Dr Sketchy

I have been to a few Dr Sketchy events in Auckland and Wellington, I wish I could make every one, they're fun and make a change from regular life drawing. I'm not making a lot of art right now. At the moment I'm working on some hand painted journal pages and I'll post a photograph when done - is part of a collaborative project. Meantime, because I've been lazy and not posting on this blog I decided to post other links to things I'm interested or involved in.

Dr Sketchy for example!!

Sensory Drawing

Spending the week in Wellington and exploring drawing inspired by the senses. Am quickly putting up some of what I created today.Everyone's work was very different, mine abstract, many drew realistically. Ink (sumi and/or indian, acrylic paint, compressed charcoal, chalk pastel, charcoal pencils white and black).

I was trying to describe the sensation of touching the various plants/trees in the bush and gardens surrounding the art school (we walked through them first thing Monday) in the first and last works, the second is the feel of a hard piece of dried seaweed, gritty with sharp edges, the third was drawn in response to running my fingers over the back of a small paua shell.

Mixed media

Recently I was involved in a one day exhibition of working artists... most of us were working at the venue so that people could view our process. Many stopped to talk and ask questions, and I sold Red Nude and Dream (mixed media collage drawings).

These are a couple of works in progress I began while there, starting with the heavy printmaking paper, then adding various media, some of my own monoprint material, antique text, drawing.

Sunday at John's

I have to take my camera next week and photograph the amazing etching presses John is building and engineering. Anyway, I actually remembered to go today (forgot last week - "Sunday School" in John's studio for local artists who care to get together and spend a few hours working in company). I worked on more backgrounds, not very exciting to view.. but am enjoying the layering up of the surfaces. Then I started drawing over a couple of them. Just getting started. I noticed some shapes in the colours so began to draw from those, so a lot more to do yet.

Mark making

Some works in progress. Top pic is embossing of one of my collographs on printmaking paper. Then an indian ink sketch on mixed media base. Followed by the beginning of a life drawing on a mixed media base, and the last picture a drawing in progress and I was drawing flat which is soooo wrong, I'll have to start correcting before i get much further, but it's in charcoal pencil so I can make improvements (trying to draw the main male character of a book I'm writing, he's not a real person... he's in my head).

Spent time today at the studio of my artist friend John. We were talking about process and product and he made a comment, "I'm not making art, I'm making an artist." Found that interesting, because I talked in my last blog entry about the making of the art, the process, as being the art. Probably sounds convoluted. It is.

Anyway, we had got together for our "sunday school". John showed me how to stretch canvas, I've never learned to do it properly. And gave me his secret recipe for making a primer to use instead of gesso. I've never liked gesso on on canvas, though I love using it on paper. Makes a great surface to work on.

I had taken a collograph that I made a while ago, and we experimented, John used his wonderful press to emboss some of my paper that I'd taken to work on my mixed media bases. I'll be thinking of how I might incorporate this process in my work. A clean embossing on white paper looks fantastic but I'm all about layering so will have to come up with an idea that fits.

Still working on adding to the mixed media bases but I'm starting to put marks on some of them.

Life drawing

And the previous week - some sketches - I forgot my drawing media so I borrowed a pencil and drew on brown and buff paper.

Life drawing sketches

It's a while since I uploaded anything from the lifedrawing group. Here's a few in different media, pencil, Crayola twistables) and pen.

One One One

On Friday night we went to the Crown and Badger in Tauranga with friends and there was live music - the band is called One One One - covers band and very good at it. I didn't have a sketchbook with me so scribbled these on some till paper and the back of some of bar's advertising material with a borrowed ballpoint pen.

Life Drawing 2.7.08

These drawings are on buff paper, French grey conte pencil and/or black conte with white Neocolour highlights. Just could not get that hand over the head!

Life Drawing 4 June 2008

Our life drawing group is continuing even though we are no longer being funded through community education. Thanks to John Mulvay (the tutor, who is kindly lending his easels and boards and also his home for some of the sessions and arranging models) we're continuing to meet. I missed last week's group but saw the drawings of two artists and I think it's going to be an advantage to have a variety of venue as opposed to the classroom, with furniture, cushions and other paraphernalia around.

Last night we met in the studio of artist, Robyn Tucker. It was cosy and warm, and she had arranged a chaise with nice fabric draped over the end for the model to organise her poses around/on. At the end of the session I realised, though, that I had drawn only the model and nothing around her. So she does look a little like she's floating in space in some of the drawings. Must be because I missed last week, forgot about the whole composition. Which is why regular drawing is so important.

I can see in the photographs I must clean the camera! Most of the drawings are done on buff cartridge paper, some on white. I used either a French grey conte pencil or a red chalk pencil.

The three square drawings are done on 8" x 8" canvases - I'm going to paint these, maybe mixed media works.

The upside down drawing was done standing at the head of the model, so she was upside down in my view. I forgot to draw the chaise, so it looks rather weird!

Doodling in my new Moleskine

I was given a voucher for Gordon Harris, an art supplies store, I bought a Moleskine...finally...and some pens. I'd checked out sources for these beautiful journals in New Zealand and I'd only found them available at Christchurch Art Gallery, so I was thrilled to find a new stand at Gordon Harris in Hamilton. Extravagantly bought the larger one - 13 x 21cm. I'm just going to doodle in it. I've a few other visual diaries on the go - for painting, design/printmaking and drawing that are pretty messy, lots of scribbly writing, bits and pieces stuck in.

These are the first two pages that I've drawn on. Actually I'm starting from the back of the book. The first drawing was of the girl on the rocks. Next day I continued on the page above, trying to link it in some way.

Life drawing - 16 April 2008

These are the longer drawings from last night's class.

The first is done with a red chalk pencil on white cartridge paper - the pencil is more waxy than chalky. I wasn't too happy with this one. I don't know what happened with the shoulder on the left (as viewing the screen). Either the model moved, or I didn't get my initial drawing in right because when I came back to that part of the drawing I had no idea what went where! Then while the hips more or less indicate where the weight is I haven't really captured that with the legs, and her legs and feet are a bit small, especially compared to the head! The model herself liked the drawing, though, and I'll give it to her later.

The red, black and white is again on white cartridge paper - black compressed charcoal and red soft pastel.

And the last drawing is done on white cartridge paper with a thick graphite lead in a holder. I decided to do a cropped composition this time. I always try to get everything in and I thought it would be good to select just part of the model to draw.

I'd have liked to draw the hair in, all the lights and darks, but there wasn't time. Maybe I'll work on it later, or take it to paint.

Life Drawing Wednesday 16 April 2008

These are the first drawings from last night's life drawing group. The class is for two hours in the evening. We're lucky enough to have the tutor provide easels, back boards, clips, and even paper and conte and charcoal to buy at cheap rates if we don't have our own.

There were a few short poses of a couple of minutes - those are the coloured pastel drawings on black building paper - then longer poses of between 10 and 15 minutes I think. I was quite rough with the soft pastel, blocking in shapes using the side of the pastel, then roughly drawing in some line on top.

There is one drawing on brown paper, in compressed black, sienna and white media. That was a difficult pose to capture. Actually there was no negative space between the left arm (as viewed on the screen) and her body, but I kind of wanted the pose more balanced. The foreshortened body was difficult. The collar bones were fantastic - I didn't get those finished.

More life drawings