Over Twiddle and Tweak?

Another Thirty Minute Session. Was it worth it?

Yesterday's Thirty Minute Session; From scratch to  heavy handedness. 

This drawing was worth another session. It would make a worthwhile painting.  When I posted her on FB
yesterday, I suddenly thought she looked a bit ghoulish.  She needed to be softened up.  So, today, another thirty minutes was spent using more knead than pencil and a stub, a tool I seldom use.  She lightened up.  I also came across some measurement errors and corrected and I defined her left hand.  Did I over twiddle and tweak?  I don't think so.  I think a small break in time between execution and achieving satisfaction is a part of the process.  The danger of twiddling and tweaking is in getting too picayune. Knowing when to stop is the skill to reach for.

In abstraction too.  Gerhard Richter's  abstractions are superb.  I met the painter through Sara and Robert Genn's Newsletter. I went to You Tube and watched his process.  He reminded me of the period in my life where I just loved the  paint itself and seeing how colors behaved with other colors.  Without the limitations set by subject matter, painting really is a blast.  BUT YOU MUST KNOW WHEN TO STOP.  There's nothing worse than an overdone abstract--every element in the composition nailed down and static--every color fighting for center stage.  Richter's work is anything but still, anything but garish.  If you have fifty minutes free  this weekend watch this documentary on his evolution as a painter.

 
If you have only three minutes to spare, see his process. Who says you need a brush when a squeegee will do grand things? If you love color interacting with color without the distractions of subject. This is a guy to know.

Ice Cream For Breakfast

You Have Any Froot Loops? Graphite, 6 x 8",TMDD Series

This kid was over for breakfast a few years back. She didn't like Oatmeal.  She didn't like Fiber One.  She wanted Froot Loops.  In the thirtysome years since my boys ate their last bowl, the cereal had gone to dust. She settled for ice cream on waffles.  What nana could say no?

Before sitting down to sketch the kid this morning, I saw a wonderful video on FB.  It awed me--and at the same time, discouraged. This portrait artist could wield a brush.  He is Chinese.  Instead of taking a class in manually operating a digital camera this spring or finishing my grisaille, I think I'd like to learn to write Chinese.  It's their alphabet, beautifully printed with a brush since an early age,  that makes them maestros. Watch Yuehua He's phenomenal, time lapse portrait video   Note how he handles his brush. Note his palette. It's limited to earth tones.  I was sadder than ever that I don't have the time it would take to achieve such a high level of skill. That's what you get for saving the best for last.

From Statesman To Toddler To Great Grandma's Cookies

Zac At Disney World, Graphite, 6 x 8, TMDD Series

It was hot. It was humid.  His hair was wringing wet with sweat but he was at Disney World sitting on a curb watching the parade!  He was having fun they said.  From the look on his face in the photograph his mom took, I thought he'd rather be somewhere else-- like a water park.

--And that's all I wrote yesterday when the wireless and cable went out all over the neighborhood--FOR TWELVE HOURS!  If you don't think you're addicted to your devices, try going twelve hours without them.  I couldn't think of anything to do but call and recall our service to see when I could expect some.  By the time  night fell and still nothing,  I reluctantly pick up Samuel Adams to bore myself to oblivion.  Then Ellis said we could watch  movies.  How, I said. He said the VHS still works.  Joe And The Volcano was our first choice. A New Leaf was the double feature.  War Games followed till ten twenty six when e-mails started ringing my bells.  A lovelier sound was never heard. The pounding in my chest subsided. The cold sweat disappeared. The theme to Murder She Wrote was better than any Beethoven symphony.

Great Grandma Suzy made the best cookies ever, Graphite, 6 x 8, TMDD Series 

 

Palette Selection? The Subject Dictates Not Some Artist Long Dead

Free hand draw-in of Ruby for palette selection.

A sketch painted for an afternoon of color play.  I had a palette of reds in  mind and wanted to test it out.  I used Burnt Sienna for this five minute starter sketch.  It's livelier than Burnt Umbra and an old time favorite of mine.  No likeness was required. I have no doubt that the short amount of time it took me to get a reasonably drawing  for this experiment was a result  of my thirty minute morning free hand drawing sessions.

Likeness was not the goal of this exercise, putting together a palette was.  

At the end of the day, Lemon Yellow; Cad Yel Med, Yellow Ochre, Cad Red Med, TRO, Quinacrodone Violet and Ultramarine blue were on the glass.  I've tried the various limited palettes other artists use, but I have never found that the subject I was painting was compatible; my subjects and their world dictate my palette. These colors belong to Ruby.

Mr. Henry Kissinger or Mr. Spencer Tracy? One sketch leads to another. 

