January 11, 2013 January 11, 2013

I took my three daughters and their familes to Gulf Shores for the holidays. Ken and I loved Gulf Shores. When I worked on my MBA, Ken would pick me up after my last final in December and we would start the 12 hour drive to the sandy beaches. Our anniversary is in mid-December so we used these vacations as a time to celebrate. The most interesting story I have from our time there was about the native’s reaction to snow. One December we were staying at the State Park in Gulf Shores (buildings destroyed but hurricane Ivan, I think) and they had their first snowfall in 15 years. The response to less than an inch of snow was very dramatic…schools closed, servers sent home, road crews responded…for someone from the snowy north pretty extreme stuff. I’m not making fun but we did enjoy the reaction – after we found somewhere to eat dinner!

My daughter, Heather, was the shell collector on this trip. She walked on the beach every morning looking for specimens that she did not already have. I have never found crabs on the beach before but she found three whole, unviolated specimens. The birds had not had time to peck them to pieces yet. I used one of her finds for this sheet of sketches. The page includes gestural, contour and colored pencil sketches. Very fun to do.

Sketches and colored pencil drawing – Gulf Shores

May 31, 2012 June 1, 2012

I have set aside my Yupo for the moment. I stumbled on a photograph of a man with the biggest smile I ever saw. It was enchanting. As many of you know I am fascinated by faces and frequently do rough sketches from magazines and then make them my own. I usually am intrigued by one facial feature that catches my eye. In this case it was the crinkly, laughing eyes. I started thinking about what could make him laugh – he’s having fun – why? – he’s at a festival – what’s happening? – fireworks – shazam! I can use my abstract palette of pthalo blue, quin magenta and cad yellow to make it took like he’s watching fireworks. What fun!!!!!! Are YOU smiling?

Laughing man

May 24, 2012 May 25, 2012

This is my final sketch from my trip to New York City. I made this one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is graphite in my little Bee sketchbook. This sketchbook allows wet media but that is too much weight to lug around NYC – even using aquabrushes!

Temple of Dendur

This piece of history is displayed in a huge light filled room. I have barely hinted at the texture and carving in the huge old stones.

May 20, 2012 May 20, 2012

Another sketch from New York’s Central Park. This one is of the Belvedere looking across the Turtle Pond. This is an incredibly beautiful vista. I had to darken my original sketch.  It is amazing how light all of my sketches turned out. Bright sunlight definitely plays tricks with a person’s vision.

The Belvedere in Central Park

This is graphite in my 6″ X 9″ Bee sketch book.

May 16, 2012 May 17, 2012

This is the second sketch from my trip to New York City. I sketched this tower at the Belvedere  on Sunday morning. It was sunny and bright and the glare from the paper about blinded me. DUH! I was finally smart enough to move into the shade. I thought I had taken a photo of this but couldn’t find it so there is no comparision this time.

I sketched in pencil in the park but always had the intention to finish it in marker. I also added just a touch of watercolor to add soft background shapes and some texture to the stone walls.

May 14, 2012 May 15, 2012

I spent the last week in New York City immersing myself in art. Two whole days in the Met and visited the Frick Collection, the Whitney, the Cloisters and the Asian Institute. Can you imagine – 8 – count them! – 8 Vermeers and Rembrandts in less than 2 days. I was in heaven. We stayed on Times Square and also visited Ground Zero and the Lady herself (Ms Liberty). All this embellished by great food, the NYC Ballet and the Book of Mormon. Great week…

I was lucky enough to have about 3 hours to sketch in Central Park on Sunday morning. I did one sketch in the room earlier in the week. I will post my Central Park sketches later but here is Times Square from the room. First a photo.

Times Square

Then the sketch.

Times Square Sketch

Done with watercolor and markers. Oh yes – add MOMA to the list. I’m overwhelmed…

March 6, 2012 March 8, 2012

I have another face for your consideration. I think I was fascinated by the blowing, ruffled hair on this one and the last. Once again, this is a 30 minute sketch done in my Bee sketchbook with Pebeo pan watercolors and Aquastroke brushes (two of which are about worn out). Its a small book about 6″ X 9″. It tolerates wet media but I’ve noticed that I get “pilling” on the surface after several washes and I have to take it off with my finger tip.

March 4, 2012 March 6, 2012

Good morning everyone! I have been a little tired and distracted lately so I got out my sketchbook. You probably don’t remember but I worked primarily on loose sketches during the first three months of 2011. I think it helped relax my “little gray cells”, flex my painting and drawing muscles, and prepare me for more rigorous painting activity. I used my 6″ X 9″ Bee Deluxe sketchbook that will take wet media and an old copy of a magazine.  I am using my Pebeo pan set of watercolor and my aquabrushes to paint faces. First I do a quick pencil sketch and then I put the magazine away and just paint. The intent is not to get a likeness of a specific person but just to achieve a face I like in about 30 minutes.

Face 03042012

September 15, 2011 September 19, 2011

I have been intrigued by the recent posts that discuss automatic drawing. Leslie’s post is here. Take a look, it is fascinating. Chris Carter has also written several posts about squiggle drawing and this is mentioned in Leslie’s post. This looks like fun to me so I tried it last Thursday when Ken and I were at the Cancer Center for his latest chemotherapy treatment. I’m not showing my first drawing – it looks like a demented skull – but I will show my second.

Auto drawing 09152011

I started with the ball in the lower left and as you can see I had trouble getting off it. Just spun round and round. When I did, I had fun and a vision of two ladies sitting on a park bench talking emerged. Do you see them? Fun, relaxing, destressing. Thank you Chris and Leslie!

June 27, 2011 June 28, 2011

Ken had another appointment today and I am becoming good at picking up a magazine and selecting an image to sketch. This little guy was in a recent copy of Real Simple magazine. I couldn’t find out what he was but isn’t he cute? He was bright yellow with just a hint of orange around his beige beak.

Says Who?