Another Drawing

In yesterday's blog I included a poor photo of a very early drawing of mine - poor because of the distracting reflections on the glass.  One of these days I'll ask a friend of our who is good-enough-to-be-a-professional photographer how to avoid problems like that. But maybe I should wait until I find out how to avoid the issue you'll see in today's photograph!

Also in yesterday's blog was my embarassed recounting of finding myself in class with no paint - what an idiot!  However, there was something I could do - draw using one of the photographs I had with me.

But first, a little background.  Our first post-retirement trip was to China where I started taking photographs especially for reference material.  The second trip was an exploration of the Four Corners in the Southwest. Those photos inspired three oils of that very special landscape.

Yesterday as I looked through the photos I had with me, I found one I knew had to be a contender.  It was one I'd toyed with but just didn't know if it was too, well, just too much like one you'd see in a travel magazine.  But I love it anyway.

The photo isn't available for me to post here, but I can tell you that it is a study in perspective which is why it was a good candidate for drawing.  The subject is a trading post in Monument Valley with towering cliffs in the background and a wagon in the foreground. Note the line of the roof and the lower edge of the wagon - perspective fun.

The shadowing - especially on the left side - is caused by erasures made with a kneaded eraser.  It took time to get it almost right, but as I discovered while drawing, it was time well spent.  It needs to be finished (the right side of the trading post ends within the porch - past the doorway line).  The wagon's back wheel isn't right, and the barrel is far more burly. 

But here's the real problem for me.  I don't see it as a watercolor.  Do you?  Would it work?  I see, no, I feel it as an oil painting.  But either way it will be a painting.

Continuous Line Drawing

Painting day, and off  I went to begin work on what I hoped would lead to a finished painting of the view from Pienza.  But, foolish me, I was a bit late and so was rushing as I left.  That, as most of us know, is the sure set up for a problem.  

And it was.  We did a bit of "Show and Tell" first.  When it was my turn, I showed my framed continuous line drawing from 1965-ish when I was an art student at Syracuse U..  It is something very different, but I have always had a real fondness for this piece.  A "continuous line" means one begins to draw but does not lift the crayon, marker, pencil, or whatever from the paper.  It takes a bit of forethought to figure out how to get from one side of the subject to the other (usually one side of the paper to the other), and it may require several attempts before one is successful. I still do them from time to time.

Back when this drawing was done, I was a commuting student living at home so I chose the living room of our family's flat as the subject of this drawing.  Right now I can't remember for which class this was as assignment, but I suspect it was a basic drawing class. There is no sign of a grade on the paper nor had I signed it, so possibly it was simply an exercise that became part of a portfolio that was graded at the end of a quarter.  That doesn't explain the lack of a signature though - so maybe it was just something I did for my own practice and/or fun.

Anyway, this is it, framed, over my desk - complete with reflections.

After we talked about the various items we wanted to share, we each got our materials out.  Sharon was working with one of my friends so I started to get ready to paint.  That's when I discovered I had left my paints at home.  ALL my paints.  

Fortunately, before I began to tear my hair out, I remembered I had something else to work on.  I'll write about that in another entry.

View from Above

Last week at painting, I worked on the drawing of Venice which was put away when I got home.  I didn't do that because I was tired of the idea but because there were so many other things that needed doing at home and also because I needed to do some research before continuing.  That research didn't happen - the "other things" I mentioned included a three day quilt retreat.  

All of which is to explain why I started something new - again - today.  This is only a preliminary sketch.  By that I mean that I have no expectation of being able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear or more to the point, take this sketch and turn it into a finished painting.   Instead, it's an information gathering exercise.  Which paints can I combine to make the many greens distinct from each other?  Indeed, which colors look better or best - say green or blue?  Can I improve the composition by adding this or taking that out?  What techniques can I use to enhance my basic drawing, my manipulation of water?  You get the idea.

Anyway, here is Rough Draft #1.

This is a view from one of the walled hill towns in Tuscany; we were standing at the wall looking out at the countryside.  I discovered later that it is considered "an iconic view" which I well understand.

Spooky Tree and Finshed Painting

We had such fun greeting our little Halloween trick or treaters - and some that were that little!  Although to be honest there weren't as many as we used to have and no high schoolers.  Is that a sign that the neighborhood is aging?  Or could it be a sign that the malls are drawing more adults with their youngsters?  Or simply that the neighborhood is in transition and the kidlets aren't old enough to be out yet?

Even so, we had a great time.  The children are such fun, and David had his own way of enjoying it.  Here is his Halloween tree:

Thie next photo was taken later when it was darker and is a close up of the neat decoration he found; the "light" is in a skull!

Today was also painting day.  During the week, I worked on the second Bayou painting and realized that it just wasn't working. So I decided to return to the first.  Today I took it into to class for Sharon's verdict. She took one look at it , and said -

"It works, and it's DONE!"

My response?  "Hallelujah!"