NOTE:  Mechanical leads of the same softness as a Berol/General  pencil leave a lighter mark no matter how hard you press.  Berol leads give a darker dark, but also leave a grainy effect--suitable for older skin. It could be the nature of the leads--or the texture of the Strathmore Drawing paper?  Just something I noticed over the last weeks.  I liked the effect for Mr. Kissinger. I didn't for the younger people I've sketched.  

Time Flies, Coffee Gets Cold

Kissinger in progress, graphite, 6 x 8, TMDD Series
Tomorrow, there will be hands.

My Guy, graphite, 6 x 8, TMDD Series

Time flies and the coffee goes cold when my Sun Torch goes off and thirty minutes runs to forty and forty five.  When I'm drawing, the clock disappears--not so when I'm painting.  Not so in the beginning of the morning drawing sessions, but as they went on.   When drawing, I feel in command--even when my son is looking like Kissinger,  Now he's looking like himself.  I added a bit of sparkle to his eyes even though there wasn't one in the reference--and to the rims of his glasses. I made a couple of adjustments to his mouth and moved on to Kissinger.  I decided to attempt  the statesman since my first attempt at my guy reminded me of Nixon's learned and talented Secretary of State.    Besides, all my beach people are still visiting Dell Repair. Today is day six that they've been gone--not that I'm not counting.  I miss reliving the warmth of Mexico when I was drawing them.  So it will be for eleven more days--if Dell  told me right?

Again, I apologize for the poor reproductions here.  I am confined to photo editing through Windows Photo Gallery and Microsoft  Office Picture Manager circa 2007--eons  ago!   I miss my Photoshop too--AND MICROSOFT XBOX SOLITAIRE COLLECTIONS!  How's a person supposed to collect their thoughts?

Parting note: We watched Close Encounters of The Third Kind yesterday, a Steven Spielberg movie made in 1977 starring a very young Richard Dreyfus.   Do you know how they had to live back then?  With no cell phones, no PCs, not a  notebook in sight and tube televisions!  Ghastly Sy-Fy flic.

Moving On

Better likeness, but time to abandon  this rough sketch.

An accurate likeness requires a lot more measuring and more time.  As sketches go, it's okay. Kissinger is gone and the real guy is starting to come through.  Nevertheless, it's time to move on. The clock is ticking on my Sun Torch drawing sessions.

In the New York Times this morning, I read an astounding article on Peter Lik, a very talented photographer and ever more talented business man.  His print of Phantom, below. his latest new photograph, just sold for 6.5 million, more than any other photograph ever.   This is a guy who knows how to make his art pay and wasn't afraid to turn his back on traditional art marketing traditions.  Read Peter Lik's Recipe for Success: Sell Prints. Print Money.  ; it will amaze you--and give you plenty to think about--especially if you've decided upon art as a profession and want to make a comfortable living.

Mr. Lik says “Phantom” is the most expensive photograph ever sold, at $6.5 million, to an anonymous buyer.Credit Peter Lik        

Way Off Base

A Young Henry Kissinger Imagined, graphite TMDD Series

I started with one guy this morning and ended up with another.  First time since I began these daily drawing sessions.  Not bad.  I got interested in the amount of distortion caused by the thick lenses of the glasses--so I lost sight of the rest of him.  Anxious to have something to show for my efforts, I roughed in  features and got a replica of a young Henry Kissinger, the Secretary of State during the Nixon Administration. He was/is a brilliant man highly adept in foreign affairs.  Tomorrow, I'll probably blow up the offset eye that intrigued me in the first place. Distortions of objects through glass do arouse my curiosity.

My canvas dried tight as a drum.  Sag is gone.  Spraying the back of it liberally with water, blotting up any dribbles that might slip behind the stretcher bars and letting it dry thoroughly worked well.  I can forget about finding pegs--although pegs are useful for squaring up canvas structures when the structure is ready for framing.

The Sara and Robert Genn's Newsletter,Who Are You Listening To,  gave me 'food for thought' this morning.  Read  it for yourself.  Here are some of my thoughts on the topic:

 I especially liked what was said about the word 'interesting.' I use that word a lot when asked to comment on paintings I really don't think are quite there yet.  It's a code word of mine (and others I gathered from the newsletter) that means  more work needs doing.  The word sounds positive, but definitely has a negative attached.

