Drawing

“The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.” – Neil Gaiman

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June 5, 2017

My poor neglected blog. Fortunately, I have done a little painting in the last month – the results are below. I’ve been playing around a bit and am looking forward to more experimentation with dark outlines.

 

Vase Family, Apr 1, 2017, Oil Stick on Canvas Board, 9″ X 12″

 

Banana Shoes, May 21, 2017, Oil on Canvas Board, 14″ X 11″
Pears in a Storm, Jun 3, 2017, Oil on Canvas Board, 14″ X 11″
Single Lonely Pear, Jun 3, 2017, Oil on Canvas Board, 6″ X 8″

My drawing a day project is going reasonably well – another 31 days completed.

May 1 2
May 3 4
May 5 6
May 7
May 8
May 9 10
May 11 12
May 13
May 14
May 15 16
May 17 18
May 19 20
May 21 22
May 23 24
May 25 26
May 27
May 28
May 29 30
May 31

For June, I’ve decided on two rules:

  1. All of my drawings will consist of a few items selected from 21 still life props with the addition fresh produce I have on hand if I choose to add it. I’ve photographed all the props together to better illustrate how distant the resemblances in my drawings are to their real-life counterparts.
  2. Any medium goes – as much variety as possible – it’s about being experimental and knowing that some (or most?) of these drawings will be atrocious! This is my chance to play with all of those art supplies I was so enamoured with when I saw them in the store but I really have no idea how to use.
Still Life Props, Jun 2017

 

“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.” – Salvador Dali

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May 1, 2017
Another month of daily drawing complete and another month of very little painting. My personal favourite was my folding chair from April 2nd. Here they are all together:
April 1 and 2, 2017
April 3 and 4, 2017
April 5, 201
April 6, 2017
April 7, 2017
April 8, 2017
April 9, 2017
April 10, 2017
April 11 and 12, 2017
April 13 and 14, 2017
April 15, 2017
April 16, 2017
April 17 and 18, 2017
April 19, 2017
April 20, 2017
April 21, 2017
April 22, 2017
April 23, 2017
April 24, 2017
April 25 and 26, 2017
April 27 and 28, 2017
April 29 and 30, 2017

“I’m only trying to do what I can’t do.” – Lucian Freud

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April 9, 2017

Three months complete in my 2017 Drawing A Day Challenge! Here is all of March in one place:

Mar 1 and 2, 2017
Mar 3 and 4, 2017
Mar 5 and 6, 2017
Mar 7 and 8, 2017
Mar 9, 2017
Mar 10, 2017
Mar 11, 2017
Mar 12, 2017
Mar 13 and 14, 2017
Mar 15 and 16, 2017
Mar 17 and 18, 2017
Mar 19 and 20, 2017
Mar 21 and 22, 2017
Mar 23 and 24, 2017
Mar 25 and 26, 2017
Mar 27 and 28, 2017
Mar 29 and 30, 2017
Mar 31, 2017

Thoughts so far:

  1. My drawings take me anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes to do and although I often don’t feel I have the time, I have continued to make it happen. Generally once I start drawing I stop thinking about time – generally. There are many days I struggle to get into it. And it shows in the quality of the drawing.
  2. What bothers me most about my drawings is the lack of accuracy. For April I will focus on improving on this.  I will work with diluted India ink at first and then darken up final lines when I feel I have them where they should be.

“One must go on working silently, trusting the result to the future.” – Vincent Van Gogh

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March 6, 2017

February 1 & 2, 2017
February 3 & 4, 2017
February 5 & 6, 2017
February 7, 2017
Feb 8
February 9 & 10, 2017
February 11 & 12, 2017
February 13, 2017
February 14, 2017
February 15, 2017
February 16, 2017
February 17 & 18, 2017
February 19, 2017
February 20, 2017
February 21, 2017
February 22, 2017
February 23 & 24, 2017
February 25, 2017
February 26, 2017
February 27, 2017
February 28, 2017

So my February drawing challenge was to draw from photographs using black ink and grey markers. I had thought drawing from photos would be easier, and although the actual drawing was easier as everything is already flattened, I did not enjoy it as much. It was a pain to find images that I liked and I doubt I’ll do it again. The grey markers were to help me notice value more, but it wasn’t until the 13th that I clued in that I needed to shift how I was working and focus on the various values of the forms rather than drawing outlines in black and filling them in with grey. There are a few drawings that I like in the group, quite a lot that I don’t care for and some that I consider cringe-worthy. And that’s ok. It’s an experiment and it’s all good.

What I gained most in February was more ease in jumping in and being less precious about the result. I’ve reached the point where I care less about how each drawing turns out and more about the practice of drawing.

I completed the second and third lessons in my Craftsy class with the result of the third lesson below. And although I understand the point, I’m getting a little tired of painting the same subject over and over. Apparently I have a short attention span. We’ll see what lesson four brings.

