Went for coffee after the Village Art Fair, and sat across from a cute young couple. It was the beginning of the semester at NYU and they had lots to talk about. I sketched them very quickly and painted them at home.
Urban Sketchers NYC: This week the weekday Urban Sketchers met at the fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel and artists in our group sketched the fountain, the new Apple Company Cube across firth Ave, or the modern horse part sculptures across 59th St. The weather was great and we talked, sketched, and painted for several hours.
This is a longer than usual Blog Entry: "On August 15, 1947, India threw off the shackles of British rule. In the ensuing period of transition, turmoil, and hope, six young firebrands came together in Bombay, now known as Mumbai: K. H. Ara, S. K. Bakre, H. A. Gade, M. F. Husain, F. N. Souza, and S. H. Raza united to form the Progressive Artists' Group (PAG). In the early 1950s, Krishen Khanna, V. S. Gaitonde, and Mohan Samant joined their ranks; Ram Kumar, Tyeb Mehta, and Akbar Padamsee became closely affiliated with the Group. Together, the Progressives forged fresh art for an independent India and in time have come to be known as the country's quintessential moderns. " https://asiasociety.org/new-york/exhibitions/progressive-revolution-modern-art-new-india
My artist friends and I discovered SE Asian Modern and Contemporary art several years ago and fell in love with their colorful, native, representational art, while much of the art world was deep into abstract expressionism. We go to the auction previews at Christies and Sothebys during Asia Week, and in 2018 Pat and I saw an amazing exhibit at the Asia Society about the Progressive Artists' Group which formed in 1947 while the British were leaving India.
Last week Christies had more than 100 pieces of Modern and Contemporary SE Asian art from this time period, and 4 of us went to see the paintings and sculpture, Each of us sketched from the works. These are 4 paintings/prints that I liked - the 4th one is just one figure from a much bigger painting.
B. Prabha
MF Husain
MF HUsain
Avinash Chandra
I learn so much from drawing/painting exhibited art, including the color palettes, line qualities, and subjects. I also see the gallery exhibits through a different prism as I learn about which drawings and paintings I am attracted to.
Yesterday our model was completely new to modeling. She was wonderful - and actually had props and different clothes that she could change her appearance during the 2 hour session. She had very active and wonderful one minute poses, and when I finished other drawings, I went back and firmed up my lines on two of them.
These are two ten minute drawings - she had quickly changed into another outfit right in front of us - with props. I sketched with a soluble graphite pencil and then spread the graphite with a waterbrush to shade the drawing.
She was dressed in other clothing, as if by magic, for the 20 minute poses, and I sketched her once.
Her other 20 minute pose was prone and all I could see were the bottoms of her feet and hips from my seat, so I sketched the artist across from me.
Summer is almost over, and I will miss my visits to Wagner Park to see and draw the flowers. The Battery Park Conservancy has wonderful gardeners, and every week there are new varieties in bloom. They have an adult art program in Wagner Park in the morning and I go to figure drawing early to see friends and quickly sketch the new "flowers of the week." I am enough of a novice that I don't know the names of many of them. These last two weeks I first saw the purple Passion Flowers, and then concentrated on them in the second week. There are huge vines growing in both sides of the park, and only when you get close to the flowers do you realize how complex they are.
Purple Passion Flower: This sketchbook page was drawn the second week - and has a drawing from above and the side. There are about 550 species and these in Wagner Park were growing on vines. Others can grow on shrubs and trees per Wikipedia.