I am my own worst critic--but being your own worst critic can be hazardous to  self esteem if self esteem is an issue. Better to find someone you trust who's opinion you respect to critique your work. I like Schmid's advice:  'It often takes two to do a good painting - one to paint it, and another to rap the painter smartly with a hammer before he or she can ruin it.'  No one lives in this house that I should  ever listen to with regards to art; he has no credentials.  "That's nice honey," for every single doodle  with hardly a glance gives him away. :-))

Honest critiques are also missing  on Blogger due to blogs being used for marketing.  If e-mails were included on blog pages, we might be able to support one another with our comments in a more meaningful way?

Nothing Like a Jockey

There's nothing like a paint rag torn  from a Jockey undershirt to wipe in tonal values and remove paint from a brush. There's something about the plush nap that makes them superior to paper toweling. I'm hooked. I can't get my hands on enough of them; Ellis stands guard in front of his wardrobe.  He seems to have noticed his undershirt stack is shrinking.  Nevertheless, I have confiscated a few on his bathroom breaks and used one to wipe in Ruby. The wipe in made the sag obvious.  

If you look closely at the left side, you can see the ghost of the stretcher bar in the background wash.  That's not acceptable.  I had to stop wiping in  the BU to let the canvas dry for a few hours.  Then I wet down the back and went to bed. Hopefully when I get back to the studio, the canvas will be tight as a drum.  With no pegs on hand, wetting the back was my only solution to get the bounce back.   Gallery canvases, the canvases on 1 1/2" stretchers, are supposed to be highish end--yet only the linen ones come with pegs to tighten the canvas.  What's that all about?

What's interesting about my some-of-this, some-of-that start on Ruby is I didn't wipe in the whole canvas. I left white showing where the lightest values will be.  That's an Impressionistic touch.  The Impressionists painted on all white canvases so their colors sparkled.  They thought dark grounds dulled colors.  I think so too. Keep your fingers crossed that this canvas has tightened.  

THIRTY MINUTES WITH SCHMID

Richard Schmid, 6 x 8, TMDD Series, Graphite free hand drawing.
I got a resemblance, no cigar, but thirty minutes is thirty minutes,
a workout session--and that's exactly what these morning drawing sessions are.

The more I work with Windows Live Gallery for editing, the more I miss my computer.  It's primitive.  It's painful.  It's inaccurate. It's for babies.  Only fifteen more days they say.

Start Your Mark With A Grid--or Not?

Ruby in progress; the Burnt Umbra draw-in, 20 x 16, oils

Ruby Grid Drawing-in came first.  The 20 x 16 canvas is divided into 2" squares.

After Ruby's mom sent me a photograph she loved, I cropped it in proportion to a 20 x 16 canvas, 8" x 10", on the computer and converted it to black and white . I made value adjustments to get the most information out of the darkest areas.  I printed out the reference photo on HP bright white photo paper and divided the photo into a one inch grid.  The canvas was divided into a two inch grid.  After that, I drew in the subject very carefully and very slowly. In the hand and face area , I subdivided my squares into fours--also where the fork is on the plate.  Precision counts.  Then I began going over my contour lines with a medium thinned Burnt Umbra. It dries fast.  When the paint draw-in is complete, the whole canvas is covered with a Burnt Umbra wash.

Ruby, the reference photo converted to black and white

While I painted the self portrait grisaille ( blog header) in the Venetian Technique class--and also did a preliminary grisaille of Erin, I have started to scumble in the values as I'm working with Ruby.  I suspect I'm about to mix the rigid Venetian  Technique with  the easier going Line and Mass and Monochromatic Wash-in start techniques I've  used for free hand painting starts BTV (Before The Venetian).



Sorry these photographs are so crappy.  I lost my photo editing software cleaning up this ancient laptop and haven't been about to get it back as yet.  I left the  grid drawing dark--because that was the only way you could see the grid--maybe even the sub divided squares too?  You can also see that this stretched canvas is sagging.  Unfortunately I have no canvas pegs--they don't include them with cotton gallery canvases, only linen.  I haven't been able to find them either.  If anybody knows where to buy them, I'd appreciate the information. (l.roth2@comcast.net) They are good to have on hand.  I will wet the back of the canvas and let it dry.  That method may work to satisfaction?

Then there's The Accountant's Wife.  I gave her another thirty minutes this morning and will probably give her a few more minutes over the day.  With free hand starts, there's always minute corrections to be made that make all the difference in the accuracy of the likeness.  Plus, I couldn't leave her looking so unattractive. There's another thing for the portrait artist to take into consideration: the subject's vanity. :-))

The Accountant's Wife, Graphite ,6 x 8"
Sketches are always in progress as new relationships are noticed;
this gal needs volume.

The Accountant's Wife

The Accountant's Wife, Graphite,  6 x 8, TMDD Series, free hand drawing
One  30 minute sitting is enough for this one.

