Paper and Threads

My favorite flowers of the season are the Dinner Plate Hibiscus at Battery Park City Wagner Gardens.  I hadn't been to the Art Programs for several weeks because of the weather, and was thrilled that they were still blooming everywhere at my next visit. 

After drawing the flowers, I walked to South Cove for Figure al Fresco - our outdoor figure drawing session is close to NY Harbor and the Hudson River as it reaches the Harbor.  Our model was Regina, an old favorite of mine because I've been drawing her, at several different venues, since 2012.

2 Minute Poses:  I'm still playing with the line of action method - drawing quick lines to establish the pose, and then "fleshing out the body."  I think this helps me with the short poses, and the complicated positions.  Drawings were done with a General Sketch and Wash pencil and then spread with clear water and a waterbrush.

5 Minute Poses:

10 Minute Pose:   

Posted by Shirley at 6:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has a Delacroix Drawing Exhibit this summer.  He is one of my favorite draftsmen and this exhibit was wonderful.  These are two patrons at the exhibit.

I took many photos so I could do a few ink drawings at home.  Here is one head, from a big sheet of head drawings.  I used a dip pen and walnut ink.

This was one of my favorite drawings because I love his drawings with a loose style.  It isn't one that I would attempt to copy as drawing practice.

The Morgan Library and Museum has a Wayne Thiebaud exhibit this summer.  I regularly see his oil paintings at auction previews, but never previously saw his drawings.  I did several sketches from his graphite drawings and then painted them at home.  I'm also including photos of several of his works on paper that were a surprise to me.

Thiebaud's watercolor of his famous candy apples theme.

Thiebauds beautiful graphite drawing of an Ice Cream Cone

Posted by Shirley at 6:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Figure Drawings from "After Breakfast:"  These are my 10 minute line of action figure drawings that are done on scraps of used copy paper while sitting at the kitchen counter as soon as I finish breakfast.  I began to do these when my dominant hand wrist was broken, and still enjoy the challenge.  These were drawn from photos from a second hand book entitled:  The Human Form is Action and Repose by Phil Brodatz amd Dori Watson (1966).  

After I cut out the figures from my 4.25 X 5.5" pieces of scrap copy paper, and lined them up on a sketchbook page, they reminded me of a photo from our family archives. This photo was taken from my college newspaper of the modern dance group, as we practiced for a performance.  I'm the dancer kneeling in front.

Dance is a big part of my life:  Tap from age 4-14, Modern in high school and college, and Classic Ballet classes beginning at age 32!  I still go to a weekly ballet barre class here in NYC (at Steps) to maintain discipline and flexibility. 

I'm not sure if the used book listed above is still available, but these are nude photos of a man, and a woman, in MANY separate photos.   

Posted by Shirley at 6:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We are having almost daily rain and threats of thunderstorms this summer, and I didn't go to the Wednesday Adult Art Programs in Battery Park City for several weeks.  These were the newest blooming flowers in Wagner Park.

Figure al Fresco is also held in Battery Park City on Wednesday - in South Cove.  Our model was Sophie and I enjoy drawing her.  I do rapid sketches with a General Sketch and Wash pencil, and then use water in a waterbrush to add the gray tones.

5 min poses

10 min

Almost 15 min

Posted by Shirley at 6:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Anna Denise Floor has beautiful watercolor journals of her family life.  Early in her project she started to develop layouts for her pages and showed us the five major 2 page spreads she uses as guidance.  She draws from her imagination, capturing special moments of life, and I really enjoyed her sketchbook tour in our Whimsical Class.  Our homework was to use her "storyboard layout" and show 5 things about us.  We were supposed to limit our pages to two colors, and I really didn't want to do that.  So here is my full homework spread - photographed whole because it is too big for my scanner - and two "half" pages which I scanned with overlaps. 

Left Side of Page:  I illustrated and wrote about 1. my MD degree and my career, 2. Bookbinding to make watercolor sketchbooks that are the size and paper I like,  My life as a 3. Quilter and 4. Seamstress. 

Right Side of Spread: Repeat of 3. Quilter and 4. Seamstress, and 5. Drawing and Painting in watercolor sketchbooks.  I included my imaginary characters Axel and Alice because they first appeared in my imagination and homework for Fabio Consoli's homework in the Sketchbook Skool class IMAGINING. 

Posted by Shirley at 6:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)