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I've been carving this one for weeks. With lots of interruptions, but it's still the most painstaking, intricate print I've worked on since the seagull murmuration for my show at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art. Fortunately for me, this one is 9x12" instead of 18x24". I've enjoying having something to dive into for an hour at a time while I juggle a ton of other responsibilities this month, and I finally have gotten it to the place where I could pull a print and see what it looks like. I had to get the entire carving roughed in so I wouldn't lose the delicate drawing on the block into a big smear of ink. I'm cleaning up and thinning out very slowly so I don't overshoot, so there's not any dramatic difference to see the biggest clean up will show in the path, but I'm still working on that bit.
This is from a photo I took during Memphis's unusual, actual snow this past winter. Usually we're right on the ice line, but for once we got a fluffy, photogenic kind of snow. This must be the fourth print I've done of my favorite tree over the years, alongside who knows how many sketches, and I just couldn't resist her beauty all dressed up for winter. I should be done in a few more proofs with smaller and smaller changes as I go along. Soon...
This is from a photo I took during Memphis's unusual, actual snow this past winter. Usually we're right on the ice line, but for once we got a fluffy, photogenic kind of snow. This must be the fourth print I've done of my favorite tree over the years, alongside who knows how many sketches, and I just couldn't resist her beauty all dressed up for winter. I should be done in a few more proofs with smaller and smaller changes as I go along. Soon...
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The weather has been utterly gorgeous this week, and I'm trying to get out and take advantage of it with sketching walks and patio meals. I'm low energy this week, but wandering around the park with a sketchbook is just right, and Henry and I have been over several different days. Such pleasure.
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I had a lovely farm day a while ago before the crazy cold rolled in, and I did a couple of sketches I forgot to scan in (it's been a busy month). I love the winter green cover of the fields against the bare trees. And later a cardinal posed for me in the tree near the bird feeder. I tested out a new blue watercolor marker from Windsor and Newton for the sky. I love the juiciness of the color.
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I was having a run around day a couple of weeks ago, and it was sunny and halfway warm for the end of January. I felt like stopping at my favorite deck and having a chai. I had just started a new sketchbook, back to my old favorite Handbook after trying something less satisfying, and I also had a new yellow watercolor marker. I did the sketch above with the watercolor and then did a second one of umbrellas and the sycamore across the street that I love. My fountain pens hadn't really worked on the paper in the previous book, so I'm enjoying getting back to them. And sketching a treat slows me down to both appreciate and remember it.
A couple of days ago I got my favorite Lucy J's bakery croissant at the farmers market and came home for second tea. I hadn't been sketching in a few days, so it was nice to take a slow Saturday morning and enjoy both the sketching and the croissant.
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Henry and I went out the other day to take advantage of a gorgeous, sunny afternoon at Elmwood Historic Cemetery, one of my favorite longtime sketching spots. I hadn't really registered this hobbit-looking grave before and was completely charmed by the hillside entrance and round door.
After a bit we walked on to one of the many stunning trees out there. I got a box of Windsor and Newton watercolor markers recently. I'd had a single blue one years ago that I loved for its broad tip and its lush color, so I took a chance on a box. I tried both greens on this piece. Greens are tricky, and these both felt a little too chemically, though my choice of Paradise Blue ink to start with in a fountain pen probably pushed them even further toward the cool end. The tree has some gorgeous blue undertones I was trying to catch, and it is always fun to play with different colors. I'm happy with bits of this but not the overall color tone.
After a bit we walked on to one of the many stunning trees out there. I got a box of Windsor and Newton watercolor markers recently. I'd had a single blue one years ago that I loved for its broad tip and its lush color, so I took a chance on a box. I tried both greens on this piece. Greens are tricky, and these both felt a little too chemically, though my choice of Paradise Blue ink to start with in a fountain pen probably pushed them even further toward the cool end. The tree has some gorgeous blue undertones I was trying to catch, and it is always fun to play with different colors. I'm happy with bits of this but not the overall color tone.
I went back to my regular black pen and watercolor for the third sketch. It's a closeup of a magnolia I'd spotted as we started out but wanted to walk for a bit before settling down to sketch. I love all the huge old trees out there.
Finally here's another tree sketch from a newish greenway down by the river the other day. This is grey ink with a dip pen and watercolor on top. It seems to thematically go with this entry, so I tucked it on in. I'm trying to branch out and explore some newer places this year, and I really enjoyed this quiet walk with the levee in the background (the yellow band behind the trees).
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After crazy cold weather and a sprained ankle it was really good to meet my friend Christina for lunch and sketching. We had a catch up and a burger and then moved out into the sunshine on the plaza outside Crosstown to draw. It was chilly and a bit windy, but the sun helped, and it felt good after being cooped up so long. I did the pretty complex top scene, sitting and chatting and going back in to fiddle a little more. It's in my favorite Diamine golden brown ink. I'm finally back in a sketchbook that takes my fountain pens again and really enjoying that. This one is water soluble, so you can see that it melted into the paint a bit. I put some of the lines back after painting, but I also like the looseness of that melt.