No where near as interesting as Maggie's big eyes and aging skin, but  I liked how I caught this gal in mid sentence. The reference lacked  defined forms. The gal was in motion.  I didn't bother with any measuring lines.  I didn't much care about the likeness,but I got it anyway.  What make the accountant's wife The Accountant's Wife is her hair, beady eyes and a mouth in motion.

Yesterday I skimmed by the use of a grid for accuracy.  The grid is an age old way to determine strategic points and angels and lay down a precise drawing.  The system takes longer because it involves working to graphic scale with regards to the size of the reference photograph and the size of the canvas.  The two have to be in proportion.  The units across the top and down the sides of both must match.  With the photographic image divided and the blank canvas divided in the same proportion, the photo is transferred to the canvas by the artist by hand.  In very detailed areas, the larger squares can be divided into four to get smaller squares which will enable a more precise duplication.  

In the painting process,  one must still be alert for errors. They do occur. Grid lines have thickness that throw off the accuracy of the drawing ever so slightly--or as much as a quarter of an inch pending own good the artist is with a T square, or how plumb the stretcher bars are!  The artist must still use her trained eye to check out frequently how things are going.  To minimize errors, the grids must be made with the thinnest possible lines.  Keep the pencil sharp and make sure the canvas is portrait grade, nice and smooth.  This start is the start used in the Venetian Technique. (I'd show you my reference photo and the work in progress photos I took for my Venetian Grisaille, but they are locked in the broken computer making its way back to Dell for repair). It's also used to enlarge or minimize an image.  The grid is a handy tool.

Maggie, graphite, 6 x 8" TMDD Series
She's as Maggie Smith as she's going to get
in this sketch book.

Digital Images, A Boon to Portraiture

Maggie in Progress, measurement lines visible, not a good likeness yet.

Reference photograph borrowed from Bing Images, measurement lines visible

Drawing free hand from photographs allows for easy documentation of measurements. Lay down a straight edge and see what  points line up with what.  When points don't line up as they should, make adjustments.
Yesterday I lifted an eye.  Today, I enlarged the nose and zeroed in on the lips widening the space between the nose and the mouth.  Her apple cheeks and smile lines were revisited  and repositioned and I began reexamining the darkest areas of her hair, for they suggest the shape of her cranium. From a flat photo, I'm working a flat surface just as most portrait artists do during most, if not all, of the process.

 John Singleton Copley's George Washington

Right now, Maggie is more Bette Davis than herself.  Jane from Milan noticed the resemblance.  I noticed it too.  Maggie's  face is narrower than Bette's. That's why I'm looking at a close up of both the drawing and the reference photo today on computer.  The change of venue offers insights easily overlooked looking at the whole.  I raised an eye yesterday and that raise dictated taking another look at the related features--and the overall structure.  Translating  the current state of the drawing as well as the  the reference to computer, I can see more clearly where I stand.  Maggie isn't Maggie yet. Right off, I see the bridge of her nose needs a bit of narrowing down.  (This is why I like
using a grid for portraits that count).

Digital images, from the camera, from the computer, are a great boon to a genre that depends heavily on likenesses.  Last year, I particularly liked looking at the portraits of George Washington.  I favored Copley's work over the others-- because Copley was hired by nearly all the founding fathers.   Word of mouth gets around, clients favor likenesses--but there's a hitch:  some clients like to be better looking than they are. Given that piece of information, sorely won in my own early experiences, the portrait artist should ask the subject for their favorite photos of themselves, as well as take their own  more formal shots. The painter/cameraman is most likely to get the best lighting.  [Erin, is better looking in my portrait, than she was in the candid photo I took of her where the lighting was poor and I should have, could have, would have used a flash had I known then what I know now--but she looks like Erin looks to me. Nana is pleased--so's the other Nana. Good enough] .

NOTE

Daylight Savings is starting in three weeks.  I will be putting my Sun Torch Light away.  I've enjoyed my thirty minute early morning drawing sessions very much and will have to find something to replace that bit of  educational fun.  An hour of gestural painting is a consideration. I say an hour because there's set up and clean up--not so with graphite.

HAPPY PAINTING GUYS.  The studio is calling.

Measurement Lines and Eye Lifts

Maggie in progress

If I hadn't gotten up at 6:15, another day would have past where I didn't get any work done on Dame Maggie Smith.  But I did.  It was Monday. I wanted to get my computer into the shop when it opened at ten.

Maggie needed an eye lift--and from what it looks like here, I'm not finished yet.   Measurement lines are very important to getting a decent drawing. I keep putting them in as I notice strategic points.  Today, I noticed her left eye was too low and had just brought it up where it should be when my Sun Torch light went off signalling time's up. Too bad. I was really getting into it, but my computer needed serious attention.

