Istar convinced me that this year there was art that would inspire both of us. So we went early yesterday morning and I really enjoyed seeing some of the work and I brought home a few ideas about things I'd like to try. This is the journal page on which I took some notes.
There was one large room filled with only large ink paintings by Charles Ray. Each one was of flowers - that were very similar - but with variations on the compositions from painting to painting. There were many, many flowers in each painting- arranged beautifully. The colors were brilliant - and the flowers with the long petals, each a different bright color, flip-floping back and forth over each other, were my favorites. My journal flower sketches were each done in less than a minute - just enough for me to remember a few of the variations in his flowers.
Last night I went to Figure Drawing at the Society of Illustrators in New York City. I think some of the people that I see there regularly go twice each week. I'd love to go twice each month, but will probably never go more frequently than that. This time I took my 9B woodless pencil and stumper that I played with when I was reading Bill Rankin's Fast Sketching Techniques book and loved using them for the longer poses. Here is one page for 2 min, 5 min, 10 min, and 20 minute poses. My new sketchbook is slightly bigger than my scanner and the person sitting next to me created charcoal dust periodically that drifted onto my page - so I cleaned them up as well as possible.
Two Minute Poses for each Model (2 of 20):
Five Minute Pose (1 of 4):
Ten Minute Pose (1 of 2):
Twenty Minute Pose (1 of 3):
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a new fashion exhibit called the American Woman. It was crowded, and I sketched two garments quickly and then painted them at home - mostly from memory. The whitish stripe down the center of the page is from Photoshop removal of the gutter between the two pages.
Yesterday was our monthly Saturday Meet-up Central Park Drawing and Art Group - and we met at Columbus Circle. It was a beautiful day but very windy. My eye immediately went to these purple flowers. I'll add several photos so I can get help identifying them. The entire circle was surrounded by these long stem beauties.
We then moved into Central Park to the area around the childrens' playground and the big climbing rock. It was much less windy and more pleasant for 30 minutes of sketching. I chose to do a painting of the top of the GM building over the park trees.
Finally we moved further into Central Park and climbed to the Chess and Checker House. There were only a few people playing, I was sitting too close to this couple, so I have a semi-caricature because I couldn't really stare at them long enough to sketch anything accurately.
This is a preliminary drawing that I did of an apartment building on the Upper Westside of Manhattan. I promised a larger painting and just wanted to play with the angles and perspective in my sketch book.
I'd love some suggestions for mixing a really good dirty brick color.
Our Meet-up Group is now meeting twice each month - and because of a very rainy Sunday, we met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art this week. I went over early so I could see the Members Preview of the new Picasso exhibit. It is a collection of the Met's Picasso holdings and it is really impressive. In the second room they have the collection of small caricatures that he did of his artist friends in Barcelona ca 1900. I fell in love with these when they were in the Barcelona Modernity exhibit several years ago and took a few minutes to sketch one.
Our Meet-up group then did several 30 minute sketching sessions in the American Wing of the Museum and shared our sketchbooks after each one. I sketched a sculpture in the Atrium, an art nouveau Roseville Vase on the Mezzanine, and a painting by Robert Reid in the Gallery.
I spent several hours at the Museum of Modern Art today - primarily to see the Tim Burton exhibit before it closes on Sunday. There are hundreds of drawings and many sculptures. Many of the drawings are from sketchbooks and many are preparative pieces for his movies. The exhibit was sold out today, and the crowd was young and enthusiastic as noted in the NY Times piece below.
Tim Burton Retrospective: THE mouth of a giant monster, its razor-sharp teeth glaring overhead and its tongue forming a long red carpet, ushers visitors into the Tim Burton retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. Although the intentionally lighthearted chronicle of the filmmaker’s work received only mixed reviews when it opened in November, Mr. Burton’s fans don’t seem to care. More than 450,000 people have already attended the show, and by the time it closes on April 26, attendance is expected to exceed that of recent blockbusters like the museum’s “Van Gogh: The Colors of the Night” last year and “Dali: Painting and Film,” in 2008.
From The New York Times March 11, 2010 "She’s scheduled to sit there all day, every day, during museum hours, for the run of her show. The museum estimates that, if she can stick to the plan, she will sit for 716 hours and 30 minutes, earning her a record for endurance in the performance art sweepstakes. And every now and then someone will slip into that chair across from her — that’s what it’s there for — and spend some time exchanging stares, or energy, or going blank, or thinking, maybe for the first time, about that hard, high-flown, funny word “endure.”
Today there was a line of people who wanted to sit and stare at her - usually for 30-45 minutes each. Someone I spoke to said that she sat with her 3 times already since the show started- it is like meditation! I don't get it, but it was fun to sit there and sketch her. She never moved a muscle!
In 2000 my husband and I realized that we knew little about our ancestry, and family members who knew the information were aging. We decided that we would like information about our family at least back to our great grandparents. I honestly believed that this was going to be a combined project, but I loved doing the research and problem solving and my husband loved learning about my discoveries. My ancestors were all in America by 1880 - pre-Ellis Island. My husband's family only started to arrive in 1900, so the approach and the records were vastly different. I love learning new things and New York City has wonderful resources between the New York Branch of the National Archives and the Milstein Division of the New York Public Library.
Over the course of the next several years, I easily completed research back to our great grandparents - with census records, passenger lists, naturalization papers, and birth-marriage-death certificates, solving a few family mysteries along the way. However, the family that I knew the least about was "Parker" - my maiden name. One of my goals this year was to review my research records and resume the search.
These 3 journal pages were done as I prepared for the project.
I kept detailed research journals since the beginning of my research - and I'm now on #8 (4000pages)!
P
Packing for Research Day: I spent all day Tuesday at the New York Public Library - trying hard to find the father of my Great-great grandfather John Parker, in Wilkes County, North Carolina - through marriage bonds, land deeds, estate sales and inventories - collecting information about every Parker head of household in Wilkes County in 1820. I will continue to research these Parkers until I have enough information - but research in the South is very different because the records are so different and so many were lost in burned courthouses during the Civil War.
Our Meet-Up Central Park Sketching and Art Group met at the Conservatory Gardens on Saturday. All of the flowering trees were in full bloom and the early flowers ranged from buds to full bloom. It was gorgeous, but problematic for anyone with several tree allergies. I loaded up on meds and went, planning to stay only as long as my allergies would permit.
We had 4 30 minute sketching sessions in 4 different areas of the Gardens. After each one, group members lined up their sketchbooks and shared their work. Nearly 100 photos are already posted on the site and can be seen here.
I sketched both fountains in May of last year and did both again. The 3 Dancing Maidens is a real challenge in 30 minutes and this year I didn't need to stretch one of the arms to double normal length to have two maidens holding hands. Neither year did I have time to do more than a pencil sketch.
During the other two sessions I sketched two of the blooming flowers. The daffodils were gorgeous. The other flower (I have no idea what they are) were beautifully colored, each little component in shades from pink through blue to purple - the same colors as hydrangeas.
One of the current exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is The Mourners - numerous alabaster grave sculptures (1443-56) from the tomb of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Margaret. There is a fabulous website with photographs of all of the sculptures. Each can be rotated 360 degree on the website for full viewing.
"The Mourners from the tombs of the Dukes of Burgundy are deeply affecting works of art. Beyond their evident visual and narrative qualities, we cannot help but be struck by the emotion they convey as they follow the funeral procession, weeping, praying, singing, lost in thought, giving vent to their grief, or consoling their neighbor. Mourning, they remind us, is a collective experience, common to all people and all moments in history."
Sophie Jugie, Director, Musée des Beaux-Arts. Dijon
The sculptures are in perfect condition - and so impressive, all lined up in two rows in the middle of the Medieval Hall in the middle of the Museum. I am most attracted to the ones with the the hoods over their heads and sketched one full figure and one head.
I'm so delighted that our modem was replaced and we now have internet access again.
The Meet-Up Central Park Drawing Group met at the Museum of Natural History yesterday. During our regular sessions we meet at the entrance, draw in a general region for approximately 30 minutes and then return to a central location to share our sketchbooks. We then move to a new location and repeat the process again and again for almost 3 hours.
Yesterday we began in the African Mammal exhibits - on the balcony - and I was capitvated by the ostrich and babies. I also did a quick sketch of a baboon (paint added today).
We then moved to the North American birds section (I'm not a bird lover) and I sketched a golden eagle.
Around the corner was the primate section and the chimp had such a wonderful hand pose, I had to sketch him.
Finally we went to the 4th floor to the dinosaur skeletons and I sketched the head of T.Rex. The sketch was done in pencil and then I practiced using the dreaded Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and a watercolor pencil to finish the painting.
Patti Gregory (1960-2010)
Yesterday morning I learned of the tragic death of Danny Gregory's wife Patti. I only met Patti once 4 years ago, but was really impressed with her smile and energy. Danny is the author of Everyday Matters, a book of sketches and writing from the time following Patti's subway accident which left her paraplegic. I was just beginning this journey, which I call sketchbook art, and joined his Everyday Matters online art group in September 2005. Over the last few years, by following Danny's blog, reading his subsequent books, The Creative License and An Illustrated Life, and taking a "visual journaling class" with him here in NYC, I learned more about them and their son Jack Tea. My heart is breaking for Danny and Jack.
I went to the Morgan Library and Museum last week to see the current exhibits - and sketched a demon from the illuminated manuscript called the Hours of Catherine of Cleves (15th C.). It has a very interesting history and the borders on each page are amazing and never repeated. I sketched one of the demons (which appeared on the corner of the border of page 94 and was enlarged in a photograph as part of the exhibit.)
It is worth looking at the facsimiles on the webpage in my link to the exhibit just to see the quality of the painting and the brilliance of the colors.
Donna posted drawings today that she did with her new Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. I agree with everything she says about the pen and ...
I decided to upload this drawing today in order to demonstrate that on my Fabriano Artistico 140 lb soft press paper, the ink that comes in the cartridges with the Pental Pocket Brush Pen is watersoluble. The gray color of my demon is just ink pulled into the drawing with plain water. I allowed the ink to dry for 15-30 minutes before "painting it" with the water. I know that others don't have this problem, so I assume it is paper-dependent, since we have compared pen product numbers, etc, etc.
I love the drawings of Agnolo Bronzino (1503-1572) and today joined my friend Melly at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to draw some of them for the second time. My first drawings were posted here. The exhibit ends April 18th. so I will even have time to return for more. All of the drawings were done with a Caran d'Ache aquarelle pencil (Mahogany).
Study for his painting Jealousy - and for me More Hand Drawing Practice:
Head of a Young Woman - and for me the challenge was getting the correct angle for the head:
Study of Crossed Legs - and for me lots of crosshatching for shading
Last night was my monthly session at figure drawing. Since they are held twice each week, I can usually find at least one night to go each month. The format remains the same - two models in ten 2 minute poses, four 5 minute poses, two 10 minute poses, and three 20 minute poses while sketching with wine and live jazz. I sat in a different area of the room last night and wrestled with the angle during most of the 2 minute poses. Here are a few from the 5, 10, and 20 minute poses. I'm still sketching with plain graphite.
