Day one hundred and seventy-six: I usually watch murder mysteries on TV when I make my sketch of the day. Last night there was an angel of death in one of the stories. Perhaps the idea planted itself in my subconscious only to be evoked by my pencil this afternoon. Or maybe it was more […]
Tagged pencil, skullDay one hundred and seventy-four: I’m not sure why I decided to paint an egg standing on end this evening. Perhaps because I thought it would be easy to shape and shade. With a little extra space in the lower left, I added the feather. The background evolved because I wanted the egg to sit […]
Tagged bird, nature, oil, still lifeDay one hundred and fifty-eight: After sketching a couple of ancient bottles in pencil yesterday, I wanted to try drawing another from the Museo de Arte Precolombino in more detail. This ceramic bottle is notable for the simplification of zoomorphic elements, including concentric circles that represent the snake’s scaly skin. Believe it or not, I […]
Tagged ancient, art on art, still lifeDay one hundred and fifty-six: Watching the sun break over the mountains and illuminate the Inca city of Machu Picchu is a spectacular experience. After checking in at the sun temple to confirm that it is not quite the winter solstice, I took this photo of the eastern ruins casting shadows across the grassy central […]
Tagged architecture, landscape, nature, oilDay one hundred and fifty-five: After hiking straight up about 941 feet via a steep and twisting series of stone steps, squeezing through a narrow tunnel, and tentatively perching myself on the the knife-shaped summit of Waynapicchu Moutain (altitude 8,924 feet), I snapped an aerial view photo of the Machu Picchu complex below. I had […]
Tagged architecture, landscape, nature, oilDay one hundred and fifty-four: Despite gray skies this afternoon, the sun burned through the haze just enough to cast a shadow on the sundial at Machu Picchu. This drawing is based on a photo I snapped with my iPhone just before sunset. The complex geometry of the sundial appears to have been carved out […]
Tagged architecture, landscape, oilDay one hundred and forty-six: I think Spring into early summer might be my favorite time of year. The flowers are just stupendous. This study of an iris gave me a little trouble though: sometimes the Corel program seems to go mad, and my layers don’t work they way I think they should. I’m sure […]
Tagged flower, nature, oil, spring, still lifeDay one hundred and forty-five: Occasionally, as I go though my day, I see something and immediately decide it should be the daily sketch. Today I was walking to my car after work, and encountered the orange cones and yellow paint you see here. I really enjoyed sketching in the forms with oil pastel, and […]
Tagged architecture, oilDay one hundred and forty: When I move to Philadelphia, I’ll be living about three blocks from Rittenhouse Square. It’s an utterly charming park, and a perfect place to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. Today’s sketch is a study for an etching depicting the little glass gazebo that stands in the center of […]
Tagged architecture, landscape, nature, pencilDay one hundred and thirty-two: I have no idea why I thought I should try making a collage, but somehow there it was. Before starting to sketch, I decided I would use pencil to incorporate artworks that appeared on certain pages of three museum guide books: page 20 of The National Gallery (London), page 30 […]
Tagged art on art, pencil