Paper and Threads

I did some more experimentation at figure drawing this week at Battery Park City.  Drawings 1-4 were done with a General Sketch and Wash pencil, with or without added watercolor paint.  As I draw faster, I have more time to play, even during the shorter poses.  Poses 1 and 2 were 5 minutes and 3 and 4 were 10 minutes. 

Poses 5 and 6 were drawn with an 8B graphite pencil, and then ink.  The backgrounds were prepainted wet-in-wet watercolor paintings and then more watercolor was added near the end of the 10 minute pose. 

Posted by Shirley at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am currently taking Liz Steel's "Seeing Now Buildings" course online.  Next to drawing figures, buildings are my second love.  I've drawn buildings while sitting next to Liz on several of her visits to NYC.  Her ability to "see" the structure of a building and draw it quickly is astounding.  I was in Washington DC when I read through Lesson 1 and did my homework.  I chose a church that was only several blocks from my son's house and it was a challenge. 

My first sketch, drawing the edges, later became my final sketch.  And I didn't have time to paint it on site and may keep it as a pen and ink sketch.

The second part of the Homework was to understand the building a little more by painting the shapes - including the negative shapes of the windows and doors and some shadow shapes.  Liz said that this is great preparation for drawing looser - something I would like to learn to do.

The 3rd part of our homework was to draw the volumes - based on the geometric shapes.  This was definitely the most challenging part and I had to walk around the building for a better understanding. 

I had a much better understanding of the building after drawing edges, painting shapes, and determining the volumes.  It will be fun to draw it again during another visit - preferably at a time when the leaves which covered so much of the building have fallen.  I was very limited in my ability to see it from a distance, or in a photo. 

Posted by Shirley at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

 I returned to Wednesday afternoon Figure al Fresco after our week in Washington DC.  Julie Pierce, a friend of my friend Eunice, was visiting as a guest from the Sydney Australia Urban Sketchers group.  These two 5 minute sketches were drawn with a General Sketch and Wash pencil and shaded with a waterbrush and then watercolor.

The rest of my sketches (10-20 minutes) were drawn on prepainted watercolor paper - with leftover acrylic paint from my palette in my FIT art class.  It was fun seeing the drawing emerge from among the many colors and brushstrokes.

This outdoor figure drawing group meets weekly on Wednesdays, weather permitting through the month of October.  It is sponsored and funded by the Battery Park City Conservancy as one of their adult programs.

Posted by Shirley at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the last week we were in Washington DC helping to take care of two of our grandchildren.

While they were in school on Friday we visited the Hirshhorn Museum (one of the Smithsoniam Museums on the Mall) and looked at their permanent collection for the first time in decades.  I loved the Gallery that was full of DeKooning paintings and Giacometti sculptures and spent a few minutes sketching several pieces in my watercolor sketchbook. 

These were three of the busts of his Brother Diego:

And this is one of my Favorite Dog Sculptures.  I've seen it in other museums, and finally took time to sketch it.  The painting was done later at home.

Midway around the circular gallery space there is a gorgeous room which overlooks the Mall, showing the other museums and the National Archives. 

When I returned to pick up my husband, who was sitting in this room doing a crossword puzzle, I found an art class setting up to draw and paint the rooftops across the Mall.  They were interested and very well behaved!    

Art Smart Studio Class

I spent time talking to the Art Smart Lady, Lorina Harris, and was inspired to also draw one of the museum rooftops before we left. 

This is the West Wing of the National Gallery of Art.

Posted by Shirley at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Battery Park City Conservancy holds outdoor figure drawing sessions on Wednesday afternoon, May 1-Oct 31.  They have a stable group of models and this one loves to change her clothes periodically during the 2 hour session.  Her bright colors may be responsible for my use of color in these drawings. 

I had a long slim piece of paper that I prepainted with acrylic paint and used it to sketch Leticia in a 10 minute pose.  I sketched her in pencil and then used a Sharpie pen to make sure that I didn't ruin one of my Pigma Micron pens.

Ten Minute Pose -  sketched with a General Sketch and Wash pencil and then shaded with water and a waterbrush.

Twenty Minute Pose:  Sketched and shaded as above, and then painted with watercolor.

Eight Minute Pose to finish the session:  We were all tired, in the heat of the afternoon, and I went back to drawing on newsprint to draw our reclining model.  Can't account for the gray-blue background after scanning the drawing.

Posted by Shirley at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)