Scrambling to capture a three second pose.

 I am in awe of people who can take charcoal in hand and zip, flick, swish, three strokes and they've captured the human figure. During a recent figure drawing class I struggled to loosen up. Poses were held for three seconds, so there wasn't much choice! The teacher, witnessing my struggles, instructed me to use the side of my charcoal to blacken the entire paper. Then using just the eraser, I was told to 'find' the highlights. This was a fun exercise. Instead of defining the figure with line, I was freed to see the form. I'm excited to try this approach with my own students next term.

Drawing with eraser.

Self-Portrait

In this self-portrait my grim expression reminds me of old photographs in which the subjects, stiff and formal, appear to glare, lips pursed in anger, at the camera. Rather than capturing ill humor these photos reveal the discomfort and effort exerted to hold a pose for the duration of the long exposure time needed to record the image. That's pretty much my experience trying to draw my reflection in a mirror and hold a pose simultaneously!

Cheating?

My students sometimes ask if they can print out a picture of something they are trying to draw or paint. I usually let them. This is useful for reference.
Sometimes, a clever student will come up with the idea to hold their paper and picture up to the window and trace.Once in awhile a student will just cut to the chase, grab some scissors and paste the element right into their art work. Inevitably another student will cry "cheating."
But is it? I really think it depends on the artist's goals and the purpose for the project.
So, I made this pen and ink watercolor painting for a friend for Christmas and I cheated. In my practice sketches I was really struggling to get the roof angles correct. I was working from a photograph so I just printed out a couple in the size I wanted for my final painting. I cut the houses out of the background and traced the roof lines. Because my goal in this painting was to record a specific house, I wanted to be fairly accurate. In a different painting I might be more loose and less concerned with precise lines and angles. I hope my friend will forgive me for cheating!

Time Out/Time In

I took some time out, or maybe it was time IN. After months of planning and mountains of paperwork, I said goodbye to my students this fall and headed to China to add a child to our family. It was and continues to be an incredible adventure. Peaks and valleys. Luckily, my bag is weighty with tissues and treats, bandaids and bananas and the perfect portable paint and sketch kit put together by my wonderful mother.

visit Mom's site for pen and ink painting
 tips and techniques.

A second only to Hermione's bottomless bag!

My fave hoodie left behind somewhere in Guangzou

A Canal view in Suzhou

Colonial remnants in a Nanjing Garden