Orange County Courthouse

Today was a down sort of day - end of vacation, Daughter going back to college after a week at home, still not feeling totally well after my cold... By this afternoon Dearest could tell I needed some time to myself, and probably to sketch. So she suggested downtown Hillsborough, "We live in an historic village - go sketch."

So I did. Tupelo's, a favorite restaurant in the center of town, closed several months ago. It's under construction to become Antonia's - an Italian place - but on Sunday the site was deserted, and so I took advantage of their quiet front step to sit and do this watercolor of the most obvious building in our town - the courthouse. Here is the watercolor - I discovered my newest markers are not waterproof, and I loved what happened when I wet the paper in certain ways.

Here is a photo of the courthouse - so you can see how accurate I was (and wasn't). I drew what I felt - and that differs from reality.

Usually I would be tempted to remove things like the overhead lines and the traffic signals - but they're part of our downtown, of which this is the main intersection. I like them hanging there. Take all the electrical stuff out of the scene and it could be some earlier time, like the 1880's - but it wouldn't be now.

I spent nearly an hour and half on this - it felt like 15 minutes. Nothing reboots my mind as well, except an unusually good night of sleep.

Sketches and Doodles at Folly Beach and Charleston

With all of our spring breaks aligned, we all took off together for Folly Beach, SC and Charleston. We did our usual favorite things, and some new ones.

One of the new things was touring the Yorktown, a WW II aircraft carrier on permanent display at Patriot Point in Mt Pleasant, across the harbor from Charleston. We've seen it over there for years, and finally got over to see it. It's enormous, and we probably saw only two thirds of it before we were tired out. I saw even less, because I took an hour to wander among the planes in the hangar deck, and drew this sketch of my favorite. I chose it for aesthetic reasons - I liked the beefy look of it, and the bend in the wing, in particular. This was the first F6F Hellcat flown from a carrier - hence the "00" number. It was flown by "Jimmy" Flatley - who introduced them to carriers, proved how effective they could be in the war, and went on to change much about naval aviation and became a Vice Admiral. I noted all this because I had spent so much time on his aircraft.

Later, up on the flight deck, Youngest and I were looking for the fastest jet up there. There were several contenders, and we had to walk the entire set of planes to finally find the F-14 Tomcat at the back of the carrier. We noted with satisfaction that it was the fastest (top speed of 1500 MPH). I talked a little about the competition between the Airforce and the Navy over fighter jets, in particular, and the place the F-14 played in that competition for years. Then I noticed that the commander listed on its side was one James "Seamus" Flatley IV. I opened my sketch pad to check this wonderful serendipity - and saw that, indeed, this plane was flown by the grandson of the man who flew the Hellcat on display below deck. And I would not have noticed the connection (remembered the name) except that I'd spent so much time drawing the plane. For the rest of the day I saw hellcats in photographs and diaramas and immediately recognized them, though I had never paid any attention to that fighter before.

Another morning, before anyone else was up. I tried this watercolor sketch of a horned whelk I found on the beach. No pencil first - drawing directly with the brush. It's not a technique I enjoy, and I'm not good at it (those facts may be causally connected in both directions) - but it was interesting to try. Some things in this sketch I like - others I dislike.

And one evening, as others cleaned up after dinner, I drew this doodle which started as random lines and then gradually became birds. We saw a lot of them on the trip, and many emerged here - pigeons, an osprey (nesting at the top of the Yorktown's conning tower), cormorants, chickens (seen in paintings and art objects in Charleston and, if you've followed this blog long enough, you would recall how often they show up in my drawings and paintings), and crows and grackles down at the beach. No pelican - seems odd considering how many we saw.

It was a good trip, and we all came home very tired.

Art Studio at ArtsCenter in Carrboro

We went to see a Paperhand Puppet Intervention performance at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro, and I took the opportunity to show the studio to Dearest and Youngest, who had not seen it. This is where I do life drawing - drawing the nude figure. The old chair and the easels are the main characters in the space, until people inhabit it.

Ballpoint pen in 5 x 8 moleskine. My usual spot is about ten feet behind the back of the old chair, to the side of the modeling platform you can just see in the lower right edge of this sketch. The dark object made of boards to the left of the chair is another type of easel used in life drawing classrooms - three simple boards and braces, with a small board across the sitting surface, so a drawing board can be propped up in front of a student or artist. I remember using one in art school. I prefer to stand while I draw, and to have the pad up high, so it's on the same level as the model. That makes the drawing movements more free and perspective easier to measure. Actually, the easel immediately behind the chair in this drawing is the one I used last week.

We're just retunred from a short family trip to Charleston, SC and Folly Beach. There will be a few sketches from there - in other posts.

Sketches from the Portofino

I loved this hotel in Orlando, and spent several evenings peacefully sitting there, drinking a glass of wine, watching the sunset, and smiling at passers by. These, however, were both drawn Sunday morning, while I waited for my conference sessions to start at 1:00. The first is a little too light and tentative to please me, but it does capture something of the feel of the boats tied up in the picturesque little harbor and the style used to decorate the hotel.

