Paper and Threads

I love having a January special project for the cold days spent indoors.  Last year I didn't do anything with my figure drawings, as I had hoped, so that became my 2017 January project.  I had a $4.00 used accordion book with black paper which was perfect for my idea - with a full spread of 80 inches.  Each "page" of the accordion was 8" high by 10" wide.  I selected drawings that I did between July 2012 and October 2016, resized them, printed them out, and then carefully cut them out.  They were collaged to the book using a UHU glue stick.

The Cover:  This was a large drawing that I did during a figure drawing class at FIT - my first semester there in the Senior Learner program.  I still need to add a title.

Here are the 8 pages - scanned and uploaded.  I'm thrilled to have completed this project and have so many memories of the figure drawing sessions.  All of the clothed models, except two, were drawn during the last 3 years at the Adult Art Program at Battery Park City. And those two models were sketched at the National Art Club and MoMA. The nude models were sketched at the Society of Illustrators, Drawing New York Meet Up, or FIT.  All of the poses were 5, 10, or 20 minute poses.

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We returned our grand daughter Annabelle to Washington DC on January 2nd and while we were there we made a visit to the National Gallery specifically to see the newly renovated East Building.  When we walked through the underground connector from the West Building and went up the stairs, nothing looked different.  But they added 12,250 square Feet of new gallery space within the existing footprint, including two "soaring tower galleries" and a rooftop space.  An employee also told me that elevators were installed to move up and down in the corner spaces by the towers.  There appears to be a much bigger collection of Modern Art and I loved the collection.  

There was an Alexander Calder exhibit at the top of Tower 2, and I drew my favorite wire cow!  Someday I'll sketch his Josephine Baker Wire Sculpture when there is more time. 

CalderCow

As I went through the galleries I took photos of art that I know Pat and Benedicte, my artist friends, would love and I'm posting them here so they can see them before we meet again for Master Drawing Week.

Another Max Beckmann Triptyck:  The Argonauts  1949-50.  This one wasn't in the recent Beckmann exhibit at the Met in NYC. 

Jean Dubuffet:  Building Facades 1946  This is very similar to the painting the 3 of us LOVE at the Met.  

Another Dubuffet - crazy with color!  La Ronde Des Images  1977 

A William Kentridge Accordion Book:  Portage 2000  Torn Black Paper on Encyclopedia Pages

Pat and Benedicte - hope you enjoyed the small virtual exhibit of some of our favorite artists!  Hurry home from France Benedicte.  We need to go on our annual Master Drawing Pilgrimage here at the end of January. 

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Deliberate Practice:  I know that I need to practice drawing hands, and over the last several years I've drawn many hands from photos, even from an American Sign Language website.  When drawing models, few of the poses are long enough to spend much time drawing hands, but occasionally I can now do it!

"To learn any new skill or gain expertise you need to practice, practice, practice. There isn’t much debate about that.

But here’s what you might not know: scientific research shows that the quality of your practice is just as important as the quantity.

And, more interestingly, these scientists also believe that expert-level performance is primarily the result of expert-level practice NOT due to innate talent.

This concept is known as deliberate practice, and it’s incredibly powerful."  This is the introduction to a good article describing deliberate practice.  http://expertenough.com/1423/deliberate-practice

These hands were drawn with a Caran d'Ache mahogany watercolor colored pencil, using the New York Times Style magazine advertisements for inspiration.  I recently started selecting photos with two hands, instead of one. 

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I haven't been at the Monthly Meetup groups since summer and miss it.  This Saturday my NYC Grandchildren weren't arriving for an overnight until 2:30, so I had time to join the group for 2 hours at the Time Warner Center to enjoy the Holiday Decorations and do some sketching. 

The main Atrium, overlooking Columbus Circle, has beautiful hanging stars that change colors constantly.  Here are two photos that I took.

I decided to analyze their shapes and draw them, and then added the cityscape very loosely.

In the remaining session I sketched a window display from J. Crew Men just because I liked the Christmas tree in earmuffs, gloves, and slippers. 

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I was waiting to meet friends from DC at ABC Carpet, which is a winter wonderland each holiday season.  Each year we look at the displays and get so many ideas for colors and decorating.  I took the time while waiting for them  to draw a few of the animals that were part of their displays.   

We did some shopping at Fishes Eddy and Flying Tiger, also on Broadway around Union Square, and then in the afternoon spent a few hours at the FIT Museum exhibits.  Photography was not permitted in the Proust's Muse (Countess Greffulhe) exhibit, but these were elaborate clothes from another era and too hard to draw on the fly.   A second exhibit, Black Fashion Designers just opened and was amazing - full of clothes I would love to wear now.

Proust's Muse will end on January 7th and Black Fashion Designers on May 16th. 

This is a photo of many terrific designs, especially the white and black evening dress. 

And this is my sketchbook page documenting 3 of my favorite designs.

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