Perspectives

I'm working on a painting that calls for several figures in the landscape. I love to create landscapes. It's my favorite thing to paint. However, up until now I have avoided putting any figures in them, even though my instructors have said some pieces would have more life if there were figures present.  

So with this in mind, I have spent the last little while with my nose in several books trying to train my brain in the vast spectrum of proportion and perspective as it pertains to accurate drawing.  Wow. That was a mouthful. 

Perhaps it has been easier because of the winter weather. We have been house bound for several days due to the extreme snow and cold. Lots of minus temperatures. Lots of time on my hands. 

Proportion has pretty much escaped me. My heads were too little or too big for the body or my legs were too long or too short.  So because of this nagging painting that has to have figures, I have pursued some answers.  At least I feel more confident with them than I did before. 

This is my favorite perspective book. It's been on my bookshelf for quite a while and I keep coming back to it every so often, learning more each time I get it out. 

These pages about people in the landscape have been quite helpful. 

  

Along with landscape perspective I have a figure drawing book. 

But..... We'll discuss that in the next post. In the meantime. I need to practice. 

Happy sketching !

Backyard sketch

Since it's raining today and the snow is mostly gone, I found myself starring out the back patio. Finally I grabbed my sketch book to record some of the stuff sitting out there. 

Not much to look at but it is doing something artistic. I'm making a deal with myself to do at least one thing artsy a day. Could be painting, sketching, watching an art video and taking notes, going to a museum or gallery or even reading an art book. I don't want it to be too narrow just yet. I need to get in the habit of just reminding myself to do something.  

Sooooo. Here is today's effort...

I found a couple more in another book. I did these back in the fall. 

That's it for today. Stay dry and find something interesting to sketch. 

Sketching people

I found a new sketch blog...... Check it out. 

Marc Taro Holmes - CitizenSketcher.com

On one of his pages this particular article stood out to me. Since I'm kind of new to sketching people this seemed like a good way to work at it. 

What is the fastest, most reliable method of sketching people on the street?  Given that they don’t hold still for you, and might get up and leave at any time? I use a four step method that helps me get things down as quickly as possible, and gives me the best chance to (accurately) finish later, if I lose my subject part way through.

1. The Gesture aka “The Ball of String”: An instantaneous “single” line capturing volume, posture, costume hints, and narrative. A gesture should be so fast, you can capture any subject, no matter how active. The gesture is only a guide - don’t worry about facial features or details, just get the proportions - the volume the figure occupies - and the ‘acting’ - the essential bits of the story.

2. Line Drawing: Draw in pen right on top of the pencil gesture. Your subject is probably walking away about now, unless you’ve chosen someone who can’t escape. (Workers are good, street performers, people playing sports). Don’t copy the gesture - improve on it. Add smaller detail, let the line work be rhythmic and free.

3. Spotting Blacks: Use darks to attract the eye and to ‘ground’ objects with tiny cast shadows. They indicate volume, weight, and contact with a surface. Darks should cluster around the area of interest and fade out to the edges. The eye goes to the areas of darkest dark. Once you have a solid drawing, you can go back and erase some of the pencil for a cleaner looking drawing.

4. Color at last!:  The drawing comes alive when you add color. It’s best to get it all in one sitting - but If your subject is long gone, you can add color washes at home or while relaxing in the café. Rely on your memory combined with the structural drawing, and just have fun with the color.

So of course I had to try it out. Here are my attempts. 

We took in a little bluegrass band.....

And one more.....

Enjoy your day!  

Find something to sketch!

Lemon Bars

Sometimes you just have to take a day away from painting. Especially at Christmas time. Today was time to bake lemon bars for a couple of special gatherings with friends. 

Have a great day! 

Do something special for yourself!

Sketching

I enjoy reading blogs. Besides the family and friend ones I have a group of art blogs that I indulge myself with. My favorite these days is The Urban Sketcher. 

http://www.urbansketchers.org/

I was surprised and delighted to see pictures of sketch books from all parts of the world. 

As an example: This is St. Andrews Cathedral in BC. 

In fact it has inspired me to pick up my sketch book and re-establish the habit of sketching more often. 

Here are a few attempts that I have done lately. With practice I will improve. 

Have a great day. 

Look around. 

Maybe you'll see something that catches your eye to sketch!

I'm back

It's been a long time since my last post so me thinks I'll try my hand at it once again. 

It's been 5 weeks now since my hip surgery. I'm beginning to navigate my way around pretty well with only one crutch. I tire easily though and can't go very far. 

Our Wednesday art group (Brushstrokes) is always a nice place to get an art fix. Nice ladies, positive feedback and we lollygag over lunch. 

Been playing around with an abstract piece on my iPad.  Anyway this is it. 

Have a good night. K

Bye for now....go and create something.

Maybe even a pie.... or soup!

Paintings

I'm working on a couple of new pieces. One is my favorite fall scene in Brookville, IN. Barb and I will be heading there later this month for a few days of plein air painting. I hope the weather is as nice as it's been here this week.

I sold another older painting this week. It's called "Lily Pads". The sales have been enough of an encouragement for me to look forward to doing some new things. 

16 x 20   sold

As well as starting a couple of new things, I have been reading a blog by a painter I only recently heard about.
His name is Stapleton Kearns. This blog has a complete course in the art of painting and filtered in between is a course on historical master painters.

All you have to do is go back to the beginning (from the archives) and read forward. It has taken me a couple of weeks just to get through a month of his blog. I think I'm in the last half of 2009 right now.

He holds nothing back. No secrets are concealed. I am excited again to incorporate some of these things into my paintings. I actually caught myself reciting some of them out loud today as I painted. Check it out.
http://stapletonkearns.blogspot.com/

Bye for now....go and create something.

Maybe even a pie.... or soup!