Paper and Threads

I fell in love with Seurat drawings during the MoMA special exhibit in 2007 and learned that there was a local source for the Michallet paper that he used.

Arches MBM Ingres (Michallet):  Originally designed by the mill for the artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, this type of paper set the standard for charcoal and pastel drawing and has been duplicated by many other mills around the world.  The letters MBM refer to the owners Morel, Bercious, and Masure who introduced the first mouldmade machines in 1883 (Info from NY Central Art Supply website).

Last year I bought a sheet at New York Central Art Supply and copied 3 Seurat drawings to try to learn the technique.  Then I used a photo of my son-in-law and two grandchildren to draw "in the style of Seurat" using a Derwent Ivory Black drawing pencil to try to develop the method for myself.  Today I used a photo of my 2 year old grandson with his elephant that we took Saturday to do Challenge #211.

Posted by Shirley at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

During the Medieval period, women wore only long shifts (chemises) under their clothes. Pantaloons and pantalettes were worn under dresses, especially in France, by young girls, but it wasn’t until the 1830s that women regularly wore bloomers with tight ankles and two legs attached at the waist with a draw string.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, bloomers were shortened as skirt lengths rose and by the 1920s women were wearing short panties with wide legs, called step-ins or boy shorts. They were still commonly made of two legs which were attached at the waist.

During the 1930s and 1940s, women wore girdles and then by the 1950s panties as we know them.  From the mid-20th Century to the 1990s, granny pants became hipsters, then bikinis, then thongs.

The transition from bikinis to thongs, especially worn with cropped shirts and low waisted jeans, has resulted in more visible thong underwear and bare skin among my women medical students than I care to see. My kids call this sighting a "whale tail." What will the next fashion trend bring?

Posted by Shirley at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

I'm still thoroughly enjoying my dear friend Bunny's photos from Jaipur India and this week sketched one face and 3 figures.  The man was photographed at Samode Palace, now a luxury hotel. 

 The women were working at the Amber Fort carrying pieces of rocks from place to place on their heads. 

Posted by Shirley at 8:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

 When this challenge was posted, I began a search for a shadow photo that I vaguely remembered among my huge collection of family photos - and finally found it.  My husband and I were taking our daily one hour walk along the beach, when our shadows spread out in front of us, over several wet footprints, and I snapped a photo.  I have no idea why our shadows are so bulky!

I also had a recent photo of my granddaughter Syd, in the snow in Central Park, that showed a great shadow in the snow.  I wanted to paint this photo anyway, so it is a smaller representation of a shadow.

Posted by Shirley at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Raphael to Renoir: Drawings from the Collection of Jean Bonna
January 21, 2009–April 26, 2009
Galleries for Drawings, Prints, and Photographs, 2nd floor

This is a wonderful new exhibit (120 drawings - spanning 500 hundred years) and a wonderful opportunity to study masterpiece drawings.  I thoroughly enjoy trying to copy the lines in these beautiful works, and will probably return to draw and learn from a few more. 

Here are the two drawings that I did last weekend.

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri  (1591-1666) was called Il Guercino - the squinter - because of his crossed-eyes.  I first saw his drawings at the Courtauld Gallery in London and was mesmerized by his beautiful figures.  The original was done with pen and brown ink, I used brown colored pencil.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805)  At the entrance to the exhibit are three drawings of girls heads by Greuze- one more wonderful than the next.  The original was done with conte - I used colored pencil.

Posted by Shirley at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)