#OneWeek100People: Costco and Browsers

 It was a week of sketching people. Not that I don’t already sketch people a lot. But it was fun to put in some dedicated time and fill up some larger pages with figures and trying different materials. 

Here we were back at our large Starbucks where people tend to come and sit a while, talk to friends or study/work/surf the internet.

I started out drawing with continuous line, which is not so much a way to be accurate, but it feels so good to move the pen on the paper. It’s also good for drawing “characters” that don’t necessarily have to resemble the subjects.

kakimori dip pen and ink in 9X12″ Canson mixed media sketch book

Another day, sitting at a table in the Costco food court with a good view of people wolfing down hotdogs/pizza as well as lining up with their carts. I thought it might be a stressful environment, but it’s amazing how the act of concentration required for drawing from life actually stills the mind and smoothes the sensory input! This time I tried a combination of watercolor graphite wetted and applied with a brush and a Derwent Inktense watercolor pencil.

 

I think I prefer the ones where I didn’t use the pencil, but just direct watercolor graphite. The “first time model” was a guy sitting directly in front of me watching while I brazenly sketched him. He noticed and smiled so I raised my brush to him questioningly and he nodded consent. When he’d finished his hotdog, he politely kept position until I finished and thanked him, showing the sketch. He was pleased and said “my first time as a model!”

On Saturday I was at the Farmer’s Market with Bob and no sketchbook. But this merry woman was standing in the frigid air in front of the garden there, playing merrily on her accordian. All I had time for was to snap a quick picture and sketch it at home. I still haven’t gotten over how people here in Olympia perform outside in the winter, let alone without layers of down and long johns! At least she had a knit hat!

Our Saturday downtown led us to our favorite bookstore Browsers Bookshop, where there was music and the sound of children laughing upstairs. Once again I wished I had my sketchbook with me to capture this delightful scene of parents and small children enjoying the entertainment together. I perched on the top of the stairs behind them and took a picture, then sketched from the picture quickly at home, imagining I had only minutes to capture the scene with my kakimori pen and watercolor. I think I’ll check Browser’s schedule for their next story time and come back with my sketchbook to enjoy it live!

So that wraps up this week. I haven’t counted the people I sketched. Probably not 100, but certainly a decent number. I’m happy with some of the results and understand that the others are there to teach me how to improve.  And the main thing I learned, or at least remembered, this week is how happy it makes me, how quickly it relieves my life worries, to sit and focus on line and shape and the movement of my hand and imagination. It’s really quite stupendous, regardless of the result!

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Pirates! and Fashion!

Pirates to draw! or at least one. I tuned into the Draw Breath group on Facebook, and accidentally discovered they were live streaming a drawing session with model Alida doing pirate action poses. So I grabbed my sketchbook and jumped in. And what was particularly cool was that my fellow urban sketcher (and illustrator/teacher extraordinaire) Mark Simmons  and Sara, another illustrator/teacher were sketching live on either side of the model so that you could watch them sketch. What a great offering!

The poses were going quickly and at some point I grabbed some watercolor pencils to see what I could do with them. My friend Laurie Wigham inspired me with this method of pencils and watercolor. She was sketching pirates too!

Woah! I love this one because it shows what happens when you rush and the pencil is too wet and the watercolor is splashed on in an approximation. Need to do more of that, I think.

A pirate with her bootie!

Pirates like that ale, you know.

Another day on Draw Breath was called Frisky Friday and a voluptuous model was posing in the most remarkable red creation.

. . .which changed into different creations. . .and then I realized I was hanging out with young (compared to me anyway) fashion designer/illustrators!

And here I was, still in my studio where I’ve been sheltering for the past two months, and not in the least thinking about fashion, except in the most abstract way.

And here she is, in one of those big puffy faux fur coats!

So here is the moral of this story. . .stay home, tune in, play with others on line and do your part to stop this virus thing. At least there’s some good news here. While you’re drawing you might be able to stop thinking about the future of our world, whatever piece of it you’ve been most worried about lately.

 

 

 

30 faces/30 days

Another one of those 30 day challenges? Yeah, I’m afraid so. This one was right up my alley, so I couldn’t resist – Sktchy apps‘ draw 30 faces in 30 days. Sktchy app “is a portrait artist’s dream come true. Join to share your art, connect with fellow artists around the world, find and save inspiring reference photos and participate in our weekly Portrait Party.” And this month you can also get all kinds of tips on interesting ways to fertilize your practice of obsessive portrait sketching!

So I signed up for it. And I’ll be sharing some of my portraits here, for better or worse, because that’s what always happens when you plunge into a challenge!

