I’ve dropped a hint or two about a lot of drawings coming up soon. Here is another little preview, but I’m not ready to disclose any details yet. This is for 2 reasons: 1. The details are a little squishy and 2. If I think about it too much, I will have to go lie down from overwhelmment. Nice word, don’t you think?
This is what drawing student Gerald said to me when he finished his drawing. “Spray?”, you are asking, even as you read this. (Yes, I can hear you.)
Spray fixative is one method of preventing the finished drawing from smearing. Framing is another; workable fixative is a third. I’ve been told it adds “tooth” (that means texture in Artspeak) to the paper. It didn’t, but that’s another story for another time.
Early in my art career, drawing people’s cabins and houses was my main activity. One time, I finished a commissioned drawing of a lovely old home, grabbed my trusty can of spray fixative left over from some college art class and proceeded to ruin the drawing. It left little waxy spots all over the paper. They scratched off with my fingernail, and I learned a Big Fat Lesson: do a test spray on something else first.
Because of that unfortunate incident, I went off spray. Completely, cold turkey, no tapering down, no patch, just Q U I T. Go ahead and call me a quitter – I can take it. (I’m a loser too, in the true sense of the word. But I digress.)
A few years later I met a pencil artist who charged huge amounts of money for her drawings, used a wide range of pencils, and sprayed with Blair No Odor Fixative. I began using a wider range of pencils (see The Rules for further explanation) and the fixative. My prices stayed the same.
“No odor” was a lie – it stunk. I think the manufacturer meant “this smells like you can get high but don’t waste your time”, but “no odor” took up less space on the label. After several years of learning to depend on this marvelous stuff that prevented my drawings from smearing despite pulling them in and out of various envelopes, folders and picture frames, the magic spray was discontinued.
I hoarded 6 cans, and today I used the last spray from my last can.
There are other brands, other types, maybe even a Blair substitute. Ick, shopping. Add it to The List. Meanwhile, I’ll just be careful with my drawings as I complete them. There will be many. I’m not ready to tell you why just yet.
Let us spray.
Honeymoon Cabin, pencil, 11×14, unframed, $300
A few years ago I took 1/2 a semester of oil painting at a local junior college. I learned more about painting from only the primary colors, and I learned about layering (called “glazing” in Artspeak). I learned that I need more light to see than a 19 year old, that just because a class is labeled something (“Photorealism”) doesn’t mean it is that class (it was Studio painting), that I have very little tolerance for rap “music” (rhythmic and profane chanting would be a more accurate term for it), and that the teacher was still trying to “stick it to The Man”. Hunh? He also had very little tolerance for my ilk – a wannabe without a Master’s of Fine Arts posing as an artist and an art teacher.
That’s me – a poser of the first degree! Gotta have a degree in something to teach, I suppose.
So, Mr. Stick-It-To-The-Man, why are you bitterly and loudly complaining about working at a junior college while I am making and selling art? Hmmmm???
In addition, I learned that there is a real contempt out there for those of us who chose to paint from photos. One of the most influential painters and writers in my so-called art career is Jack White, and he says “All realistic artists either work from photos or they lie about it.”
I do teach people how to draw and they learn and they love it. The only ones who don’t learn are the ones who quit too soon!
I quit the painting class. But, I continue to paint, to learn more about painting by reading and practicing, and I sell lots of paintings. Take that, Mr. Stick-it-to-the-man!
But I’m not bitter. 😎
I believe strongly and whole-heartedly that drawing well is the basis for painting well.
Look at this – Shereen learned to draw!
In 1906 the Smith Hotel collapsed. That was in Mineral King, and it was the San Francisco earthquake that caused its demise. Those Mineral King pioneers weren’t easily daunted – instead of wringing their hands in defeat, they pushed together the pieces and created the Mineral King Store and Post Office.
1969 was a heavy heavy winter, and the Store and Post Office collapsed under all the snow. Then, the Walt Disney Corporation burned the rest. (They weren’t hardy like the earlier pioneering types.) Now, all that remains is photographs, paintings and drawings.
One of them is on the wall of my giant Mineral King mural in Exeter.
Another was drawn by me back in the previous century.
This week, I finished a redo. Oh my. This is called growth. GROWTH!
This is a commissioned piece for someone who saw the old version hanging in my cabin and wanted her own. I was more than pleased to re-draw it – my eagerness could almost be classified as giddiness.
Those old drawings are embarrassing to me. And you are probably asking yourself why I am showing them if they are such a problem. . . good question. It is because humility is good. Because I teach drawing, it is good for my students to see my growth. Even if you don’t take lessons from me, you might find it interesting.
Jacob Currie. Or Curry. Spelling wasn’t that important to Irish folks in 1905.
All that remains is gorse, in color. “Gorse?” you ask. “Of course”, I reply. Or is that “Of corse”?
This is St. Patrick. Or, more accurately, this is a statue of St. Patrick.
This is a statue of St. Patrick with a bit of a glow, the outlines of gorse, and the outline of a headstone where the man who was born in the cottage was buried.
Weird color – working late makes for some odd photography.
Same cottage, gable end.
Sometimes, I impress myself! Of course, the magnifying light is my Best Friend.
Ever notice the word “collage” is the word “cottage” minus the t-crossing? I confused myself with my sloppy handwriting and couldn’t figure out what my notes meant – collage drawing or cottage drawing! Here is the Cottage Collage for Mrs. Bob in its current state of development:
And, for the sake of Mr. Google, this is a California artist’s report on a pencil drawing, a commission pencil drawing of several Irish scenes. Instead of being politically correct, I am trying to be technologically correct.
Remember I posted about entering a competition – juried and judged art show in Wisconsin? My 2 pieces are now in the show. They did not place, but they were juried in and look great on the site! This is the piece that is in the exhibit book but not in the show (go figure. . .)! The show is The Richeson 75, and as a California artist, I am quite pleased to be showing off the beauty of our state in Wisconsin.