The rest of the morning and part of the afternoon were spent with the Geek Squad, who got it all wrong, and  with Dell arranging for the repair of my LCD--the monitor screen of my laptop--and then getting some sort of picture program going on this laptop.  While I don't like how this program works,  I'm not complaining. I do have a stand in computer while my touch screen is in the shop and I'm sitting in a heated house.  All is well at Roth's Roost.  I wish that were true in the rest of the world.

[If any of you ever have a Dell hardware problem, I have the phone numbers to call--but be prepared to sit on hold.  Dell would much rather you went online for service. They keep telling you that over and over and over again as you hold because you don't have a computer that turns on! l.roth2@comcast.net]    

Blackest Valentines Day Ever!

Blue Flowers, watercolor, 2014

Blue Flowers, watercolor, 2014

Valentines Day.  A day for lovers.  A day candy shops, florists and jewelers make a mint--or so they hope.
In our case, the heating and cooling guy and the computer repair guy made  quota.  We woke up to a freezing house--ice cold everywhere--threw on multiple layers of fleece and called the HV emergency when we read 65 on the thermostat, 8 degrees on the barometer with minus degrees promised  over the next week.  We sat down to wait.  Watching our breath come out in white puffs, gloves--a ski hat--I thought. Instead, I lighted the fireplace and got out the heavy throw. Ellis and I bundled.

The guy came to the rescue with a quick fix an hour later, but couldn't guarantee it would last the weekend.  We needed a new exhaust motor or a new furnace; the box in the basement was seventeen years old--older than the expected lifetime--how long did we expect it to last? He wished us a happy valentines day and left. telling us to call when we made up our minds.

We made our choice at seven thirty and went to console ourselves on the net, EXCEPT Ellis' computer was running unusually slow and  I couldn't get mine started.  It just kept screaming these raucous, irritating beeps while I stared at a gray screen flickering like crazy in an attempt to spring to life.  Honey rebooted. It worked.  I rebooted. Nothing--just more loud beeps.  I called The Geek Squad.  I let the guy in Atlanta hear the beeps.  They meant something. My hardware was broken. The number and the sequence of beeps told you what was wrong if you knew the code. He didn't. I didn't. I needed to take it  for repairs; he couldn't tell me how much. I hung up and  looked around for locusts.

At ten in the morning on the blackest Valentines Day morning ever, Dinner out was out. Honey and I cracked open a bottle of champagne to try and save the day.  The bottle was empty by noon; and we were on the couch in time to watch Godzilla wrecking havoc in Japan, Hawaii and, neither of us doubted, our house next.

 The Day After Tomorrow, a new day with a new exhaust motor installed. I rejuvenated my old laptop where I  found these grim, blue flower paintings. They were perfect for this post of woe.  While the colors are weird for a flower painting, I like them.  They're wild--a lot like the look in my eyes.

I Had A Job I liked. I Got Another One I Love



 Maggie is progressing slowly; graphite, 6 x 8", TMDD Series.
There's lots of measurement lines  and fine innuendos with this Dame.
Look close, you'll see them.

The only place we have ultimate control in our lives is on the drawing or the canvas in front of us. 

You know how many years it's taken me to figure that out?  For decades, I couldn't--no, wouldn't--accept I had very little, nearly no control over anything.  As life hit me with its ho-hums, joys and sorrows at  times that couldn't be predicted and were often inconvenient,  I gradually got the message.  I admit, I was a slow learner. I didn't want to know. I rebelled.  I used my art for that and slashed away at canvases saying I was expressing myself--painting intuitively--giving my impressions of what was going on. Art released tension. Art was therapeutic. It took me to another place where I was in command and my command was "let's see what happens when I do this?" Free association restored balance and produced some curious things, original things that were strictly mine. 

The  abandoned landscape I pulled to paint on as
the mood struck.  The carefree kid is bound to wake up
at times and want to play.

Into my old age, just two weeks now, I've put that kid to bed and entered into the world of  explicit control in the only things I do have complete control, drawings and paintings-- and what's for dinner?   It's a slow paced world.  It's tedious.  But it's steady, comfortable, a good outcome is assured and  that's rewarding.  I like the systematic approach--the fact that there are strategic points and angels--and they must be what they are, or the subject is not the subject.  I like moving methodically in the studio between mixing the absolutely right color, painting in a controlled way, backing up and squinting a lot, cleaning my brushes a lot more, knowing cotton jersey rags are so much better than paper towels and Murphy Oil Soap cleans brush and clothing in a flash.   I like the order at a time in my life when anything can happen anytime. --I like knowing I am a traditional, classical, portrait/figure oriented painter--only took five years!

