Paper and Threads

A Gallery visit with my artist friends Pat and Benedicte.  This was one of the first days of the summer that we were together, and planned a visit to Galerie St. Etienne at 24W57th St.  It is one of our favorite galleries and even though it was closed for the upcoming holiday, we were allowed in to see the exhibit and draw!  We usually each have a favorite and take a few minutes at the end of the exhibit to draw it.  Drawing the Masters is one of my regular activities, a planned part of my self-learning process.

A Selfie to send to Teri who planned to join us and was then stuck at home waiting for a repair man.

I love to draw and my favorite subjects are people and buildings, and could have done copies of several by Klimt and Schiele.  But I loved this pose by Oskar Kokoschka and the use of a wash.  The hand was rather crude, but I loved the foot.  I sketched it separately because I couldn't fit it on the sketchbook page. 

Kokoschka Seated Female Nude Facing Left, 1913:

My Copy - which was painted at home: 

The Gary Nader gallery, in the same building, had remnents of a recent exhibit of Cuban paintings, and I sketched the main figure - a Caballaro on his horse, and painted it at home. 

The only other gallery that was open in the building, due to changing exhibits, was John Szoke - Works on Paper.  I made a very quick pencil sketch of a Picasso print and then finished it at home.  I used a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for the ink drawing and almost forgot that the ink isn't water proof on my Fabriano 140lb Soft Press paper.  Neither is Carbon Platinum Ink.  The paint I applied was supposed to be in the white areas of the face, but I stopped just in time when beginning to brush on the paint on the head band.

A favorite drawing of ours by Egon Schiele - but too hard to draw in the time we had at Galerie St. Etienne. 

Standing Woman in Green Shirt, 1914:

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Figure Al Fresco:  The Battery Park Conservancy sponsors 3 adult art classes each week, May through October.  The sessions are free, held in beautiful sections of the Park, and art supplies are provided.  These drawings were done in the figure drawing session.  I loved this warm up exercise - five 2 minute poses, with the model maintaining the same pose and turning slightly every 2 minutes.  My drawing sequence isn't in order because I glued together 3 papers on Photoshop - and as a lefty I start on the left side of the page to prevent spreading graphite.

 Four five minute poses drawn with a soluble graphite pencil and shaded with water and a waterbrush.

I rarely use the full time during a 20 minute pose and I occasionally add one of my fellow artists to the drawing. 

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While Callum was drawing two skylines during our adventure last week, I also sketched but then didn't paint each page until this past weekend (See last post for Callums drawing of the Freedom Tower).  I finished both drawings over the weekend and now post them, along with a few highlight photographs.

World Trade Center 1: Freedom Tower - with nearby construction on another WTC building.  

My photo of the Freedom Tower from the base.   

A sketch of the Jersey City skyline from our walk up the Battery Park City Esplanade.  There were lots of benches in the shade, and Cal and I sketched, and discussed perspective while my husband finished the NY Times Crosswaord Puzzle.  Cal abandoned his drawing so we could discuss drawing 3D boxes viewed first from the top and then the bottom.  His curiosity and joy make my day.

My photo of the Santiago Calatrava Oculus, which is part of the new Transit hub.  I still think that it looks like it was "stuffed" between the Freedom Tower and 9/11 Memorial.   The retail mall, which extends around the inside of the Oculus on two levels, just opened!

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The Museum of Jewish Heritage, in Wagner Park, is great to draw.  This is actually part of the back of the Museum that I walk by when going to South Cove for figure drawing.  

We try to spend time with one just one grandchild when we can schedule a full day.  Yesterday was our long awaited day with Cal, who asked about a visit to the Seaglass Carousel and the Oculus for at least the last 3-4 months.  We caught him between summer sleepaway camp and the rest of his vacation!  Yesterday morning I divided a sketchbook page with 1/4" artist tape and prepainted the background.  Then I added quick drawings as we progressed through our day. 

We began with rides on the Carousel, then walked around Battery Park for lunch at Pier A.  The view of the Freedom Tower (WTC1) is great when looking north up West St. and we stopped to draw it as we left the restaurant.  

Cal likes to draw and we stopped several times during the day to draw in our sketchbooks while Grandpa worked on the NY Times crossword puzzle.  This was his quick sketch of the Freedom Tower.

The rest of our adventure included Brookfield Place and a Virtual Reality Movie about bringing water to Ethiopia, the 9/11 Memorial pools, the Freedom Tower up close, and the exterior and interior of the Santiago Calatrava Oculus.   

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I find drawing hands and feet to be very difficult, and years ago began a self-imposed practice of drawing both from photos found in magazines and catalogues.  My most recent drawings are of two hands together.  At figure drawing sessions, there is rarely enough time to devote to either in any detail, but occasionally I am able to focus on a hand or foot, and slowly I'm improving.  Both of these pages were drawn with a colored pencil on cold press paper.

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