5 minutes:
5 Minutes:
10 Minutes:
20 Minutes:
20 Minutes:
We took our 6 year old grandson Henry to the 3rd Young People's Concert in this year's series at the New York Philharmonic and a fabulous Spanish guitarist was the soloist with the orchestra. We were sitting too far away for me to see his hands, so I sketched him from one of his website photos for my daily sketch. His hands really were in that position, but it reminded me that I need lots more practice drawing hands. I am slowly drawing each letter from photos on an American Sign Language website and I decided that it was time for J and K. Pablo Saenz Villegas was drawn with my water-soluble Pilot Varsity pen and then brushed with water.
American Sign Language letters - drawn with a watercolor pencil from photos on a website.
My opinion of this pen is still open, I find it impossible to draw with but easier to use after I have done a quick pencil sketch. So in my daily sketches, I'm trying to periodically use it instead of the Sakura Pigma Micron or Zig Millenium pens.
I copied another Rembrandt drawing, in pencil first, because he achieves so many line widths in his drawings. My biggest discovery was - this is watersoluble ink in the Pentel pen. So now I know it will never be my regular pen for pen, ink, and watercolor wash drawings.
I then decided to use it on one of my own sketches, instead of practicing from Rembrandt. While my baby grandson was asleep I sketched the top of the NYC Soldiers and Sailors monument - which can be seen out of my son's apartment window. Zachary is a master of 30 minute naps, so I knew that I had limited time to do the pencil sketch and then complete it with the Pentel pen. It was fast, loose, and fun. But I had to be very careful adding a little watercolor because the ink is not permanent.
I thoroughly enjoy my monthly figure drawing sessions - and last evening one of the two models was the lovely pregnant woman from my last session. The fast, i.e. 2 minute and 5 minute sketches are the most fun for me, probably because I get bored during the 20 minute poses when I think I should add faces and hands. Feet are rarely an option because I can't see them from where I sit.
2 minute Pose
2 Minute Pose Left and 5 Minute Pose Right
5 Minute Pose
5 Minute Pose Left and 10 Minute Pose Right
I realized that I chose to upload only the drawings that I did of the pregnant model. (there are always 19 total) She is just glowing - with a beautiful calm face and lovely smile.
I went to Figure Drawing last night, in spite of the incredible cold in the City. We had two models during the entire time, one of whom wore an elaborate head dress with devil horns and 3 large silk flowers. I'm posting a few of the 19 sketches I made - all were done in graphite in a 9 X 12" sketchbook.
This is one of 10 two minute sketches:
These are 3 of the 4 Five Minute Sketches:
This is one of 2 ten minute sketches:
You can probably tell that I was sitting in a place where I couldn't see the models' feet. But my skills sketching hands and feet are so weak, that is OK with me for the moment. I'm still concentrating on drawing the basic position - head, shoulders, and hips.
There were 3 twenty minute poses - but I don't like my drawings as much as the shorter, less overworked poses. I just purchased a new figure drawing sketchbook that will take water media and may try to draw with a watercolor pencil and then add water for shading during the 20 minute sketches in the future.
I took my daughter and my grand daughter Sydney to the Nutcracker Ballet at Lincoln Center on Wednesday night to celebrate her Dec 20th birthday. The evening fulfilled all of my expectations - it was magical in every way. She watched every single minute of the ballet, with rapt attention, but loved the Snowflakes dancing in a blizzard on stage and especially the Mouse King the best. I now need to find a photo of the Mouse King to add to my journal for her. If anyone reading this has a photo of the Mouse King from the NYC Balanchine production, I'd LOVE to have a copy!
Sydney - looking very grown up - for her first night at the ballet. Loved the rhinestone headband! And the silver bracelet from her great grandmother (on my last blog page) was a big hit!
On Monday we bought our Christmas Tree and I picked up a pine bough for EDM Challenge #252. I was able to really study the way that the needles grew from the branch, and on this one there were 5 long needles from each little knob along the it. Fascinating!! I used my rigger brush and both tube watercolors and paint removed from the tip of my watercolor pencil.
Two of my grandchildren have birthdays this week, making the holiday schedule even more complicated. Long time readers of this blog may remember our frantic dash to London when Callum arrived 6 weeks early - and one day before Sydney's 2nd birthday.
Tonight I'm taking my daughter, and Sydney to their first NY City Ballet production of The Nutcracker for her birthday. My mother, Sydney's great grandmother, gave me a a small silver bracelet to give to her to wear to Lincoln Center. We are very excited!
Saturday we took our 6 year old grandson, Henry, to his second NY Philharmonic Young People's Concert. At Kidzone, an hour before the concert, he was able to try playing a cello and a harp, compose a bar of music which was then played by a violinist, and watch Instrument Village play compositions by young composers. While he listened to them for 10-15 minutes, I sketched a few of the musicians.
On Sunday morning, the Meet-Up Central Park Drawing Group met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to sketch. We started in the Greek and Roman Galleries with two 30 minute sketch sessions. I drew 3 statues with watercolor pencil, and may still add water.
We then moved to the American painting exhibit - and I sketched a painting by Everett Shin, using watercolor pencils to add color. Only pencils and pens are permitted in the Museum, so I surreptitiously added water with a Niji waterbrush, to paint it as we left the gallery.
Last night was my 4th monthly figure drawing session at The Society for Illustrators in New York City. It is a 3 hour, drop-in session - no instruction - but there's great live jazz and wine! I'm posting one of 10 two minute sketches, one of 4 five minute sketches, 1 of 2 ten minute sketches, and 1 of 3 twenty minute sketches. We had another bald model - and I would think I'd be used to it because I sketch figures from posemaniacs.com. But I'm not.
I see some of the same people there every time I go. Since my date is random each month, I have to think that they never miss - and sketch every Tues and every Thurs! That is dedication!
I love strolling on Madison Avenue, past the windows of the famous designer boutiques. But Madison Ave also has its share of street vendors, and as I walked up on Friday, I sketched their wares and the street decoration that has already been added to the lamposts for Christmas.
When I carry my sketchbook and pencil case, I also carry this artist grade travel set of watercolors by Daler-Rowney, but half the time I draw when I'm out and then paint using my regular Winsor-Newton palette at home. I plan to replace these paints with my palette, but never do...maybe next year. The size and shape of this travel set is wonderful - and the mixing areas include the flat areas and 4 deep end wells.
I am currently taking Kate Johnson's "Keeping an Artist's Journal" on-line class, so I will probably upload daily journal pages more frequently to my blog because I need to also upload them to our class Flickr pool to share with Kate and my classmates.
Tueday: Busy Day, so I sketched my lecturer at the New York Public Library Tuesday evening. I did have paints with me, but felt very conspicuous the way the seats were set up. I decided not to finish painting her as I experiment with different ways to compose my artist journal pages.
Wednesday: Melanie Testa and 3 other art buddies played with Melanie's method of tracing images from our journals, painting them, painting a background on WC paper in our journals, and then gluing the two layers together. These were sea gull images from my summer vacation journal - and a link to the original journal image from my blog in June 2009. Her method is described in an article she wrote in the May-June 2009 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors.
Thursday: Two leaves I picked up from the sidewalk when walking home from nursery school with 4 of our grandchildren. They were sketched and painted when I came home from babysitting last night. I have no idea what kind of trees they are, but every autumn I find a few of these gorgeous patterned leaves on New York sidewalks!
Last night was my 3rd figure drawing session at the Society of Illustrators in New York City and I came home with 19 sketches, even though I really didn't like one of the two models. This was a new experience and I had to convince myself that I didn't need to like the model or their poses - it was all an opportunity to practice drawing.
The standard format is 10 two minute poses, 4 five minute poses, 2 ten minute poses, and 3 twenty minute poses, with breaks, over 3 hours. I'm posting one from each group.
This is the other model - small, really skinny, shaved head except for a circle of bright yellow short hair in a circle on the top of her head. However, it was the contorted positions that she took which I didn't like, except this one.
I loved the setting, really enjoyed the live piano and double bass music throughout the evening, and appreciated the glass of red wine while sketching.
I signed up for Kate Johnson's Visual Journaling Class and I'm trying to focus my sketches on my daily activities for several weeks.
I sketched and painted a detail from a beautiful stained class window at the Museum of the City of New York during a visit there this week.
The following day we took care of our newest grandchild and I sketched his "lovey" - a British Jellycat animal called Scrumpty Elly. My daughter-in-law takes his picture with this animal every month to see Zach's growth. I sketched him with my non-permanent Varsity pen and then just wet the elephant to create the color.
I made two new codex watercolor journals this week, and while I had my bookbinding equipment out, I made two watercolor pamphlet style journals with waste watercolor paper from a few recent recycled books. One of them is a gift for a friend, the other may be the perfect watercolor booklet for my grand daughter.
Today we took our oldest grandchild to the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert and I had approximately 10 minutes before the lights went down to quickly sketch the stage. Henry and I talked about the colors so I could remember them until I got home.
I went to my second figure drawing session last evening at the New York Society of Illustrators with my friend Istar. On Tuesday evenings the models are nude, on Thursday evenings the models may wear parts of costumes. I wanted to experience both - and liked both evenings equally well. The setting is wonderful and there is live music during the entire 3 hours. I came home with 9 two minute, 4 five minute, 2 ten minute, and 3 twenty minute sketches. I'm just going to post examples of each.
The models posed with multiple hula hoops - the male model in yellow harem pants and the female model in a red bra and black leggings. The addition of the hoops made the 2 minute sketches more difficult, but fun.
Two models and a hula hoop even made 5 minute sketches a challenge.
I wanted to remember the costumes in this 10 minute sketch and colored parts with watercolor pencils - but the paper didn't take water well and buckled slightly. For this pose, he put on a black hat and soft ball necklace and she put on an umbrella hat. And she really did have dyed shocking pink hair!
A ten minute pose, with one sitting and one standing - and in different costumes:
Both disrobed, but the male model wore his black hat and brown boots for the final 20 minute sketch. I continue to have trouble fitting everything on the page when I'm working quickly (just one more thing to work on in 2010!), so you can't see his boots.
I was invited to applique a square for the Empire Quilt Guild 2011 Raffle Quilt. All of the eighteen 11 inch squares are based on New York City subway mosaics and I was thrilled to be assigned the Chambers Street IRT mosaic of Kings College. We are a Columbia University family and Kings College was the original college which became Columbia University after the Revolution.
I was gvien an applique pattern that was drafted from a photo in a NYC subway book, but decided that I wanted to make my own. I photographed many of the mosaics which run along both the uptown and downtown platform walls trying to find one that wasn't too damaged by age.
I drew and painted the mosaic in my daily sketchbook, to try to familiarize myself with the complex design before making a new pattern and selecting fabrics.
I just completed the applique square - which required more time than any single 11 inch square I ever made - mostly because I decided that I wanted to applique every stone of the building on individually!
I retired on July 1st and last night finally went to my first Figure Drawing session. If you follow this blog, you know that I was practicing for this moment by sketching figures as 90 sec. sketches of posemaniac images, or 5 minute figures from one of two nude figure photo books for artists that I bought. I'm very glad that I did the prep work over the last several years because I never felt overwhelmed last evening.
