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Monday, March 30, 2015

In Black and White

 
 
TUESDAY, APRIL 5TH, 1960
 Cutting the cake for the 55th time, today.  Happy Anniversary Babe! 
 
Last week was black and white all the way. Pencil only.  Two big occasions were coming up: Passover, our 55th anniversary and perhaps a 55th honeymoon should we decide to renew  another year ?   I'll let you know after the champagne.  Till then, see how I spent my mornings.
 
 MONDAY

Tales To Tell, Graphite, 6 x 8

TUESDAY
 
 
Picasso Blue,  Graphite, 6 x 8
 
 
WEDNESDAY
 
 Sass, graphite, 6 x 8
 



THURSDAY
 
 
Toulouse,  Graphite, 6 x 8
 
The man whose work got me drawing.  His women of the night were elegant and provocative to the eleven year old me who copied all of his works.


FRIDAY

Willem, Graphite, 6 x 8
 
  I loved the way De Kooning slung that paint!  His energy excited. His women were glorious--so much freer than Les Demoiselles D'Avignon.
Vincent, Graphite, 6 x 8

For those of us who can't do it.
 And Van Gogh, not so much for his art, but for his poverty. His business failure and dependence on Theo pushed me to keep my art my own and do something else to earn a living.  His love of drawing matched my own.

VAN GOGH:   “When, pressed for money, I forgot myself for a moment and thought, I’ll try to produce something with a particular appeal, the result was dreadful, I couldn’t do it”  Me either.
 
 
 
SUNDAY
Russell Keeter. Graphite, 6 x 8

 No one to you. Important guy to me. Drawing instructor. Anatomist.  Demanding stickler, the best kind of teacher.



 

18 comments:

  1. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!! Your wedding photo is wonderful - your gown is gorgeous!!!
    Fantastic sketches all! Love Picasso Blue, Lautrec and your old instructor especially. Toulouse Lautrec is one of my most loves Impressionists, maybe because I saw a very dramatic movie about his life when I was very young.

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    1. Thanks. It's a big deal if you ask me. But wearing that gown and cutting that cake back then, this was something I fully figured would come about. We took a leap of faith right into the volcano.

      I think it might have been Huston's Moulin Rough that made me a Latrec groupie too. It came out in 1952. I loved his lines, simple palette and was fascinated by his risqué subject. It was then too that the many paintings in our museum became more than pictures on the wall.

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  2. I wish to you and Ellis many years of joy and health, together.
    The couple that I see in nice picture black and white is beautiful and happy ... and now after 55 years we can say lucky, because they were really made for each other.
    Hugs and congratulations. I join with you" in spirit", to drink champagne, toasting to a future full of new goals.

    (Your art drawings, as always, energetic and communicative dear, Linda!)

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    1. Thanks Rita. I met him when I was fifteen. He was a college boy. I told him I was going to be eighteen. We dated off and on for three plus years when I asked him to marry and he said yes. We were babies in that picture. I was nineteen. He was almost twenty three.

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  3. Happy anniversary Linda + Ellis. Gorgeous photo of a beautiful couple. Bet those 55 years went by in a flash!
    Love the sketches, and the art lessons.

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    1. Faster than you ever think; we were having a good time. We still are.

      I'm running out of heads; time to go hunting.

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  4. Lovely wedding photo...Happy Anniversary! Your sketches are super as always...every one. I especially love the first young girl.

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    1. It's better, using your own photos as references. You want to develop your own ways of doing things. Thanks. Those two children must have been amazing kids to have kept it going all these years--or we really do dislike lawyers. :-))

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  5. Happy anniversary!

    The week's sketches show your skill. Especially love the one of your teacher.

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    1. Me too--though I did not follow his advice said over and over again . I worked fast, not slowly. with forms, not line. I'm leaning more and more towards using the pencil leads on their sides, like I would vine charcoal. --But no charcoal allowed in the draughting studio. Off White carpet. Pencil is clean.

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  6. Congratulations, Linda, to the both of you. I enjoyed reading that you were the one to propose. Big Smile - Good for you!
    I enjoyed seeing all your sketches and I agree with Jean...I also really like the one of your teacher.

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    1. Thanks Julie! I didn't really ask him; I told him we should get married in June. Then, the army had another idea, so we moved the wedding up to April. He went off to boot camp a week after we came back from our honeymoon.

      Russell was a wonderful teacher. The no nonsense kind. Figurative drawing and anatomy and was serious business. All my best teachers were the strictest. While I bitched about the demands, it's those demands that paid off best in life. Being older when I went to college, I knew that and appreciated his dedication.

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  7. Congratulations, Linda!!! You were one gorgeous bride and LOVE your gown! and fantastic graphite drawings of Willem and Toulouse!! You're getting better and better!!

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    1. Thanks Hilda's. Lots of years ago. --So when are you going to join my Thirty Minute Drawing Group on Facebook? The more you draw, the better you paint.

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  8. Honestly I was painting a portrait and I trashed it....tried again and that one didn't work either! Maybe I need to stay away from portraits "just for awhile??" Right now I'm just enjoying everyones work and hopefully my passion will come back!

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    1. I get it. For me, the thirty minutes more or less are a form of meditation. I am loving the quiet of morning with no demands. The drawings satisfy, for they are keeping me connected, but not tied down. That's the relationship I want with painting.

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  9. Your drawings are awesome Linda, so expressive ! And even though a little late I wish you a Happy Anniversary , the dress is goooorgeous, would be perfect even today !

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    1. If portraiture is your thing, a daily head isn't a bad way to spend a little time. Thanks Jane.

      My mother chose the dress. I said fine. I really didn't care what I wore. She sold it while we were on our honeymoon. I'm sentimental about people, knick-knacks that belonged to our moms, family photographs, but not dresses, bridal or otherwise. I thought Ellis and me is what counted. Still do. We're a partnership, a corporation, a team. Over a bottle of champagne last Sunday, we agreed upon sticking it out another year. If our union does go bad, that's it! It's sound though. We limit ourselves to two minute ranting/ raving sessions, five minutes of sulking, no holding grudges, no do overs. disagreement over, move on. We also hate lawyers. They are always the winners; their clients are always the losers.

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