Paper and Threads

On Wednesday afternoons, from May through October, there are models for outdoor figure drawing in Battery Park City South Cove.  Last week Claudia was our model and I especially like her short poses - they are a great challenge.  She wore a halter top and jean shorts, and posed in the middle of a circle of the 40+ artists.  Each of these 2 minute poses were drawn with a 6B graphite pencil on newsprint.  I was pleased with my attempts and decided to post these warm-up poses instead of the ones I did in 5 and 10 minutes.

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I've admired Anne Watkins impressionistic watercolor figure paintings for almost a decade and was thrilled when her workshop was included in the 10 X 10 NYC Urban Sketchers program.  I tend to be a detail oriented person, which was a valuable trait as a physician, but I'd love to be able to loosen up when drawing and painting.  The back-to-back classes with Marilyn Rose and Anne Watkins were a perfect combination for last week.  We met Anne in Bryant Park - the same location as Marilyn chose, and the park was full of sitting, walking, and ping-pong playing people. 

This was Anne's quick demo for us to see how she painted the ping pong players and a link to her website.

annewatkins.com/      Look especially at her wedding paintings. 

I painted many passing figures during the workshop, and loved the experience.  But I will need lots of practice before attaining any mastery of this style.  These were the best of the ones I painted. 

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Bryant Park, which is behind the New York Public Library, is amazing!  Over the last several decades, it became a cultural center in midtown NYC.  This week I attended one of their art programs, led by an artist who was a Bryant Park Artist in Residence several summers ago.  Marilyn and I, many years ago, became friends at an Everyday Matters course taught here by Danny Gregory, in NYC,  and I enrolled immediately because of the limited size of these free classes.  We met from 10-12 noon on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and she gave each of us a Moleskine Cahier book and a Unipen - to be used for all of our sketches. 

Day 1 - First Drawing: We were directed to select a small part of the NYPL front plaza and just draw what we saw.  We had about 30-40 minutes for each sketch.

Day 1 - Second Drawing 

Day 2 - Vignette:  She led us around the plaza and showed us how she creates a quick vingnette of a space, selecting random things that intrigue her.  We then sketched our own vignette.

Day 2 - People:  For our second drawing we quickly sketched each other.  This was one of my spreads.

Day 3 -  After some more instruction, we went around the Library to Bryant Park and sketched, while listening to the practice session of Broadway Show casts that were scheduled to perform in the afternoon.  I had about an hour to draw, and then we returned to the Art Cart space in the front of the library and some students added color.

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I continue to sketch single flowers in bloom at Wagner Park.  After making each sketch, I take a photo and then paint the whole page at home, when I can relax and enjoy experimenting with some wet-in-wet watercolor painting, and more mixing of greens from my basic yellows and blues.

These lilies were gorgeous in color and I wasn't able to get the colors to be as radiant in paint.  Nature is amazing. 

Figure Al Fresco:  Several 5 minute poses in the afternoon. 

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My grandchildren, Annabelle and Zach, were happy to go on another sketching adventure.  A new permanent exhibit of Jim Hensen and the Muppets just opened at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens.  We've never been there before, and this seemed like the perfect event for us to explore a different NYC museum.  

http://www.movingimage.us/exhibitions/2017/07/22/detail/the-jim-henson-exhibition/  

1.  Off to Astoria Queens to see the new "Jim Hensen" and the Muppets exhibit. 

2. You need to get timed tickets for this exhibit, which can be done online more than 24 hours before your selected time.  We arrived early and started in their permanent exhibit called "Behind the Screen" - and Annabelle started sketching.

3.  The Jim Hensen exhibit had lots of the puppets, storyboards, drawings, film clips and history.  The children can take one of 4 puppets and make a video in one area, and change hairstyles, hats etc on puppets in another area.  If they love the Muppets, it is enough to see the 47 puppets up close.  But I think adults will enjoy the exhibit more.  We watched "The Muppet Movie" (1979) at home on Friday night and saw Miss Piggy" in this dress in a dream sequence. 

4. There are wonderful drawings throughout the exhibit - loved this one.

5.  And "Animal" as a concept drawing.

6. Before and after the Muppet exhibit, Annabelle and Zachary created animations from an amazing hands- on exhibit in the permanent exhibit.  And there are more similar activities for kids this age to enjoy.

7.  I sketched in both sections with them, but only painted this drawing of one of the Doozers.

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