I met my dear friend Istar at the Society for Illustrators so I would be with someone who knew the location and process. The setting is lovely - very open space, live music, a small bar for a glass of wine during the 20 minute break, and hundreds of inspiring illustations lining the walls on all floors. We had two models - one short and full figured, the other tall, thin, and beautifully coifed. I frequently couldn't see below their ankles, but on the short poses, I didn't even have time to worry about it.
The 3 hours flew by - and I did all 19 sketches - 2, 5, 10, and 20 minutes in length. I'm just so thrilled to finally sketch live models that I'm uploading a total of 7 to this page. All of the sketches were done with a Koh-i-noor Progresso 6B pencil on 8 x 11" paper in a Working Class Studio, bound, sketchbook that I bought for half-price at Barnes and Noble. I have no idea where I got the pencil, but it was smooth and wonderful on the paper.
Two of Ten 2 minute sketches:
Two of four 5 minute sketches:
Both 10 minute sketches:
Two of three 20 minute sketches:
Today the group met at John Lennon's Strawberry Fields Imagine Mosaic and then walked to a rocky promontory on the Lake. I stayed for 2 hours and did the following sketches - in bright sunshine. It was a glorious day after a gray rainy Saturday
There were two turtles on a rock in the green-brown water - and I could just see their silhouettes. In front of me, at the edge of the rocks were purple flowers that I had never seen before. I spent most of the first hour watching for more turtles.
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Aprroximately 5 minutes before we met to share our sketchbooks, I quickly sketched and painted the lovely woman sketching in front of me.
During the second hour, I moved to the other side of the rocks, faced south, and sketched the Central Park South skyline. I was very happy that I brought my watercolor pencils with me to quickly block in the trees.
I'm really enjoying the Meetup Sketching sessions. Although you can work on one thing for the entire time, the goal of the session is to sketch quickly in several different locations - which both sets parameters for space and time. And it is so much fun to see the work of others - who may have had different tools and paper sizes, but had the same scene to observe and document that you did.
National Academy Museum: I visited the National Academy Museum for the first time this week to see the current exhibit "Reconfiguring the Body in American Art." The Museum and School of Art are in a wonderful building on Museum Mile in New York City, just north of the Met and Guggenheim. I loved this bronze sculpture and sketched it with a watercolor pencil.
Cricket in Times Square: Our oldest grandchild came for an overnight visit before starting school this week and we finished reading The Cricket in Times Square, by George Selden, a book from our library from his mother's childhood. We read 1-2 chapters right before bed each time he stayed overnight and he remembered the characters and plot better than I did. After he went to bed, I sketched the main characters, based on the illustrations by Garth Williams. Henry loved seeing the journal page in the morning and suggested that I do another page inspired by the Goodby Party that ends the book!
Statue of Liberty: We told Henry that he could choose what he wanted to do the following day and he requested a trip to the Statue of Liberty. Like many New Yorkers, my husband and I had never been there. We passed it on boats many times, but never landed on Liberty Island to see the Statue up close. We had a fabulous time (in spite of long security check lines) - great boat rides to and from on the top deck, a visit to the Museum, a walk up 156 steps to the observation deck on the top of the pedestal, and a walk around the base. We had 10 minutes before we caught the return boat and I sketched Lady Liberty very quickly and painted her at home.
Yesterday the Meetup Group met at the Alice in Wonderland Statue at the Conservatory Water (we call it the Toy Boat Pond) in Central Park.
I was anxious to get home to our newest grandchild (Zachary), his brother Robbie, and Annabelle who came to meet her cousin Zachary this weekend. Therefore, I only stayed for two rounds of sketches with the group. The weather was wonderful and the Park, as I walked past the Boathouse and Bethesda Fountain, was wonderfully crowded.
For my first sketch, I did the Mad Hatter that is on the right front of the statue and painted him while there.
I then sketched Alice, from the right side of the statue, while drawing and sitting on a bench in the shade. Only the mushroom was painted then - and I'm not sure whether I will add color. My heart wants to dress her in a blue dress with a white apron like the children's book character instead of bronze!
My last drawing was of the White Rabbit and his pocket watch - again painted in bronze colors.
My grandchildren have climbed on this statue many times over the last few years and it was great fun having the inspiration and time to really get to know it through drawing.
In Manhattan apartments, there are whole organizational systems created for under bed storage. But we've resisted so far and I have only 2 items under our bed.
My First Briefcase: I bought this brown leather briefcase at Frost Brothers department store in San Antonio Texas in the late 70s and used it for many years while traveling back and forth to the Hospital. When we moved to New York City in the early 90s, I found that a large leather bookbag with shoulder straps made it easier to walk between our apartment and my car, so my briefcase remained in my office 99% of the time. When I retired in July I almost gave it away. This was a great opportunity to create a memory drawing. For now it will remain under our bed in a storage container.
My New Papercutter: When I took a bookbinding class last year I worried about my ability to cut Davey board at home without the wonderful commercial papercutter that was in the Studio. I traveled around our neighborhood - from places like Kinkos to Staples - trying out their copy center papercutters on my sample of the book board. This X-acto paper cutter was the winner. I have used it to cleanly cut book boards for 10 watercolor journals and keep it under the bed in its original box for safety and storage.
I joined the Central Park Sketching and Art Meetup Group this Spring and finally attended my second session. Although they usually meet monthly in Central Park, today's session was held at the newly renovated Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village.
I arrived a few minutes early and did a quick warm-up sketch of cone flowers in one of the many flower beds in the Park I sketched it in pen, took a photo, and painted it at home this evening.
It was a very hot day in the City and for the first 30 minute drawing session I sat on the ground in the shade under Washington's Arch and sketched. The first sketch is of George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the Army - one of two statues on the north side of the Arch. The Park and the Arch underwent major renovation (2007-09). This was my first visit since the Arch scaffolding was taken down.
While I was sketching George, a 4 man doo-wop singing group began performing with a bass accompanist and I had just enough time to do another sketch.
During the second 30 minute sketch I went off to find the Speed Chess players that are usually playing at the Southwest corner of the Park. I was immediately attracted to one in a geometic black and white printed shirt with a white scarf on his head. I did the drawing with my Pilot Varsity Pen and then spread the ink around the drawing with a Niji waterbrush.
The group will meet again in two weeks at the Conservatory Water (Central Park at 72nd St entrance).
Our guests returned with us to New York City after "beach week" and we spent the afternoon at the Met. I did a quick sketch of Sara and Renee while they were looking at some of the exhibits in The Pictures Generation Exhibit.
The 3 of us then went to the Model as Muse Costume Institute Exhibit while our husbands went to the Art of Afghanistan Exhibit. Since I've already sketched in the fashion exhibit several times, I concentrated on accessories.
I painted sketchbook pages 6 and 7 from our sketchcrawl on Thursday - but will probably leave page 8, the tortoise and the skink, as is. The Snow Leopard is one of two introduced to the Zoo this past Spring and we were extremely lucky to have her moving around her enclosure and for a short while sitting on a ledge directly in front of us. As she jomped from rock to rock, frequently jumping up another level in the process, you sensed what powerful animals they are.
We ended our sketching in the Tropic Zone - a huge enclosure that is so full of tropical birds and other animals that you need to pay attention to see all but the most brightly colored. Here are two of those. I can't look at a Toucan without conjuring up a Fruit Loops box on our breakfast table.
Yesterday I met 4 "Art Buddies" at the Central Park Zoo for our own mini-sketchcrawl. I was very unsure about my ability to sketch moving animals so when I arrived 20 minutes early, I did a 10 minute sktech of one of the animal sculptures on the Delacorte Clock and then a 10 minute sketch of a mother standing in line with a double stroller and backpack. These were my warm-ups!
When everyone arrived, we went to the Penguin House, where the Chin-Strap and Gentoo penguins were being hand fed. It was difficult to sketch these frisky guys. I took some photos to make sure that I remembered the coloration, and finished them at home.
There was also a tank with several tufted puffins and ducks in the Penguin House and I sketched them from an angle where I could see above and below the water line. They were never still long enough for me to see the effect of the water line on their images, so I ignored the refraction error. But I also took no photos so adding a watercolor wash at home this morning was difficult.
The polar bears were very cooperative - Gus slept the entire time and we couldn't see him very well. Ida stayed in several positions long enough for all of us to sketch her.
I still have 3 more pages of sketches to paint at home, including the newest member of the Zoo - the snow leopard. It was an amazing day - sunny, cool, and lots of fun to be with 4 other women who all were equally challenged and enjoying the experience.
Last Tuesday was my last official workday, 40 years after I graduated from Medical School. I made this trip from my apartment on the Upper Eastside of Manhattan to Albert Einstein College of Medicine regularly - and was always amazed that driving 10 miles against rush hour traffic in the City took me almost 40 minutes from door to door. Of course I first needed to walk from my apartment to our garage - stopping at the fruit and vegetable vendor on the street to get fruit for breakfast. Then I always stopped to talk with the Garage supervisor about her newest baby. At the other end, I walked several blocks from the parking garage to my building - checking out the flowers that were in bloom or following the progress of autumn leaves or new buds in the Spring.
I love drawing maps and started each of my 3 London sketchbooks with ever more detailed maps of the area in Chelsea where my daughter and her family lived.
We just returned from a Family Holiday at the Beach - and I need to scan and post at least one sketchbook page from our visit.
I was invited to hand applique a subway mosaic square for the 2011 Raffle Quilt for the Empire Quilt Guild in Manhattan. I chose a photo that I really liked only to find out that it was a mosaic of King's College which later became Columbia University. We are a Columbia family - with 6 undergraduate and graduate degrees among my husband and children. I went down to the Chambers Street IRT station to see and photograph these old platform mosaics and then sketched and painted one as I planned my quilt applique square.
My husband and I went to the James Ensor exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art on Saturday. I knew very little about the artist, and enjoyed seeing his paintings. But of course his sketchbook and drawings were the highlight for me. Since the sun was out, and we were so tired of daily rain, we sat in the Sculpture Garden where I sketched Picasso's She Goat and my husband did the Saturday NY Times crossword puzzle.
Today I retired, almost exactly 40 years after I graduated from medical school. During that time I worked at the University of Chicago, The University of California at San Diego, The University of Texas in San Antonio, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In those 40 years, the number of women increased from <10% of each medical school class to slightly more than 50% of each class. There was no day care when my first child was born, and 3 year olds were only "supposed" to be away from their mothers and in nursery school two mornings each week. I loved my career, but my greatest joy was my 3 children and now my grandchildren. I feel fortunate that I have so many active interests that I will never be bored. I sketched my work suit from today to my bathing suit for the beach on Thursday!
My husband and I planned a quiet holiday weekend exploring Central Park. On Saturday we walked uo to the Harlem Meer on the Northeast corner of the park. Today we walked up to the Northwest corner of the Park, called the North Woods. I have never been more surprised. Even the woods that we visit in New Hampshire each summer aren't this dense.
Anyone who has followed my blog over time, knows by now that landscapes definitely do not excite me when I'm looking for something wonderful to draw or paint. But I thought I should at least post photos from the walk today for anyone who has never been northeast of the Central Park reservoir. These specific photos were selected because they show the wildness and density of the trees and foliage. I don't know the person who happens to be standing at the waterfall.
