Night City

Life Drawing

I'm thinking about getting back into Life.  These are huge drawings from a long ago class.

I want to call this "The Egyptian."

Work in Progress

Casa Pool with Sea Lions - 10 min. sketch

At 7:30 this morning I was here for 15 minutes.  Sat on a wet bench. Then went to the dentist for an hour.  Guess where I had the most fun.

Sampans in Stormy Sea

Drawing - Day 3 & 4

 I think I did something right.  You should see the example in the book.  Assignment: Draw someone's hand in ink with a sharpened bamboo stick.  Again, let the blots and blobs become part of the drawing.

OK!

DAY 4 - Charcoal Portrait from TV (Weather Girl)

Day 2 Drawing

The assignment for Day 2 was to draw something with plants using a dip pen and ink working with various sizes of nibs, neverminding blobs and blots.  I took off on a black mask of my face from one of Ruth Dorn's workshops which is surrounded by ivy etc.  Brown ink, green watercolor crayons. (but I DO mind blobs and blots. Want to lighten areas that are too dark. How did the book know?)

A little retouching with iPhoto - Voila!  Better, or not?  I love this 'painted on an egg' effect.

One Drawing a Day

I got this book:  One Drawing a Day by Veronica Lawlor - Exploring Creativity with Illustration and Mixed Media.  The first day's assignment, yesterday, was to do a pen drawing of a still life anyplace in your home.  I did my messy coffee table on the spot without moving anything but my pen.  Then couldn't resist adding just a spit of color.  Then had to sit on my hands to keep from making it a coloring book page.  Red thing is ipad.  Black thing is Kindle.  The book says, "Don't judge", so we won't, right?

The Old Shoe and the Sea

This peculiar sketch of a La Jolla cliff with stairs, overlooking a disturbed ocean, looks like a giant shoe to me.  Ugly as all heck, so ugly it's cute, or at least funny...

Ephemera

Let's Play City

This was created by placing a piece of acetate over painted acrylic shapes and drawing (doodling) on it with washable markers.  It's fun! try it!  You can do it over and over again differently, but don't get too fond of anything.

Snow Deer

Effort at creating 'realistic abstract'.  Hmmmn.

The Heart of the Matter

to my Valentine:

Often flowers make me stay

by the way they hold their heads

at mid-day,

just like at night a gentle moon

calls me from my bed to sleep

less soon

by the way it's dressed, festooned

in clouds.

I cannot keep

These things I love, but they detain me.
I am bound

by the way my heart is tossed

and held aloft

while my quiet breath is lost, 

and found again.

By the way

 I love you

Art of the Sidewalk

Aerial Kiss

Pink Pods - Final Version

More Bayou Book

The following is on the inside of the back cover.  It refers to a bayou tale of the grand wedding of a rich planter's daughters.  The surrounding trees were festooned with spider webs and sprayed gold.

The Story (click to enlarge)

 

Tweet Street

Went sketching yesterday on 'Tweet Street' at 9th and Date, a lovely little neighborhood walkway I never knew was there, where people walk their dogs and listen to the birds.  Sweet!

Bayou Book

Click to enlarge for better views:

Here is the 'Altered Book' made as the result of a weekend workshop by Ruth Dorn, formerly known here as The Mask Lady/The Scarf Lady -  any class from her is time well spent.

Tentatively titled "Swamp Things", I folded, spindled and generally mutilated a book about the Bayous, adding birds, beasts, butterflies and orchids from other sources.  Oh, and a couple of insects.

Alligators, blackbirds and egrets, oh my! pop out of swampy pages.  I'm not finished yet. You may even see a mermaid or two.  I'm addicted.

This is one of my favorite pages.  Just happened to have the feathers!

Cover is painted metallic green.  

More to come.....