Tag Archives: urban landscape

What do I do, Now?

July 12, 2021 roxannebaldwin 2 Comments

As I was saying, there’s something in this drawing that catches my imagination.

But, now what? I had no idea where to take it. All I knew, is that I didn’t want to set it in New York city.

So where then? Rural? Another city? Suburban?

All I could come up with were either boring or cliches.

So maybe a foggy scene. What does that look like? How does that happen? Who, when, where, what, and most of all, why?

So, then it dawned on me, or more correctly, dusked on me. A nocturne! I haven’t done one for a while.

For instance, this rocking chair. Maybe that doesn’t qualify, it’s in doors.

I got the direction of the Milky Way backwards here. Artistic license? No, just Artistic Stupidity.

This is the original of what I tried to recapture.

I love snow at night. At least, if I don’t have to be out in it.

And of course

How can you live in New York City for twenty years, and not be affected by this.?

But, back to my little man. I ended up putting in a summer suburban setting. BTW, for those who might be interested, erasers don’t really erase colored pencil, but they do make highlights.

So, FWIW,

Here’s the sketch:

As you can tell, it could use some work. But do another small one? Or are big statement pieces?

Tune in again. Same Bat time, same Bat channel. And if you remember that, you’re old, like me.

I Can’t Get Over A Guy Like You

July 6, 2021 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

Well, my “Crow in Summer ” bombed. Sometimes that happens. No, actually that often happens. Sometimes, I can fix it. Sometimes, I can redo it. Sometimes, though, I don’t care of enough to do either. Like now.

So, that left me with the task of finding a new idea. Nothing came at me in a rush as sometimes, drawings do.

Like this one:

And this:

But not now, no. So my strategy is to go to my picture file, conveniently stored on my phone.

I used to store pictures on paper in an actual file. What a mess! Thank God for technology! At least, sometimes.

So, back to ideas, and the search for an idea…give you a glimpse of what I do when I’m really stuck.

I thought this was pretty, then I realized it was too sweet. Too Hallmark. It’s a pass.

What a great photo! Great subject, great composition. Too cute though, pass.

What I can’t see to get past is the drawing I showed you recently. This guy:

I just don’t want to do a New York city drawing anymore.

So maybe I can find a different background. Like, walking along this path?

Nah, been there, done that

Downtown Danbury?

Somehow, I can’t relate him to that either.

So, I hope soon to find a place for this man with something to walk towards.

Until then…

Something To Crow About

July 1, 2021 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

Although, I’m most fond of cats, as everyone knows, I also love crows.

Oops, sorry, my mistake, that’s not a crow.

Anyway, while I was browsing through Facebook, a suggestion for a group came up. It was about loving crows and their ilk.

Oh, no, that’s not a crow, either. I could redo it as a crow….but nah.

The group has a lot of crow art in it, as you might imagine. While I was posting my various crow pictures…….

I realize I’ve done only crows during the dark time of the year, autumn and winter. It’s summer now, I still see crows around, I don’t hear them, though. They’re also still beautiful. So, why have I not done a summer crow?

Here’s one last crow. It’s a notecard, and based in fall. I figure it would be good for a Halloween greeting.

I used to have a little poem of personal meaning I’d use when I was a teenager, first heading into New York City. It was:

The differences of, Pigeons and Doves.

I’ve updated the poem to:

Who knows? Between Ravens and Crows.

FWIW

MORE GREEN, PLEASe

June 10, 2021 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

What, might you ask, has the above man strolling down an urban street, have to do with green? Nothing, except, while I was drawing him, my day’s priorities took the sudden turn around. Sometimes, when that happens, that’s a bad sign. This time it is good.

How about this?

So, why, may you ask, and ask you may….what have these got to do with anything? I was contemplating doing a large drawing of the man in the street…..or one of this tree, cloud, jet trail composition. That’s when I got an email.

I had applied to be in a Pop Up show this month. Never heard back about it. I had pretty much given up on it, and was moving on.

The email was an invitation to join the pop-up next Friday, as in tomorrow. So, I set about quickly getting things together. I’m to be selling notecards and holiday cards.

I realized that almost all of the cards are winter themed. Damn! It’s June. I was figuring on selling them in coming winter. But this pop-up is too exciting.

So, quickly, I tried to get together as many sunny cards as possible. In fact, I redid the cloud, jet trail, tree composition as a notecard:

Then in taking the tape off of it, I managed to tear the paper on the card. Drat!

So, I did this:

And then……

And if I sell anything, that means a little more green in my life.