The knowing, suddenly very clear,  is what got me back into my studio yesterday.  Ruby is ready for painting in.  I have a subdued variations of aqua mixed for Erin's bathing suit.  I have a painting to fool around with when scumbling gets to be too much. Like the work I choose to do, I am a work in progress--and that's why we never really finish a painting; our viewpoint is always changing.

Erin in progress.  Yesterday's square inch or three of interest was the shadow of the arm resting on her tankini top.
The actual color of her top is electric aqua,  I've toned in down, just as I toned down the beach blanket.
No one wants a portrait of their kid that screams.  I get better results scumbling with softer,
synthetic brushes, than I do with bristle brushes.

 

A Change of Face

In Maggie's Eyes, in progress

The actress, her movies, her eyes fascinate me.  Her eyes, the physical structure, the look of intelligence and worldliness fascinates. When she's on screen, she owns it. For a change of pace, I chose her face. She isn't a thirty minute knock off.  Dame Maggie Smith is in the details.

Aside from the popular Downton Abbey Series and the Harry Potter films, she's made a few others I've enjoyed more than once. Maybe you have too?

Quartet. (Ellis and just watched this Sunday for the second time; we loved it again)

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel--another movie I've watched more than once.

Gosford Park (a story about the upstairs gentry and the downstairs servants--totally pulls me in to sit on the landing and see how it goes).

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Death on The Nile.(Agatha Christi murder mysteries are very Maggie).

A Room With A View

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne

A Private Function




 

The Seersucker Bucket

The Seersucker Bucket, graphite, 6 x 8", TMDD Series

While bucket hats do amuse--they are totally functional and not at all attractive--I wanted more from this gal.  I wanted her whole pose sitting on that bottom step her arms hugging her knees to her chest, her hands clasped, gazing out  at the sea, but I cut off her feet!  I was too slow minded to think turn the camera vertically, zoom out a bit,  focus, shoot and shoot again!    Head hunting is not an unskilled sport.  There's no room for total relaxation when hunting future subject matter!

The skill of drawing with pencil doesn't demand a lot of stuff that weigh down heavy satchels.  Here's my stuff when I get serious.  The drawing bridge--that paint stained ruler like item--is one that I made from a paint stir paddle simply by cutting off two sections from another paddle and gluing the pieces onto this one.  I made it for another series of smaller drawings. If my drawing had ever gotten larger, I'd make a larger bridge out of sturdier materials.

 On these quickies. I use a piece of vellum tracing paper under my palm. When it falls to the floor, I resort to cleaning up the smears with the knead. There's no time to bend down looking for it.  There's not a lot of formality--or stuff-- at six thirty in the AM in my drawing room sitting in front of the Sun Torch.  One pencil, maybe two, a knead, the General sharpener--and sometimes, like today, the smallest erasure template. Get serious about this drawing, and an accurately drawn reflection in the sunglasses become something to consider for more than a minute. Erasure Templates would be a must have.  While I have stubs--and they are on every drawing class supply list--I don't use them.  Smooth is not the texture I'm going for.  But I have used dirty ones to draw with.  The smudgy line has been useful for rendering fabric. As for the drafting brush, you don't knead it with a knead--but need any stronger erasing and  it becomes handy. Pieces of erasers, left where they fall, pick up graphite and  can really mess up a drawing.

These are the key things in my pencil box.  The stubs, the bridge and the brush are secondary.
I included them in the photo because they make the photo more interesting. :-)) 

 

Hit or Miss or JACKPOT!

Maya,  Graphite,  6 x 8", TMDD Series
Note the measurement lines. Very important for drawing figures that can stand
on their own two feet.

Maya is  a thumbnail. I see this woman with her shear, billowing sarong blowing in the wind, life sized, positioned on the left and painted on a large canvas. But she'll never make it out of the sketch book onto the big time.  My photographic reference  just isn't good enough.

These weeks of drawing from reference photographs I shot in Mexico I've learned as much about   candid photography as I have about drawing. 

For spontaneous candid shots, my digital camera doesn't seem  well suited. It's not quick enough or I'm not quick enough? It's not like my old SLR where I could set the f-stop to cover lighting conditions without even looking and change the shutter speed just as blind and just as quickly. The digital  has a "menu."  I have to open the menu, choose the little icon picture that matches my situation, get to it and set it.  It's a fuss around while the subject is moving on and taking whatever interested me with them.  The solution is:  Set the camera on continuous shot and fill the memory card.  Hit and miss--or jackpot! Candid photography is a crap shoot.




