Paper and Threads

We are traveling a little further - taking Amtrak for the first time since early January 2020.  It will be wonderful seeing our son Jason and his family after we limited almost all activities and travel because of the pandemic.  Fortunately we saw a set of Jason's Instagram photos every night and were able to follow their family life during the entire time.  I can't wait until we get there and can squeeze and hug everyone.  There will be a break from my Covid Blog/Facebook entries and I will resume them when we return.  Until then I am posting a few of my pen/ink drawings that I did on my neighborhood walks.  Be back here next Wed.  Please be careful, there is real concern that the Delta Variant is spreading rapidly in the unvaccinated.  

A cute doll created with pipes and other plumbing "stuff" in the window of a very old Supply Store. 

Hard to resist drawing hats and an outdoor clock over the sidewalk.

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This is another favorite stop along C Street in the Capitol Hill section of Washington DC.  It is a small gourmet food store, near my beloved Capitol Hill Books. 

Figuary is a free daily challenge for February - from  two YouTube sites.  Each day there is a short 4 min video emphasizing an important aspect of figure drawing (YouTube: Love Life Drawing) and a 15-18 minute video of one model in 1, 2, and 5 minute poses (youtube: Croquis Café).  Just search for each site on You Tube - you can still access Feb 1-5 from the you tube site.  The quality is excellent, and it is 28 days of drawing figures for extra practice.  I just hope that I can fit it in to an already busy schedule.

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We took our Granddaughter back to Washington DC on New Year's day and spent two days there as the Government shutdown spread to the Museums - our usual happy places when we visit.  But my favorite place is Capitol Hills Books, a used bookstore across from Eastern Market in Capitol Hill.  I've sketched/painted it once from the front, and this time sketched the 3 buildings on that side of C Street.  It takes me several hours to pick out books, and I never return to NYC with fewer than 4.

C Street Banner design and there was one on every lamppost on one block.  I keep a separate sketchbook for my DC grandchildren, which I started when our first DC grandchild was born.  I am now on Sketchbook #2 and this was the page I did for this trip. 

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While in DC, we went to see Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting at the National Gallery.  This was the Dutch Golden Age of scenes of daily life of refined Dutch Society.  Here is a link to the National Gallery website for the exhibit.  There are many paintings on the website as well as a long video by the curator.

https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2017/vermeer-and-the-masters-of-genre-painting.html 

Johannes Vermeer:  Lady Writing from 1665 

There was a very, very long line, winding around both sides of the main second floor hall, but it moved enough that I couldn't sketch a sculpture and instead did a messy drawing of two people in front of us on the line with an available colored pencil.

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Two of our grandchildren live in Washington DC, and when the oldest was born I started a sketchbook to record daily events when we were visiting her.  Pages were created for local places and important activities, and "stuff.  "I'm now on volume 2 and here are the two latest pages.  When Annabelle was visiting us in NYC she fell in love with a stuffed animal that was part of the menagerie that accumulated in our apartment when our NYC grandchildren were younger.  She took the pug, which she named Dash, back to DC, and brought Paddington back for her younger brother.  We were there two days and I painted their two newest "lovies" in my DC sketchbook.

XXX

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