Since I didn't even pull out my sketchbook on our walk, tonight I used the Virtual Sketch Date photo for June as inspiration. I needed some figure drawing practice anyway this week - and note that in 2009, I am brave enough to put faces on my figures.
This morning we went to the Boat/Duck Pond (officially called the Conservatory Water) in Central Park for coffee. While I sketched, my husband read the NY Times. The refreshment stand is open this year and there are tables, chairs, and umbrellas on the patio. There were owners and dogs at tables adjacent to ours, so I quickly sketched them and then my husband's cap above the newspaper.
Then I discovered the ornamental poppies that were in bloom - and they were so magnificent that I had to draw and paint one bloom and one bud before we came home.
We love holiday weekends in New York City - because it is relatively quiet - emphasis on the word relatively. It never seemed like fun to join the masses escaping this island on Friday afternoon and trying to get back on the island on Monday evening. This year we decided to explore some of the areas of Central Park that we rarely visit. Today we walked up the Eastside of the Park to the Harlem Meer which is at the Northeast Corner. While my husband did the Saturday NY Times crossword puzzle, I did a sketch of the Dana Discovery Center - an educational center where children can also participate in "Catch and Release Fishing" in the Harlem Meer with rented poles and instruction and bait provided by the Center.
I painted the front entrance to the Center but somehow made it much more squat than it really is.
Did you know that Central Park (843 acres) is the first major public park built in America? A competition for the design was held in 1858 and it took 18 years to build it in accordance with Frederick Olmstead and Calvert Vaux's plan. There are 50 miles of pedestrian paths, so we will never run out of new pathways to explore.
We picked up my grandson from nursery school, had a picnic in Central Park, and then went into the Met to see the newly reopened American Wing. Before it was closed for renovation, my grandchildren learned about pennies and fountains in that space and we really missed the pool.
There is a newly designed pool in the same place, this time with two fountains. This is a quick sketch of the back of the Frog Fountain - done while my grandson was throwing pennies. There are three frogs spewing water around the base - but I had no time (or space) to sketch them on this visit.
The sketch was done with a watercolor pencil and the water was added later at home.
I spent this morning at the new "Model as Muse" exhibit at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was a seamstress most of my life and love to see construction techniques and elegant fabrics in couturier clothes. I was less interested in all of the information about the supermodels, but some of the large photographs were wonderful. The lighting for the exhibits was great, but it was almost too dim in front of each to sketch.
The entrance to the exhibit is a display of Dior's dress for Dovima as immortalized in a photo by Avedon.
I sketched a few other garments that I liked, and imagine that I will return to draw some of the other exhibits, especially all of the mannequins in one room that are hanging from the ceiling.
I had breakfast with my friend Istar and then we joined the Meet-Up Central Park Sketching and Art Group at the Central Park Conservatory Garden at 5th Ave and 105th St. This was the first time that either of us attended, and in spite of the earlier rain, the time there was delightful.
This group selects an area, everyone sketches for 30 minutes, and then gets together to put all of their sketchbooks next to each other for everyone to see. It is wonderful to see what others choose to sketch - and how many interpretations there are of the same spot.
I sketched a fountain during the first period, and may still paint it.
The flowers in the gardens were wonderful, and irises were a topic on several blogs this week, so I had to paint one.
During the 3rd and final period I sketched a large fountain with three dancing girls - overly ambitious for the time period we had. I did finish a pencil sketch, but it didn't scan well and is on a double page spread with a wide shadow on the scan over the center fold. Although I could work on the scan in Photoshop, I'd rather return to the garden to draw them again over the next few weeks.
We visited MoMA today with old friends and I sketched details from a few paintings while walking through the permanent exhibit. It gives me an opportunity to learn a little from the drawings of masters, and allows me to create a journal page to remember the visit.
I have 1000s of digital photos and not a single photo of the Moon. As I contemplated whether I would see a moon over the buildings here in Manhattan, I remembered the song from the movie Arthur and the phrase "between the moon and New York City." I painted the skyline around the World Financial Center and a moon - and hopefully can now get the song out of my brain.
The weather here was magnificent this past weekend. There are fabulous tulips everywhere I look and I took a small art stool outside Saturday to paint several of the orange red tulips that are in huge tulip beds and around the trees in planters along the avenue.
On Sunday morning we left the apartment at 9AM and walked to the area I call the Duck Pond or Toy Boat Pond. This year the concession stand is open again and the patio is a wonderful place for morning coffee. We really missed it last year. While my husband did the crossword puzzle, I drank my coffee and sketched and painted a cropped version of the cafe counter.
Here is an earlier journal page I did while sitting in the same place.
EDM Challenge # 219: Draw a Window
Today several of us who met in Danny Gregory's class had another sketchcrawl in New York City. We met in Grand Central Station and while I waited for them I sketched a ticket window for this week's Everyday Matters Challenge.
The weather was wonderful, so we walked over to Bryant Park, behind the New York Public Library, and thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful flowers that were all in bloom, and the hundreds of chairs that are set up around the park for all to enjoy this fabulous area. There were thousands of tulips, daffodils, pansies and hyacinths in flower beds and urns. I was immediately drawn to the beds of pink tulips.
The Empire State building is visible above buildings on 41st St from the Park and we all did a sketch of the view. In my sketch it is impossible to realize how tall it is behind the foreground buildings and trees. I'll have to return to the scene and try again someday.
I ended the morning sitting in front more flowers - to document again the joy of sketching in the sun, on a warm Spring day, enjoying the company of Annie and Kathleen and surrounded by flowers in this fabulous urban setting.
This is a picture from our recent play time in Central Park with 4 of our 5 grandchildren.
My journal page is my attempt to paint one of the Magnolia blossoms that was partially opened and photographed from above.
I clearly need to learn how to achieve the sense of depth in the center of the flower- although I really did observe and paint the shadows as they appeared in the photo. Painting the bloom in person was not an option with 4 under the age of 6 running around.
Our two youngest were in strollers with my husband and I pushing them out of the Park and Syd (age 4) and her 5 year old brother Henry were walking in front of us. Suddenly she reached over and took his hand - and they walked all the way back to 5th Ave holding hands.
This is a link to a similar journal page that I did of them in Hyde Park London more than 2 years ago.
http://www.paperandthreads.com/2007/01/edm_challenge_draw_a_landscape.php
I am still inspired by the India photos from my friend Bunny's recent trip to India. This is a photo from the bus of 3 men sitting on a bench in Jaipur, in front of an open side building.
Today I had 5 minutes to sketch between my haircut and picking up our grandson at Nursery School. I sat on the base of a wall, in the sun, and sketched a turret on the Southwestern corner of the Natural History Museum - using pen with a watercolor wash. It is really fast and really, really loose.
Raphael to Renoir: Drawings from the Collection of Jean Bonna
January 21, 2009–April 26, 2009
Galleries for Drawings, Prints, and Photographs, 2nd floor
This is a wonderful new exhibit (120 drawings - spanning 500 hundred years) and a wonderful opportunity to study masterpiece drawings. I thoroughly enjoy trying to copy the lines in these beautiful works, and will probably return to draw and learn from a few more.
Here are the two drawings that I did last weekend.
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (1591-1666) was called Il Guercino - the squinter - because of his crossed-eyes. I first saw his drawings at the Courtauld Gallery in London and was mesmerized by his beautiful figures. The original was done with pen and brown ink, I used brown colored pencil.
Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805) At the entrance to the exhibit are three drawings of girls heads by Greuze- one more wonderful than the next. The original was done with conte - I used colored pencil.
We picked up two of our grandchildren from nursery school and walked them back to our apartment through Central Park. There was a recent snowfall and Robbie (age 3 1/2) and his cousin Sydney (age 4) were having a fabulous time making and throwing snowballs and our progress was really slow. On a bench, on one of the paths in the middle of the Park, we saw a beautiful pair of brown leather cowboy boots, a new red and black backpack, and an open bird watcher's book.
We regularly watch Law and Order, so my husband and I looked at each other suspiciously and for an instant wondered whether we would next find a body. There were no people anywhere in sight - in any direction. I took a photo so I could show a Park staff member when we passed one of the them on the second half of our journey. We never heard more about the event and hopefully the tourist who left them there was able to retrieve their stuff when they returned.
This last week I spent two mornings sketching at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Deborah, an EDM member who lives nearby, joined me on Monday January 19th to sketch. We previously conversed by email, so we sat and sketched and talked for several hours before moving to the museum cafeteria for lunch. We chose the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas because there were benches nicely positioned in front of the primitive art. Here are three of the artifacts that I sketched, colored with watercolor pencils, and then "painted" with my Niji waterbrush although I knew that this was bending museum rules slightly. The watercolor pencils allowed me to replicate better the very unevern colors of this huge wood sculpture.
Yesterday I met Jane, one of my new friends from Danny Gregory's recent illustrated journaling class, at the Met. I taught her how I recycled old books with watercolor paper the previous Friday and she brought 3 fabulous books that she just finished to show me. I sketched Aphrodite in the Greek and Roman galleries before Jane arrived, and then a primitive "Seated Figure" from Mali (13th C) in the Montebello exhibit as we toured it. Both of these were also done with watercolor pencils and then finished with my Niji waterbrush.
In the summer 0f 2007, we saw an exhibit of Leon Kossoff's drawings at the National Gallery in London. Although I didn't love the style of his Conte drawings, I was fascinated with his method of working as an artist. Kossoff was born in London in 1926 and is a prominent member of the School of London which also includes Lucien Freud. On the exhibit page, there is a link to one of his very rare interviews, actually done in his exhibit space. Kossoff never paints from photos and although he doesn't consider himself accomplished in drawing, he starts every painting with a fresh drawing and then takes his work back to the studio for painting. Since he was a child, he has drawn and redrawn many of the master works at the National Gallery, and in the interview he relays how he gets his inspiration from these drawings and every day wakes up saying that maybe today he'll learn how to draw!
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/leonkossoff/default.htm
I wondered whether drawing and redrawing a masterpiece that speaks to you would lead to some type of magical experience if you were in the presence of the masterpiece and drawing it over many years. So I thought I would try it when I returned to New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Last January I selected Cezanne's Card Players which I have always admired. It is prominently placed in the 19C galleries and actually has one of the few gallery benches in front of it in the middle of the room.
Using watercolors, instead of oils, was a challenge, but I really wanted my work to be more than just an ink or Conte drawing.
Here is the link to my drawing from Jan 2008:
http://www.paperandthreads.com/2008/02/museum_visits_in_new_york_city_1.php
Here is the link to the painting from from the 2008 drawing:
http://www.paperandthreads.com/2008/05/cezanne_card_players_painted.php
Yesterday I arrived at the Met when it opened and had 45 minutes during which I was completely alone drawing the Card Players in one of the 19th C. galleries. The Met allows pencils, but not pens or paints, so like Kossoff, I returned home to finish it. But I wanted to try to reproduce the colors, and worked from a photo that I took.
My 2009 Painting:
Cezanne made 5 Card Player paintings. The first one has 5 figures and is part of the Barnes Collection in Philadelphia. The Met has the second one which was painted in 1890-92. - which has 4 figures. The remaining 3 all have two figures.
