Paper and Threads

Last Week Pat and I spent 2 full days out and about.  On Friday we went to Christies to see the previews for the South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art in the morning and the preview for the huge Interwoven Globe   exhibit at the Met in the afternoon.  Lunch in Rockefeller Center was a wonderful break between these two events and I sketched a few of the flags while we were eating and resting.

On Sunday I went to the New York Public Library to return a book, and couldn't resist standing in the sun and sketching one of the Lions that welcome visitors to the Main Library on both sides of the stairs. 

I was returning a book to the Mid-Manhattan branch (a circulating branch across from the big Research Library) and I found two terrific books in the drawing section.  I brought home one to read and will borrow the other one on my next visit.

The first is:  More Than Words:  Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art.  Liza Kirwin, 2005.

The second is: Queen Victoria's Sketchbook by Marina Warner.  I looked through the entire book and was surprised to learn that she kept a sketchbook during her entire life.  Many drawings are in pen and ink, others also were painted with watercolor.  She sketched people in her life, opera characters, ballet costumes, and occasional places. When I have time, I'd love to read it.

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Between my Figure Drawing Class at FIT and our summer Figure Drawing in Battery Park City, I sketched 32 figures this past week.  And my friend Pat and I spent one morning gallery hopping in Chelsea, and a full day yesterday between the previews for the Contemporary Asian Art Auction at Christies and the preview of the Interglobal Woven exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I feel so enriched by all of it and wish that I could have my favorite moments going through my head in a slideshow for the next week.

These are my two 20 minute poses - done on 18 X 24" paper, at an easel, at FIT. 

The remainder of the drawings were from Battery Park City - where it was 96 degrees in the shade and a heat index of 103 degrees.  Did I capture the pouty, whining look of our model?  She just wanted to sit, and therefore I had more opportunities for these poses than ever before.

Multiple images were drawn on a large sheet of paper with a Derwent Medium Wash pencil and then "painted" with clear water.  These were all photographed - with difficulty!

1 Minute Poses:  I am most pleased with these.  When I first started drawing figures, I could barely get one line drawn in 60 seconds.

2 Minute Poses

5 Minute Poses

Two 10 and two 20 Minute Poses 

My Bookbinding Structure for September is suffering while I concentrate on figures - but it is Flexagons.  I had never heard of these books, and now that I'm reading about their history, I'm getting more excited.  I made a Square Flexagon and still have 3 more types to make: a Tetra tetra flexagon, a cross flexagon, and a hexa hexa flexagon.  Don't they sound interesting??

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As part of my September initiative "to shake up retirement," I also returned to ballet class after 4 years.  I danced on and off my entire life and managed to find time to take classes even when my schedule was full.  My body needs the stretching even more, the older I get - so off to ballet class I went.  Here are my "oldish" ballet slippers, just to commemorate my first few classes.

Last week was last week of my grandchildren's summer vacation and I took Sydney to MoMA on Tuesday and Zachary to the American Museum of Natural History on Friday. Syd and I sketched, had lunch, and then came home to do some sewing.  I drew a few details from paintings included on the children's audioguide while she was listening.  She also sketched a few details and painted them during lunch. 

While my husband took Zach to see the big blue whale, I quickly sketched a beautiful tiger at Natural History and then painted it at home from a photo.

Yesterday my husband and I spent the morning at the Café at the Conservatory Water - one of our favorite morning walks for coffee in Central Park. I sketched cone flowers - first painting them and then adding pen. I continue to play with this technique after liking the way Reginald Marsh used it in the exhibit Swing Time.

Tonight is my second Figure Drawing class at FIT and I will be doing longer and longer poses as the semester proceeds.  I will need better hand drawing skills and used a photograph to draw these two hands. 

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The weather was perfect on Wednesday and Judy, Pat, and I all went to figure drawing!  Here are a few 5 and 10 minute sketches, and one 20 minute sketch, using a General Sketch and Wash pencil.

Three 5 Minute Sketches

Two 10 minute poses left - and one 5 minute pose right:

Twenty Minute Pose:

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I love to draw from the Masters and try to analyze paintings and drawings during my museum and gallery visits here in New York City.

There is a new exhibit at MoMA, called American Modern:  Hopper to O'Keeffe.  All paintings, drawings, sculpture and photographs are owned by MoMA and curated for this specific exhibit.  I loved several of Charles Burchfield's paintings and especially a painting called The City, 1916.  It was such a lovely loose architectural painting, that I was hoping that I could, sketch it, paint it, and try loose paintings like this is the future.   I sketched a portion of the painting in the museum and then painted it at home from a photo that I was allowed to take.

My husband and I saw a Reginald Marsh exhibit, called Swing Time, at the New York Historical Society last week, right before it closed.  I've always loved his paintings of New York City - especially those with a subdued palette.  I was fascinated with his use of ink, and I think thin paint/tempera lines, to delineate his figures.  I sketched one from Harris Street Theater, 1940, so I could paint the figure and then add ink. 

I also liked the woman on the far right of BMT 14th St. and just needed a drawing of her head to remember her. 

Posted by Shirley at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)