November Life Savers

We Do!  A bride and groom celebrate their union. We couldn’t attend.   I took out my disappointment by going wild with a reference photo downloaded from FB and a watersoluble  charcoal pencil.  The free expression approach to drawing and painting always helps lift the spirit. 

It helped again when a dear cousin passed away.   Nursing butterflies  the morning of the funeral, I scribbled my mind’s eye view of people standing on line at the funeral home to pay their respects. I used the Art Rage app on my iPad while the car was warming up in the garage.  My fast scribble  came from having been in that 

Iine many times quietly chatting with others who came to offer condolences.

Day of The Dead, graphite pencil sketch using a photo posted on FB.  It doesn’t take a genius to guess that my choice of subject came from the thoughts I had of death days earlier.  I like the Mexican tradition of celebrating the lives of ancestors and loved ones on this festive holiday.  It accepts death as a part of life.  This sketch might make it onto canvas?

Xi Jinping, China’s President.  An image I thought I should know.  Since the United States has  decided not to be a player in the Pacific Trade Agreement, this is the leader who will step up to greatness as his country prospers.

He’s also a leader who is in touch with North Korea, the thorn in our country’s side. 

On the bright side of life,  I do want to start the portrait of this little girl.  I’ve done a number of studies of the reference photo I have and I’m now contemplating the composition and the size of the canvas.   At this point, I am happy with the pose, but not the lighting or the background in the photo.   An oil sketch will be helpful working out the palette too.

Thumbnail sketch for sizing.  

The reference photograph taken by her mother.  Overhead lighting.  Busy background.  Colors exaggerated. Lots of problems to workout for the sake of the candid pose.