Laurelines

My father

May 21, 1921- September 25, 2005

If there's a place our souls are called to when we die, he is there, with his wide-open and tender heart, making friends of all the heavenly host.

Mark this one off your list

There are many things to be concerned about in this world of ours, but I am happy to report that a dearth of peppers will not be among them---  not this year, at least. I speak, of course, for North America and I apologize for being continentocentric. One can only be on a single continent at a time.

Pictured here are pepper samples, culled from the local farmers' market.

Feel better? And to all you Other Continentals and Subcontinentals,  you need a pepper, you give me a call.

My lips are zipped: BCF # 8

On pain of death, I'm not allowed to divulge the identity of the man in the shower, but wasn't it convenient to find him there? Hey, this running water motif is getting interesting!

Wonder if Niff and Sutter have nudity in their Blind Contour Drawings for today?

Other participants are: Donna Darko , Karen’s Blog, Rachael Fowler, Callathump, Janey’s Journal, LilyPilydaze , Apple-Pine, Lindsay Olson, Monkey Paints, The Seeks, Koukla Carolyn, Wally Torta, June 25th, Kimlan Cornell, Learning Daily, Paula Becker, Craft Monkeys, Jim Jones, Common Forest, Draw Daily, Nelly Nortay, Michael Kozak

My Latest Self-Improvement Project

I've been inspired by the work of some of my artist buddies to get better at drawing architecture--they are SO good at it. Look:

Niff and Harry and Cindy and Chuck and Amanda and Wally. 

Of course, each has her/his own style of drawing. Their style and personalities really come through in these drawings. At the moment, my building drawings don't have a lot of personality, but I'm forging ahead. With time, they'll have the Laureline imprint as much as my figure, food, floral, face and assorted other pieces. I think.

The first two were done before dawn. I'm going to keep on with drawing in the pre-dawn--it makes the geometry of buildings   ---bathed in dark and light--- much more interesting for me to draw.  And, finally, here's a pen and inked building which is particularly bland. Still, I wanted to share it so I can document the progress of this, my Latest Self-Improvement Project!  (I've got lots more where that came from.)

Look what I found!

Ever on the lookout for ways to deal with my color project and not be bored (or boring), I unearthed an old Fabriano sketchbook with colored paper and some tubes of gouache and had fun painting two kinds of plums!  Neither is exactly purple, but blueish and reddish are on the road to purplish. I can't wait to do more with these materials!

PS I thought the plastic bags looked like gauzy ballgowns with plunging necklines. My husband was the stylist here. Must give credit where due.

In New York with an 8b pencil...

a block of Portofino 140lb hot press watercolor paper and trying to fit drawing in between seeing friends and going to art shows.

Airport and plane, flight to New York.

Drawing in the European sculpture court at the Metropolitan. The museum allows only pencil, charcoal, crayon for sketching--no ink or watercolors.

Brunch, Petrie Cafe, Metropolitan Museum.

Matisse-designed coat for the opera Le Rossignol. I was too busy looking at the other Matisse work to draw--and  being limited to pencil sketching was a dampener amid all that color.

Bust of a supercilious man, the Russian art show at the Guggenheim Museum.

In which we stop for a quick rest at Central Park before catching the plane home and I reluctantly decapitate one of the three bears. 

A Short and Happy Life---BCF # 7

The Three Ages of Oatmeal:

I have such fun with Niff's Blind Contour Fridays, even though I make an idiot of myself.

By the way, that small weird thing to the left of the coffee mug is a salt cellar. And, please, let us not discuss the exploding Half and Half carton, which is its neighbor.

For other, (and let us hope) saner, Blind Contour Friday participants, voila :
Donna Darko , Karen’s Blog, Rachael Fowler, Callathump, Janey’s Journal, LilyPilydaze , Apple-Pine, Lindsay Olson, Monkey Paints, The Seeks, Koukla Carolyn, Wally Torta, June 25th, Kimlan Cornell, Learning Daily, Paula Becker, Craft Monkeys, Jim Jones, and some new additions;

Common Forest, Draw Daily, Nelly Nortay, Michael Kozak

Purple via pen and washes

Here are nine purple things that I coralled last night. Lucky for me, they came without a struggle.

Pen was a Pigma Micron. Washes were washes.

Funnily enough, I looked at the drawing after I finished and thought "Oh, so that's how Florine Asch does it!" She's one of my favorite illustrators but I've never thought my style was remotely like hers--mainly because pens are what she usually draws with and she has a staccato line.  I now realize that some of that comes from the pen itself.

Sunflowers: brush and ink

  

Early morning, India ink, Chinese goat hair brush,  9" x 12" bristol board, sunflowers raining pollen in the studio, Chuck's cd on the cd player.

Mid-Salsa Report

As it was, I was late getting dinner ready last night.  Still, looking down at those nifty nectarines in the colander and the sprightly spring onions on the cutting board, I just had to stop and sketch. Poor, patient husband.  Art first, eat later.