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Last week was the largest lottery drawing EVER in the history of lottery drawings. A $1.5 Billion dollar jackpot had everyone fantasizing about what they would do with that kind of insane money. Myself included.
ME: One day I will win the lottery…..
The Husband: You already won it 27 years ago.
We laughed and laughed. Yes I did, my dear. Yes I did.
Still. Stoopid money like that would allow one to do so much stuff. Help charities. Travel the world. Afford tickets to the hit Broadway show Hamilton which I am currently fixated on.
I waited on the Hamilton lottery line twice to try to win $10 tix to see the show. With only about 11 pairs of tickets available and a bazillion people waiting to get them, I probably had a better chance of winning the actual powerball lottery. At which point I could have afforded to pay for real tickets to Hamilton and get to see it sometime in this lifetime. Sadly I won neither. So it’s back to whatever it is I do all day.
I’m still getting used to this new place and my re-wirement. I found a drawing/painting meetup group here and went to, so far, one meet-up. Since it’s been cold they met indoors and had a model, A clothed model. And boy was she clothed. A turtleneck sweater, a shawl over the sweater and a long skirt to her ankles. My two-minute gestural drawings looked like a potato sack with a head.
I was finally able to get the drawing above even with the handicap of having a fractured bone at the base of my right pinkie of my dominant hand. The fracture was a result of a fall while walking on an unpaved road. 4-6 weeks from now I should be splint and bandage free and able to draw with more than the first two fingers and thumb.
Once I have all 10 fingers working properly again, I’m sure it will feel like I’ve won the lottery. Woo Hoo.
NYC and the northeastern part of the US is preparing for Snowmageddon 2015 (a/k/a snowpocalypse). Yesterday we were getting 20 – 30 inches of snow, today the forecast is 18-24 inches. I just went to the store to get some olives, because really, what else does one need whilst snowed in. Luckily there was no rush on olives. I don’t know why.
I’ve been figure drawing with K. We were going to go again tonight but decided that if it’s really snowmageddon, we didn’t want to be trapped in a tiny room listening to the subway rumble until they shut it down and we couldn’t get home.
When we went on Friday the model was Mark and he was very good. Lean, but not too skinny. I’m realizing that I don’t like the really skinny models. There’s nothing to draw. I might as well draw the skeleton that’s in the room with us. K of course is amazing. So amazing that the model came up and asked if he could photograph K’s drawings at the end of the session. Lucky for me, I can also learn from K so it’s all good.
Now, why is there no weather on the weather channel? I wanted to see what was coming and there was show called “Fat Guys in the Woods”. My brother who does not read my blog loves that show. Some guy named Creek (I’m already frightened) teaches fat guys how to survive. Don’t they know that “outside begins with ‘ow'”??? I hope snowmageddon doesn’t require us to become survivalists. I’d go down in the first wave! I guess the take away from all of this is, fat guys are more interesting to draw, but don’t expect them to save you during the apocalypse!
Birch Trees – approx 9×12″ on 140# Arches cold press (SOLD)
Many years ago I saw my then teacher and now friend Joan demo birch trees. I was fixated on them and while I never got a chance to paint them in a class, I never forgot them. On a recent get together I asked her to show me the demo again. Finally, I got a chance to paint birch trees. I have no idea where this fascination with birch trees comes from. It’s not like there are stands of birch trees in the middle of Manhattan. I painted this with a subtle background of blue and quin gold. The trees themselves are painted with a flat brush held flat against the paper and then dragged up the page. It was so much fun, I’m already planning another one.
More figure drawing with K this week brought us back to the Spring Street Studio. The model was a zaftig woman and was fun to draw. I got there about 5:20 for a 6:00 pm start and apologized to the owner of the studio for being so early. She looked at me quizzically and asked if I was the model. hahahahahaha. I told that to K when he showed up. He looked at me and in a droll voice said “those gym sessions are really working out for you.” Oh that K! The studio is down a flight of stairs right next to a subway. You get to hear the rumbling of the #6 train as you draw. Helps with the creativity. 🙂
The above were from Friday’s figure drawing with my friend K at the Spring Street Studio in Soho, NYC. Rachael was our model. K and I always have a great time when we draw together. K’s drawings look like Leonardo’s or Rembrandt’s. Except he often gives the models feet that are too big. This makes me feel slightly better about my drawings. LOL!
Above are a couple of watercolors which are almost done. I was looking at an old Watercolor Magazine from 2009 with an article by Janet Walsh. I took some of her studies from the article, changed them up a bit and this is how far I’ve gotten. I like both so far. I remember when I was taking figure drawing at the Art Student’s league and the teacher passed around a Charles Reid book of watercolor figures. She scrunched up her nose like she was smelling gas and said “He was really good until he started doing FLOWERS.” The word “flowers” should be pronounced in your head while you are reading this dripping with contempt.
Christie’s auction house just sold Warhol’s “Triple Elvis” and “Four Marlons” for a combined sale of $151.5 million!!!!! Talk about figures!!! I want to say “don’t get me started” but it’s too late. I got started. Who has that kind of money????? And if one does have that kind of money, why can’t one use it to help others? Give to a charity to help sick people. I’m convinced the TV show “Breaking Bad” was really about the bad choices one has to make without decent health care. Walt couldn’t afford his cancer treatments so he started cooking meth. His brother-in-law couldn’t afford high-level physical therapy and you know what happened to him.
And then there’s this: http://www.npr.org/2014/11/12/363313707/famous-paintings-sell-for-millions-at-auction-but-the-artist-gets-zero.
Musicians and writers can get royalties on future sales. Not so with visual artists. Bummer. Only the collectors make money with visual artists. Which is why right now I’m pretty much the collector of my art. I wonder if I’ll get rich that way? I’m gonna go with no.
Carol King: drawing, painting, complaining 