I’m really enjoying doing these little drawings. For now, at least. Less in the way of time, expense and aggravation. Did I mention aggravation? Yes,I guess I did.
What keeps going around in my mind..
Are any of these worthy of the time and effort of large versions?
So far, I am going to keep going and stash these away as an animal saves food for the winter.
Yes,winter is coming! Will the dull colors it always does. This time, im prepared!
But let’s make the most of fall,while we can.
So, what are you all doing in self quartine?
Reading? Yes!
Facetime? Yes!
Video Games? Yes!
Hobbies? Yes!
Housework? Errr, um
Surprise, I actually am doing housework, among other things. You see, I had scheduled this week off since January. A friend from overseas was going to be visiting. So. due to COVID-19, he wasn’t able to come. I have a week to get things done.
It’s spring now, and I can hear spring birds tweeting. Ironic, huh?
So, besides cleaning, I’m going through my artwork, seeing what to do with what. I’ve decided to do small stuff for a while, since I’m not too pleased with the full-sized pictures I’ve drawn.
So, into bottom of the flat file we go!
That flat file seems bottomless…we’ll see how it goes
Bicycles in the Dandelions , 5×7 matted to 8×10 inches, $35
Available at Small Stuff
For those of you who noticed…….I took down my last post. For those of you who didn’t notice…it’s just as well.
I was working on this, but was tired and sick…didn’t I once title a post, “Friends don’t let other friends draw sick”. If I didn’t I should have.
I put up a post and took it down. It was an unfinished version of this:
Somehow, I, in my sort of feverish brain, didn’t realize I had a lot to go on it. So, this is the finish.
I also made the realization, that I’m going backward on my work, to a place that was more designed and interpretive.
Yes, back to my beginnings as an adult artist.
It’s been a long circular journey, but I’m coming home. A little bit dizzy, but people might argue that I’ve always been kind of dizzy.
But in between, I did some pieces I really liked
For Sale, Original 5×7 in an 8×10 mat. Small
“October Fruit Loops 1 ” $35, postage included
Available at “Small Stuff”
I’m talking about the post I just wrote, and lost.
Ah, well. Facebook keeps reminding me that I haven’t posted in a while. I apologize for my absence. The truth is, I’ve run straight into a brick wall of an artist’s block. I’m as stuck as a car in a muddy ditch.
This has happened before. I’d lose the excitement of my work, and come up with some horrid pieces. That’s exactly what has happened now.
I thought the change in seasons would revive me, but no. It’s time to take a break and play around with other creative outlets. But I’ll be back. Ready to start fresh again.
So, in the meantime, I’m leaving you with a drawing I did many years ago, of a season like this….spring easing into summer. It was a fruitful time artistically for me, going back many years to when I lived in Greenwich. Goodbye, but only for a while.
The title is lyrics to a song, way back when I was a child. I wonder how many of my readers remember that song, and wish they didn’t.
So, here’s the complete on the rainbow drawing.
Misses the mark in a few ways. I wanted to make the rainbow more pastel, and light, as I was complaining about in my previous post. I didn’t quite get it. Also, the sky is kind of a hodge podge of lines and swirls. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Who knows, I may look at this drawing weeks from now, and say “Wow, that works well!”. Or I may say, “Oooops, better hide that drawing for the rest of my life”. I don’t know yet.
Anyway, speaking of titles, I was debating what to do. Then it occurred to me, I had a drawing from a beautiful time in my life,entitled “Cloud Over Greenwich”.
If I project an intention of good times into this drawing as well? Then I certainly can call it: “Rainbow Over Danbury”. So then, I will.
Here I am, being nostalgic again. As we were packing the car with a load of *stuff* to take to the new place, I saw my landlord’s chair, against the stone wall. He’s had it there all the years we lived there, probably many years before, and now….
It got me thinking of how the neighborhood had been good subject matter for my artwork. I didn’t have to go too far for inspiration.
So, for those of you who haven’t seen them, a parting glance of a little street, in a very big city:
When last you saw me, I was babbling on about a decision of what to do next with my artwork. So, I’ve made a decision, and I’ll start babbling about that now.
Like the New York City evening skyline, there’s another subject that’s been haunting me. Again, it’s right outside my window. (Maybe I should stop looking out the window). And again, I’ve made multiple tries at capturing it, and much to my frustration (and disappointment) fallen short of the mark.
What I’m talking about is the sycamore tree out in front of this house I live in. Here are examples of what I’ve done in the past.
I have yet to do a picture of it in winter against an azure blue sky….so, I’m going to do a small version of that. If that works out, I’ll do a big version. I can do that in bits and pieces as the bitty pieces of time allow. That’s because : It’s not about the finished product, it’s the Process. More on that later.
My apologies to Pink Flloyd.
Artist block is a real thing that happens every so often. I’ve been asked before how I get through it. I’ve shown you a couple of the abstracts I did to loosen up, and that’s one way I deal with it.
Another is just to draw anything, it doesn’t matter. Paper bags, coffee cups, salt and pepper shakers.
I used to, as an assignment in an art class, keep a sketch book with me at all times, and in leisure moments, sketch whatever was around in sight. I ended up with a pictorial diary that brings me back in time, each time I look at it. I think it brings me back more than a written journal would.
But back to just drawing. There are so many odds and ends you can pick up and put together in a still life. Here’s one I did, and am thinking of redoing more carefully. It’s a statuette of Kwan Yin, and an amber sphere.
And here’s another one I did, to break the block in the wall.
Just to let those of you know who might be interested, the 5×7 sketch of “Freedom Tower”, is now on Ebay:http://www.ebay.com/itm/140966258541?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
I have continued on with the larger version. Here’s where it is now.
I’m having fun with this. There was a time when art wasn’t fun for me.
I probably did my best work in the 1980’s, but, boy, did I sweat bullets doing it. You see, after all my success in high school, I felt sure the art world would welcome me with open arms, only to find thousands of competitors with the same idea. My first experience sending out slides was a failure. So, I decided to try harder.
I sharpened my drawing skills, thanks to the book, “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”, a book I wholeheartedly recommend. Then I decided I would do work that was IMPORTANT. It was very detailed, and if the least thing went wrong, I would discard it. Many times I would repeat the same work five or more times.
So the time came to send those slides out, this time to juried shows. Again failure, except for one acceptance. Each time I sent in an entry, too, it cost money. The fees started piling up.
I got discouraged, and eventually the work I was doing suffered. So, in a fit of rage at the art world, I decided to quit art altogether.
Come some years later, I decided to play with acrylics. I decided to concentrate on the process, instead of the subject. The result was the Namaste series. I still don’t know how I feel about the results of that. Here’s an example.
Finally, once again I got involved in colored pencils. Subject matter once again appealed to me. So here I am.