I also thought that it might be fun to see how my style or skills change over the years - so far not much to my eye. But I wonder whether next year I might decide not to draw in ink, or perhaps to change the colors, or even to move to more of an abstraction. In the interview, Kossoff tells how he once went home from a National Gallery drawing session, and just painted the Rembrandt painting using his own style, without a predrawing on the canvas. He has no idea why his mind just wanted to do that!
I had no intention of starting a blog until I joined Everyday Matters in September 2005. Initially I lurked and just enjoyed the energy and inspiration of the group, while sketching most days and doing the EDM weekly challenges in my sketchbook. By December 2005 I was adding color with watercolor paint to my pages and faithfully reading the EDM messages. Suddenly I wanted to participate more and my son set up the blog for me, with a few simple questions re: name, color etc. and some quick lessons via telephone on how to upload images and post comments.
I love the connection that I feel to so many menbers of EDM and wish to thank all of those who have been with me for the journey. I'm delighted that the EDM group has so many new members and hope that they find the inspiration and generous sharing that I found in the group. I could never have imagined taking a 6 week class with Danny Gregory 3 years later, and was delighted to realize how much I've learned and grown artistically.
To celebrate, I decided to post a Christmas Eve photo of our grandchildren. My husband just asked whether I thought we'd ever get a single good photo of the entire group. If my portraits were better, I might try drawing them! Six months ago I uploaded a photo which was the first time that all 5 were together. These little people love me to draw and paint their toys, costumes, or the events we share and my granddaughter Sydney draws and paints with me regularly.
Suddenly we heard a large crash, then the sound of glass breaking - right in front of our apartment window. When we went to look, there was already a huge crowd gathering and several observers taking cell phone photos of the large lamp post which had fallen across the Avenue. Traffic was completely stopped and the fire engines had difficulty threading their way through the cars to reach the site. This fire truck was parked in front of our window for 5-10 minutes and it took me at least one minute to decide that I needed my sketchbook.
This is part of a homework assignment for Danny's Illustrated Journaling class. I already sketched my medicine cabinet for an EDM challenge, so I decided to sketch my art shelf in the library. This is where I keep my pencilcase (containing pencils, pens, and 4 waterbrushes), paints, and random art books of drawings by the masters that I use for inspiration and practice. When I learned that Danny was teaching his first class, I thought it would be fun for me to take it to "shake things up a little." I do a daily sketch already and just need a little boost and time for reflection about my Art Goals for 2009.
My three year old granddaughter Sydney loves to draw and color. She was exhausted last Friday evening - after running at least a mile through Central Park climbing the big rocks while we brought her to our apartment from Nursery School. After dinner she went to bed, and then about 30 minutes later carried out this fabulous lion drawing!
Yesterday I met a good friend between the New York Public Library lions and quickly sketched one to post with Sydney's lion. I used a watercolor pencil to do the drawing and then "painted" it to get the shading.
I spent a fabulous day with Casey and her husband - who are visiting New York City as part of their trip to the US. Casey and I did some sketching in the morning, then had lunch with her husband, and walked down through Central Park to the Museum of Modern Art to see the Kirchner exhibit and the permanent collection.
Casey and I have very different styles and I love to watch her work. Although she won't be back in France for several weeks, I hope that she posts her two drawings that were done of the same subject as mine. If I could work side by side more than once each year, my sketches might get a little looser and my watercolors more brilliant!
We went to the Central Park reservoir and sketched the skyline on Central Park West. Here is my journal page of the ElDorado.
Then we walked to the Delacorte Theater and sketched the Romeo and Juliette sculpture in from of the theater which is used for Shakespeare in the Park during the summer.
Lunch at the Central Park Boathouse Restaurant was as lovely as usual and here are two photos from our time there. Casey did a lovely panaoramic painting from her seat looking out over the water towards Bethesda Fountain.
While they enjoyed their first visit to MoMa since the big renovation, I sketched several more Kirchner women from his sketches that are in the exhibit - some in his sketchbooks.
We had such a fantastic day with them, that my husband and I both look forward to future visits.
I totally forgot to upload this journal page from our visit to the Central Park Zoo with Henry (5), Sydney (3), and Robbie (3) - our 3 oldest grandchildren. The Zoo worker in the Penguin House asked the children "why don't polar bears eat penguins?"
The drawings were made from photos that I took during our visit. I love sketching animals and someday intend to spend a some quiet time at the wonderful Bronx Zoo.
We saw this truck parked along 79th Street in New York City when walking to nursery school last Spring. My grandson, who loves Superheroes, was fascinated by the truck mascot that was wired onto the front grill - spiderman dressed as a Mets Fan! Fortunately I had my camera with me so took a picture of him.
I didn't know that I liked J.M.W. Turner until I saw the Tate Britain "Hockney on Turner" exhibit of his watercolors last srping. Now I'm really enjoying the Turner exhibit at the Met. This is one of the few blockbuster exhibits at the Met in which sketching is not prohibited, so I try to quickly sketch one watercolor each time I visit and paint it later - trying to stay loose. There are three complete rooms of watercolors interspersed among galleries full of his large oil paintings. He has a very precise, very tight style in the early works in the first watercolor gallery. then a looser style in the second, and mere impressions of a burning Parliament in the big series of the fire in the third gallery. Here are 4 small sketchbook paintings I did over the last few weeks.
St. Florent - le - Vieil on the River Loire: 1832
Inspired by The Burning Houses of Parliament: 1834 I originally painted this for the cover of my big Reference Photo DVD, but decided to collage it into my sketch book.
Lori and I sketched several Turner watercolors on our sketchcrawl on Saturday - and I just painted mine.
Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute, 1835
Castle Conway: 1798-1800
My New Friend: Last Saturday I spent 6 hours on a sketchcrawl at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Lori - an Everyday Matters Yahoo art group member that I only previously knew through her blog and email. I have thoroughly enjoyed every day spent with members from our wonderful group and love putting a face to a name - as well as holding their sketchbooks in my hand and watching them work. We met for breakfast at a local restaurant and then escaped from the New York City heat at opening time of the Museum. We started at the Turner exhibit - I LOVE his watercolors and this was my 3rd time to visit them this month. We sketched from Turner and then sat at the table containing the HUGE books from the exhibit and added some water to our pencil sketches with our water brushes (only pencils are allowed in these exhibits if they even let you sketch at all!). We were so cold by the end of the exhibit, we went up to the Sculpture Roof Garden to see the Jeff Koons sculptures and warm up. We then toured the section featuring African, Central and South American artifacts and each sketched different masks and ceramic figures. After lunch in the Museum cafeteria and lots more talking, we ended the day in the 19th C. European painting galleries. I now have 6 journal pages to finish, converting quick sketches in pencil into ink/watercolor wash drawings. Lori, who is in NYC on an art grant, still had several more days of lessons and experiences.
A quick photo of us as we were ending our day (Lori on the left and me on the right):
My Old Friends: After leaving Lori, my husband and I drove to my hometown in Northern NJ for dinner with my oldest friends - 4 women who I first met in elementary school. Our 6th group member lives in Florida and we secretly were hoping that she was going to arrive and surprise us! Even my 7th grade homeroom teacher - and our high school class advisor - joins us for these dinners!
From left to right: Judy, Me, Nora, Mary Ann, and Nancy. Nora and her baby sister Nancy (not the Nancy pictured above) are among my most faithful blog readers and Nancy told me that she wanted to wake up yesterday morning and read about my fabulous dinner and party at their house. Sorry Nancy, yesterday I spent hours and hours backingup our desktop/laptop computers to our new terrabyte external hard drive and never had time to upload this photo. My only photo of Nancy was in mid-sentence so I thought she would prefer that I mentioned her instead....
I was able to photograph and sketch a small foot bridge in Central Park, New York City. Landscapes aren't "my thing" so I need to be forced to consider trees and bushes.
I missed several EDM Challenges when I was on vacation in Quebec. This sketch of an inuit piece of jewelry was finished this week from memory. The background pink color was my addition - the Inuit pin was just the ice cubes, figure, and base.
We met our son and grandson at the Toy Boat Pond this morning in Central Park and I had time to sketch and paint this lamp post while waiting for them to arrive. I actually sketched one of the Park lamp posts once before, but didn't have a bench perfectly positioned to see a symmetrical globe and cover. There was sun when we arrived but the clouds rolled in over the next hour and it is again raining!
There is a new Superheroes Exhibit at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art - part original movie costumes and part fashion from the major designers inspired by the Superheroes. My grand daughter Sydney and I saw it Saturday morning when we went to play with the Museum computers in the Education Center and she loved Clark Kent who morphed into Superman - and then back to Clark Kent, so we had to go back with brother Henry the next morning. They were so cute - such little people in that big Museum. All of my grandchildren learned how to walk better in the Temple of Dendur and regularly throw pennies into the pools there and the fountain in the new Greek and Roman Galleries. This is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to spend time with them when they are staying with us during really cold or awful weather in the city.
I had a wonderful relaxing day and can add my daily sketchbook page today when it was done rather than waiting to upload it tomorrow. Today my sketchbook is more a visual journal because I had a leisurely lunch outdoors across from the Jefferson Market Courthouse between ordering a camera at B and H and browsing and buying art books at The Strand.
I debated whether to participate in this challenge again this year. I sketch everyday, but last year in May uploaded each sketch instead of just posting a sketchbook page several times each week. It definitely was more time consuming and I had to force myself to remain free in my choice of subject each day instead of worrying about "a published piece." I finally decided that it might be good for me to again post each day's journal page - they certainly are reflective of a very eclectic art interest and maybe I can break through the "performance anxiety" a little more.
Yesterday I painted a sketch of a townhouse that I love. You can see it from one of the upper floor exhibit galleries on the north side of MoMA - and it is breathtakingly beautiful nestled among two rather plain and uninteresting buildings. I sketched it from the MoMA gallery window earlier this year in my daily Moleskine watercolor sketchbook and posted it with sketches from several museum visits. But I wanted to have a sketch in my NYC "travel" sketchbook as well. The first sketch was done "live" and very quickly. The second was done from several photos that I have.
I periodically love to walk and sketch random things - in ink - building up a sketchbook page. Last week I did several pages like this - just for quick fun and memories.
The first page was done while I wandered through many bead stores in the Garment District with a friend. I loved some of the designs.
We picked Robbie and Sydney up at Nursey School on Friday and took them to the Central Park Toy Boat Pond to play. There were many remote control sailboats on the pond so I sketched one as it passed by. Sydney found a one inch rubber charm of a summer "flip-flop" and she played with it for part of the afternoon.
I found this challenge to be really hard because of the perspective that I chose. There is much too much detail on the facade of my brick and granite 16 floor New York City apartment building and decisions needed to be made about how detailed I wanted to make the sketch. I definitely chose not to make the upper section bricks part of my sketch. I'm in awe of artists who can sketch and paint entire brick facades!!
