Day 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 […]
Also tagged ancient, still lifeDay one hundred and fifty-seven: When I looked at these bottles this afternoon, I wasn’t sure qwhether I had just walked into a gallery at the Museum of Modern Art in New York or the Museo de Arte Precolombino in Cusco, Peru. Made between 2000-3000 years ago, each bottle demonstrates a remarkable and rare expression […]
Also tagged ancient, pencil, still lifeDay one hundred and forty-seven: Every time I finish a sketch it feels like a miracle has just occurred. Today’s drawing is a study of a sculpture titled “Thunder and Lightning” by Minnesota artist Paul Granlund. I love the balance of the intertwining male and female figures. The style I used doesn’t quite capture the […]
Also tagged figure study, 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, face, pencil, woodcutDay one hundred and thirty-six: After a long day I just needed something – anything – to sketch. What you see here is a study of a very worn medieval sculpture (I believe 12th or 13th century), which can be viewed at the Cluny museum in Paris. The headless king has been posing at the […]
Also tagged medieval, pencil, sculptureDay one hundred and thirty-four: I had to get something in under the wire tonight, so I grabbed the business card of an artist and mimicked the charcoal style on the back as quickly as possible. Kay Fenton is a senior at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, and this sketch imitates a […]
Also tagged abstract, black, charcoal, grayDay 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 […]
Also tagged pencilDay one hundred and thirty-one: A late evening discussion in the Thrivent Financial Religious Art Gallery about George Bellows’ painting of The Crucifixion reminded me that I wanted to sketch this figure from one of his prints. The male nude appears in a 1923 lithograph titled Christ of the Wheel. I chose it because of […]
Also tagged charcoal, figure studyDay one hundred and thirty: Today I was cataloging prints at work, which means I get to look at amazing works on paper while I key data about them into a computer database. A sweetly sleeping cat on a pillow in the lower left corner of an intaglio print by the 16th-century artist Federico Barocci […]
Also tagged animal, pen and ink, pencil