Paper and Threads

There is an interesting exhibit at the Folk Art Museum, Lincoln Square, in New York City.  The art is by self-taught artists and all of the items are from the collection of Audrey B. Heckler.  I sketched some of the simple images I liked from the paintings of Carlo Zinelli, Hans Kruski, and my all-time favorite - Bill Traylor (1853 - 1949).  Traylor was a slave, sharecropper, and late in life an untrained artist who painted the world around him in Montgomery Alabama.  The black drawing below is one of his.

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When I have time after breakfast in the morning I still like drawing bodies from photos - these are from The Nude Figure: A Visual Reference for Artists by Mark Edward Smith.  I draw them on copy paper scraps and periodically collage some in my sketchbook.  It is a low stakes activity and it keeps me drawing....

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Went for coffee after the Village Art Fair, and sat across from a cute young couple.  It was the beginning of the semester at NYU and they had lots to talk about.  I sketched them very quickly and painted them at home.

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Urban Sketchers NYC:  This week the weekday Urban Sketchers met at the fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel and artists in our group sketched the fountain, the new Apple Company Cube across firth Ave, or the modern horse part sculptures across 59th St.  The weather was great and we talked, sketched, and painted for several hours.

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My artist friends and I discovered SE Asian Modern and Contemporary art several years ago and fell in love with their colorful, native, representational art, while much of the art world was deep into abstract expressionism.  We go to the auction previews at Christies and Sothebys during Asia Week, and in 2018 Pat and I saw an amazing exhibit at the Asia Society about the Progressive Artists' Group which formed in 1947 while the British were leaving India.   

Last week Christies had more than 100 pieces of Modern and Contemporary SE Asian art from this time period, and 4 of us went to see the paintings and sculpture,    Each of us sketched from the works.  These are 4 paintings/prints that I liked - the 4th one is just one figure from a much bigger painting. 

B. Prabha

MF Husain

MF HUsain

Avinash Chandra 

I learn so much from drawing/painting exhibited art, including the color palettes, line qualities, and subjects.  I also see the gallery exhibits through a different prism as I learn about which drawings and paintings I am attracted to.

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