Learning to draw, Chapter Eighteen

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When drawing a portrait, the most important part is the eyes. If the person isn’t recognizable from the eyes, there is more work to be done. John Singer Sargent was probably the best portrait artist from the USA (turn of the last century). He said “A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth”.  Apparently, one can have the mouth a little bit off, but my experience is that the eyes must be accurate. Then, if your subject is eating watermelon, the rest is a cake walk! (sorry – i think it is dinnertime at the time of this writing)

Learning to draw, Chapter Seventeen

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Ricky is new to drawing lessons, but not to drawing. He listens very carefully and then follows instructions as if he has been waiting for this information his entire life. I can teach anyone who can listen! It usually takes about 3 months of lessons (one hour a week) for the new student to start “getting it”.  The only people who don’t learn to draw from me were the ones who quit too soon.

Lupine

A nice lady (with great taste) bought a poppy painting during the Studio Tour. She requested a lupine painting to go with it. Here you go, Connie! (see you at the Redbud Festival and I promise not to sell it to anyone else first)

 

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Peculiar sights #4

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One day while walking, instead of looking out for that yappy squalling ankle-biter named Miles, I looked up. What a nice surprise!

Peculiar sights #3

As I walk around in Three Rivers in preparation for April 25, this sight never fails to amuse me:

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In case you can’t tell, the upper mailbox says “WHITE”. Because you now know I am a color junkie, listen to this: there are people with the last name of Gray and people with the last name of Brown and a guy with the last name of Green too! And, the people named White got together with the people named Brown and formed a company called “Beige”. (I’m not making this up!) On the subject of first names, there is a man who goes by “Red” (not all that uncommon), I had a drawing student named “Teal” AND I have a cousin named Pink (somewhere in North Carolina). As you can see, I have lots of thinking time on these training walks.

Peculiar sights #2

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This is an undoctored photo of a daffodil. In my regular walking route in Three Rivers, I encounter a yard with several of these. Really! I used to think all daffodils were yellow – many different shades and combinations, but always yellow. Guess I was wrong!

Peculiar sights in Three Rivers

I may have mentioned that I walk a lot. April 25 is coming, and my friend Nancy and I plan to walk 21 miles in Monterey.   Nancy and I get together just once a week for our long training walks, so during the week we are walking alone. My walks are usually in Three Rivers. This provides a great deal of time to look at one’s surroundings, think, pray, mumble to oneself about how long it takes, use a borrowed iPod, plan blog posts, fret over the amount of work one isn’t doing while walking. . . a person could stay very busy while walking! Here is something that struck me this week – there are a number of peculiar items on one of my regular routes. Let’s start with Ruby:

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Ruby is a boxer with a leopard spotted couch, complete with an awning for shade. This couch is parked directly along-side the road, and Ruby watches people go by. I make a point of greeting and petting her.  If I happen to be wearing shorts, she will get up and lick my knees. Now, that is peculiar!

Learning to draw, Chapter Sixteen

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If you have been following my blog entries on Learning to Draw, you may have noticed a few tools in the photos. When I was a student of architectural drafting, I discovered 2 indispensable tools – a drafting brush and an erasing shield. When you erase, crumbs are created. (duh!) If you brush them away with your hand, you WILL smear the drawing. If you blow, you might spit. (As we say in Drawing Lessons, “Spit happens!”) Only has to happen once to your drawing to teach you an unforgettable lesson about using the drafting brush.  The erasing shield looks like a tiny thin metal template. It is, sort of, but instead of tracing the shapes, it allows you to isolate the parts that you don’t want and erase them. When the corners are worn off of your eraser, the erasing shield prevents wiping out large areas by accident. Tools – we all need them!  p.s. See a corner of the triangle? OF COURSE I use a straight edge! How else can I draw perfectly straight lines??  Cheating? Not!

Learning to draw, Chapter Fifteen

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Ever think about drawing a bird’s nest? Olivia found a nest full of eggs and took multiple photos. Did you know that blue jays lay bluish-green eggs? I learn so much from my students! Her plan is graphite on the nest and colored pencil on the eggs. When drawing a complicated and repetitive subject, block out all but the section on which you are working. Post-it notes are perfect for this.

Learning to draw, Chapter Fourteen

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Drawing buildings is the first thing I did in my career. Cabins, specifically. (“cabinart”, anyone?) These are not difficult for me, but many of my students would rather do anything else, even faces! Wendy is up for any challenge on a piece of paper – here is her beginnings of the Presbyterian Church in Three Rivers, a beautiful structure in a beautiful setting. The most important things to know in rendering buildings accurately are these: 1. vertical is ALWAYS vertical – it is the horizontal lines that do the slant tricks and 2.  it is okay to use a straight edge to make straight edge.