Paper and Threads

I loved this class and learned from a master fashion illustrator. 

http://janissalek.com/fashion.html 

This week was our last class, and we had 3 models, and many quick poses.  While we were sketching Professor Salek, as a final review, talked about all of the skills she presented during the semester. 

I chose four 7 minute poses from the class to post on the blog, to  remind me about:

1.  The angle of shoulders and hips - which are usually opposite in direction - and should be exaggerated.

2.  To be bold drawing the shapes.

3.  To start drawing from the head and then to  proceed down the figure, switching from side to side.

4.  To elongate the drawing and narrow the form.

5.  To pay attention to opposition, which to her means don't draw both sides of an arm or leg with identical lines.  Exaggerate differences. 

I wish I had erased the hand on the first figure - but maybe my new Craftsy class on Drawing Hands will help me as 2017 ends!! 

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Thaw Drawing Collection at the Morgan Library and Museum:  I LOVED this exhibit and recommend it to anyone who loves drawings.  It is a very large exhibit, spanning drawings from before and including Rembrandt, through drawings from Modern and Contemporary Art.  Photos are allowed, without flash, except for a small number of the most recent drawings which have copyrights.  It is a tremendous resource for copying the Masters to study their skills and improve your own.

http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/drawn-to-greatness 

Through January 7, 2018 

Louise Bourgeois at MoMA:  The exhibit contains a huge Bourgeois "Spider sculpture" in the main atrium, and many different types of her work, including collage, drawings, paintings. and cloth book pages.  The strength of this exhibit for me was seeing how an artist expands their skills into many mediums.  Through Jan 28, 2018

Max Ernst at MoMA:  I'm partial to Max Ernsts's sculpture and some are included in this exhibit.  Through Jan 1, 2018

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We painted all of the model poses this week and I'm uploading only one painting from class.  Three models were painted simultaneously in a 20-30 minute pose and I didn't get to finish the third model.  This was my first experience using PhDrMartin liquid watercolors, and it was fun.  I bought 3 primary colors and mixed what I needed.  However, I hated throwing away even the small amount of mixed colors on my palette and would hate carrying them around when painting away from home or the classroom.

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Collage as Fashion Illustration:  Week 12 we sketched 4 models and then selected one to turn into a collage.  Our professor demonstrated how to trace the big shapes, and then to cut around the shape from the tracing paper and collage paper simultaneously, in one layer.  We brought black, white, and one other color, either gray or brown.  This collage was made by gluing my shapes over my drawing. 

Next Week:  My first experience using Dr. Ph Martin liquid watercolors. 

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Benedicte, Pat, and I met at the Jewish Museum when it opened and spent several hours in the Modigliani Unmasked Exhibit (closes Feb 4, 2018).  It is a wonderful collection of art on paper, paintings, and sculptures.  Here is a video from the exhibit:  http://thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/modigliani-unmasked#video

I loved how he explored African Masks in drawings, and then modified his portraits over time to lengthen the face, nose, and neck.  He also did many drawings of caryatids, and fallen caryatids, for a second series that was well represented in the exhibit, moving from drawings to paintings.

I also sketched the photo of a Russian poet who modeled for him, and with whom it is alleged he had an affair in Paris.  

After lunch we walked down Madison Ave to Van Doren Waxter Gallery to see Richard Diebenkorn: Works on Paper (1922-1993) - through Jan 20, 2018.  I love his figure drawings, and took a photo of my favorite in the exhibit. Richard Diebenkorn was an abstract expressionist in the 40s and 50s, and then turned to figurative art in the 50s and 60s.

We ended the day at the Met Breuer Museum to view Edvard Munch's paintings:  Between the Bed and the Clock (through Feb 4, 2018).  If you only know Munch because of his "Scream" paintings, you need to see this exhibit: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2017/edvard-munch

This is my photo of the painting for which the exhibit was named.  My favorites were his many self-portraits.

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