Drawing, Sketching

"I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as drawing."
 Vincent van Gogh


Me, too. Delightful, yes. Some days the drawing just rolls from my eyes/brain through my fingers on to the blank page. Other days there is rather more angst in the process and sweat on the paper. Whatever ...I Would Rather Be Drawing...than Not. Anyone else feel that way?

In my seventieth year, I tend to forget things and lose things. Drawing is a tool that has helped me learn and figure out my world all my life. It is my refuge and meditation and solace. I would sooner leave my house without earrings than without my sketchbook. In the above quick drawing I bundled up and drew my reflection in the glass door at a frigid 23 degrees. I know this winter has been unusually mild, but I have learned I can draw outside for limited duration at most any temperatures over 15! Choose a quivery subject....and put a heat pack in your pocket

 The above small sketch of my friend in class was done in 3 minutes or less. I was looking for her attitude and concentration rather than accuracy.

This large charcoal drawing of Martina is about mystery and mood.

My big cat Charley Parker has found the one spot he blends in to his surroundings while perched on an old brush pile.

In this pencil drawing I was exploring options for winter garden paintings I am presently working on.

What have you been doing these long winter days?

You may want to look at Vincent Van Gogh The Drawings 2005 The Metropolitan Museum of Art NY.  Check it out or order it from your local library.  It is a heavy book, good for at least a week of dedicated perusal.

The geese just went by Southern Vermont this morning, heading North! YES!

Look at my upcoming Events in right column.  And write to me.

Sketching/Drawing

 4am....why am I the only one up?

This year I have done a drawing/sketch every day. I look forward to it. It is my time to do what I want. I've been inspired and UN-inspired....in that case, I draw anyway...it is only paper. Un-inspired often turns into something when you actually put pen to paper. Good to know that I actually can keep one New Years resolution (for 7 weeks, so far)!

Drawing is my attempt to control the chaos...for a little while. It is also how I learn things; the number of petals on a blossom, the infinite shapes humans take, the glorious and kooky hats worn by Vermonters in winter. Of course drawings go much deeper than that...there are scars and kisses and mysterious amazing tattoos and musicians' fingers and gardeners' souls to look at.

A lot of time is spent looking at the drawings of other artists, which I often find more interesting than the paintings they were done in preparation for. Smudges and erasures and start-overs; all unique and unguarded. My fave time waster is Urban Sketchers...traveling the world through sketchbooks.

Happy Mardi Gras to all! Let me know what You are doing, ok? I am also working on new pastel paintings to be posted in future post.

Drawing Marathon

Twice a year River Gallery School puts on a 12 hour life drawing event. Ten AM found 12 plus artists from New England and NYC lined up at our easels, shuffling palettes, chalks, pencils. With the first model on the stand quiet descended and the rhythm of the day took shape. There was music and scratching on paper and three very different models...they posed for quick 1 minute poses to "get acquainted", then a couple 5 minute and a 10 minute and a 20 minute pose. Then several 30 minute poses, until their 3 hour stint was up and a different model replaced them. I am happy to say that about 4 artists finished out the day. I was not one of them...my recent hand injury cramped my style after 9 hours, but I am all ready looking forward to spring 2014 to the next marathon.

That much time and that many poses lets one explore a new medium or a fresh idea.  I worked in charcoal most of the day, trying to express how I felt about each pose...and trying not to make the same familiar miscalculations over and over; trying to let the drawing flow out of me unhindered by my own criticisms and crutches; guiding with a light touch.

Nine days in the Mid West...and Home Sweet Home

I'm home after an intense road trip through the mid west, the purpose of which was adding 7 new states to my Fifty State Plein Air Painting Project. I visited a few museums, too. You can read all about the fun and frustrations of a solo sojourn in scorching heat and see the paintings by clicking the link. I am still adding finishing touches in the studio so all 7 states will be posted by this time next week. Only 8 states left to paint in!

I returned to my Life Drawing class at River Gallery School of Art and a challenging pose and set-up above; willow charcoal on a buff printmaking paper of unknown name. 20 x 16

Then off to Sketch Group the next afternoon. This is the second year in a row we have sketched during afternoon rehearsals of the renown Marlboro Chamber Music Festival. While we are working out the dynamics of hand positions and composition and head tilts the quintet is debating and questioning the composers intent and how best to express the music through their instruments and sensitivities of interpretations. It is without a doubt one of my favorite sketch occasions. Apparently anyone is welcome at rehearsals, even if you just want to take a beautifully accompanied nap. In my graphite pencil sketch below the clarinet player had not yet appeared.

