Category: Drawing

Drawing Faces

Graphite and watercolor in Aquabee 6×9 sketchbook
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These are two more faces from my project of drawing faces from a book of character actors acting that I explained in a previous post here. This actor was supposed to be a soccer dad whose daughter just scored a winning goal in the first picture and a Hells Angel preparing for a confrontation in the bottom picture. Drawing the top picture I could really see what all the muscles in face were doing to pull his skin here and there.

I had to draw the first one twice–the first time I didn’t get things lined up at all. I seem to always want to make faces and their features symmetrical whether they are or not. I try to straighten tilted heads, make mouths the same size on both sides of the face even when the head is turned so that it’s shorter on one side. The second time I looked more carefully at angles and where features lined up with each other and their sizes in relation to each other and I got closer to reality.

Tags Faces, People

Colored pencil art Drawing Dreams Life in general Sketchbook Pages

Dream drawings

4/14/07 In bed in a hotel where the roof was leaking through the chandelier and in the closet so the hotel staff came in and hung a blue tarp over the chandelier.
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Today’s post are the little drawings I do each morning upon awakening of my dreams the night before. These are all from the past week. I draw them in what I call my AM/PM notebook (a square Handbook Journal Co. notebook that I write/draw in each AM & PM) using a Liquid Expresso pen. I bought three of these notebooks and a bunch of these pens and don’t much like them but for morning scribbling they’re fine. The ink dissolves if it gets wet which I forgot when I colored these tonight with water-soluable colored pencil and then couldn’t wet them without the ink running.

4/15/07 Marcy and I were in Santa Cruz jogging along a path by the beach. She got ahead of me and I kept calling, “Wait up!” but she got ahead of me and disappeared and I was all alone.

4/16/07 (The night before the Virginia Tech shootings) Dreamt a gunman came into my office and at gunpoint demanded I type some names into the database. People kept coming into my office and I mouthed “Call 911” so they did but the police were idiots and the gunman got away.

4/18/07 I thought a bad guy had broken into the house but it turned out to be the boyfriend of a Swedish roommate (don’t have one) and the jingling noise I heard was his ID tags on a chain around his neck. When I went in the bathroom the sink was full of little cubes of his shaving cream which I threw in the trash and then discovered it wasn’t the trash but was my roommates clean laundry which I’d now messed up.

4/19/07 (a super busy dreaming night!)

1. At a Japanese restaurant with a pool running through it that the waitresses walked back and forth in to serve food with their skirts pinned up in their waistbands.

2. Giving a talk in a high school class about why students shouldn’t smoke marijuana before school.

3. Riding my bike side-saddle carrying a boy from the class who was a friend of my son.

4. A bunch of Brian’s friends in an old car pull up in my driveway to spend the day hanging out in their car while I’m cleaning house.

5 . (below) I’m trying to get home and wander into a Siddha Yoga retreat center where they’ve just locked all the doors and they won’t let me leave while they’re doing their chanting.

6. (below) I’m still trying to get home and walk through a little boutique but the only way out is to climb up a shelf and go through an opening in it but my feet are too big to fit on the shelf/steps.

7. (below) Still trying to get home…there’s two high chain-link fences I have to get over. I literally fly over the first one and lose momentum and have to climb over the second one.

4/20/07
1. I meet a cute guy at a Catholic church where I’m sketching in a back pew.

1B (above #2) I invite the guy home for dinner but then he turns up his nose at my spaghetti made from a jar and complains about the cat hair on my table cloth.

2. Cody has a funny robot thingee that makes me laugh hysterically. Then he’s selling my supplies of toilet paper and other stuff from Costco that I keep on a shelf in the garage to a friend of his. I spent a lot of time laughing in my sleep last night.

If you’re still here reading this (amazing enough in itself!) I’d love to know:
(1) whether you find the dream explanations of interest or if I should just post the drawings (or neither); and
(2) whether my dream explanations feel like “TMI” … too much information…too revealing or personal, even though I leave out WAY more than I share here.

Tags Pen and Ink

Drawing Life in general Sketchbook Pages

Goodbye Old Hoodie

Memory Brush Pen in Aquabee 6×9 sketchbook
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Ink in my AM/PM sketchbook

These are ritual goodbye drawings of my ratty, old, gray hooded sweatshirt. I’ve been wearing it as a sort of housecoat/bathrobe for years. I put it on over my pajamas in the morning and wear it year-round to stay comfy in my house day and night, where it’s usually a degree or two cooler than I’d like.

My cat Busby chewed up the zipper months ago, so zipping it requires lining up the teeth in three different places where they’re missing. A few weeks ago the tab on the zipper fell off, making it even harder to close. It’s full of holes and threadbare spots, paint stains, bleach stains, and a grease stain from when I slipped carrying the barbeque and the grease never washed out.

Last week while my car had an oil change I visited the Target next door and bought two new grey “hoodies” on sale. They’re soft and clean and warm with perfect zippers and no stains. But I’ve been ignoring them, choosing to wear my old one. To help me part with what’s become a bit of a security blanket, I did these drawings to honor the ratty old thing before I toss it in the trash.

