Automatic drawing, Target, Typos and, of course, Bears

Automatic drawing which turned into a botanical

pencil in an 8×10″ sketch pad

Last week as we walked out of Target to the parking lot, what do we see but a large black bear wandering around.  He clearly had forgotten where he was parked.   We respectfully waited until he found his car and drove off.  🙂 My sister said that bears also want good quality at affordable prices.

Did I mention I’m over bears?  He eventually ran into the woods and we got in our car and drove away.

Two days ago the city installed new stop signs on our corner. To alert drivers of the change they also installed signs leading up to the stop sign. Like this:

If your job is to install traffic and street signs and you don’t see the GLARING TYPO in this sign, perhaps this job is not for you.  Since I am a civic minded person, I wrote to the city to alert them of this issue which, admirably, they fixed the next day.  So shout out to them!

The above drawing was done using a method called automatic drawing.  Automatic drawing was started by the surrealists to free themselves of representational art.  I believe the first person to do it was the artist Andre Masson.

Andre Masson and automatic drawing

We started by taking a pencil or two (one in each hand) and just making lines without looking or thinking. This is different from blind contour drawing, which is drawing while looking at the object but not at the paper. Once we had some lines on the page we went back and this time, since it was a botanical drawing class, we looked for shapes that could be plants, leaves or flowers and drew back into the lines.   It was great fun and I will do it again.

 

 

 

Thank heavens for small miracles

Grace Church Spires, NYC – Watercolor on Arches 300# cold press.  Approximately 18″ x 22″

A number have people have asked where I have been and expressed that they have missed my posts.  And when I say a “number” of people I mean two people.

Hey, two is a number.  🙂

I’m posting today and that is miracle #1.  Miracle #2 is what happened last week…

…when my dog bolted after a bear in our backyard.  She got swatted across the face and sheepishly came back to us.  We were screaming her name, but she was in full protect mode.  The bear whacked her and then turned away.  Luckily poochie came back with only a small cut under one eye, another over the other eye and a cut on her shoulder.  We checked her carefully and cleaned the cuts.  Other than being a bit dazed, she was ok. It could have been so much worse.  She is one lucky dog!   After we took care of her we went on the deck in the backyard to see not only mama bear, but 3 small cubs up our tree.  Turns out, Mama bear was in full protect mode too.  Normally when dogs chase bears out of yards, the bears just run away.  No matter what, I’m happy my dog wasn’t hurt badly and I hope she has learned not to chase bears.

 

Here are two of the three cubs.  Aren’t they cute!  And here’s mama after she and the cubs moved down the mountain from our house to a neighbors house:

I’ve been working on the above Grace Church painting for the past few weeks.  Again, I started with a grisaille in Paynes Gray to get the values and then added local color, ending with some splashing of paint.

I’m still taking the botanical drawing class.  Here’s a peony drawing from last week.

Thanks for visiting.

 

Build a wall and make WHO pay for it?

Central Park Bench – watercolor 16″ x 11 3/4″ on Khadi paper.  Based on a reference photo by Randi Klein.  (Thanks Randi!)

My sister’s golden retriever, Gus, gets to run freely around outside because of an invisible fence which keeps him safely inside the property.  Recently, however, the invisible fence broke and now Gus keeps running off the property and into the road.  My brother-in-law said that he was going to build a wall and make Gus pay for it.  We laughed and laughed.

The above painting was done on Khadi paper.  This is an interesting watercolor paper to use.  It’s made in India, is 100% cotton rag made from old tee shirts.

About the paper

I found it a little harder to use than Arches because I was unfamiliar with the way the paper reacted to the water and pigment.  One interesting thing about this paper is that you can abuse it and it doesn’t fall apart.  However it can ball up if you try to scrub the image.   It worked well on this snowy scene.

Sunflower past its prime – colored pencils in notebook

Another drawing above from my Nature’s Notebook class.  I’m still enjoying the class and this City girl is learning more than she could have imagined about the flora in local gardens.

I try to keep my blog apolitical.  All I’ll say is so far we are three weeks in and I’m ready to build a wall around myself.  I will happily pay for it.

Thanks for visiting.

 

 

Swing State

Red bud leaves in autumn – watercolor in sketchbook

Where have I been? asked no one.  I haven’t posted since July.

Why?  Two words.

                                     SWING STATE.

Since I’ve previously only lived in NYC, which is decidedly democratic, the experience of living in a swing state with the non-stop barrage of political ads left me in a fetal position and under the covers. And now that the campaign is over I can share an experience or two with you.

