A bit short of subjects today.
Girl on Television
Moleskine sketch
A bit short of subjects today.
A bit short of subjects today.
Tag Archives: sketch
Culture in Niagara
Pencil in Moleskine
I attended a seminar today, presented by a new group who are trying to promote culture in the Niagara region. One of the speakers was my friend Odette Yazbeck who is Director of Publicity at the Shaw Festival. The other was Angel Scappatura, arts writer at the St. Catharines Standard. The idea was to provide some of the smaller arts groups with some of the tools they need to get themselves heard. I took the opportunity to sketch the speakers. Neither a good nor a flattering likeness of either of them but at least I tried.
I am going to try to get back into the daily posting habit. Use it or lose it is certainly true for my drawing skills and I find that if I don't draw or paint every day I lose confidence in my ability to do anything. So I may be posting some dross over the next few weeks, but with any luck it will get better.
I attended a seminar today, presented by a new group who are trying to promote culture in the Niagara region. One of the speakers was my friend Odette Yazbeck who is Director of Publicity at the Shaw Festival. The other was Angel Scappatura, arts writer at the St. Catharines Standard. The idea was to provide some of the smaller arts groups with some of the tools they need to get themselves heard. I took the opportunity to sketch the speakers. Neither a good nor a flattering likeness of either of them but at least I tried.
I am going to try to get back into the daily posting habit. Use it or lose it is certainly true for my drawing skills and I find that if I don't draw or paint every day I lose confidence in my ability to do anything. So I may be posting some dross over the next few weeks, but with any luck it will get better.
Three Trees and a Rock
5.5"X7" Pencil & marker in Moleskine
A couple of days ago I was walking on the common and came across this interesting "mashup". It was probably rather a challenging subject for a 10 minute sketch but I wanted to give it a try.
The maple and the locust must have grown up together, because if one had grown first it surely would have overwhelmed the other. The trunks are so close together that they actually seem to be conjoined. The birch in the foreground is about a foot from the main trunk.
I have walked past it many times but never noticed its disparate nature before. Perhaps because of the way that each tree's leaves changes colour at a different rate and to a different hue, it was much more apparent this time.
Bridged
3.5"X5.5" Pen & Graphitint in Moleskine
I got "bridged" on the way home from work the other day. This always seems to be the busiest time of year on the canal, the lakers all hurrying to reach their destinations before the ice closes the St. Lawrence Seaway for the season.
Echinacea & Black-eyed Susan
5"X3.5" Mixed media in Moleskine
Thank goodness for these hardy natives, without them my garden would be a sorry sight at this time of year.
Lunchtime River
I haven't been very productive of late. What with dealing with the various household problems (storm-damage to porch & roof, phone, dryer, stove, air-conditioning, printer/scanner) and summer-time guests, I haven't been painting much. Coupled with my scanner not working for a while (see above), blogging has not been high on my list of things to do. I have been sketching though, mostly at lunchtime, and here are a few quick river views. The weather has been so hot recently, that even these tend to be cut short. It is hard to stay focused when it is 37C in the shade. With humidity, that translates to very hot indeed. Last week
Poor Little Bird
8"X5.5" Pencil on paper
This poor we mite was lying on my porch this afternoon, she was still warm and I think that she must have battered herself against the window. There was no sign of injury and obviously hadn't been taken by a cat.
She should be easy to identify, her wings and back are olive green and her breast is speckled. Her legs are sort of coral and her beak is designed for insects not grains. But I can't seem to find her in any of my bird books or with any of the online tools. She is almost exactly 5 inches long and looks like a warbler of some sort to me. Do any of my Southern Ontario friends (or anyone in the eastern states for that matter) have any suggestions?
Pittsburgh
8"X5.5" Ink & wash on paper
I went down to Pittsburgh to visit a friend on the weekend. She lives in the Green Tree district, southwest of the city. Pittsburgh is all hills and she is on one of the highest points. This is the view from the front window.
I rather like Pittsburgh, despite the fact that I was always led to believe that it was one of those places, "First prize, a night in Pittsburgh, second prize, two nights in Pittsburgh". It certainly suffered when the steel industry collapsed, but it has hung on and cleaned up and attracted some diverse, cleaner industry. It has the Carnegie Museums and some nice parks and of course it has the three rivers (Allegheny, Monongahela and the Ohio). Also, although only four hours drive, Spring seems to be about a week ahead of here. So between the torrential rainstorms, we enjoyed some mild Spring weather.
Members Event
Various, pencil in Moleskine
I had to work this morning, a special backstage tour for Members. Apart from having to be at work at 8:00 am on a Saturday, it really wasn't too much of a hardship. Meet and greet and then sit and listen to Jackie and Judy talk about the process of planning a season of great theatre. The Members are already fans and predisposed to have a great time.
The bonus for me is that this sort of thing is a great opportunity for candid sketching: people are sitting still for a long time and their attention is engaged elsewhere so they tend not to notice me.
Tree
7"X5.5" Pencil in Moleskine
Yesterday it really did feel like Spring but it was quite a bit colder today. This was sketched during a lunchhour last week. I am hoping that there won't be many more opportunities to draw such a chilly scene.
I haven't done much actual painting recently, it has been really hard to find the time. As we get into the season I have to work more and more weekends and when I am not working I seem to have other things I have to do, like plumbing. I really hate plumbing, but it beats paying the plumber. My next project is retiling the bath surround which is at least a little more creative than removing and reinstalling a toilet!