2017 March, Paint & Palette Essentials, Lesson Three, 14″ X 11″
2017 March, Paint & Palette Essentials, Lesson Three, 14″ X 11″

“Draw lines, young man, many lines, from memory or from nature; it is in this way that you will become a good artist.” – Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

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February 7, 2017

Thirty one days of pencil drawings complete! I think it went well. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I had thought that I’d run out of things to draw or things that I felt like drawing, but that didn’t happen. Even if sometimes my drawings were of very simple things like spheres or apples. It’s all practice.
Jan-1-2
Jan-3-4
Jan-5-6
Jan-7
Jan-8
Jan-9-10
Jan-11-12
Jan-13-14
Jan-15-16
Jan-17-18
Jan-19-20
Jan-21-22
Jan-23-24
Jan-25-26
Jan-27
Jan-28
Jan-29
Jan-30
Jan-31
For February, I’m trying something a little different. My medium is black fine tipped pen and grey markers. And I am drawing from photographs or other printed images. The switch to pens is to push myself to draw more confident lines. The grey markers is to help develop a better sense of value. February is looking like a busy month for me too and I am hopeful that marker will be quicker than my pencil drawings were. So far it’s been a struggle, but it’s still early.

“When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss Art. When artists get together for dinner, they discuss Money” – Oscar Wilde

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October 17, 2016

Reclaimed Pears, Oct 15, 2016, Oil on Canvas Board, 11" X 14"
Reclaimed Pears, Oct 15, 2016, Oil on Canvas Board, 11″ X 14″

 

Sketchbook Orange, Oct 11, 2016, Graphite & India Ink on Paper, 10.5" X 13.5"
Sketchbook Orange, Oct 11, 2016, Graphite & India Ink on Paper, 10.5″ X 13.5″
Sketchbook Pear, Oct 14, 2016, Charcoal & India Ink on Paper, 10.5" X 13.5"
Sketchbook Pear, Oct 14, 2016, Charcoal & India Ink on Paper, 10.5″ X 13.5″

This week I spent a little time drawing fruit and then painted more fruit on the weekend. I reclaimed a canvas board that I’d previously been playing around with and decided to incorporate what was already there into the new image. I like this idea and may have to try it again soon. It somehow makes it all seem less precious – probably because it’s not a blank canvas that I’m beginning with. And maybe the fact that I’m recycling something that wasn’t really anything to begin with. (if that makes sense) I took a few pictures along the way. Lots of glare on the finished piece – hopefully I can get a better shot of it down the road.

Reclaimed Pears Underway 1
Reclaimed Pears Underway 1

 

Reclaimed Pears Underway 2
Reclaimed Pears Underway 2

“Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” —Aristotle

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October 10, 2016

The Box, 1994, Acrylic on Masonite, 22.5" X 24"
The Box, 1994, Acrylic on Masonite, 22.5″ X 24″

 

Venus Averaged, 1995, Acrylic on Canvas, 33" X 45"
Venus Averaged, 1995, Acrylic on Canvas, 33″ X 45″

 

I spent the weekend out of town visiting family. With no time at home to paint, instead I’m posting two paintings from long ago that I found hanging on the walls of my mom’s and my sister’s homes. Both of them make me think I should play with similar ideas again.

The top image was an exercise in rendering shallow depth and a variety of textures with a still life built in a pizza box. There are so many things about this image that leave room for improvement.

Venus Averaged was one in a series of images inspired by the work of Chuck Close. My take on it was to break Venus up into a grid and then lay down the average of the colours that appear within that grid onto my canvas in the same grid location. Once complete, is the image still recognizable as Venus? Pushed further, at one point does the image become unrecognizable? It’s a little like seeing someone you know from a distance – how much detail do you need in order to recognize them? There were a few other canvases in this series but I don’t recall if I ever formed any answers to these questions.

Back home today I was able to spend a little time drawing and making notes about shadows.

a bit of practice working on creating volume
a bit of practice working on creating volume

 

“To me, beauty appears when one feels deeply, and art is a by-product of an act of total attention.” – Dorothea Lange

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Oil painting in progress of a two lemons in a vase
Two Lemons WIP, Aug 21, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 30″ X 40″

 

Oil painting in progress of abstracted books lying open
Open Books WIP, Aug 21, 2016, Oil & Wax on Birch Panel, 12″ X 16″

 

August 19
August 19

Three images this week. The glass of my lemon vase slowly develops, open books gain some definition and I manage one of my three drawings for the week. And ‘manage’ is a term I use loosely… It’s been an odd week though – hopefully this one is better.

“No artist tolerates reality.” Friedrich Nietzsche

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August 15, 2016

Oil painting in progress of two lemons in a glass vase
Two Lemons WIP, Aug 13, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 30″ X 40″

 

This painting slowly inches along while my weekly drawing challenge has become a quest to find a medium that I like using with this TerraSkin sketchpad I’m using. The paper itself is made from stone and can handle pretty much any medium, but they behave differently than on conventional paper. I would be happy if I could find something I could tolerate. Perhaps this week will be better than the last.

August 11
August 12
August 14