Paper and Threads

NYC Urban Sketchers met at the Metropolitan Museum Art and Armor Galleries last Saturday.  Sketchers were free to go anywhere in the Museum, but many of us went to draw armor.  It was a first for me!  I used pencil to draw, then found a spot where I could add ink and the orange color before I forgot these details.  I finished the painting when I got home.

After lunch in the Met cafeteria with the group, I went to the American Wing to draw for the afternoon session - which was bright and sunny on this winter day.  This is Nydia the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii.  I chose her because the draping in marble was wonderful and I wanted to see how well I could draw it.  Over 30 members stayed until 3 to share their drawings.  Great day. 

Posted by Shirley at 7:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My husband and I scheduled an afternoon and an evening performance at Lincoln Center and then needed to decide how to spend the hours between the events.  The Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle is a perfect place to browse and eat, making a trip back to our apartment less inviting.  Landmarc is big, and it has a large enough menu for any time of the day.  I sketched what I saw right in front of me and added paint at home.

In the afternoon we saw a working rehearsal of the New York City Ballet.  It was fun to see the 3 principle ballerinas all in gowns, and their partners all in random class clothes.  This was obviously not only a rehearsal of "In the Night" set to a Chopin Nocturne.  The dress skirts had many, many layers and these dancers were getting used to their costumes as well.  This dancer came out to warm up for a few minutes when the lights were still on, and I tried to capture her arabesque from memory, because it was over in an instant.  In the evening we saw the Juilliard Orchestra, conducted by Barbara Hannigan, and she is the most physical conductor I've ever seen.  No sketches possible!

Posted by Shirley at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is a large Andy Warhol Exhibit at the Whitney Museum.  This is one of several exhibits of his art in NYC that I've seen - at the Met, MoMA, Morgan, and now at the Whitney.  The MoMA and the Morgan introduced me to Warhol the Illustrator and I loved his drawings and book illustrations that were featured in their exhibit.  I never had any feelings for his screen prints - too commercial and mechanical for my tastes. 

After looking at the exhibit, and drawing, I joined a 4PM tour of the exhibit given by one of my friends, who led us, for an hour, from early Warhol, to late Warhol.  Below are two Sketchbook pages I created while walking around the exhibit. 

Here are a few of the early pieces that I liked.  His ad for rhinoplasty led him to narrow his own nose. The Diana Vreeland shoe is one of his slipper series, in which he "designed" and made shoes and boots for a handful of celebrities.   I used gold gouache to paint the shoe, he used gold leaf! 

Hearing about his life, and the reasons behind his artistic development, allowed me to better understand his work.  In addition, I'm taking an experimental screen printing class at FIT, and soon will understand some of his printing methods.  The exhibit will close at the end of March, and then travel to 2 other major museums in the US.  The website for the exhibit is huge.  https://www.whitney.org/Exhibitions/AndyWarhol 

Posted by Shirley at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is another favorite stop along C Street in the Capitol Hill section of Washington DC.  It is a small gourmet food store, near my beloved Capitol Hill Books. 

Figuary is a free daily challenge for February - from  two YouTube sites.  Each day there is a short 4 min video emphasizing an important aspect of figure drawing (YouTube: Love Life Drawing) and a 15-18 minute video of one model in 1, 2, and 5 minute poses (youtube: Croquis Café).  Just search for each site on You Tube - you can still access Feb 1-5 from the you tube site.  The quality is excellent, and it is 28 days of drawing figures for extra practice.  I just hope that I can fit it in to an already busy schedule.

Posted by Shirley at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

These are my line of action figure drawings from the 2nd half of January.  I call these Art After Breakfast because I do these 5-10 minute drawings while I'm finishing my coffee, and paint them immediately.  I cut them out and collage them in my sketchbook later.  Each drawing is easy for me to do because my photo reference book, quarter sheets of copy paper, pencil and pen are kept together.  This is the 2-page sketchbook spread.

Left Page:

Right Page

First I draw a pencil line of action, and then I draw the figure with a black gel pen. I really enjoy drawing these - they are quick, low stakes, small sketches, and they keep me drawing even when other projects and demands intervene.

Posted by Shirley at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)