Thankfully, this drawing assignment only had three sections - otherwise, I would have to go buy things to draw, which strikes me as slightly ridiculous.
More from J. - an essential oil diffuser on the left, a candle holder on the right, and in the middle - miniature bagpipes.
This exercise works better with things people are actually used to seeing.
As mentioned in the previous posting - I seem to have a shortage of irregularly shaped objects. I never really thought of myself as... symmetrical... before. But objects don't lie - I had to borrow stuff from J. to create the next two series of illustrations.
This one starts off with a stuffed bagpipe player (a gift to J. from my Aunt), and a silver deer (another gift, from his friend R.) And the strange triangle shape in the middle?
A baseball glove.
What, you couldn't tell?
Oh, and the deer's head hasn't exploded - he's wearing a large evergreen wreath.
Perhaps I need to find some things that are a bit LESS irregular.
I'll see what else J. has. Apparently all I have are books, and that's a completely different drawing exercise.
So, continuing on with the exercises from the Brian Curtis book - this one was to draw a lineup of objects "with distinct and irregular shapes, such as toys, plants, lamps".
It's been a while since I played around with silhouettes, and this was kind of fun - I went back over the drawing (originally done in newsprint ) in Photoshop to turn it into something that was truly black and white.
From left to right - a carved giraffe from Uganda, a red velvet Buddha bank (which I've drawn before), "Spike" the mascot of the Guelph Storm hockey team (the only mascot in the OHL with dreads!), an oil lamp that I've also drawn before, and another table lamp.
The reason I'm redrawing stuff? Apparently, I have very few "irregularly shaped" objects.
And I have two more set-ups to go... eeek.
I'm continuing with the exercises from Brian Curtis's book "Drawing from Observation" - this one is part of the exercise in drawing cubes in perspective.
And what kinds of cubes do I have? Books, of course!
The book set in the middle is a dictionary/thesaurus combo that was left behind by a departing co-worker (I guess they didn't need... ummm... words... at their new job). The other boxed set is my well worn hard cover copy of "The Lord of the Rings". And in the bottom left, (picked up at The Strand Book Store in NYC for 48 cents) "Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases" by (compiled by?) Grenville Kleiser, published in 1917.
Yes, it's 15,000 different phases that one may or may not find useful, broken into several categories:
Useful Phrases - "declamatory treatment", "legendary associations", "vacillating obedience"
Significant Phrases - "transfuse and irradiate" (how often is that likely to come up? Particularly in 1917?)
Felicitous Phrases: "urgent, tumultuous, and incomprehensible" (like many of these phrases)
Impressive Phrases:"fop, coxcomb, puppy, and jackanapes" (or, if you're txting, FCPJ.)
Business Phrases: "we have not had the pleasure of placing your name on our ledgers" (I still haven't figured out if that's a good thing or not...).
Literary Expressions: "a broad, complacent, admiring imbecility breathed from his nose and lips" (file under "insults unlikely to be understood by the insultee)
Conversational Phrases "Do not the circumstances justify it?" (it's difficult to imagine any circumstances justifying the phrases in this book)
Public-Speaking Phrases: "it is needless before this audience to repeat" (which undoubtably preceded an 40 minute repetition).
and the ever-popular :
Miscellaneous Phrases: "marvelous copiousness of illustration" (which you could certainly accuse this list of being).
I'll bet William Strunk HATED this book.
But I can still draw coffee cups. These are a few of our wildly eclectic collection.
Yes, I'm going with "eclectic", not "mismatched".
Done on 18 x 24 newsprint with an 8b pencil - part of an ongoing series of exercises from the book "Drawing From Observation" by Brian Curtis.
You be seeing more of these both here and on my web site: www.susanadsett.com
Although obviously very distracted. I blame the owls. I'm still drawing them - and I have a new, secret evil plan for them as well. Watch this space for more details.
