Paper and Threads

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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A Quarter Round Cased-In book made with 50 sheets of copy paper - 5 folios per signature and 10 signatures:

The copy paper was cut 6 inches in height and then folded in half to make folios.  The finished book is 6.25 inches high and 4.75 inches wide.  The book was covered with black book cloth and paste paper I made with acrylic paints.  The end papers are solid black.  It was photographed on another section of the same sheet of paste paper which I will use to wrap it as a gift.

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Yesterday our model was completely new to modeling.  She was wonderful - and actually had props and different clothes that she could change her appearance during the 2 hour session.  She had very active and wonderful one minute poses, and when I finished other drawings, I went back and firmed up my lines on two of them.

These are two ten minute drawings - she had quickly changed into another outfit right in front of us - with props.  I sketched with a soluble graphite pencil and then spread the graphite with a waterbrush to shade the drawing.

She was dressed in other clothing, as if by magic, for the 20 minute poses, and I sketched her once.

Her other 20 minute pose was prone and all I could see were the bottoms of her feet and hips from my seat, so I sketched the artist across from me. 

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Summer is almost over, and I will miss my visits to Wagner Park to see and draw the flowers.  The Battery Park Conservancy has wonderful gardeners, and every week there are new varieties in bloom.  They have an adult art program in Wagner Park in the morning and I go to figure drawing early to see friends and quickly sketch the new "flowers of the week."  I am enough of a novice that I don't know the names of many of them.  These last two weeks I first saw the purple Passion Flowers, and then concentrated on them in the second week.  There are huge vines growing in both sides of the park, and only when you get close to the flowers do you realize how complex they are.  

Purple Passion Flower:  This sketchbook page was drawn the second week - and has a drawing from above and the side.  There are about 550 species and these in Wagner Park were growing on vines.  Others can grow on shrubs and trees per Wikipedia.

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Figure al Fresco

It was very warm, but sunny, Wednesday at Battery Park City, and then our model didn't arrive.  One of the Conservancy employees quickly filled in and was great.  

This was a 10 minute pose of Frances done with a Burnt Siena watercolor pencil on toned paper.  I resketched the lines with a pen when I got home because the drawing was too light. 

One more of my Drawing Sheets: 

My figure drawing on the left was a 20 minute pose - drawn with a soluble graphite pencil.  When I finished sketching her there, I added water to the three 1 minute poses on the right that I did earlier.

I have two pages of flowers, and 4 pages of drawings done at Christie's Southeast Asia Modern and Contemporary Auction Preview on Monday - that I still want to paint.  There are so many other things that kept me from my paints this week, but I am delighted that retirement is so fulfilling.  I began my Fall semester FIT class on Monday, Fashion Art and Design, and my homework is drawing front and back views of my fashion figure - which is 10 head sizes tall, instead of 7.5 heads tall like real people.  Should be interesting.  

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