I share my house with many other families as I live in a 16 floor New York City apartment building. In Manhattan parlance, these buildings are either "pre-war" or "post-war," i.e. WWII. Our building was built in the late 1920s and I was able to locate advertisements for it in the archives of the New York Times. Our architect, who was doing bathroom renovation, also found a piece of a newspaper that was buried beneath the bathtub in the master bedroom bathroom, so we have proof of the date when it was under construction. I also located and printed the 1930 census pages for the building and now have several very interesting pages about the occupants at that time. At the same time I printed out the 1930 census for the building 2 of my 3 children live in - showing Babe Ruth living there with his wife's family.
I will have to try it again from across the street so I can sketch it straight-on and concentrate more on the actual structure. My stimulus for this might be to make notecards that I can use for the notes that I never get around to writing!
This is the wonderful used book store where I find my perfect-sized $1.00 books for recycling. It is a lovely bookstore - well organized and cozy. There is a cafe and tables for browsing and reading - and 3 carts always loaded with their oldest and most unloved books for $1.00. All proceeds go for AIDS research and support. My favorite that I purchased this week was Parnassus on Wheels - a short novel by Christopher Morley - complete with lovely ink illustrations. Of course I had to read the entire book as soon as I got home.
This past Wednesday I was completely free to play - no work or other scheduled activities. So I headed off for Soho for a visit to Pearl Paint and some of the galleries in the area. I only had several items on my art supply list, but I always love browsing at Pearl. It has one below ground floor and 5 above ground floors. This trip I purchased watercolor paper for my next recycled book and several pencils, but seriously wondered if I should begin to invest in some 5ml tubes of Schminke watercolor paints since there seems to be so much enthusiasm for the brightness of their pigments. Each 5ml tube (1 tsp) is $12-15 so I would only start with 3 primary colors - but then I wondered if they should be cool or warm primaries since I use both to mix colors with my Winsor-Newton paints. So I didn't get any.
Gallery-hopping is always one of my favorite activities in Soho, even though many/most galleries relocated to Chelsea and on Wednesday I was not disappointed. I discovered several new artists and saw lots of "eye-candy."
This sketch was done from a photo I took of Pearl Paint from the other side of busy Canal Street. It is much too cold right now in NYC to work outdoors - especially in my shearling mittens. It is on "rough" watercolor paper which I now know I hate! But when I recycled my NY State Tax Book last year I filled it with many types of paper so I could decide what I preferred. It didn't take me long to settle on HP 140lb paper.
There are many, many museums in the city and I love to visit the art museums to see the exhibits and sketch from the Masters. We saw a Leon Kossoff drawing exhibit at the National Gallery in London and I was impressed with his return visits to sketch the same few works by Masters many times during his career. I thought it might be fun to try this, in part to see how my art skills evolve and how my familiarity with the painting may change my drawing over time. The Galleries for 19th- and Early 20th-Century European Paintings reopened on December 4th after renovation - so on my first visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2008, I sat in front of Cezanne's Card Players and sketched it. I am concentrating on sketching figures again in 2008 - with faces - so this seemed like a good painting to revisit again and again. Please don't let them move the bench from in front of the painting! Pen and paints aren't permitted in the Met, so I took a photo and plan to paint it soon.
We visited the Museum of Modern Art with out of town house guests several weeks ago and while my husband toured the 5th floor Painting and Sculpture I exhibit with them, I spent 25 minutes sketching. I love the view from a window in the Picasso room on the 5th floor of MoMA of the top floors of a townhouse across W54th Street - and have many photos of it that I took during previous visits. This time I spent 15 minutes sketching it - again in pencil because of museum rules. Yesterday I found a full charcoal drawing of the same house in Drawing magazine (Winter 2008). Artist Anthony Mitri wrote that his drawing of the house and surrounding buildings took 6 months! I will redraw this house soon and try to do it justice.
After sketching from the window, I did a quick sketch of Cezanne's painting "Turning Road at Montgeroult." I love views of rooftops and always was attracted to this painting in the permanent exhibit. I painted it at home in several sessions trying a yellow underpainting and mixed complementaries for the color of the houses and roofs. Watercolor and oil paints give very different results, but I had fun with this and I think learned a lot from copying his composition.
This week I made a quick visit to the Morgan Library and Museum to see their current exhibit entitled Michaelangelo, Vasari, and their Contemporaries: Drawings from the Uffizi. I chose a simple drawing by Baccio Bandinelli to copy and except for the tilt of the head managed to capture the rest of the lines and the type of shading used. This drawing was a study for his Hercules sculpture that is opposite Michaelangelo's David in front of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. There were many other wonderful drawings, but it was crowded and I had to select one that I might copy quickly enough while standing and trying to manage sketchbook, pencil, bag etc.
Today I had an hour to go back to the Eternal Ancestry exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to sketch the wonderful faces on these Reliquaries. They are 1-2 feet in height - some are full figures, but most are just heads on a standard base. They are mostly earthcolors with some gold, bronze, silver, and even feathers.
I walked through with my Moleskine watercolor notebook and walnut brown Albrecht Durer watercolor pencil and just sketched pieces that I really liked. The digital photo image below shows all of the faces across a double page spread in the Moleskine. I originally intended to add water, but then started using the pencil for small details meaning these strokes would be lost if I painted over the pencil.
Here is the first page in more detail (scanned):
Here is the second page in more detail (scanned):
I wasn't at all sure what would happen if I sprayed these pages with Fixative, so I sketched another page with another mask and tried it. There was no running or smearing of the color - and in fact I couldn't get the pencil to rewet so I could add color.
The exhibit doesn't close until March 2nd, so I hope to have time to sketch more of these beautiful 19th and 20th C. sculptures from Central Africa.
I had a completely free day on Wednesday - no work or family activities - or required errands. For a full week I've been planning a slow leisurely trip to Pearl Paints on Canal Street in Manhattan. Since I have not carried my recycled NY sketch book with me recently, I brought it and no other paper,
As soon as I got off the subway I decided to sketch a roofline and water tank - one of my favorite NYC icons. Then I browsed all 6 floors of Pearl Paints - picking up art supplies for my grandchildren and small new items for me (they have open stock Albrecht Durer WC pencils I can't resist). I think I was in there more than 3 hours! At lunch at Pain Quotidienne in Soho, I sketched a few of my new supplies and then a wall unit facing me in the restaurant. What a wonderful day - full of inspiration and needed mind clearing relaxation.
The map that is on the edge of each page is a piece of the end paper that I used for this recycled book that I used to cover the gap between the signatures. The two pages were actually sketched on two different types of wc paper - I'm growing to love HP, tolerate CP, and hate rough!
Progress Report for 2007:
I copied my Goals from the 2006-2007 Progress/Goals entry on this blog and recorded 2007 PROGRESS after each Goal. I am currently reflecting on where I am and where I want to be at the end of 2008, so my 2008 GOALS will be posted this weekend.
1. Continue to sketch/paint everyday in my large Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.
I did do a daily sketch - and sometimes 2-3. On a few days when I was too busy to even open my sketchbook, I did my daily sketch the next morning and then another one at my usual time in the evening. The majority of my sketches are pen with watercolor washes. Most of the time I used the large Moleskine watercolor journal (I'm halfway through the 5th for the year), but I also added sketches to my London sketchbooks and all 3 recycled books that I made.
2. Complete each EDM weekly challenge and try to expand my skills by what I choose to paint for the challenge.
For the second year, I did all of the EDM Challenges in the 3-10 days after they were posted and tried to stretch my skills slightly by what I chose to sketch. I posted all of them on my blog, as one of my planned 2 entries per week.
3. Make plans for how I will use my new Eliz. I recycled book. I'm currently considering using it for more London sketches - from photos that I have taken during our visits. I have another Cachet journal for my London Travel Sketchbook Volume 3 and decided that I want to continue to use the same journal type for all of my London travel.
I completed 3 full Cachet Linen Watercolor sketchbooks during our London travels. There are approximately 150 pages in total from our 6 visits to London - my goals certainly were exceeded and I will always treasure these books. One sketch that I never posted was added as the final page to honor the birth of our grandson last Christmas in London. This sketch was made using colored pencil from a postcard I purchased at the Guercino drawing exhibit we saw at the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House.
My Eliz. I recycled book has been used for playful sketches of Big Ben and most recently the Tower of London from photos that I took - using different techniques, even collage. If you look closely you can see I used the Holbein Henry VIII painting from the Tate Britain exhibit for the collage.
4. Recycle another book since I have more paper from my previous purchase. This time I will look for an old New York book that I can use for special days out and about my own city.
I recycled two additional books - one for New York and one Michaelangelo Sonnet bookfor some of my figure drawings.
5. Spend more time sketching human faces and figures. I'm not sure yet whether I want to take any life drawing classes because I love the challenge of learning on my own. I collected some copies of Holbein's portraits and Rodin's figure drawings from our museum visits this week. And I now own two Hockney drawing/portrait books. I will recreate some of these pieces from the 16th C, 19th C, and 20th C for fun and then immerse myself in my city and draw people to try to develop my own style.
I was very productive sketching figures - or body parts - and almost filled my recycled Michaelangelo Sonnet book for some of the sketches and my Moleskine for the rest. I alternated among Derwent light wash pencils, Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils, Zig Millenium pen with watercolor wash, and 2B pencils for the sketches.
My references included: Greek and Roman sculptures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, photos of dancers, photos of nude figures from an artist book I purchased just for these exercises (The Nude Figure by Mark Smith), and occasionally even real people! But very few of my figures have faces - a goal for 2008!
6. Read some of the new art books on my shelf - starting with Betty Edward's book on color.
I continue to read art technique books, but never opened Betty Edward's book. This year I did 5 lessons from a Watercolor Skills book by Linda Elsworth. There are 5 more lessons to do, but I was temporarily derailed by a lesson on landscapes, my least favorite type of sketching/painting.
In May 2007 I decided to finally start an Eric Maisel book entitled The Creativity Book - a year's worth of inspiration and guidance (it has been on my shelf for several years). There are 2 exercises to complete per week and I am now on Week 31! I have done some sketching and painting, but mostly writing, as I explore creativity in general and my creative dreams in particular.
7. Make a "larger-than-journal size" watercolor painting of the house my daughter and son-in-law rented this year in London so we have a personal visual memory of this wonderful year when they return to New York mid-year.
I did this painting and included it as part of a big "London" Christmas gift that I gave to my daughter and son-in-law. The gift also included a DVD of all of the photos (1000s) that I took of their family and London and a Guest Book that our family kept everytime we visited them. I printed some of my sketches for the book and even included an essay re: my reflections on our visits. I was also able to make a photo collage of them at the moment when they were leaving New York in May 2006 and then leaving London in June 2007. The children grew lots during the year and and another grandson was born there mid-year.
8. Be a visitor in my own city and keep a Manhattan "travel" journal. I now have scattered journal pages throughout my daily sketchbooks.
I did continue to sketch in NYC throughout the year - and even started a series of sketches entitled "10 blocks from Home." My New York City sketches, however, are scattered through my New York recycled book and my regular Moleskine sketchbook. This occurred because I used whatever book I had with me when I decided to sketch. Since I use both sides of a page in my Moleskine, I can't easily move these sketches - and I just have to be OK about this level of disorganization!
While my husband and I were preparing dinner for our 15th Annual NYC Family Thanksgiving holiday, cousins were balloon handlers for the giant Snoopy balloon in the Macy's parade. This sketch was taken from a photo on the front page of the New York Times yesterday - showing the Kermit balloon floating down the Avenue. We learned that it is really hard work!