By the way, when did sweatshirts become known as hoodies? I somehow missed that moment in time. For years they were sweatshirts and then all of a sudden they were hoodies. It seems like such a cutesy name for such a homely item of apparel.

Tags Pen and Ink

Drawing People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

Subway Drawings (BART)

Some drawings from my morning and evening BART rides today in ink in my small Moleskine sketchbook.

To enlarge click images and select All Sizes.

A.M. Waiting for the train

AM Riding to Work

PM Riding Home

Tags Pen and Ink, People, Subway drawings

Art theory Drawing Faces Other Art Blogs I Read People Photos Portrait Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Painting vs Preparing to Paint (& Portrait Request)

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date March 18, 2007
13 Comments on Painting vs Preparing to Paint (& Portrait Request)

Brown Micron Pigma ink and watercolor in large Moleskine Watercolor notebook
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The other day I got a mysterious email from someone calling himself “Fake Dane.” He wrote, “Hey, I think your art is great. I was wondering if you’d be willing to sketch me from a picture. I’m assembling a collection that I’d post. Dane”

And he sent me his photo. If you want to draw him too, just click the photo below and select All Sizes when you get to Flickr and then you can print it out:

I wrote back, “Sure, why not?” and did the sketch above. I was going for caricature so I hope he’s not offended. (UPDATE: He replied and said he really liked it and put it on his blog. There’s some funny drawings of him as a vampire there too.) If you want to do a drawing of him and send it to him too, there’s instructions in the “Please Read” sidebar on his blog.

It was a fun, quick painting project on a day in the studio that was mostly spent at the computer, trying to sort out photos and compositions for upcoming paintings, something I don’t particularly enjoy doing. And that made me think about the differences between…

Alla Prima/Plein Air vs carefully planned painting

When I’m planning a painting I consider focus, value, composition, color scheme, etc. I do thumbnails and value sketches. If it’s something requiring exact proportions, such as a portrait of someone’s child, pet or home, I’ll start with a drawing and then work from a photo, tracing it onto the watercolor paper. But even with more carefree subjects like flowers and still life or landscapes, that prep work saves a lot of frustration once painting is underway. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.

On the other hand, my understanding is that people who regularly paint alla prima (in one setting) or plein air make the prep work quick and intuitive and let go of exactitude, painting their impression of the subject rather than a careful rendering. I’ve done some and it’s a lot harder than people like Kris Shanks, Nel Jansen, Ed Terpening, and others whose blogs I enjoy visiting, make it look.

What I’m trying to figure out is how to combine the two approaches, or how to avoid all the labored pre-planning. Judy Morris, the teacher of the workshop I took in February, said that her favorite part is planning and composing from photos, not the actual painting. For me it’s the opposite — while I enjoy drawing, I love painting more and don’t really enjoy spending a lot of time photoshopping compositions and sorting through photos at the computer. (She does the prep work manually, working with black and white photocopies and enlargements of the subject and background, which she cuts out and assembles.
On the other hand, if I don’t do the pre-planning (especially with watercolor) the whole painting ends up being a study that has to be done over. I guess with acrylics and to some extent oils, one can just keep working on and changing a piece until it’s right, but I’m not sure if that’s a great way to go either.

I’m hoping to find my own way of working that incorporates the best of both worlds.

Tags Faces, Pen and Ink, People, Photos

Drawing People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

The Horn Players

Ink & Watercolor in Moleskine sketchbook
Composed from memory, a quick scribble on a sticky note and a small photo (see below)
(To enlarge, click images, select All Sizes)

When I was taking a lunchtime walk on Wednesday, I saw this guy playing his sax on the corner. A mom and little boy stopped in front of him and the mom pulled a little toy plastic horn out of her bag. She handed it to her son and encouraged him to play too. The boy was fascinated by the sax player, who sadly showed no interest in the boy and just kept on playing. I didn’t have time to take a photo or sketch so tried to take a mental snapshot. As soon as I got back to the office I grabbed the first pen and paper I could find and tried to draw what I’d seen on this purple sticky note.

The next day I was out walking again and the horn player was back on the corner so I took this quick photo from across the street.

Tonight I finally had a chance to draw the scene in my sketchbook, using my mental snapshot of the scene, my sticky note scribble and the photo (which was really helpful since I didn’t really know what saxophones looked like enough to try to draw it).

Does it bother you that the sax player is more realistic and the mom and boy are more cartoonish since they’re drawn from memory?

Tags Pen and Ink, People

Animals Drawing Dreams People Sketchbook Pages

From my AM/PM Sketchbook

Art show update: Thanks everyone for all your good wishes. The opening was so much fun! All my best friends, family and local art buddies came, including a (formerly virtual) friend from the Everyday Matters art blogging group. Some people brought friends and neighbors, and there were a few unknown faces too. From all reports everyone had a good time, and there were quite a few “small world” connections between people who I had no idea knew each other. The show will come down March 31.

