Walking Sketches 18FEB12

Today we had some of my daughter's cousins over, while their mothers visited. They were kind of restless, so we went to the park to vent some energy running around, and socializing. Of course, I brought my mini sketchbook with me, sensing a good opportunity to get some quick drawing done.
We didn't stay too long, but the fact that my daughter was entertained with her cousins freed my attention enough to get some exercise walking around, and to get some impressions down from the folks and things I saw while I was there. These on the left are rather quick shots. Clockwise from top left: A girl walking on the sidewalk, checking her cell phone (so many folks stuck looking at the little screens these days, but that's no surprise). In the middle, a little girl, towing her little brother on her toy wagon. Good old Radio Flyer, it was. Some basketball player stopping his game to text. A man and his bicycle riding toddler, looking to the side at some other activity. My daughter swinging happily on the swing set, and that same couple of kids with the wagon on their way out of the park.

I stopped my walking for a while, so I could stretch my legs on a tree stump along the walkway. The pattern in the tree trunk said "draw me", and I thought it was a good idea to try something more complicated, at least while I was stretching out. I started outlining it, and then said, the heck with it... lets go at it a bit painterly. Even with a little pencil stub (I couldn't find any decent ones in my bag) it was fun to go from outlining to just shading values out. The texture was so complicated, with mold, and bark in different stages of decomposition, that I had to look at it a bit more like a whole, thinking in terms of light and dark. This helped out a lot. At first, my drawing didn't look anything like a tree stump, but once the values were more or less in place, I could work on a bit of detail, and fill in the voids. It actually looks like a tree stump now.
Well, that's it for this one. Hope you liked it. Thanks for dropping by.

Walking Sketches 18FEB12

Today we had some of my daughter's cousins over, while their mothers visited. They were kind of restless, so we went to the park to vent some energy running around, and socializing. Of course, I brought my mini sketchbook with me, sensing a good opportunity to get some quick drawing done.
We didn't stay too long, but the fact that my daughter was entertained with her cousins freed my attention enough to get some exercise walking around, and to get some impressions down from the folks and things I saw while I was there. These on the left are rather quick shots. Clockwise from top left: A girl walking on the sidewalk, checking her cell phone (so many folks stuck looking at the little screens these days, but that's no surprise). In the middle, a little girl, towing her little brother on her toy wagon. Good old Radio Flyer, it was. Some basketball player stopping his game to text. A man and his bicycle riding toddler, looking to the side at some other activity. My daughter swinging happily on the swing set, and that same couple of kids with the wagon on their way out of the park.

I stopped my walking for a while, so I could stretch my legs on a tree stump along the walkway. The pattern in the tree trunk said "draw me", and I thought it was a good idea to try something more complicated, at least while I was stretching out. I started outlining it, and then said, the heck with it... lets go at it a bit painterly. Even with a little pencil stub (I couldn't find any decent ones in my bag) it was fun to go from outlining to just shading values out. The texture was so complicated, with mold, and bark in different stages of decomposition, that I had to look at it a bit more like a whole, thinking in terms of light and dark. This helped out a lot. At first, my drawing didn't look anything like a tree stump, but once the values were more or less in place, I could work on a bit of detail, and fill in the voids. It actually looks like a tree stump now.
Well, that's it for this one. Hope you liked it. Thanks for dropping by.

Shopping Nun

As I went about quick errands yesterday, I spotted this nun at a local supermarket. Mini sketchbook at hand, I quickly roughed this strange visage, with all due respect, of course ;). Obviously, I worked it over once I got home. Given old nun traditions, I think this nice lady was wearing most antique garb. The sketch doesn't give her justice, due to the quick "capture" time I had. Almost everything she was wearing was of the blackest black color, pristine, and well cared for. There was even lace, but one can't bee to careful trying to look closer at your quick sketch subjects, so some of the details were not captured. Her face deserved a study. The shading, well, I'm sure, its not too close to the truth, but I had to improvise. The black of the cloth was deep. She seemed a happy retired nun going about some grocery shopping, gliding along with her shopping cart. Smile on her face all the time.

It was worth a photo, but I didn't see an opportunity that wouldn't call attention at the time. So there you have it. Thank you nice nun. You were a great sketch subject. And thank you, viewers, for stopping by.

Walking Sketches

I've been lucky today. Even having lots of work to do, I was able to draw a couple of things. The trick is grabbing the moment. Time is precious, and there's always something pulling you this way and that. This afternoon I took my daughter for a short scooter jaunt around the neighborhood. I also took a tiny moleskine sketchbook I had neglected for some time. I was able to draw a few doodles while keeping track of my wandering charge. We both got a little exercise, and I got to sketch at the same time. Impulsive, or obsessive? I don't care. Any art time is a good time. Thanks for dropping by.

Robots in my Notebook

I drew some robots while at work. When someone is multitasking while working with you, doodling while waiting for their attention is not rude, is it? I don't think so. Office ink pen on lined paper doesn't look so bad after all, especially when I'm having drawing withdrawals. Quick short lines. I kind of like these guys. What do you think? Thanks for dropping by, and remember to have a great art time!

Don Goyo

A good friend reminded me how I should do more life drawings, and how he missed seeing them. Life drawing is the best art school there is. He also reminded me of that last fact. So here we go, endeavoring to slip in some art time, at the airport, waiting for my flight, I noticed this very typical gentleman, patiently waiting to board his flight, with his wife. We'll call him Don Goyo. Puerto Rico has a very rich culture Spanish culture, mixed with all sorts of Latin American influences, and this person embodied the typical older gentleman. He could be from San Juan, the same way he could be from a small town inside the island. His mustache and his hat are typical for folks his age, but not so city as much as country. The hat style harkens to generations even before his. Even in this day and age, in my island, when older folks dress and act more modern, and Americanized, there are folks like this one that walk with the dignity and history of what was our local society 80 to 100 years ago. Folks do stick to their styles, no matter the passage of time.

Flour Sacks

I was waiting to get a haircut, and got my sketchbook out, with practice and exploration in mind. I say exploration because I started following Krishna Sadasivam's Mentor Experiment, and the second assignment included something I'd never drawn before. A flour sack. Not that it was supposed to be the point, drawing a flour sack. But it was to be used as a tool to base cartoon torsos. Great idea.
In any case, I didn't have reference, and I thought I'd start basic, indulging in a little rendering, not thinking about the exercise itself. It turns out time went fairly fast, and I had fun trying to give an imaginary flour sack a little life. I'm thoroughly enjoying Krishna's experiment in mentoring.
Thanks for dropping by!