Yesterday my 88 year old mother and I took the 5th Avenue bus down to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas decorations and the annual tree. Although it won't be lit until Wednesday night, the lights are already on the tree and the entire area around the skating rink is beautifully decorated and full of visitors. This sketch was made from a photo that I took of one of the 3 soldiers on the north border of the rink. It was really cold and outdoor sketching just wasn't going to happen!
I love the Christmas decorations in New York City - and even don't mind the crowds. My, mother, who hasn't been in NYC for the holidays for many years, had a wonderful time. She's amazing and kept up beautifully!
I still try to do occasional sketches of Manhattan, as if I am a tourist in my own town. While waiting to meet my daughter and grandson one rainy day this month, I sketched the National Academy of Art - which is just north of the Guggenheim Museum on 5th Ave. I also did my first sketch of the Status of Liberty - from a poster - using a Juniper Green watercolor pencil. The head and the uplifted arm had to be redrawn.
We took Henry and Sydney to the Central Park Zoo following the Carousel last week, arriving just in time to see the penguins being fed. The penguin house is dark - with a climate controlled space for the penguins which means water droplets across the windows. In addition, they move too quickly for me to draw in the dark - so these were sketched from a few of my favorite photos.
Every penguin has a numbered tag and the animal feeders have a clipboard with a long list of them. This is to insure that each of them is first fed one "special fish" that is loaded artificially with
their vitamins.
We took our grandchildren Henry (just 4) and Sydney (2 1/2) to the Central Park Carousel this week. We arrived just before 10AM so we were able to see it before it started running. I even took Sydney to see a nice little horse - but there was no way this otherwise adventurous child was going to get on that horse! So grandma had a ride on a big horse, all alone, hoping to change her mind - but no. "When I'm bigger" was all she said! Henry was also very cautious and rode in the cart behind one of the horses with Grandpa.
Tonight's dinner salad. I really did have to sketch and paint it before eating. I wasn't looking forward to this, but like most EDM challenges I'm glad I did it.
One of my goals for 2007 is to sketch in my own city as if I were on an exotic vacation. Manhattan is so large and so varied, from neighborhood to neighborhood, that I will never tire of the scenes. This is one apartment building on 5th Ave - in the 80s - as seen looking Southeast through foliage in Central Park. I think these are terraces associated with the penthouse(s), but the roof watertank is also probably housed in one of these structures.
I went back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Paul Poiret fashion exhibit again yesterday with out of town friends. These garments were from the first several decades of the 20th century, but avant garde for their times and still wearble. The hats were fantastic and rarely seen today, so I chose to sketch the mannequins with the best hats. I'm still trying to do fast loose, figure sketches, so this was a perfect journal page for the day.
When I saw the exhibit for the first time I carefully recorded colors and painted the sketch when I got home. Yesterday I didn't have time to really look at colors, so I'm leaving these as line drawings.
Casey, Sandy, and I met this morning at 10 and spent the day sketching together in Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is so much fun to meet other EDM members - who you feel like you know from reading their blogs, enjoying their art, and exchanging comments.
Sandy and I would like to sketch faster and looser like Casey - so we watched her carefully! The 3 of us will upload our individual journal pages as they are completed - I'm not sure that mine are too different from my normal style as much as I tried.
Here are two photos: We started at the Toy Boat Pond, moved to Bethesda Fountain, then had lunch at the Central Park Boathouse. We ended the day on the Sculpture Garden Roof and in the Greek and Roman Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Left to Right: Casey, Shirley, Sandy.
On the Sculpture Roof at the Met with the NYC skyline behind us: Shirley, Casey, Sandy
We all sketched random people at the cafe at the Toy Boat Pond, Bethesda Fountain, the Boat House restaurant where we had lunch, a statue in the Greek and Roman Galleries, and an Etruscan Chariot. However, Casey sketched lots more! Here are my sketchbook pages, in that order:
Another visit to the Greek and Roman Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with fellow EDMer Paula. She is returning to Brazil at the end of the month, so this was our last time to sketch together for awhile. We're both hoping that she will come back to NYC for work - regularly.
There are cases and cases of artifacts that are wonderful for sketching. The ewer on the left was so beautiful because of the colors. The funny head on the right is one end of the yoke for a real Roman Chariot - an amazingly beautiful piece.
These are two small terracotta horse heads - even though one of them looks more like a moose without horns. I love using a colored pencil for these sketches.
I could spend many days in these galleries before even finishing all of the types of artifacts.
It was a beuatiful cool, sunny morning last Sat and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art rooftop sculpture garden to read for 2 hours(needed to work on the 500+ page book I have for Book Group tonight). While reading I took approximately 20 minutes to sketch these towers on the building at 74-75th St and used watercolor pencils to add color. The 4 pencils I used are listed in the paint samples. It was liberating not to worry about all of the windows - and not to really try to capture all of the architectural detail. When I enlarged my digital photo on the computer screen at home, I could really see how complex the towers are.
I have lots of trouble staying loose. Even though I sketch quite quickly, it is too tight and I can become obsessed with detail. Not that I put too much detail into a sketch, just that I can't seem to sketch it if I can't see it. I envy those in the EDM group who can stay really loose and capture images of something - this week Casey in Hong Kong, Hashi on her LA city walks, and Gabi on the bus.
I want to be able to do both - depending on the project. So this morning I brought my sketchbook and watercolor pencils with me when my husband and I took our grandson to Bethesda Fountain and I forced myself to do just a really loose sketch, add color, and then water - all in < 30 minutes.
I definitely need to have more of these sketching sessions. Need more practice!!
May 30th: There is a wonderful wall display of amphoras in the new Greek and Roman Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was really attracted to the composition, the colors, and the shadows.
May 31st: Big Ben has such an intricate guilded structure around the clock face and I could see the details when I zoomed in on my photo. I used W and N gold gouache for all of the gold. This is the second sketch in my Big Ben series in my recycled Elizabeth I book.
This is the final sketch in my "Every Day in May" series. For me this project was an exercise in uploading my daily sketch rather than doing a daily sketch. It was time consuming on work days when I was tired. I also didn't like the slight change in my attitude toward my daily sketch, i.e. I actually had to upload whatever I produced each day. The major advantage is to have a full months body of work saved on my blog - and it really is eclectic: figure drawing including yoga poses and nudes; museum sketches as I repeatedly visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art; several pages in my recycled books: the 10 blocks series of NYC and Big Ben; and of course the EDM Challenges!
May 28th: I really like my new book - Nude Figures for Artists - and can probably spend the next year sketching these models without running out of inspiration. This was a quick sketch done with colored pencil - no faces yet and pretty poor hands. But those are challenges that I will work on! Michaelangelo on the left and me on the right. Again having problems with the rough paper - the model didn't have hairy legs!
May 29th: I went downtown early this morning to buy a gift for my daughter-in-law who will graduate from Medical School this afternoon! She will begin her Pediatric Residency in June and we will still babysit their son Robbie on Fridays! I then continued to walk downtown, through Washington Square, in the direction of Dick Blick. I stopped for a cup of coffee and did this quick sketch at the SE corner of the park. The proprietor cleaned and polished his cart the entire time I watched!
It was a lovely cool morning and I decided that an early visit to the Met was a perfect way to spend the morning. I stopped at the Southeast Corner for a quick sketch for my 10 Block series of NYC journal pages and to wait for the Museum to open. At this corner, I sketched just one window of the windows from the Greek and Roman Galleries - and the amorphous stone sculpture that sits among the bushes.
Inside, I wandered through more of the exhibits in the new Greek and Roman Galleries and saw the chariot for the first time. I found one more marble figure to sketch and then went to find a small iron hunting dog in another part of the Museum. I saw it previously and loved the shape. Unfortunately, the body is longer than my page was wide and I didn't realize it until the end. I will resketch it from photos so I have a better image.
I sketched the marble figure with a colored pencil and the dog with a Derwent Sketching Pencil (light wash). I was then able to use my Niji waterbrush to add the gray color to the dog. I love playing with those pencils! And they are great for Museum sketching.
Memorial Day weekend in the US, which means 3 days off work - and beautiful weather. Many New Yorkers escape for the country or open beach houses. Others, like us, love the city during the summer - it seems slower and neighborhood restaurants are less crowded.
Yesterday I did another lesson from my Anne Elsworth Watercolor Skills Workbook: Painting an all-white still life with a monochromatic color scheme.
Today my husband and I took a late afternoon subway ride to Battery Park - I had NEVER been on the Staten Island Ferry - a free 30 minute ride across New York Harbor. Here are two pictures that I took from the railing - one on the way out of the ferry slip and the second one as we were returning to Manhattan. I loved every minute of the ride, including the path past the Statue of Liberty.
After our ferry ride, we stopped for dinner at Battery Gardens - and sat on their outdoor patio overlooking the harbor. I was able to sketch another table - and also do a 3 minute sketch of one of the huge sailboats that quickly passed our table.
No work today and beautiful sunshine. My husband and I wandered through a fantastic Picasso lithograph exhibit at Helly Nahmad Gallery and then I stopped 10 blocks from home to add a page to my NYC Journal. This really interesting little store has a very narrow facade, and is squeezed between two large buildings on E. 78th St. The large banner attracts attention from Madison Avenue and the very sedate sign next to the gate says that it is a "unique, chic haven for brides."
May 19th: I sketched my EDM Challenge while at the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday on the World Wide Sketchcrawl. Rocks are a little hard to find in my immediate neighborhood and the weather was too awful to go into Central Park to paint one of the big rocks. So I painted 3 big rocks that make up the side wall of the Temple of Dendur (15 B.C.E.). This allowed me to really focus on the engraved drawings - which are wonderful. There are approximately 5-6 figures down each side of the Temple and I don't think that any two are the same.
May 20th: I walked 10 blocks from home, looked around, and sketched a small piece of the roofline of the Jewish Museum on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. There was a man sitting on the one of the benches painting the facade in a wonderfully loose, impressionistic style. I sat on the curb (because 5th Avenue was closed to traffic) and tried to just capture a little of the essence of the complicated architecture and decoration. I love the aged copper portions.
We spent several hours in Central Park with my son, daughter-in-law and grandson Robbie in celebration of Mother's Day. The weather was beautiful and the Great Lawn was full of families and softball players. I sketched the city skyline looking south from the Great Lawn at 86th St.
I still hate the rough watercolor paper. This sketch was done in my NYC Journal using Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils. The piece of subway map that is above my sketch is my addition to the journal to cover the gap between signatures.
Today was my monthly Empire Quilt Guild meeting which is held on the 8th floor of Building A at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). I arrived early to meet with my small applique group and while sipping more coffee sketched the view from the window - another NYC rooftop image. I'm not sure what fascinates me about these water tanks. If you take a minute to look up in the city, they are everywhere! And no two structures or rooflines are the same. This is the back of the buildings on W. 26th St.