Day one gave tips on warming up with blind contour drawing. I hate to say this, but I like this blind contour (meaning you don’t lift your pen/pencil once or look at your paper while drawing) drawing better than most of my other faces.

 

But I couldn’t resist doing it again, not blind. I like the first drawing better, it’s more interesting.

My son was still home, along with his partner Maura, and they enjoy sketching too, so there was a fair amount of time spent at the dining room table sketching each other.

and I was having difficulty catching him at the right angle and in the right light, so I ditched the idea of getting a likeness and went rogue! So the image here is total invention, with the earrings being the giveaway.

And then as we were waiting for dinner, and sketching in candlelight, where I couldn’t even see the colors in my palette. . .

This was a new concept for me – finding the vanishing point on a face! illustrated here. The models or “muses” on Sktchy are often wonderful subjects to draw!

Another great Sktchy subject! I wanted to add color to this, but was afraid I’d mess it up. Don’t you love his hair?!

I’m still at it! More coming.

Between Riverside and Crazy

When I was in elementary school I loved to stage little plays with neighborhood kids. In junior high I played one of the red headed twins in Elmer and the Lovebug. Never heard of it? Oh well. And that was the end of my career as a thespian. But the wonder and delight of the stage never left. And now I may have found a way to get closer to that backstage experience, by going to some rehearsals. . .

This is our second year now of having seasons tickets to Left Edge Theatre, featuring left leaning, edgy theatrical productions. So I asked if I could come and draw at their rehearsals. The director said sure! I knew it would also be a great way to sharpen up my reportage sketching skills.

fountain pen and watercolor in 9 X 12″ Canson Mix Media spiral book

My first try was in the second week of rehearsals for Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis, which by the way opened last night.

I wasn’t yet sure how I was going to approach drawing a theatrical production. As the actors started drifting in, I introduced myself and started to learn their names and parts played. Meanwhile I had time to sketch the set before they started rehearsing.

I guess I thought there would be long pauses where the actors got more direction and I could do a quick freeze-frame captures. But this cast was already so far along that there were almost no pauses, and to my delight and dismay, the action kept moving! How to jump in with the pen and brush? It was like trying to catch a train as it’s leaving the station by running alongside until you get enough speed to grab a door handle and hop! So forgive me if I omit the rest of my scribbles from that evening.

Before I went back a couple weeks later I thought I’d practice a bit using their PR photos from the website. In their glamor PR shots here they bear only a slight resemblance to the characters they play , but it was a good warmup with no pressure.

Two night ago I was back to watch the dress rehearsal. [Let me interject here that I do not recommend sketching at performances like this unless you have already seen them or will be seeing them without sketching.]

This play gets off to a rip-roaring start and never lets go of your attention until the very end. So as soon as it started, I had an overwhelming urge to put down my sketchbook and say “this is impossible!”

But I had a sort of strategy, to start with the main character Pops, who hopefully would stay put in his wheelchair for a few minutes, and then just add other characters willy nilly as they appeared. I put a bit of watercolor on during the intermission and the rest the next day.

 I’m no theatre critic, but this is my blog, so I get to give my opinion. This play is outrageous, hilarious, touching, and full of surprises, with a cast of seasoned professional actors. It runs through Nov 10. I’ve already got my tickets for November 3, but you may want to hurry and get yours.

And there’s a whole season of plays coming up. Hopefully by season’s end I will have figured out how to sketch-a-play!

Portraits Plus. . .

I left my pencils and paints home this week for the Portrait Party at Sebastopol Center for the Arts and brought Prismacolor felt tip pens and my pocket brush pen. So no mistakes allowed. It’s all good, because you don’t have enough time – with the one to ten minute sketch periods – to make it “right” anyway.

We take turns posing for each other, the hardest part for me since I hate to sit still. By the end I was standing and sketching and moving to the music we could hear from the Peacetime concert band playing next door at Ives Park.

At some point we started doing whole body poses, trying to get some attitude in them and most of us switched to putting more of the body in the  drawings.

I combined a dark liner with a shading pen to get some quick volume.

Loved Cary’s pose, the Rosey the Riveter “attitude”. My paper was too small to get the whole figure on the page, a constant problem for me, regardless of how big the paper is! So many times the feet and the top of the head don’t make it in.

There are two more Portrait Parties scheduled – August 29 and September 26. Put it on your calendar if you would like to join us next time. We meet at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts from 5-8pm. Beginners and pros are all welcome.

Last Night’s Party

Last night’s Portrait Party at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts was as thoroughly engrossing as the others.  At times I felt like I was in the company of professional models! though it was just us chickens of the sketching sort – a fun group.

