Day two hundred and fifteen: This morning one of the curators asked the fellows (me and Brooks) if we could take a look at a Dutch book by Samuel Ampzing in praise of the city of Haarlem, and published in 1628. There are many engraved illustrations throughout the text, made by the notable printmakers like […]
Also tagged book, self portraitDay two hundred and fourteen: I’ve encountered a couple of impressions from Katsushika Hokusai’s color woodcut series “36 Views of Mount Fuji” (circa 1820s) at work the last few weeks. When I poke about my computer for travel photos of things to draw, I usually run across one I took in 2004 of Mount Fuji […]
Also tagged cameron, landscape, mountainDay two hundred and thirteen: Continuing the “life in Philly” theme, today’s drawing is an impression of the exterior of my apartment building. Although my address is technically Pine Street, my apartment is in the rear of the building, and overlooks a very narrow residential alley-like street called Waverly. I park my bike inside the […]
Also tagged bird, self portraitDay two hundred and twelve: A few days ago my friend and fellow rower, Michael H., said he was waiting to see a drawing about rowing in Philadelphia. Today I finally made it on the water: another rowing friend, Dan, got me in a single and onto the Schuylkill River for the first time. The […]
Also tagged architecture, cartoon, landscape, waterDay 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, sculpture, woodcutDay two hundred and ten: Feeling uninspired, it took me awhile to land on this subject for today’s sketch. While I was scrolling through travel snapshots, I started drawing only the trees in this picture, but ended up scrawling in the architecture too. I’m not sure the exact location, but it is somewhere along the […]
Also tagged architecture, landscapeDay two hundred and eight: Early in the morning when I’m sitting in my living room, the bookcase across from me is reflected in the glass coffee table. I know it’s silly, but it always appears to me as a giant bookcase beside a pool of water. Looking for a quick and easy subject to […]
Also tagged cartoon, landscape, oilDay two hundred and seven: A colleague at work showed me a book with pictures mimicking heads designed by the 17th-century French academy artist Charles le Brun. The original illustrations were made to demonstrate “Heads Representing the Various Passions of the Soul as They are Expressed in the Human Countenance.” I couldn’t resist making snapshots […]
Also tagged art on art, faceDay two hundred and five: After a full, productive weekend, I quickly sketched a combination lock that happened to be lying next to my computer. One of the things I was working on today was getting my bike ready for more commuting around Philadelphia for work and groceries and other errands. I use a similar […]
Also tagged oil, still lifeDay two hundred and three: My sketch today is based on an artwork that was based on an artwork. Confused? Abraham Blootling made four engraved prints of lions around 1665 for a series titled Variae Leonum Icones. Each sheet pictures two lions originally designed by Peter Paul Rubens. I’ve found six of them so far […]
Also tagged animal, art on art