 

Tongue Twisters, Shadows and Diddling for the Love of It

Ponytail, TMDD Series, graphite, 6" x 8"
There could be a painting here.  Love the strong lighting.  Love the hair, odd for someone who got rid of hers.

From life, The Grand Parlor at Roth's Roost, iPad drawing, ArtRage app, 6" x 8"
 

Ponytail may make it to canvas? The stark lighting and the challenge in her haphazard pony tail held my interest the whole thirty minutes and I still didn't get it quite right, but good enough;  I know where the flaws are.

 I loved diddling my great room (that's what folks call their living room in these parts) more on the iPad while watching Tom Selleck in his new Jesse Stone movie while situated on the sofa across from this interior space.  I'd like to diddle like this on canvas. Scumbling really tires me out, brings me down and kills the fun.  I gave our condo a name--in the manor (you know I know better0) of the English.  Ellis and I cracked up trying to say Roth's Roost  over and over really fast. It's quite a tongue twister.
 

What The ...?



What The...?; graphite, 6" x 8" TMDD Series

That's what I would be thinking if I had this expression on my face.  I have no idea what this gal was thinking, but What the hell wins the title. It's my drawing--and the second drawing of this gal and the first drawing in the third sketchbook of this low light winter season.   She captured my attention and held it.--just as the gal blowing in the wind and a couple of others I brought home on my memory card.

This was a challenging morning.  I came away thinking, if I ever got serious with this subject, I'd have to blow up body parts and take a closer look--particularly at those hands.  She had large hands, strong hands, man hands. They made me curious as to where she came from and what she did.  As I drew her, I also kept thinking about how many times Van Gogh copied Millet's Diggers before he was satisfied.  A few klunkers are in the books--and I image a more than a few went into the trash. I was probably thinking this pose needs another pass?

Sketching is for finding out, mostly through error and erasures, strategic points and measurements that make a subject, that subject. When the subject gets to the canvas, draw-in goes fast.  All the points are known.
 

If you look closely, you can see my analytical measurement lines on this drawing.

 

Head #1049, Bedhead

Head #1049*,  Graphite, TMDD Series

I like this guy's hair. It goes every which way, is thick and full and a rich blue/black. He looks like he just got out of bed. You know how many guys and gals would kill for a head of hair like his?  Ellis for one; Me for two.  I'm not too pleased with the drawing though.  I started at the bottom and worked toward the top.  His hair was the attraction, but his lips were fascinating.  I think if he ever smiles, he's got a dimple that's probably quite charming? 

* This really isn't head number 1049. It's only head number 49 or thereabouts.  In business, when you're just starting out, you might prefer people to think you're more experienced than you are, so while you've only made 49 head drawings, you might start the count at 1000--or 2000--whatever you choose.  It's a common practice on invoices. I chose to number this head because I couldn't think of a title--till now:  Bedhead. it fits him.

 

Under The Nails

What's That Kid? You Want To Do What? graphite, 6 x 8, TMDD Series

This guy looks like I felt the last two days, and maybe that's why I selected him this morning,  but he's actually listening to his six year old babble away while he'd rather be fooling around on his iPad.
All parents have had this look on their faces when their youngsters wanted them to do what they didn't.

He's got great lips too. I didn't get to round them out.  I kept dropping my pencil and having to get down on my knees to find it. Then no sooner was I back in my chair, I'd drop the knead!  It wasn't a peaceful session and for that reason, this guy looks a little meaner than he actually looked.

Have a nice weekend.  Get out of the studio into the fresh air. Breath deep. Workout.  Wash your hair and cut your nails.  Under the  nails is where the paint hides till its on your sweater, jeans or couch.

Thank you all for reading my rant and responding.  I deeply appreciate your act of friendship.  Hugs to all.

Labor On Mates!

Some Guy!  TMDD Series graphite 6 x 8"

Starting this drawing yesterday, was the only arty thing I did besides figure out how long to cook the lobster tails Ellis brought home from the market on a whim.  I felt a bit depressed.  It wasn't the snow; the sun was shining brightly.  It wasn't the cold; I don't venture out in ridiculous temps.  It was bad painting that brought me down.

Noticing I had the wrong color shadows in the wrong places in the Big Blue Beach Hat along with seeing all the great art on FB and in blogs, I wondered what the hell am I doing?  Where am I going with this?  I think ambition, competitiveness and self doubts were rearing their ugly heads.  So I gave myself a spa day--no massage, no steam, no whirlpool, just a shampoo, pedi and mani, if you can call cutting  finger and toenails that, and a complete body slathering of moisturizing lotion.  In workout garb, I went down to the 'exercise room' and did the triathlon--elliptical trainer, tread mill, bike-- to spike the serotonins. As luck would have it, Ellen DeGeneres was interviewing a brilliant nine year old pianist who writes her own symphonies and has played at Carnegie Hall twice in her young life!  So what was I doing trying to paint something of merit at my age?   I sunk into the couch and escaped into a book. 