Anticipation

April 11, 2020 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

When last we saw our heroine, she was happily contemplating a new supply of art paper, and time to do work. But the paper wasn’t arriving.

Then it dawned on her. We’re in a pandemic, and art paper is not considered a necessity. So, disappointed, she went back to creating a handmade face mask.

That’s what’s going on. I ran out of small pieces of paper, and now I have zippo. The only thing to do, right now, is, damn, I don’t know what.

Just not artwork. Could be worse, I could be sick.

Above is the last little piece I drew, “New York Wildlife”. I was planning on doing a large one, but the the paper shortage came along.

Just thought I’d explain my abscense

Spruce

7 x 5 inch colored pencil drawing on paper. Matted to 10 x 8, with double mat for easy framing. No frame is included. Shipping is included to the USA.

$35.00

Can’t Complain

February 27, 2020 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

Wouldn’t help anything if I did…

So, as I pointed out, I’ve come to a milestone 10 years….I’m not running out of ideas for the blog, but no so much artwork.

Here’s a recap of the blog so far:
I’ve complained about how dreary winter is:

I’ve complained about Autumn being the entry to the cold, bleak winter:

I’ve complained about summer foliage being repetitive and boring to draw:

I’ve complained about missing the country while living in the city:

I’ve complained about missing the city while I live in the country

I’ve even had the nerve to complain about flowers and rainbows:

So, as you can tell, I’ve run out of things to complain about. Therefore, I can’t complain.

I’m going to concentrate of my artwork, until the desire to complain comes back….which could be next week, for all I know.

Until then, meow for now.

Come Bobbing Along, Already!

January 28, 2020 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

I have a friend who visits from Thailand every couple of years. He’ll be here in March, and I was starting to make plans……………and he said, “Well that’s two months away”. I really thought it was right around the corner. Thanks for nothing, James!

As I said last post, I was going to work on a spring picture, and that’s it, in the featured picture. Or at least the preliminary sketch of it. I may work on a large one, but I may change my mind about that.

There’s an old, dated, sexist saying “It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind”. Alright, sexist though it is, I’ll take it.

This was my old logo, Embracing My Inner Cat.

This is my current logo, Connecticut Fantasy.

But I’m thinking of changing back.

So, it turns out I have been accepted into the art show I applied for. You remember, I was going over the no’s and the maybe’s. So, on to the yes ones. You may see that I’ve changed my mind about some of the no’s.

Of course, I may add a few small ones to it. I’ll have to see the space, I will go after the meeting on February 20…or 21st, depending on the weather.

So, I’ve been changing my mind a lot lately, and will continue to do so…………

Nothing’s off the table!

Blackout !

July 14, 2019 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

“I’ve seen the lights go out on Broadway,

I’ve seen the Empire State laid low.” – Billy Joel

Right now, Rose Garden is going slowly. It’s through no fault of my own, but pet owners will understand. Pumpkin has taken up a new sleeping spot, right behind my easel. It’s a choice between letting Pumpkin sleep peacefully, or get artwork done. You can probably guess my priority.

So, I’ve been paying attention to the news. Along with Hurricane Barry, it seems that Manhattan has had another blackout. I’ve lived through a couple of those. Sure, there are big crises, there are also a lot of little crises. That’s part of living in a big city.

This is an ode to New Yorkers. They gang together during times of crisis, but most are not very friendly. I think it’s a matter of personal space. If I can’t have it in literal 3D dimensions, at least I can keep my emotions clear.

I can give examples of being pulled out of bad situations by strange New Yorkers, only to be met by gruffness afterwards.

So again begs the question ….did I do the right thing leaving NYC? I’ve come to the final conclusion, it just doesn’t matter. I am in Connecticut now, and unless I suddenly am flooded with wealth, I can go back to New York City. So, end of dilemma, I must make the most happy, successful life here.

So, here’s to old new beginnings:

It’s Raining In New York

May 19, 2018 roxannebaldwin Leave a comment

As well as raining here.

My friend just asked me the other day if I regretted moving from NYC to Connecticut. Truth is, I don’t. I think I already went into how I remember the romance and excitement of the City, but not the humdrum stress. Like the idea of New York City in the rain.

Of course, there are some things I miss and always will. For instance, the white cherry blossoms at the beginning of spring. The skyline at night:

In general, I miss a lot of the human made parts of the vista. Yes, I enjoy nature, but for art, it starts to lack an interesting focal point. Yeah, really.

So, in honor of the memory of what is not really New York, here are some ATCs I made while I was trying to think of a way to make money. Funny thing, I never did find out a way..

Roxanne Baldwin's Artsy Blog