Paper and Threads

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.

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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.   

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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.

Posted by Shirley at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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.

Posted by Shirley at 8:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

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.

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