Boud takes an art expedition

The expedition was partly to get the thyme and oregano I forgot when I was last at the nursery, partly to find a place for a bit of plein air drawing, or at least looking. I took pix. Click to see them better.

It was too hot to sit, and not conducive since they were busy doing business.  But it was so full of life and color you just wanted to gaze and gaze.

I admired the artwork on this lady, who moved so elegantly -- see the graceful way she's holding that plant to study it -- that she really could wear tats, and I then went off to the nearby county park in search of a bench and a bit of shade, maybe by the water.  And found half a dozen big events going, crowds, not right for my purposes.

So I ended up back home on the patio, using that as a plein air venue!  drawing and looking. This was one of those art dates that Julia Cameron talks about in her book , The Artist's Way. I've been doing this all my life, quietly, not mentioning it, and was amused to see that she has a name for it, and suggestions for how to go about it.   Nice to share the idea.  Not much drawing today, just a simple contour study of the basil plant.  

It's the looking that matters. Once you draw an object as intensely as this, watching the thing more than your pen, you remember it forever.  It's the experience of really seeing just for a little while.  It takes massive energy to do this, which is why you can't do it for long, and one drawing was about as much as I could handle at this sitting.

It's also a great pleasure of the summer, to be out in the late afternoon early evening when the shadows are interesting, to draw whatever's there. I recommend it!

I was using a fine point Pilot pen, black, on a moderately heavyweight journal paper.  I also took out a few little sheets of watercolor paper, which I tore to give them deckled edges, and will probably use one of these days.