As a result of a car accident, The Husband has symptoms of something called meniere’s disease which can cause temporary deafness in one ear.  As I sat on the sofa watching TV one night and he at the dining room table listening to the TV, I noticed him shaking his head and rubbing his ear.  He kept losing his hearing and couldn’t figue out why the meniere’s was so bad that night. Finally he realized that I was was muting the TV every time a political ad came on. He thought his meniere’s was really bad that night and he couldn’t figure out why his hearing kept coming and going!

NYC urban sketching  – PPW and Carroll Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY

My friend’s husband, John, has lived here for over 20 years but never became a citizen.  He finally became one this year and was so exited to cast his vote for president for the first time.  In an ironic turn of events, he got home that night to discover he got his first Jury Duty notice.

River landscape – oil sticks

The top watercolor was done in a sketchbook for a class I’m taking called Nature’s Notebook. We hear lectures on plants and then draw and paint everything flora.

The building was done in a sketchbook with the NYC Urban Sketchers in Brooklyn, NY. They are a wonderful group and if you’re in NYC check them out. Anyone can meet up with them and all levels are welcome.

Finally I recently tried oil sticks.  A little different than oil pastels.  They are fun to work with and dry within a few days.  They are made by an artist named Paul DeMarrais.\, http://www.pauldemarrais.com/westminster/index.html

Back to my fetal position for the next 4 years.    Thanks for reading.

¿Dónde está el baño?

NYC rooftops, WIP – oil painting value study.  Approx 8″ x 11″

Green tulips – watercolor practice on Strathmore paper

The Husband and I are taking beginner Spanish classes.  Again.  We’ve tried this once or twice but don’t keep up with it and forget everything.  This time we say we will stick with it.  We’ll see.

Last week a student in class asked the teacher what the difference was between “usted” which is formal, singular “you”, and “ustedes” which is formal, plural “you”.

The teacher explained it this way:  “Usted” is “you”.  “Ustedes” is “Y’all”.

Only in the South….  🙂

I’m still struggling with oil painting so I’m staying with using only one color and white and doing value studies.  One of these days I’ll graduate to color.  The above oil is of some of the rooftops and water towers in NYC.  The next is a fun little watercolor of some tulips for #worldwatercolormonth.

Hasta luego, Y’all.  Thanks for visiting.

 

3 pots, multiple bears

3 pots – watercolor on Strathmore 140# coldpress – approx 8″ x 10″

The bears have been very active lately.  Two nights ago we came out to walk the dog. As we got to the top of the driveway there was a black bear standing in the road.  We stared at each other for a few moments. And then it went into a neighbor’s yard and stayed there while we walked the dog.  It was still there as we returned, behind the trees, looking at us with someone’s white trash bag next to it.  Looking very guilty.  LOL.

Yesterday there were two bears walking around our house.  One in the morning and one at night. They are always out there.  When we are out in the front, in the back, chatting with neighbors, walking the dog. They are there. Mostly we don’t see them.  I’m torn between thinking this is very cool and being over bears.  I remember the days in NYC when we had neighborhood crime watches. Now the neighborhood watch consists of texting neighbors to alert them of bear activity.  I kinda miss the criminals. OK, not really.

Here’s a little painting of 3 terracotta pots for #worldwatercolormonth.  Have a wonderful day.

Happy 4th! An oil, some botanicals, a watercolor and Kansas

Oil painting after Chardin – WIP – approx 8 x 10″ on canvas paper

Begonia leaf – graphite and colored pencil in sketchbook

Rhododendron leaf –  graphite and colored pencil in sketchbook

Hydrangea –  graphite and colored pencil in sketchbook

Miss Lucy from the St. Croix markets  – Watercolor for #worldwatercolormonth

The Husband and I recently went to see the band Kansas at the Thomas Wolfe arena in Asheville.  As we were driving to the venue we ran into some friends.

US:  We are going to see Kansas.

Them:  Asheville gets the best bands…40 years later.

I wasn’t expecting much, but Kansas was actually pretty good.  As we left the Husband said “They sounded as good as they did on my 8 track cassettes!”

I’m still taking the “nature’s notebook” botanical drawing class.  I just started an oil painting class. I haven’t touched oil paint since the mid seventies which is interesting because I was only a toddler in the mid-seventies.  🙂

We did our first painting, above, as an exercise in looking at values.  We used one color and white. I used burnt umber and copied a still life from Chardin, suggested by the teacher who is big into the old masters and which auto-correct wants to change to chardonnay.  Perhaps if I had some chardonnay while painting, it would have been easier, but I am not entirely displeased with the result.