Ok, not THIS space. The blog is general. You know what I mean. Oh, sign up for the RSS feed already - the button is on the side. If you have a problem, let me know!
owl. I've been on a real owl kick recently - I've been drawing all sorts in my sketchbook, so I thought I'd add to the fun here. This may be the first stuff animal I ever made. He's a bit lumpy, and the eyes are crooked.
I think I had a pair of pants made out of the same material.
Nothing says the 70's like gaudy crimplene.
I picked him up in a little pawn shop on Queen Street east - 5 bucks. He's sort of a good luck charm.
OK - it's a whisk. I love him because his whisk-ee parts are flat and he stands up in the pot instead of flopping over to one side, falling out, dropping on the floor and getting cheese sauce everywhere (that would be the voice of experience...).
Anyway, I mostly use him (why are all my kitchen utensils male? Do I even WANT to know the answer to that question?) to make cheese sauce for J.'s favorite - macaroni and cheese. Do you want the recipe? Of course you do!!!
Start by boiling a big pot of water and tossing in a cup (or two) or macaroni. Let it cook while you make the cheese sauce.
Take some butter - about a spoonful. A big spoonful. Melt it on fairly high heat (but not too high, or you'll scorch it). Add an equal amount of flour. Whisk for a minute or so. Turn down the heat a bit so you don't burn it. Keep whisking while you add enough milk. Maybe a cup. Or two. Depends on how much butter you started with.
Grate up some cheese. I use the old nippy that comes in a plastic tub and a bit of old cheddar. You'll need enough to make the sauce cheesy - whisk it in, if it's not enough, add some more. Too much is better than not enough.
Whisk until the sauce is... sauce-like. Whatever that is for you. Turn it off and let it sit while you drain the macaroni and dump it in an oven safe dish. Add enough sauce to make a soupy mixture, and top with a half and half mixture of bread crumbs and old cheddar. Put in a 350 oven and bake until the top bubbles or your sweetie comes home from work - whichever is longer.
OK, so I'm not Martha (I'm not even "Not Martha" who is much funnier). Whatever.
J. likes it, so it's all good.
100 posts in a year! Just over 2 per week (yes, I know sometimes it seemed like WAYYYYY longer than that... hush.)
AND - this bear painting was accepted in to the Art Gallery of Peel's Juried Show taking place between April 8 and May 17 in Brampton - my very first gallery showing!
So let's celebrate! Leave me a note in the comments - the first 10 will get a signed 5x8 print of "A (small) Bear Thinking Big Thoughts" via snail mail.
xoxo Susan
(if I don't have your snail mail address - contact me through my brand-new web site: www.susanadsett.com)
Ok, he's not IN my closet - he's beside it - and I've been trying to paint him all month. With varying degrees of success. The first attempt was in charcoal, which caused some rather sever smearing proble
ms:
I was bugged by the background - I took it out. With sandpaper.
Much better. Will try to finish it up tomorrow.
I seem to be having an awfully hard time with this one. I think part of the problem is that it's such an ad-hoc set-up - I have to invent so many details and I get kinda lost.
Anyway, I have to finish it this weekend.
I can't get into my closet.
Here we are, re-compositioned (somehow I doubt that's a word).
Anyway.
Much better, even though it's obviously still in early stages. And there's no red in the painting yet - just in the picture.
I desperately need to repaint my studio.
I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the bear (except for the fact he's unfinished). I kept adjusting the colors... I was sure the proportions were right - everything just kept getting murkier and murkier - and then it hit me - it's composition problem. The scribble at the right is a much better layout.
Which means I have to start ALL OVER AGAIN.
I'm going to go have a chai latte to make myself feel better. I don't care how late it is.
whoo-hoo! This picture is a little dark, but pretty close - and a lot more accurate than the one I took with my camera phone. Doubleclick the picture to get a larger view.
I'm really pleased with this one. I guess it pays to take my time with things.
Why do I have the funny feeling my mother is laughing at me?
it's a work in progress - it will probably take me the rest of the week to finish it off - but it's a good start.
And I wouldn't want you to wait an entire week for a new post, now would I?
Now go think up a clever name for these "object portraits".
Yes, that means you.
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