Paper and Threads

I love figure drawing, and I wanted to draw some figures, channeling Matisse.  There is a Beyond the Cut-Outs Studio at the Museum of Modern Art every afternoon except Tuesday, so I am trying to build my stash of figures that I can turn into cutouts for collage when I attend.  Here are three sketchbook pages.

I need to "deliberately practice" drawing hands and feet - and I keep a sketchbook just for that purpose.  The poses at the figure drawing sessions are never long enough for me to concentrate on hands, so I clip photos from magazines and use those.  I'm HOPING that someday this work will pay off.

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I sketched my favorite drawing at Christie's Impressionist and Modern Auction Preview on Monday, and on Thursday I painted the first panel of Matisse's 1001 Nights in the Matisse Cut-Out Exhibit.  He is one of my favorite artists and I love studying his lines.

Veronica Lawlor was the teacher for Week 5 in Sketchbook Skool Semester 3.  I'm not sure that I will ever be able to draw bodies in constant motion, like Veronica, but I will practice.  I sat in the Grand Central Food Court this week having coffee and sketched 6 random people - two pairs that were very busy talking to each other, and two others that were either almost stationary or asleep. 

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We made 5 books in class so far this semester, learning basic skills as we made each one of them.  Tomorrow our mid-semester project is due and for this we needed to make a book, using any of our techniques,  with added autobiographical content. 

The first 3 books were previously posted. 

This is Book 4:  A Pamphlet Book in Boards.  I used plain black book cloth for the cover and my wild, previously created, paste paper for the end papers. 

Book 5:  A Quarter Round Hard Back Book With 10 Signatures.  This was a completely new binding for me and I always wondered how it was done.  The cover is made of black book cloth and my paste paper.

Mid-Semester Project:  My Great Great Great Great Grandmother was kidnaped by the Delaware Indians in 1757 in Lancaster Pennsylvania during the French Indian War and then returned to her family in 1764 as part of the peace treaty and return of the captives negotiated by Lt.-Colonel Henry Bouquet.   There is good documentation of the kidnapping from Ben Franklin's newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette.  I saw and touched the newspaper in the the Rare Book Room of the New York Public Library.  And there is a handwritten list of captives who were returned to Fort Pitt and her full name appears on it.  The list is maintained at the William L. Clements Rare Book Library at the University of Michigan.  I always wanted to write the story for my grandchildren and used this assignment to do that.

My hardback book is 40 pages of text with 11 illustrations which are copies of paintings, maps, and lists. 

The Cover:  With a copy of a painting called the Prize, by John Buxton.  I had a lovely email exchange with the artist and I'm thrilled that I could put his painting on the cover.

The Title Page:  Who Was Christina Wampler

One of the pages - with text and an embedded copy of another painting - One Mile to Bushy Run Station by Robert Griffing.

This book was finished just in time for my oldest grandson, Henry, to read it as his 6th grade class reaches the French-Indian War in American History.  It isn't perfect, but it was a labor of love!   

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I am enrolled in Sketchbook Skool Semester 3 - Storytelling, and just have to fit it in to an overfilled schedule at the moment.  I watched Koosje's videos during Week 1, but couldn't even think about the fun assignments until we arrived in Paris. 

Instead of illustrating a recipe, I outlined the steps for packing for our trip, and painted my suitcase, carryon, and mini-backpack.  We rented an apartment that was up 3 flights, so we packed very lightly. 

Recipe Equivalent for Koosje's Homework Assignment #1

The apartment had a modern microwave and I just wanted to use it to boil water for my filtered coffee.  But first I had to read a manual in 3 languages, searching for the simple method of just setting a time and pushing a start button.  So this is my manual:   How to Boil Water for Coffee in a De Dietrich Microwave.

Melanie Reim was the Week 2 instructor and I was thrilled to have her class videos to watch on the day we arrived, so I could try to stay awake.  For my home work I recorded what I was seeing in front of me In Notre Dame as we waited for the organ concert to begin.  But alas - no concert and no announcement.     

Notre Dame de Paris - the Organ Recital That Wasn't 

My other "in the moment drawings" were of my husband - on the Metro, in a café, and then over onion soup for lunch.  Of course he doesn't think they look like him, but I think I'm getting closer. 

At Lunch at Brasserie L'Atlas 

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Inspiration for Drawing in Paris:  I wanted to have the courage to draw outdoors in Paris and found this wonderful, impressionistic drawing of Notre Dame in one of the books in my library.  The artist simplified!  And I could too!

On our first day in Paris, while walking around Ile Saint Louis, I saw the perfect view for me to draw Notre Dame - and just did it!  My husband leaned on the wall and worked on a crossword puzzle and I gave myself less than 30 minutes to do the sketch - and studied the colors/plus took a few photos for me to paint it in the apartment.  That became my working mode for all of these. 

Notre Dame de Paris from Quai D'Orleans on Ile Saint Louis 

Pavillion de la Reine on Place des Vosges:  My husband and I sat on the base of the central statue in Place des Vosges and while he did a crossword puzzle, I sketched, on a beautiful afternoon, surrounded by the sound of children playing. 

Rooftops in Montmartre: 

Top Floors of a Beautiful Apartment on Quai D'Orleans on Ile Saint Louis

Picasso's Paysans at the L'Orangerie:  We saw the renovated museum for the first time and I fell in love with an early Picasso and sketched it.  The original was gouache on brown paper.

My next blog post will be Sketchbook Skool - Koene and Reim homework with a Paris focus!  I have one more hasty sketch that I need to finish before my sketchbook is full and I'm thrilled to have these memories of a terrific vacation.  

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