Friday, March 23, 2012

EDM: Drawing whatever's there

Sunny day, sitting on the patio idly wondering what to draw, and realized no need to look, there are subjects all over the place.

So I turned a quarter turn toward the wild cherry tree planted long ago against the fence by birds, and drew part of the trunk, with the armature wire I curved around it years ago, to the birds' delight, in an outdoor sculpture.



The net thing is another sculpture, knitted from heavy twine, and the object of a lot of attention from squirrels tearing at it in case it's good to eat, wrens swiping bits for their nests, and general vandalism of that kind, which have all reduced it to an interesting relic of its former self, interesting to draw.

And the S hooks were originally for hanging plants on the patio, from the tree in summer, but were so popular with the birds who used them as a playgym, that I have just left them out there all year round.

Usual pen, I must find water soluble Pilot pens, if they still make them, great for ink and wash, and Caran d'Ache crayons used as a wash here and there.



In fact the stone jug was originally painted as a wash, using my trusty sponge brush (so long since I used my official Brushes) then I drew on top of the suggestions of shapes.

The stoneware jug is another year round feature, better than a stone gnome, anyway!

This particular drawing book is a real challenge for me, since the pages are square. I really don't like working in the square -- too blocky and unyielding, much prefer a golden rectangle or at least a rectangle -- but I figured why not at least give it a try, and make allowances for the shape of the page in relation to the proportions in the drawings. Jury's still out on this.

10 comments:

  1. The jury has come to a verdict on the art, if not the square pages, and it's pretty darned good.

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  2. So arty - you have a real style on display here. You have a good eye for interesting design, and I like the loose flowing ink and the scattered lines.

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  3. I'm amazed at how you can convey the subject with so few lines. Wonderful work!

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  4. They do sell water soluble ink markers in the Dollar Store - I bought some by mistake so I know!

    The birch tree and encirclements is lovely.

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  5. Lovely sketch. I really like the flowing ink around the twine. I'll bet the birds do really like this sculpture.

    xoxo

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  6. Beautiful sketch. that tree must be lovely to look at all year round.

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  7. Oh my...what beautiful artwork you have here. I really enjoyed this post and your writings about it! But your embroidered hand-dyed silk works are exquisite! Lovely to "meet" you on the web!

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  8. The tree in itself is a work of art, but I like how sketched it with soft lines.

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  9. great sketches, love the bleeding ink.

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  10. Excellent use of the water-soluble markers! Love the pages, though it is hard to tell from here about the composition since it shows as a rectangle. I've had various sketchbooks of different shapes and very often find myself fighting the edges of the page.

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Thank you so much for commenting! it means a lot to me to know you're out there and reading and enjoying.