Tuesday, July 24, 2018

no more excuses


I've been telling myself that I can't get any work done while the house was under construction because of the constant interruptions especially considering my work table was the staging area for tools and lists and miscellaneous things connected with the construction but that all ended last Friday. Attending to small details is now relegated to weekends and I spent the day Monday cleaning off my table and covering it with a fresh clean length of paper. Today I got out my sketchbook and a print of my next feather piece to get started on the line drawing that precedes the wax model making. Probably won't get out the model making tools til the end of the week.


The sketchbook is out because I intend to do a drawing a day just to warm up and get back in the habit of drawing, something I haven't done since our last etched glass job, well except for the December Sunday morning last year that I joined a life drawing opportunity at Archway, the artist owned gallery. I can't tell you how many years it's been since I participated in a life drawing class or how nervous I was when I first got there but after the first 10 minutes or so I relaxed and did some sketches that weren't terrible.


We won't do any mold making or casting til later as it is still blistering hot out


and in the shop and our one working kiln is still shoved in the corner of the garage surrounded by stuff and will stay that way until it cools down enough to get out there and empty and rearrange the garage.





22 comments:

  1. My god, your sketching is amazing!

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  2. I should have know that sketching requires muscle/eye practice. I just keep thinking your artists types have the ability to draw any thing at any time!

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    1. the hand follows the eye. you just have to trust it. and practice, practice, practice.

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  3. I have realized, when trying to draw something, that I have no idea how anything looks. None.
    This heat, Ellen! I have to go refill chicken waterers and water the porch plants and the thought makes me feel like death.

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    1. I had a fabulous, and very talented, drawing teacher. he not only taught us how to draw (there are rules!) but also how to see, or rather see what we are looking at.

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  4. LOVE your drawing skills, most important thing about drawing is to have no preconceived notion of how things are supposed to look, an unlearning...The toasted baby is hilarious- still pretty cool up here- I appreciate cool.

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    1. I just keep reminding myself that however my drawing might differ from what I am drawing, it is still possible for the thing to look like my drawing. does that make sense? also, I have an erasure. if I don't like a line, I erase it and draw it again.

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  5. When I was at the O'Keeffe exhibition, there was a 'drawing station' in the middle of the section devoted to still lifes. There were things that O'Keeffe might have sketched on a shelf: feathers, rocks, shells, and so on. Paper and pencils were provided, and everyone was invited to sit down, sketch one of the items, and then (if you wished) hang it on the wall for others to see. It was amazing how many sketches were quite good, and it was delightful to see the work the kids had done. I didn't give it a try, although I might have, had I not been with someone who clearly was impatient to just get through the exhibit, thank you very much. I suppose I could try drawing a rock here at home...

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    1. I would like to have seen that. coincidentally, the drawing I did today was a feather. too bad you were with someone who was impatient. the biggest obstacle, my drawing teacher told us, was being afraid to make a mark. that first few strokes. I'm not surprised that so many of the drawings were good. people tend to decide that they can draw well or not about 12. those that decide they can would have participated. those that decide they can't, wouldn't. it's hard to convince someone that they can when they have decided they can't.

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  6. I have two granddaughters that are artists and I have enjoyed seeing them grow up and grow in their talent. To create in any media is a gift that gives joy (and probably some angst) to those that do and those that see. The pieces that you have shown us, Ellen, are beautiful. You are very talented.

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    1. thanks. now if I could just convince people to buy my stuff.

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  7. Drawing is so much at the heart isn't it - I've gone through bursts of a drawing a day, and it is surprising how quickly things improve - pencil fluency. You remind me to get back to it! And also, as you say it is 'seeing what you are looking at' that needs the most practice I find.

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    1. I used to enjoy drawing until I did it for a living. well, I still enjoyed it but I stopped drawing for pleasure. hoping to resurrect that.

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  8. Oh, and good luck in the garage in due course.

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  9. Great sketching. How you can be creative in this heat, I don't know.

    I think we are getting close to your temps here, it's 100 F/38 C and not even midday. Time to move into the basement.

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  10. Well, yay! Being a new reader and having very carefully and thoroughly combed through the photographs of your work, I cannot wait to see the process!

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    1. don't hold your breath. it takes me forever to complete a piece.

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  11. Those sketches are great! Far better than I could do, at any rate.

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  12. I love seeing all the myriad ways you're creative. It gives me hope for the future, for some reason.

    I used to wish I could draw, but I really lack the patience & persistence. I might have been decent at it or I might have really sucked, but I won't know because I would never really try to learn. I guess I could start now, couldn't I? Just as soon as I finish crocheting. Ha!

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    1. never too late to learn. it helps not to be afraid of the material. pencil and paper isn't much different than crochet hook and yarn.

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