Day three hundred and fifty-five: For those who have studied Surrealist photography, this image may be familiar. It’s a photograph made around 1930 by Man Ray of the movement’s leader André Breton. I’ve known about it for several years now, and have always found it strange and delightful. When I started sketching it this evening, […]
Tagged abstract, art on art, face, oil, pastelDay three hundred and fifty-four: Tonight’s sketch is loosely based on a floating figure in a print made by William Blake around 1800. I believe it was an early white line etching, although I don’t know many details about how it was made or the exact process. When I briefly looked at an impression the […]
Tagged art on art, figure studyDay three hundred and fifty-three: One thing I’ve learned this year is that I love making lots of vertical lines with a pencil. It’s especially satisfying for me at the end of a long day because it doesn’t really require much thought. My hand seems to naturally make the gesture, and I enjoy watching the […]
Tagged abstract, face, pencilDay three hundred and fifty-two: A day filled with the usual chores along with additional holiday tasks and planning left me little time or energy for a complex drawing. This very rapid sketch is based on a view from a hill overlooking the rooftop of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto Japan.
Tagged landscape, oil, pastelDay three hundred and fifty-one: Nearly every Saturday since I moved to Philadelphia, I have a visited a particular orchard’s stand at the Rittenhouse Square market. First, Caprica and I enjoyed a variety of delicious peaches, followed in the Fall by several kinds of apples. This morning, the farmer who now recognizes me as “a […]
Tagged bird, food, oil, pastelDay three hundred and fifty: Some days I guess I’m just in the mood to draw. I’ve always liked a particular photograph I took of a juvenile great blue heron at the mouth of the Madrigal River in Costa Rica, but I’ve never managed to sketch it. I’ve considered it several times, but abandoned the […]
Tagged bird, nature, oil, pastelDay three hundred and forty-nine: In 2004, I was snapping pictures of Tokyo from a tower near the center of the city. I’ve always been particularly fond of one distant view of Tokyo Bay that I photographed near sunset. Tonight’s sketch is based on a detail from that snapshot, and includes a giant Ferris wheel […]
Tagged architecture, landscape, oil, pastel, waterDay three hundred and forty-eight: Today’s sketch of an eagle is based on a detail from an early 16th-century etching by Daniel Hopfer. I’d write more, but I got a late start because I attended my first book arts class after work! 2011 has been the year of the sketch, and it’s looking like 2012 […]
Tagged animal, pencilDay three hundred and forty-seven: One image that has come up a few times this year, rather spontaneously, is that of a face emerging from darkness. I don’t think any prior attempts at creating the image have been particularly effective. But now, near the end of the year, I think I’ve finally drawn enough faces […]
Tagged face, oil, pastelDay three hundred and forty-six: This morning it was time to turn the pages of the illuminated manuscripts on display in the medieval galleries of the museum. Today’s sketch is based on a winged lion of St. Mark that I noticed in a nearby stained-glass window. I’m not entirely sure, but I think the window […]