The beautiful 19th century porcelain toilet, richly decorated with botanical motifs, drew many drawers to it. In fact, the voluminous representations of “Nilius” at the post-draw lunch made the Urban Sketchers group wonder if we should all post only our toilet drawings to our local blog page. We weren’t sure what enticed us the most: […]
February
11
Loomis
posted by moonminded
The glamour of the ladies in Andrew Loomis’ book Drawing the Head & Hands makes me wonder how Mad Men ever ended up. I really enjoyed seasons 1-5, I think? Then I just – stopped. Still, I dig this book – one of six that I carted home from the library a few weeks […]
February
09
Form Light
posted by moonminded
Form light, and directional line shading were my goals here. The directional lines created an effect I’m not sure I like – like wood or muscle fiber. This page in my notebook took all five of my pre-work morning hours. Monday I did the thumbnails, and Tuesday the outline, which required, and I think […]
February
09
Line That Divides
posted by moonminded
This was preliminary homework for working with light and form. We were to trace over the line that divides light from dark on a few black and white photocopies of the lovely PDF photos from the site and color in the shadow shapes. I decided to use my much loved gel pens and then, […]
February
02
Here’s The Culprit
posted by moonminded
Actually, there were about four scale and proportion culprits. My favorite part was when he said “…then you lean back and you look at it and you go (pause) look at the size-a that foot!” I think he thought he was done, but as he walked through the steps he outlined, he had to circle that […]
January
31
Happy New Year
posted by moonminded
At Comicon last weekend several of us sketched the dragon boat that hangs in the convention center. I decided to “finish” it by Chinese New Year. “Finish” is still a little abstract for me. Especially in watercolor, my pictures look unfinished – floating apart or disconnected. My best drawing teacher ever shared a handstand metaphor useful in […]
January
29
Happy People Weekend
posted by moonminded
This was a happy people weekend. Urban Sketchers met at the Convention Center for Comicon and a Chocolate Fest running simultaneously. There is something magical (for real) when someone walks toward you in full costume regalia, you really appreciate the effort and commitment, give a huge smile that they unmistakably read as appreciation, and then […]
January
25
Grouchy Buddha
posted by moonminded
Last night at the harried free Friday museum crawl I got two quick sketches before leaving to catch a former colleague’s band at 8:00 – except that it’s at 8:00 today. The buddha cracks me up because the mouth is small and tight under the nose – as if he too can smell my last […]
January
24
A Sole’s Revenge
posted by moonminded
The last time I cooked tilapia in my small apartment, I was firm in my resolve to eat fish in restaurants. Yet, time passes, memories fade. The tilapia was bad, but this little bastard (only $2.95 -wild caught!) is violating every porous surface in my house. It won’t go away. I challenged it with slabs of slow-cooked bacon, […]
January
21
Long (right) Legged Lady
posted by moonminded
This is my first homework assignment that is for posting to the online critique gallery. In spite of all my usual proportion and scale issues, I feel good about this drawing. It’s the most complex drawing I’ve done. Usually when things aren’t working out because of a sorry foundation, and I’ve over-committed and don’t have […]
Paper Escape Pod 