Paper and Threads

I love the free adult art program sponsored by the Battery Park City Conservancy from May through October.  On Wednesday mornings I stop briefly in Wagner Park to draw individual flowers in bloom.  Maybe someday I will grow to like painting landscapes.

Wagner Park iris variant:

Multiple Flowers in Bloom this week:   

In the afternoon I go to Figure Drawing sessions which are held in South Cove, also in Battery Park City.

Short Poses (5-10 minutes):

Longer Poses (10-20 minutes): 

On the hottest days in NYC, there is always shade and a lovely breeze in the afternoon.   

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It is good to be back at the weekly Figure Drawing in South Cove.  These are 5 two minute poses of Gloria, one of my favorite models.

And these are two 10 minute poses:

Gloria 2 

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I signed up for Sketchbook Skool 6 - Exploring - realizing that I was going to be in Venice after Week 2.  After our return I completed watching each session, but then left for the beach and my beloved beach shells.  The Homework from those weeks will be fun to do after I stop traveling.

Here are my quick homework assignments for Danny's Class on Hatching and Nina Johansson's Class on Drawing your neighborhood.

I don't usually add crosshatching to my drawings - I love watercolor too much.  This was the scene from my couch for the hatching homework.

The day before we left for Venice I went to Christie's Auction Preview and saw this Picasso etching - an amazing example of crosshatching that I thought I would share.

La Minotauromachie  (1935)

I remembered an old fashioned ice cream parlor/candy shop/luncheonette in my neighborhood and decided to sketch it as a treasure of our neighborhood.  Malted Milks, Fountain Sodas, and a counter to sit at - reminds me of other similar places from my childhood.  

Posted by Shirley at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This was our 9th annual beach vacation with two couples that we've known FOREVER.  We go for early morning 2 mile beach walks, stop for coffee and breakfast on the ride back to the house, and then just relax and cook during most of the days.  We read LOTS!  And discuss children, grandchildren, politics, and memories as we struggle to recall events in the past, which then means someone googles the information. 

We ate another dinner at a local Sports Bar/Restaurant and I mixed together things I could see from my seat for this drawing.

There are many deer seen in the area, and even deer jumping on the dunes at the beach.  Two mornings, around 6-7AM, I saw a reasonable size doe eating her way across my daughter's row of bushes.  She reached as high as should could, so there are many low branches that have no leaves and still green tops. 

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We haven't had such rainy/cloudy weather at the beach during this week in June for many years.  But we are still walking 2 miles on the beach in the morning, but then go indoors to the Citarella Café for Coffee and breakfast.  This is my ongoing breakfast menu over several days.

I found a channel whelk on the beach one morning and just had to paint both the front and back sides of the shell.  I also found Common Whelk egg cases - a new mystery for me to solve. 

The dunes are covered with blooming Beach Peas and I stopped to draw a few small flowers.

Posted by Shirley at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)