Monday, September 28, 2015

Homework: Still Life Versions


Homework for class: Ink Drawing

I started with simple, tiny, (2" X 4"), 
02 Micron pen drawings  (below)

But afterwards, I couldn't resist 
making a color version. (above)
 I love the feel of the ink line, 
but one should not keep scribbling 
on one's little drawing because one will be left with:
Only a black surface.

So, I continued scratching & hatching 
on new versions.
(Above): minimal line.
I love it, but it takes restraint 
to not keep going. And, so it is in life. 
Learning to know when & how to stop,
or to move on to the next.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Why a Drawing Class?



 "Why would you take a drawing class
when you already know how to draw?" someone asked.

Because:

• In drawing one never stops progressing & learning.
• One learns from other students as well as a teacher.
• New energy & motivation.
• New exercises & materials = good bye comfort zone!
• Homework!
• Community of folks with similiar passions

The above drawing may appear to be similiar 
to many I've posted.

But:

It was re-drawn with my familiar ink 
from a fast, on-location pencil sketch
which was new & different.
I haven't used graphite in a long time. 
And I used a "WOODLESS PENCIL", 
introduced to us in class. Very dark, smooth, & rich! 

An in-class exercise also affected the way I'm drawing now: 
Drawing with our non-dominant hand! 
A wonderful way to loosen one's approach!
I HAD to do it when I had a wrist injury,
but the comfort zone made me abandon the practice 
when the wrist healed. 

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Illustrations: Library Kids' Stuff


This little guy bear has been coming with me 
to library story times for a long time.
We don't do that many, now that we are retired,
but we still do enjoy them.
This is an image I created for the children's page 
of the Scarborough Public Library, 
back in my days of being children's room library worker.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The Sight of the Stars

"For my part, I know nothing with any certainty.
But the sight of the stars makes me dream."
~Vincent Van Gogh

Last night I dreamed I was looking up at the stars 
 & remembering how I loved to do that in the past. 
These days I dream,
but I forget to go out to look at the sight of the stars.

From the Walking Bridge, these days, 
I watch loons, ducks, gulls, cormorants & seals. 
The Walking Bridge which goes over the Passy River 
where it runs into Belfast Harbor 
and then to Penobscot Bay 
 which opens out to the open sea.

From the Walking Bridge these early evenings, 
I am treated to the sight of curtains of rain 
falling from violet-gray dense clouds
10 miles out across the Bay, 
over the Castine Peninsula 
& beyond that Blue Hill.

Up close along the path to the Walking Bridge 
I am treated to sweet ferns dancing, 
inviting me to touch them
with their natural perfume.
These days wild flowers are shrivelling 
& displaying seeds with white feathery wings. 

These days, through the car windows 
on Maine road trips, 
I am treated to the sight of rolling hills 
& gold toned meadows,
distant hills, & apples sparkling on trees. 

I want last night's dream to come true,
to enjoy the these early autumn nights, 
as well as these amazing days.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Portland Cafés


So I moved from a city that I love to a small town that I love. I've been tuning into feelings of homesickness, lately, mal du pays, nostalgia, longing, in Polish its called tęsknota.There are concrete aspects of the city that I don't miss: pollution, traffic, low flying airplanes. But I miss some places terribly: the cafés for example. Some of them moved away as did I: Cambridge Café, Portland Coffee Roasting, and Mornings in Paris. Above is a scene from 2000 at the old Portland Coffee Roasting that was on Commercial Street. Cafés are for many people places for conversation, for me, they are most often a place where I love studying my French and, of course, sketching.