Moving From Reality to Whimsy

If you've followed my blog, you know that I love to create faces.

I start with an oval or squarish shape and draw, erase, draw, erase, etc,

until I'm satisfied with the outcome. I let the personality and details emerge as they will

and look at the drawing upside down or in a mirror to see if anything is grossly uneven.

And usually I'll let a day or two go by before looking at it again, at which time I can see

more clearly what I want to add, subtract or correct. It's a process!

I apologize for such murky photos, which I edited as best I could, but it is a cloudy day!

I made this sketch recently and finished it today. No one in particular, just an earnest looking girl...

Then I decided to get whimsical and went for a more illustrative look. I like 

this look because it's less serious and I can see her surrounded by flowers and butterflies.

Next I went on to a look I've been playing with lately - this lady has a longer face and

 eyes that reming me of those in paintings by the artist Modigliani. I can see her and her

children in a storybook! 

Here are some of their neighbors - they look like gentle people, don't they?

And all of these remind me of this lady, whom I created a while ago, as well as of my daughter Kate's face, as she is always in the back of my mind!

I think I'm on to something I like! What do you think?

Meanwhile I've been working on a few pictures for our Arts Collaborative's 

Fall show this Thursday night. I'll share them with you soon!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Sketching and Printing

Hello friends,

 Life has been pretty full and busy around here lately, 

and I wanted to share some art related things that I've been up to with you.

I think I mentioned that I was going to take a class called "Love Your Sketchbook".

and the first step was to gather supplies. I found a sketchbook I had started in 2003, 

with only about 4 pages used, so I'm going with that. All I really needed to buy was 

a small box of pastels.

 Rosie, of course,  just had to investigate!

The first class was a combination of very quiet moments while everyone concentrated

 on their drawings, and very loud laughter as we shared comments and stories.

Our instructor is Amy Ropple, who taught the quilt collage class I recently took.

Amy brought Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts for us to sketch first. I call mine a 

'munchkin pancake', since it looks pretty flat!

 Then I sketched a bird from a photo I had brought.

One part of our "homework" was to sketch something realistic, so, while spending some time at my friend Andrea's studio, I worked on a rendering of a pair of antique children's shoes which belong to Andrea. They were so sweet and worn, I had a real feeling for them as I drew in the afternoon sun.

                                  

And, while I was there, Andrea demonstrated how to use my brand new, untouched Gelli Plate, which has been in its original container for over a year!! I'm not one to venture into new things without a boost from someone!! Here is the gelatin plate after a bit of experimenting. (It's on a painted piece of cardboard.)

Here are some prints I made, using leaves, sequin waste and cut paper shapes.

Thank you for the lesson, Andrea!!

                         

Other than that, it has been a bit dreary and frigid here, so I was happy to see this pretty yellow primrose plant in the supermarket the other day and had to bring it home.

Yellow always makes me smile!

And Rosie definitely makes me smile with her antics!

Lacking a box to sit in, she nestled into my mum's needlepoint frame

which happened to be on a bed!

Love her pretty, serene green eyes!

I've been making the rounds of everyone's blogs and can see that we are all dealing with winter as best we can, close to home and far away. I hope that this is the beginning of a happy and satisfying week for everyone who reads this!

Happy Monday!!

AEDM Day 27

Yesterday we went on a longish ride for a wonderful visit with family. While Bill drove, I entertained myself by drawing in my sketchbook. I was looking at magazine photos for inspiration. I find that, by the time I sketch something, change a few details around, and then translate it into cut paper or fabric, it looks totally different from the original inspiration. Just one way of working - often times I just cut or draw directly from my imagination.

What are you working on today?

Hope you have a pleasant day!!