I have not been neglecting my watercolors.  Above is a picture of Miss Lucy from St. Croix with a reference kindly supplied by Bonnie Luria, formerly of St. Croix and now comfortably settled into Asheveille, NC.

Happy 4th of July everyone.  (And even if you don’t celebrate it as a holiday, it’s still the 4th of July and I hope it’s happy for you.) Thanks for looking.

Nature’s Notebook and how to tell if you have a NY accent

Caladium leafChristmas Fern
Venus Sweet Shrub in pencil

Venus Sweet Shrub in pen & Ink

Tree branch with lichen

I decided to take a drawing class at the local community college.  That class was full, but they offered a class called “Nature’s Notebook” and since I’m now surrounded by a whole lot of nature I thought I’d give it a whirl. The instructor, an avid gardener and artist named Peter Loewer, a/k/a “the wild gardener” brings in items from his garden for us to draw.  He will lecture a bit at the beginning of class about styles of drawing and particular drawings of plants and then we begin drawing.

I was in the art studio one day when some women from NY came in looking at the art.  One woman who had a thick NY accent told us about the NY Accent test.

Wanna take it?  OK, here goes:

Say L-O-G…log

Say H-O-G…hog

Say F-O-G…fog

Say D-O-G…dog

If you pronounced dog just like log, hog and fog, congratulations, you have failed the NY accent test.  However, if you pronounced dog unlike the first 3 and more like dawg, congratulations you passed the NY accent test!

If you’re wondering, I passed the test with flying colors.  🙂

 

Two slices to go. Bears. And Tacos

Two slices to go –  watercolor on Arches 140# coldpress

Did you ever say anything and as the words exited  your mouth you thought “never in a million years would I ever think I would say that”?

It happened to me two days ago.  As The Husband and I were preparing to leave the house to go pick up friends we saw a mama bear and cub in a neighbor’s yard and continued to watch them as they proceeded across our road, down our driveway and around our car.  It was then that I realized we would be late.

ME texting friend:  We will be late because there are bears in our driveway.

FRIEND who lives around the corner and knows about bears:   HA!

I guess this is our new normal.  They are cuter than NYC rats and about the same size.  🙂

The Brother, sister-in-law and two nephews were in town last week.  We had a great time but despite all of our talk about bears they didn’t see a one.  What they did do is sing a song that I now can’t get out of my head.  It’s called: It’s raining tacos and it’s very catchy.  Have a listen. You’ll be singing along with me.

The above painting is based on the two slices I got on a recent trip to NYC. Nestled between the 8th Ave. subway entrance at 40th street and a homeless shelter was a hole-in-the-wall pizza place and the pizza was yummy. And just as much fun to paint.

 

 

 

Who’s got the time? Mexican food in WNC (a sorry state) and bears

“Waiting” 22 1/4″ x 15″ watercolor on Arches 300# cold press

I’ve always wondered this?  I guess I am too old to write “U” for “you” and “Ur” for “your”.  Unless you’re on Twitter, why would you write this way?  WHY?  Or should I ask “Y”???

On a completely unrelated note, Mexican food in Western North Carolina (“WNC”) is a sad state.  (And don’t even get me started about pizza, which, for the most part, is just vile here.)  There’s a restaurant not far from our house where we go to sometimes.  It makes me crazy that they offer rice OR beans with their meals.   RICE OR BEANS ? EVERYONE knows that it’s Rice AND Beans. They go together.   Like cookies and milk,  peanut butter & jelly, wine & cheese.

Ugh! Rice OR Beans!  Makes me crazy.  I give them a lecture whenever I’m there.  Like they care.

Waiter thought bubble: “Shut up crazy gringo lady.  You want rice AND beans, order the rice and get beans on the side and get over it.”

OK,  I’m over it.  In Maine where my old dog walking buddy Charlie and his wife Liz now live they have a Mexican restaurant called El El Frijole (LL Bean).  I laughed and laughed when I heard this. Maybe they can’t cook Mexican food well in Maine, but at least they have a sense of humor about it.

Finally, the bears have returned.   We saw a mama and cub crossing the road on the late dog walk about 2 weeks ago. Seeing them announced the arrival of spring and also had us quietly but quickly backtracking back to the house. As soon as we saw them, we noticed the trees started blooming and the daffodils and crocus have come up.  Groundhog Schmoundhog. We got bears!

The above painting was one I posted sometime last year but it wasn’t quite finished, but now it is. And for no reason here’s a painting of an Asheville fire hydrant:

Asheville fire hydrant – 9″ x 12″ watercolor on Arches 140# coldpress

It looks a little drunk but it was fun to paint.

Thank U for visiting.