Day two hundred and ninety-five: Poking about photos I’ve taken in art museums, I ran across several from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway. At the time, in 2009, I remember being surprised by his color choices in several of the paintings, and the bold use of brushstroke Munch used to blend the colors on […]
Also tagged abstract, face, munch, oilDay two hundred and ninety-four: After picking a subject for my sketch today, I opened the Corel Painter program, and I don’t know what setting I accidentally hit, but when I started applying color to the canvas, a strange cluster of roses appeared. I decided they were meant to be, and drew my picture of […]
Also tagged face, figure studyDay two hundred and ninety-three: Caprica has almost entirely regrown his primary wing feathers (an annual event), and after bragging at work about how beautiful they are, I thought perhaps I should make a quick sketch before they have to be trimmed. I love the turquoise color, and after they’re cut it’s hard to see […]
Also tagged birdDay two hundred and ninety-two: This evening I was compelled to open up some windows in my apartment, and enjoy the sound and fresh air of an Autumn rain. I found the view looking down the street named Waverly to be particularly lovely. This pastel sketch attempts to capture the quiet melancholy inspired by the […]
Also tagged cityscapeDay two hundred and ninety-one: This afternoon I looked at the Rembrandt print from which I made yesterday’s sketch under a microscope. With the help of a few terrific paper conservators, we confirmed what I suspected: the print shows the effects of drypoint burr. Drypoint uses a sharp point to scratch the lines directly into […]
Also tagged animal, oil, Rembrandt, watercolorDay two hundred and eighty-eight: What a great day! After shopping at the market in Rittenhouse Square, my colleague and friend, Samantha, came over and we made butternut squash ravioli from scratch. It was a lot of work, but when we finished, and coated the ravioli in browned-butter sage sauce, it was truly delicious. Today’s […]
Also tagged food, oil, still lifeDay two hundred and seventy-two: Usually I refer to my drawings as sketches because I don’t consider them finished. This one, however, is VERY sketchy. I chose the French chateau, Chenonceau, as my subject, but then realized I didn’t want to spend the time necessary to make a polished image of the bridge-like palace. I […]
Also tagged architecture, oilDay two hundred and seventy-one: Today’s sketch is based on a photograph I took of a marble sculpture at the Rodin Museum in Paris several years ago. I’ve always liked the way the natural light from the museum’s windows fell on the contours of the nude woman’s body and created her form in black and […]
Also tagged figure study, pencil, sculptureDay two hundred and seventy: Costa Rica photos are a great source of subject matter. I looked at several in my travel stash before I selected one of an osprey launching from a bare branch. A very lucky snap of the shutter! As I studied each candidate (a landscape, a great heron, a mangrove swallow) […]
Also tagged bird, nature, pencilDay two hundred and sixty-nine: This afternoon I was showing photographs by Philadelphia photographer Ray Metzker to a curator from another museum. Many were spectacular, but one caught my eye in particular. It captured the silhouette of a pedestrian and his reflection in wet pavement. Today’s sketch was inspired by that photograph, although the composition […]
Also tagged figure study, oil