I also did this super not flattering sketch of Christina. I'm trying to get back into drawing people more again, especially since I'm really enjoying illustration these days. But I tried to catch her smiling and instead did something truly awful with her mouth. So I'm going to post a second older one with it, a fast line sketch, that I think does capture more of her beauty.
I also did this super not flattering sketch of Christina. I'm trying to get back into drawing people more again, especially since I'm really enjoying illustration these days. But I tried to catch her smiling and instead did something truly awful with her mouth. So I'm going to post a second older one with it, a fast line sketch, that I think does capture more of her beauty.
I went down to pick up Henry afterwards and was a little early, so I ran through a fun little grocery by the river and then just sat in my car and did this sketch of a couple of trees that caught my eye (of course). A really good sketching day.
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I really enjoyed my quick trip to Atlanta. It helped that I drove in Monday evening, parked the car, and didn't move it again until I left Thursday morning. I could walk to the High Museum (my main reason for the trip), but I was also just across from Piedmont Park, an enormous urban park that had some lovely old trees and also some views out to the high rises that reminded me of the views from Central Park. I walked there all three days, and the last day I left the museum early and headed over with my sketchbook. I did a view my friend Sri had shown me, across the lake and off to the Midtown buildings, and I sketched one of a dozen fantastic trees I saw. I had forgotten my dip pen, and I was just finishing up (hallelujah!) a sketchbook that didn't accept my regular fountain pens. Even the brush pens had trouble getting purchase on that paper, which is why I've done so very many Inktense pencil sketches lately (like the skyline above). I've enjoyed stretching myself to use other materials, but I'm thrilled to be going back to my regular Handbook. I miss the smoother paper that also dries more quickly, I miss the pocket in the back, and the ease with which it fits on my regular scanner instead of my oversized one.
This one is a Hahnemühle, and I liked the slimmer book and the slightly wider format (also the reason it didn't quite fit on my scanner), but the paper bled through badly, and I've really been missing my pens. It's good to try new things, but I was happy to use one more museum trip, using dry materials anyway (Inktense plus neocolor crayons) to finish it off.
This one is a Hahnemühle, and I liked the slimmer book and the slightly wider format (also the reason it didn't quite fit on my scanner), but the paper bled through badly, and I've really been missing my pens. It's good to try new things, but I was happy to use one more museum trip, using dry materials anyway (Inktense plus neocolor crayons) to finish it off.
Here is one more non-museum sketch. I walked out on the tiny balcony my first morning there (I love a balcony) and spotted the moon setting through the trees. I grabbed a chair and my sketchbook and drew it quickly before breakfast. Traveling always gets me sketching at a higher frequency. At home I can think, well, I'll see that again, but on the road, you've got one shot at it. I was so glad I did before settling in for breakfast. It was a lovely way to start the day. And then I got to the O'Keefe show and saw probably 10 paintings of hers with the moon and felt very in synch with a painter I greatly admire.
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I'm continuing to give myself a slower January after the show craziness of Winter Arts. I'm cleaning my house some to get it pleasant again and doing a bit of print shop reorganzation, but I'm also trying to keep my sketching game going. I did another cold weather sketch on my dog walk yesterday, again just using pencils and crayons without getting out all the paint things. I'm kind of hoping this cold weather training will get me used to being out so I can sketch in the snow tomorrow. I never really want snow -- I like to walk out in the world without worrying about slipping -- but it is quite lovely visually. We'll see if I have the intestinal fortitude to sketch outside tomorrow. Watch this space...
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I delivered books to the Shelby Farms gift shop yesterday and took the opportunity to walk in a different park. There is a pair of small lakes I love from previous bike trips out there, so I headed that way. It was super cold but also a little sheltered back off the main area, and I took my sketching pack just in case. I'm trying to sketch more this month. I ended up doing two quick ones. I didn't take time to get paint out, just used the Inktense pencils with water brushed over the top (which is why that purple in the background is so vivid -- I would have mixed it down a bit in paint). But fun to try to catch the essence of a spare scene quickly. My second sketch was a tunnel of privet. I really love a tree tunnel, and though I generally dislike privet as an invader that causes a lot of trouble in natural places, I was charmed by the tunnel anyway. I remembered the crayons this time to get a little more blocky color in still without getting out paints.
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Memphis Urban Sketchers met inside Crosstown today, a converted old Sears distribution tower that calls itself a "vertical village." It's a wonderful community space with lots of indoor vistas on a chilly January day. I had seen and loved the red tree in the Crosstown Arts area and was glad to see it still up -- I like it when people celebrate the whole season of Christmas and not just a single day. Henry and I settled there for a while to do a fairly intricate and layered space with the tree front and center. Afterwards we moved out to chat with friends, and the graphic orange restroom sign caught my eye, so I did it quickly before our meet up.
After more chatting and lunch with Christina, Henry and I walked towards home. It's going to get crazy cold, and I got warm walking, so I decided to keep going to the park and take advantage of the last chance to sketch outdoors for a while. I hadn't drawn "my" tree in a good while. She's decayed a lot but is still lovely, so I camped out on a picnic table and did one good sketch before heading home to warm up. First Saturdays are always one of my favorite days of the month. I love our great sketching crew, and it's a lovely excuse to get out and draw for the sheer pleasure of it.
