Rough Start

A Quiet Exchange, graphite, 6 x 8, TMDD Series 2015

Rough Start, a working title, graphite, 6 x 8  TMDD IN PROGRESS

I knew I was off to a rough start this morning when I almost fell through the glass shower enclosure and then had a toilet overflow.  By the time I sat down to sketch, I knew I couldn't expect  much.  My pencil was out of control as the minutes ticked away.  Composure finally returned five minutes before the Sun Torch turned off.  This lovely lady with the smile will just wait till tomorrow for brilliant.

Yesterday's rendition of a serious Ellis listening to a friend came off a lot better. I had had no rude awakenings to raise my blood pressure.  Done in the quiet of morning, this sketch was not affected by stress; it has painting possibilities.  One of his eyes is a tad off, but overall that's my baby. Rough Start isn't even close to a  likeness; I started it too close to the morning's irritations.  I should have waited till one twenty over eighty returned and the bathroom floor was dry.

If you've been following my Thirty Minute Daily Drawing Series, you know there is no rule about finishing the sketch in that thirty minutes.   The only rules are to draw daily. and stop on the half hour--don't make a big deal out of it.  Next Monday, Daylight Savings Time begins. I will put away my Sun Torch till next October. I don't think I'll put my drawing equipment away though. Sketching has been a wonderful way to start the day, on a par with meditation.

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.

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        

Who's Drawing You?

From Across The room, graphite, TMDD series

As I was drawing this woman I saw across the diner, I was wondering who was drawing me?  Could  happen.   It looked like she was involved in a serious discussion with her husband and she didn't like how it was going.  I've been there.  Off to the doc for mid year check up.  Rain and ice out there.  If I didn't need a script for the  new pneumonia vaccine I'd cancel. Wish me luck.  I'd rather be scumbling.