May 6th (but labeled incorrectly as the 7th on my page)
I am starting a series of New York City sketches - when the spirit moves me - probably in nice weather and when I have time to take a walk and sketch without needing to get somewhere. Since it is hard for me to decide what I want to sketch in this big city, I will walk 10 blocks (1/2 mile) and then select something from the 4 directions that I can see. Today was "10 block series #1" - and I stopped in a my neighborhood independent bookstore, sat on a bench, and read for awhile along the way. Only when I reached my destination did I realize that I only had 12 watercolor pencils with me. This was very liberating and I think the sketch is looser. I added ink and water when I came home. My only disappointment is the Arches 140lb rough paper. I bound many kinds of watercolor paper in my recycled books so I could experiment and I don't think I'll buy "rough" again anytime soon.
I draw everyday so my commitment for this month is to upload one of my journal pages for every day in the month - which I never previously have done. This one will be out of order because I wanted to post my EDM challenge today. On Sunday I'll upload all of the other sketches.
Three "sorta" round wheels: I was leaving the International Center of Photography exhibit several weeks ago - really inspired by Henri Cartier Bresson's philosophy about impulsive actions, when a red pedicab pulled up to the light as I was crossing 6th Avenue. The beautiful driver, then sat up and placed her hands on her hips - exuding power and confidence. I managed to quickly take one photo before the light changed and she pedaled on, but I was fearful about sketching from the photo because I couldn't figure out how to sketch so many spokes on 3 wheels. I even asked for advice from this group - and sketched "the anatomy of a bicycle wheel "from our bike rack at work. But, when I saw the magnificent tandem bicycle in the large painting by Ramon Casas at the Barcelona exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I realized the wheels had NO SPOKES - and I might never have noticed if I weren't obsessing over this photo. As soon as Karen announced the challenge for the week, I knew I had to do this - without spokes.
EDM Challenge #116: Draw Something Green: I searched all week for something green that was interesting and exciting enough for me to use for this challenge. I gathered up my apartment green objects for my Color Project Green month last year, so I was more interested in finding something in another environment. Today I went over to the new Greek-Roman Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and sketched the south end of the gallery for an hour. Then as soon as I started to wander around the space, I found wonderful Roman glass from the 1st C. A.D. This green glass vessel is only 6 inches high, but so beautiful!
Last weekend (3/16-17) we had freezing rain and snow - precluding even walking because of the winds. This weekend was much warmer and New Yorkers ran a marathon in Central Park and filled the playgrounds on Sunday morning. We met our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson in Hippo Playground in Riverside Park. He loves the slides - and I was warm enough to sketch the hippo sculptures. There are buds on the trees and the early spring flowers have stems about 4" above the ground. This is as close as we have gotten to "fresh" - wonderful fresh air to cure winter cabin fever.
There are two groups of hippo sculptures - that children climb on and adults sit on. Here are two pictures that I took of the "animals."
Very few New Yorkers even pay attention when I'm sketching, and while I was sketching the hippo head with open mouth, a woman kept talking to her friend and actually put her foot right up into the mouth obscuring my view. And I was standing not more than 4 feet from her!
We visited the Guggenheim Sunday afternoon to see the El Greco to Picasso exhibit before it closes on March 24th. What huge crowds! The lighting was wonderful - a combination of light from the skylight in the rotunda and the lights over each painting. I was captivated by the view across the open center and stood along the balcony to sketch the scene. I had to reduce the number of people in my sketch in order to really see the paintings. The half circle in the center of the sketch is an open area overlooking a small adjoining gallery below.
I then quickly visited a few of my favorites in the permanent collection and sketched this small portion of Camille Pissaro's painting Hermitage at La Pointoise. I love rooftop scenes and ! was looking for something to paint using a single color triad: cadmium red, Winsor blue, and Winsor lemon.
Last Sunday I explored Bryant Park, the space behind the New York Public Library. A free skating rink and 100 artisan Christmas shops were set up in the park and Christmas decorations were everywhere. The sky was clear and the late afternoon sun was on the Empire State building and the Chrysler Building. I sketched and painted both of them, and tonight collaged the wreath that I painted last week on both buildings. However, I'm not proficient enough in Photoshop to do it digitally, so I cut out the wreath, used restickable glue (like post-it notes) and put the wreath on each building before scanning.
Our family Christmas card each year is a Manhattan holiday design - next year I might be able to make my own.
I have 100s of buttons in my studio from my many, many years of sewing. When we lived in Texas I bought an old English oak button cabinet to use as a side table, and the buttons that I sketched tonight were some of the lovely metal buttons that came with that table. Each one has a very intricate design, regardless of how small. The two largest buttons in this group are 3/4 inch and the smallest is 1/2".
Last Saturday I spent the day between the New York City Garment District and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) with my new fried and fellow EDM member Paula. She is from Brazil and currently studying at Columbia. I have walked past the Garment District sculptures at 40th and 7th Ave many times, but on Saturday joined Paula in taking a few pictures of the large button, needle, and garment worker. It sometimes takes new eyes to make you see something that is so familiar! I thought that I would include it as another sketch for the Button challenge.
I have never sketched a flag - and was lucky enough to have one in front of a historically landmarked building in my neighborhood in New York City. I want to do multiple sketches of this beautiful building that was the home of a light opera composer in the early 1900s. In the 1930 census that I viewed its value was already estimated at $1,000,000 and it is well maintained and now contains several luxury apartments. I was able to do the sketch while standing in front of the building and then take a photo of the flag when it was blowing to sketch and paint at home.
I looked at traffic signs all week as I drove from home to work and back again. Our streets are very wide and I suddently realized that 95% of the traffic signs are along the sides of these 4-6 lane city streets and highways. I never remember seeing half of the signs that I saw when I was patiently looking (and trying not to hit the cars in front of me). My favorite was the yellow and black sign in the middle of this drawing - on a signpost in front of yellow and black arrows. An undivided city street suddenly acquires a center median and all traffic needs to move to the right. If you fail to do so, you plow into the sign and a huge row of black rubber containers! My second favorite is the "Don't block the Box - Fine +2 points" sign. I wonder if our EDM members would have any clue what this sign means?
Grids were being posted to EDM just as I was leaving to go out on Tuesday - and it seemed like the perfect answer for my daily sketch. I started at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where I saw the special Ambrose Vollard exhibit and painted Derain's view across the Thames of London and a Cezanne tree from the paintings I saw. No sketching was permitted in the exhibit - but fortunately I was able to buy postcards of these two paintings. The garnet and gold eagle is from 500AD - and part of their jewelry collection. The lion is from the Rembrandt drawing exhibition.
I then took a bus down 5th Ave to the bead district on 37th St. to buy beads and sequins for a group project with my Art Quilt friends.
Next I walked down 6th Avenue to NY Book Center to get a class chedule in case I decide to take a weekend class in bookbinding (I'm going to blame Jan Allsop and her recycled books for this new interest), and then along W.25th Street to City Quilter to buy muslin for my next baby quilt (grandchild #4 in January in London). The Manhattan skyline is their business logo (I colored what is usually just an open line).
Finally I ended at Talas on W. 20th St. to buy linen thread, an awl, and a bone folder to recycle a book. I sketched the thread spool, awl, and the book I bought entitled Bookworks by Susan Doggett.
It was a great way to sketch my day and purchases.
I love books and bookstores, and while the big superchains really allow you to browse and read all day, I like the personal selections and recommendations of independent bookstores. This is one of several in my neighborhood. I also love specialty food stores, but when I looked at my favorite green grocer/food shop, the facade just wasn't as interesting as I thought. Too many piles of fruits and vegetables on large shelves across the front and no architectural interest above the level of the awning.
When I first read the EDM chalenge, at 5:30 in the morning, I thought that it said traffic light. So I grabbed my camera when I left for work and took a photo of the traffic light on my corner. I didn't want to get run over as I stood in the intersection sketching and decided a photo would have to be used. After I sketched and painted it, I realized that Karen's email said "streetlight". Since the streetlight is the single pole that holds everything, I sketched it too. The height has been shortened to make the composition more compact. There are endless varieties of street lights in my neighborhood (one light or two) and traffic lights (single and fixed to the pole or double and triple and suspended over the intersection on a long arm that is attached to the street lamp pole). Since this is such a walking city, I also included the Walk - Don't Walk signs that are on the street lamp pole.
Wednesday night I was in mid-town Manhattan and noticed that they have much nicer lights on their poles. Before this challenge, I never realized that there were regional differences in street lights on the main streets in the City!
My husband and I take care of our youngest grandchild on Fridays and when weather permits, love to walk him in his stroller to the Boat Pond Cafe in Central Park. It is just opening most Fridays when we arrive to get our coffee. This week Park crews had heavy equipment cleaning up mud debris from the Thursday evening thunderstorms. My grandson, who turned 1 at the end of July, had a wonderful time sitting in one of the big chairs with us, eating snacks, and watching the bright yellow vehicles moving around the walkways.
Moleskine watercolor journal, Pigma micron pens, and mostly Winsor-Newton tube paints. The base layer of paint copper roof and awning were done with Daler-Rowney viridian from my cylinder travel set.
This week's EDM Challenge is to "go someplace different and draw what you see." It was a very wet weekend in New York City and my husband and I spent much of both days seeing current exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art (DADA art) and the American Museum of Natural History (Darwin).
My son Jason had a pet iguana for many years and our family got attached to Pablo (as long as it was living in my son's apartment). When I saw the iguana from the Galapagos in the Darwin exhibit, I decided that this was as "different" as I was going to get - and it was a good time to do more museum sketching. I wasn't sure about the rules at AMNH, so I waited to paint it at home.
We live in corner building and I was able to sketch/paint 3 fire hydrants just around the corner - along the side of our building. The one on the top left stands on the sidewalk right in front of the building, the big one in the middle is on the sidewalk along the curb, and the one on the bottom right is actually on the wall of the building. Two of them are beautifully polished brass, but I'm still not able to accurately capture reflective surfaces. Maybe next year!
I attended my first Sketchcrawl Friday February 3rd. It was organized by Patti and Danny Gregory at the Rubin Museum of Art which is a new Manhattan museum that features art from the Himilayas. It's a gorgeous space and the art was inspiring. I filled 5 pages of images that I abstracted from the paintings, clearly more in my "comfort zone" than sketching the very ornate, small sculptures. The sketch above was one tiny portion of a very large painting from 17th C. Tibet to which I was drawn because of the stylized clouds. I did the sketch with a Pigma micron 05 pen and added watercolor washes at home. I wish that I could have met all of the other artists, and I really wish that I could have seen their work. Hopefully most of them will post their sketches to the EDM group.
I loved this little fish - created in a transparent orange pigment over a dark background with white highlights. The same fish appeared scattered around the border of the painting several more times. I can't wait to recreate him on paper or on silk in a quilt journal page.
I see this rooftop many times each day, but never previously considered it a scene for sketching. Although I used only pen for all but one of my sketches in Sorrento Italy (see earlier entries from Moleskine journal), I recently started laying out lines in my sketches in pencil, usually because I had the time to play with lines a little more now than when I was standing and trying to draw in just a few minutes during our trip. There was a wonderful exchange this week on the Everyday Matters group (and Danny Gregory's Everyday Matters website) about using pen versus pencil/then pen and I decided that I would do this sketch without allowing a pencil to touch the page. I still have lots to learn about watercolor, but I found this quick sketch to be fun to do.
