Day three hundred and thirty-six: Ever since I studied 16th-century Italian woodcuts intensely about a year ago, I’ve been enchanted by the bark-crusted trunks of twisting trees and stumps. I have a theory that every great artist has made one or two during the course of their career. This evening I visited the Pennsylvania Academy […]
Also tagged landscape, nature, pen and inkDay three hundred and twenty-one: This afternoon I had the pleasure of spending a little time with an expert on Japanese prints who was visiting from Washington D.C. We looked at an example of “Red Fuji” in the PMA’s collection, which turns out to be a very fine, early impression of the classic color woodcut […]
Also tagged art on art, landscape, natureDay two hundred and thirty-seven: When this week began, if you had asked me what new thing I would learn about prints, I would not have mentioned the Japanese printmaker Utagawa Kunisada (aka Toyokuni III). That, however, is one of the wonderful parts of my job: every day some unexpected piece of paper requires a […]
Also tagged art on art, face, pencilDay two hundred and eleven: In some ways it doesn’t really matter what the subject of the daily sketch may be: it’s can be very peaceful and relaxing to simply figure out how to represent something with line, light, dark, or color, as it flows spontaneously. Tonight I found a photo that I took a […]
Also tagged art on art, oil, pencil, sculptureDay one hundred and forty-four: Many days I’m copying the art or style of another artist, but I’ve been thinking lately that I’d like to find my own style. This spontaneous sketch works the surface of the sheet, which is a theme that I find very compelling. I also like using apparently sporadic lines in […]
Also tagged abstract, art on art, face, pencilThis sketch is the seventy-first in a 365-day challenge to draw a picture a day, every day, for a year… Day seventy-one: I won’t go into detail about why I drew a bird, a cello, and a clock today. Suffice to say they were all on my mind for one dull reason or another. Still […]
Also tagged abstract, pencil