Every day I write and draw something in my AM/PM sketchbook, usually from memory — in the morning an image from my dreams and in the evening something I’ve seen during the day. This is an assortment from the past week in my Handbook Journal Co. notebook drawn with an Expresso pen which I don’t like much but for some reason am using for all these drawings.

PM (Tonight): Walking around the lake by work today at lunch the geese were acting crazy, honking at each other and wiggling their heads and flapping their wings while the pigeons and seagulls looked on. I saw some seagulls with festive polka-dotted tails.

PM: Kitties are already asleep and I should be too.

AM: View out the window (at a distance)

AM: A silly work dream and another dream about Donald Trump (watched the very bad Apprentice LA that night).

Tags Animals, Cats, Pen and Ink, People

Art theory Drawing Other Art Blogs I Read People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

Sketches & Picasso Exhibit

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date February 24, 2007
12 Comments on Sketches & Picasso Exhibit

BART Rider – Ink in small Moleskine sketchbook

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Peets Coffee water display – Ink in small Moleskine sketchbook

Woman in the SFMOMA Cafe (loved her thick grey hair in a huge clasp)
Ink in small Moleskine sketchbook

Just before the earthquake Friday: BART Rider with Orchid just before the trains stopped. Ink in small Moleskine sketchbook

Friday, Susie and I met at the SF Museum of Modern Art on the opening day of Picasso and American Art. It was very interesting seeing Picasso’s groundbreaking paintings and the way American artists picked up his ideas and explored them in their own paintings. I think my favorites were the Willem de Kooning paintings; the first was quite derivative but you could see the development over the half dozen or so paintings spanning a couple of decades how his work progressed and matured into his own strong and unique voice.

More than anything, what I got from this show was the importance of an artist’s unique voice. I’ve been pondering what makes something “art” vs. decorative, pretty, marketable pictures; or what makes an artist a “real” artist. This exhibit helped me to understand that it’s not just technique, talent, or skill (all important things) — it’s also the expression of the artist’s unique view and personality that is essential. An artist doesn’t have to invent a new “ism” or create a whole new way of working like the impressionists, cubists, expressionists, etc. But a recognizable, unique and authentic voice or perspective that is courageously or confidently expressed (even if it’s ugly) seems like it might be the key.

Do you agree? Do you have an opinion of what makes an artist a “real” artist or art “real” art or do you think the whole question is irrelevant?

ADDENDUM: I must point out that my questioning this is all this in terms of my own place in the world: I’ve been painting and drawing and identifying myself as an artist for 30 years but there’s always that question in the back of my mind….that voice that says, “If you were a real artist you would…[fill in the blank].” I don’t meant to imply judgment on anyone else’s choice of style or work. Please see my comment in response to Katharine‘s comment for more.

Tags Pen and Ink, People, Subway drawings

Drawing Dreams Life in general People Sketchbook Pages

AM PM Sketchbook

Espresso pen, Handbook Journal

A woman from Scotland wrote to me and said she’d come upon my blog my accident and that I’d inspired her to start adding drawings to her daily journal. Her email inspired me to start a new sketchbook project that I’ve really been enjoying. Each morning before I get out of bed I write a few sentences about my dreams, the weather and/or how I’m feeling that morning and do a quick little drawing. Then in the evening I do another brief entry about the day or something I’m grateful for and draw something of the day. These are drawings from memory or imagination so they’re pretty goofy, not at all realistic.

Before drawing in it, I dated each page in the sketchbook in advance. It’s a square Handbook Journal Co. sketchbook that I didn’t like too much for watercolor so now I have a good use for it.

The drawing on the left is supposedly me (I don’t really look that terrible, even in the morning) and Busby doing his silly morning snuggle where he sticks his head below my ear and kneads his paws on my neck, purring madly and half choking me. I drew it while he was doing that, holding up a little mirror. The one on the right I drew tonight after a lovely Thai dinner with my dear painting group friends as we celebrated Judith’s birthday (she’s supposedly blowing out a candle stuck in a big blob of coconut ice cream surrounded by chunks of fried bananas). If you think these are funky drawings, you should (or shouldn’t) see the hilarious cars, bus and boats I drew yesterday!

Tags Pen and Ink, People

Drawing Still Life

Glide

Uniball Signo white gel pen on black Canford Card paper
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This is a pack of Glide dental floss. It’s part of a series I’m drawing of things that support my life — items I could live without but would rather not have to. I’ve been considering items I own, asking myself, “Is this something that supports my life and do I want to draw it (or if not, toss it)?”

ART CITY: On another subject, I want to recommend “Art City,” a 3-DVD documentary about the life of current day artists in New York (available from Netflix). The artists are working in their studios and talking about their work, lives, motivations, creative issues and success (or lack of it) with humor, passion and honesty. Some of the artists in the series are Chuck Close, Elizabeth Murray, and Brice Marden (who draws with long sticks taped together and dipped in ink).

P.S. I changed my template again and on this one you can comment at top or bottom of each post. Is this one easier to read than the previous template?

Tags Pen and Ink