First, Carol Marine's which countered my  spa and exercise attempts at revival; she's so good and so cocksure of herself, plus her drive came from the second most dire of circumstances. Her husband had lost his business and  their economics needed bolstering.  I have no such immediate threats.  I put Carol down and picked up Samuel Adams. Sam cheered me up. 

Sam was quite a guy. He didn't get sad when things went poorly; he stubbornly held on to the force that drove him--liberty, freedom, no taxation without representation--and dumped the tea, an import for which the colonist didn't pay taxes, but were charged duty--in the bay.  I liked Sam's thinking. I like his drive.  I liked his integrity and morality, his courage and persistence.  His  pursuits made mine crap.  His story got me off the couch. --As for the nine year old prodigy, she had great hands--long with lean fingers; the kind you'd like to draw.  The kid was built to play the piano. She's a raw talent. The rest of us were born to labor. 

On my palette today: Viridian, Transparent Red Oxide, Ultramarine, Yellow Ochre and white. Erin's bathing suit.




 

Great Lips!

Great Lips!, a work that needs another thirty minute session.

The light went off.  Thirty minutes was up.  My hand did not stop drawing.  I needed a few more minutes;  I was fascinated by the guy's lips.  I didn't really see them, till I blew him up.   These lips can kiss, but the guy had an aristocratic look.  That's what I spotted across the pool when I aimed my camera.

While I was drawing and enjoying his young James Spader good looks, Russell Keeter kept interfering.  Russell was my anatomy and life drawing instructor at college. I kept remembering how he never increased the pressure on the pencil to get the darks, he just kept going over those areas over and over again lightly till the value was right.  In these thirty minute sessions, I haven't been doing that.  But this guy's lips and chin stubble got me drawing Russell's way.  It's effective, but slowed me down--so, Great Lips will be tomorrow's session too.  I can live with that.


 

On A Mission of Importance

Figure one of two,  graphite, TMDD Series

There's only so much you can do in thirty minutes. this figure was it for Monday.



On A Mission of Importance, graphite,6 x 8", TMDD Series

Her buddy was added carefully Tuesday, half assed backward, meaning her buddy should have been drawn first and the gal in the fun swing coat with the long lean legs added last.  With graphite, you have to keep the dangers of hand drag at bay by taking a moment to plan procedure.  when drawing in a short period of time, planning is not anything one wants to waste a minute doing. 

Given the incredibly long time that the Venetian approach takes, I painted  free hand a relatively quick alla prima sketch  on breaks from scumbling. It took longer than thirty minutes--about three hours. I haven't signed it yet. I had enough brushes to wash.   

 Big Blue Beach Hat, oil on  9" x 12" canvas board



.

Light Off, Hand Up!

Maria, graphite study, 6x 8, TMDD Series

When my Sun Torch turns off at thirty minutes, my hand goes up. No drawing after time's up. Then it's time to put the drawing materials away and reheat my coffee.  So it went with head number....I lost count.  The object is not how many, but how well is my eye catching the angles and common points?  I'm pleased with how things are going. 

page from Van Gogh At Work
(I used Alla Prima II to prop the page
level for the camera).
 

But I hadn't planned on drawing this morning.  I wanted to study Holbein's charcoal pencil or ink and chalk drawings, but the book was missing.  It had been added to my pile downstairs next to my reading chair. When I sat down to read, however, Van Gogh At Work  stole my interest and I fell more deeply in love with this artist for his early works, the mixed media drawings in black chalk, opaque watercolour, pen and ink. One drawing/painting held my attention for quite some time, The poor and money, done in 1882, about a year and a half  after VG decided to study to become an artist.  What I liked about it was how NOT stylistic it was--it was gestural and not tightly drawn like the later paintings we all know.  I was moved to bring my  watercolours and colored pencils out of  storage and up to my new drawing space, which was my design studio before the 2010.  --And I'm thinking of resuscitating my Koh-l-noor pens,  Faber pencils and Windsor Newton watercolors as well, for all materials that were in Van Gogh's box back in the 1880s! These morning sessions may be in danger of getting longer?  I hope not.  I've already got a big deal going on in the studio with the Venetian Technique.

The Poor And Money, mixed media, Van Gogh, 1882