If you have been wanting to come join us you may want to put our next date on your calendar – Thursday May 23, we’ll be at it again, 5-8pm. Everyone invited, no matter your figure drawing skills or lack thereof.

These were my 2 minute sketches, done with a wet brush and a graphite cake, which I’d hoped would be a quicker way to do the modeling. It’s a somewhat clunky medium but gets one drawing with a brush.

At 3 minute poses I switched to pencil and watercolor, which I liked better.

I guess we all have our visual “issues” to overcome. When I’m sitting too close to someone I’m drawing, I can’t seem to avoid sketching them larger, often so they barely fit on the page – like Catherine here!

I got out an Inktense pencil to sketch the one on the right.

In this 10 minute pose I got a bit more ambitious, with more of the figure.

Last pose of the night. A very wise woman gave us a lovely peaceful pose.

I’m so tempted to go back into these and “finish” them, but I would surely lose whatever “freshness” I have achieved. It’s wonderful practice, and frankly as good as meditation for quieting the mind. We have music playing in the background, but each person is intensely in their own creative space. The resulting portraits are as different in style as the individuals we are.

See you next month, May 23rd?

#oneweek100people2019

There’s still two days left in the 100 people in One Week sketch challenge! The social media air waves have been filled with speedy people-sketches. Maybe it’s getting a little much? Nevertheless, since I’ve been busy in my own way, here’s some samples. Whether or not I get to 100, who cares? Certainly not me.

The lovely lady in the Fool’s Parade towering over us and waving her flag. (done from a photo of course!)

If you live around Sebastopol you may recognize this guy – a fixture in the community, always dancing around with the manic look in his eye.

And one last Hubbub Club musician in the signature colors (and hiking shoes).

Bob (my husband) was learning a new book binding method and let me use this tiny one for my 100 people. The newspaper was a good source of faces that day. I did two of Attorney General Barr because the top one didn’t reveal the tilt of the head and other signs of stress. I almost got Netanyahu’s smirk, but need to learn to exaggerate more!

Lurking in the Whole Foods dining area here. The paper is smooth so the paint sits on the surface – actually pretty fun to work with as the colors creep into each other.

I’m using fountain pen with brown ink here, and discovering the fact that I can no longer see clearly across a room without my distance glasses and can’t focus on my sketchbook and brush without my prescription readers. Time for graduated lenses, but until then. . .messy sketches.

The black thread is a bit distracting, but I love this little book because I can feel free in it!

Another day at the restaurant at Cornerstone Gardens. More sketches (not people) from there later.

#oneweek100people2019

Are you getting your pencils sharpened and pens filled for next week’s challenge to sketch 100 people in one week, beginning Monday April 8, and share your sketches on social media? If you want to know the “rules” and the intention behind this fun challenge (now in its third year), go to the Facebook group page, join up and read a fun description with lots of ideas about how to participate. When you put your mind to it and form a plan, it is remarkably easy to do 100 quick people sketches in a week. And once you get going, sometimes it’s hard to stop!

And then, what good timing! You’ll be warmed up for the next Portrait Party at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts on April 18, 5-8pm. It’s getting to be a monthly thing, and I’m so glad because I’m meeting lots of new people, getting to sketch with beginners and professional artists both. See the details below and more about last month’s party here.

 

Another Portrait Party!

A portrait party? You mean a figure drawing studio class? Or a party where you get your picture taken or sketched?

Well, none of the above, but all of the above. Our second Portrait Party held at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts last week attracted many new curious souls, some of whom wanted to observe, or in fact to pose and be sketched (without themselves sketching). But what we were doing was sitting in groups of six  sketchers and taking turns sketching each other (one person posing at a time). No teacher, but lots of sharing of ideas, techniques, and materials. We were fortunate to also have some accomplished artist/teachers among the crowd of enthusiasts.

We started out with one-minute sketches.

. . .and went up to five and seven minutes so I got out the watercolor and Inktense pencils. And rescued some hats I’d brought. (A little dog had curled up on them to take a nap, bored as I’m sure he/she was to be in a group of humans where no one was paying him any attention.) We had fun posing with hats. They really help to add some (additional) character to us characters.

No names here, because really. .  .it’s not about likeness. I have destroyed many a lovely person’s visage with my paint and pencils.

Can you tell that this was my favorite of the evening?

A hoody for a change.

A last minute dark wash pencil at the end, heavy handed, but oozing enthusiasm. . .

And we’ll be holding more of these portrait parties at the Seb. Arts Center, so I hope you’ll be able to come next time. Stay tuned for the dates!

 

Next Portrait Party March 21st!

Please reserve your seat here.

and bring a donation of $10 for the Art Center.

Contact me with any questions.

Hope to sketch you there!