This blog is all about me and my tangents, but I am interested to hear your reactions, responses and what is happening in your life. Have you thought about forming a sketch group in your town? It is free and fun...just need a pencil and paper and maybe money for coffee. Ours started with two sketchers who became two friends and invited others. Now we are four to six regulars and other occasional drop-ins.

I welcome comments and emails.

Sketching Group

I have been an avid sketcher since high school. It is fun. It appeals to my industrious nature. I get better at it over time (unlike many other things which I seem to get worse at...like lifting heavy objects or walking fast or remembering proper nouns). Sketching seems to help put the world in order on a personal history kind of level.

Birds of a feather occasionally flock together and this often happens over coffee somewhere on Main Street in Brattleboro, Vermont. We talk. We check out each others new pens, pencils and sketchbooks. We stop talking and start scratching quietly on paper. We try not to be too obvious in scrutinizing  our hopefully unsuspecting fellow coffee drinkers while they eat their lunch or work on their laptops or commiserate over their parents or toddlers. We complain when our 'model' leaves the scene. Sometimes we decide still life is easier.  For a couple hours a week we enjoy the company of other sketchers.

For those artists who think it feels weird to draw in public, I say it is one of the nicer things people do in cafes. Most people are too busy text-ing to notice what or how well you draw. Why not join us? Or assemble a sketching group wherever you are.

 

Our coordinator and organizing guru wears two pairs of glasses - at once. She is an accomplished sketcher (and has X-ray vision).

These recent sketches were done in a watercolor moleskine landscape format  (5 x 8.5")with Prismacolor Premier fine line markers

Why draw?

Why not?

Sometimes you just want to draw - motivation!  So, I looked around my house with pencil in hand for the subject. Ah, those adorable squashes (and one pumpkin)! They taste great, but so far have looked too good to cook. After all, I had purchased them for their appearance. Having a block of two hours, I strung them out on my smooth maple dining room table adding an item destined for my husband's lunch.  The cherished vase, made by Ray Kaplan of Philadelphia, has been sitting on the table alone for several weeks since Ray gave it to us.

This is a subtle and delicate pencil wash drawing...if I was using pastels I may have given these objects a very different treatment. Moleskine Folio A4 Watercolor Album (12 x 8.5 inches), Derwent Sketching Wash pencils (light and bold), brushes, water, sharpener and erasers (dogs snoring under table optional).

Barbara with a dahlia behind her ear.

On a recent trip to Pennsylvania two of my friends volunteered to sit for their portraits. This is the more successful of the two charcoal drawings. I'll try again to capture some of the charm & style of my other friend. My friends are good sports, besides being smart, confident darling women. This drawing took about 45 minutes.

Portraiture Class

The River Gallery School of Art offered 5 afternoons in July of portrait class with Jason Alden instructing. The class is full at eight students and our feverish labors are taxing the "air conditioner". We are all struggling with our own goals and abilities. The school does not promote one style of work over another. It encourages students to explore various styles and mediums and find their own individual method of expression. That said, we all worked in charcoal on newsprint yesterday. We were being encouraged to see the overall structure, proportion and direction of the face, skull, neck. This is my 35 minute drawing of the model's head. Having a few hours perspective on it makes me see some things I could have done better, but I still like it. I think I am falling in love with portrait work again after many years away. Do I have any sitters?

My weekend on the wild side with yupo

Zoe and I just finished day 2 of the 2-weekend workshop taught by Leonard Ragouzeos at the River Gallery School of Art in Brattleboro VT. Leonard is a master of very large black & white work; India ink on Yupo paper. He is a generous artist who taught us lots of his tricks. (Too bad we don't have the ten years plus experience he does with this intriguing medium or we could just do what he does! ha! looks easier than it is, as usual.) I've posted my forest piece which is about 18" x 18" on Yupo. We had fun. We got out of our comfort zone. We got creative. We got covered in ink. It was a good day. Be sure to look at what Leonard does.

Fenced Sunflowers

This past Sunday morning I was visited by some young artists from Camp Susquehannock. They drew in charcoal and I worked at the bottom of the garden on this pastel painting. For those of you not living in white-tail deer country, we must fence the deer out of our gardens especially when we grow sunflowers - a gourmet item on the deer menu! This is a 16 x 20; rather large for me to complete in one sitting en plein air. I had to finish it up this morning in the garden. The light was coming from the same direction, but it was much stronger this morning. A newly hatched family of tufted titmouses (titmice?) were practicing their whistles & cheeps in the branches over my head.

Michael Poster, my husband took some photos of the kids and made a slideshow with music by Booker T & the MG's. http://www.backroadsproject.com/kids_draw/