Tag Archives: portraits

Comfort and Solace

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Since I’ve been ignoring this blog for too long I’ve started clearing out a bunch of half-done and currently irrelevant blog posts. This one was saved because it shows how I work out the stressful times like I had late last summer.

I go basic. Pen and ink and my journal.

I had to refresh my memory by revisiting that journal but it’s clear now. I drew this at the end of a long day in the midst of a long month of long days.

Fortunately, things have gotten better or maybe it’s just that I’ve gotten better at handling the stressful times but I’m going to continue to carve out time for pen and ink drawings. They are my comfort and solace.

Portrait of Megan Semple from Museum by Sktchy…De Atramentis Document Black ink on Strathmore 500 Mixed Media paper.

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

— George Bernard Shaw

She’s Really Not Looking at Me

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I’m drawing & painting from a photo posted all over the internet. Credit goes to Win McNamee/Getty Images. Ms. Cheney is not looking at the camera but try as I might, I just cannot paint her eyes to show how she’s looking straight ahead to the video setup. I must have painted & blotted three or four times. Finally, I just have to accept it.

“Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”
—- Liz Cheney
09 June 2022

Meditation – 23 July 2021 – I Worried

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I Worried
by Mary Oliver

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?

Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.

The Eyes Have It

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These eyes are from the final image… notice the more rounded iris on the left… still a bit cross-eyed… but nowhere near as bad as in my first draft.

Over the summer I painted this fella from a photo in the Sktchy app on my phone. First I drew in a rough sketch in pencil and then painted a light base layer.

I’m using an Arteza Watercolor Journal – 9 in. X 12 in. This paper sucks up paint and I knew I needed layers to get the desired contrast and vibrancy.

Better. I even thought I was done. But no. I’m sure you can see it too… there’s something wrong with the eye on the left. His eyes aren’t tracking correctly… he’s cross-eyed in my journal but not in his photo. (I’m sorry I can’t show you the photo but he owns the copyright and I don’t have permission to post it. You can see it linked to my work in Sktchy.)

Anyway… it sat on my desk for months before I attempted the fix. It’s subtle, but I rounded the iris on the left hoping to separate the two irises and correct his focus. It seems to have helped… sort of… not entirely, but it’s time to move on, turn the page and select another victim.

Life Drawing Symposium: Mini-Version

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Last weekend I planned to be in White Plains, New York for Veronica Lawlor and Melanie Reim’s three day Life Drawing Symposium, but the COVID-19 pandemic had other ideas. After nearly a year of expectation I was bummed even though the cancellation was inevitable. But Melanie and Ronnie came up with a delightful back up plan… they presented a Mini Life Drawing Symposium on Zoom!

I’m no expert but this was the best Zoom meeting I’ve ever had. The lessons and their timing were well planned with no wasted time. The morning session’s focus was on thumbnails and composition while the afternoon session was all about hands and portraits with expression.

Lori Hammel was the model-actor we had for the afternoon session and she was very expressive as we had a minute or so to capture her emotions on paper.

Thank you Ronnie and Melanie… you’re both wonderful teachers and having this chance to experience your lessons has only strengthened my resolve to take the next in-person symposium. Fingers crossed for June 2021!

Art as a Coping Mechanism

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The Coronavirus pandemic has all the world’s inhabitants on edge, including me.

As we search for ways to cope some people turn to information gathering, some turn to science and others to their faith. Some, like me, turn to all of these and run it through the “art filter” in our brains.

This information goes into my addled brain, swirls around as I try to make sense of it, and then comes out through my hand onto my journal pages. Often it’s still an entry of jumbled thoughts, but I’m comforted by the act. It’s one small way I can adapt… an arrow in my quiver of coping mechanisms.

As I wrote on my March 16th journal spread, “The only thing constant is change.”

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(My take on Edvard Munch’s The Scream, and two Sktchy portraits in a Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketch Book – A5 portrait) (some text obscured for privacy.)

Panera People Portraits

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Not only is Panera a great place to meet friends for lunch but there are always plenty of interesting victims subjects to sketch. I had a great time catching up on everyone’s comings and goings as I practiced with my Sailor Profit fude nib pen.

I also tried out a new charcoal pencil that works like the old style peel-away China markers. You can see that image in the top left of the next image. I usually don’t like working with charcoal or even graphite in my sketchbook as it smears too much but I couldn’t wait to give it a go.

I’ll think I’ll save the charcoal for life drawing and keep on working with ink and watercolor in my sketchbook. Both the paper and my hands stay cleaner that way.