The other is from one of the open cafes in the piazza, where I sat under a big umbrella, had a hasty lunch and drew this while I ate. Both are in pencil, 8.5 x 10. Click to see larger views.

Sketches at the Royal Pacific and City Walk at Universal

The Loews Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando is part of the larger Universal complex, along a long thin lake (probably man made). The resort is at one end, and has a South Pacific theme (staff greet you with "Aloha"). This old plane floats in the lagoon at the resort, where the dock comes down to let patrons board the free water taxi to Universal Studios' theme park, which is in the middle of the long winding lake. I sketched it quickly after we boarded the water taxi, and before we departed - probably three or four minutes.

Here is a quick sketch of our captain, piloting the water taxi (more like a water bus) to Universal. It's probably under five minutes for the trip. The dock at City Walk has gates for the Royal Pacific's taxi, the Hard Rock Hotel's taxi (the next hotel down the lake the other way from the Royal Pacific) and the boat from the Portofino Bay Resort, the first hotel built in the complex, and at the extreme other end of the lake. I did two sketches during my several brief and pleasant stops at the Portofino (but that's another post). I loved that hotel's atmosphere and the way it blended with the pleasant Florida weather.

This drawing was done in City Walk, near Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville restaurant. Good food, good beer, margaritas (of course), and an extension of the restaurant (drawn here) is called the Lone Palm Airport. The plane seems to have landed at the palm thatched hut, and it's tail hangs out over the lake, about ten feet up. I loved the shape of the plane, which is fat and friendly, and the way it's completely surrounded by palm trees. The triple bladed propellers were perfect, a pleasure to draw. The boy playing in the foreground did dash through, but he was carrying a ball, not an airplane. I got carried away. This is a pencil sketch, 8.5 x 10. The others were done with ballpoint in my smallest moleskine.

Life Drawing Again (Finally)

I have been too busy travelling, and too busy with other things at home to attend life drawing sessions. Worse, the human figure is something difficult for me if I don't stay in practice. It would be like a rusty musician going to a jam session; the results would be frustrating and embarrassing. Worst of all, without recovering some level of skill, the beauty before me would elude my feeble attempts to capture it on paper, and that would make me grind my teeth.

So with the Florida trip behind me, and having sketched my way back into some level of skill, and even some comfort with figures, (see previous post), I bundled up my gear and went to a life drawing session. On the way to the car I discovered that any trepidation or concern I used to feel even last year (student fears left over from college days) is gone. The Chicago sketch trip, and maybe turning fifty, have moved me to a place of unconcern. I'm drawing to see - not for any other purpose.

We had a male model - probably in his mid sixties, I would guess. By coincidence this is the first male nude model I have drawn since college. I was excited at the prospect, and I was not disappointed. His body was significantly different from my own (the only male body I know well, after all), and he was wirey, tall, and in good shape for his age. The result was a beautiful series of articulated bones and muscles, which I was eager to capture on paper. I didn't succeed as I would like, and that would normally have made me sweat and struggle to relax, but I simply seem beyond that now. I just took each drawing as it came, wasn't working to please or show anyone else, and I challenged or pampered myself as I saw fit. Even when the results were poor, I was enjoying myself. That's new, for me.

We always begin these sessions the same way, with four poses of two minutes each (the lead artist sets a timer). The first photo in this post is of two of those sketches, in sienna. All of the sketches in this series are done with pastel on 18x24 inch brown craft paper; think brown paper grocery bag and you have the right feel - I like that surface.

These are followed by four poses of 5 minutes each - I've posted three of those above (drawn in brown), to give you some idea how I progressed that evening, and how much can be done in 5 minutes. Others in the room are far more skilled than I, and get practice several times every week; they get an incredible amount on paper in five minutes.

Then we do two ten minute poses, a fifteen minute pose, and take a break (more for the model than for the artists). Here is the fifteen minute pose. It has plenty of issues. I was still warming up through these longer drawings, feeling rusty and unable to get into the right side of my brain. I was flickering back and forth for this sketch. None of these three were particularly inspiring poses, either - and that matters to me. Seated poses, like this one, often strike me as a basket of limbs, and I'm not interested. Even when I enjoy the female form from the perspective of a man (rather than as an artist) I mostly notice the torso, not arms and legs, though I will notice unusually lovely or shapely limbs on anyone, male or female. For instance, I was distracted during the pre-session chit-chat by the forearms of one of the other artists. They were powerful and well proportioned, and he held them with grace. By the way, to get the correct sense of last night's session, picture three male artists and one male model - all of us in our 50s and 60s, all with gray or white hair, and all of us in spectacles. I was actually the young guy in the room; it made me grin.

The last two poses, after the break, are twenty or twenty five minutes long, and usually that's where we've all hit our stride and there is time to get to some of the details that have been tantalizing me all evening. Sometimes those poses are boring - the model has to pick something they can hold that long - and other times they're great. It's all a surprise. Here is my first 25 minute drawing. I'm not pleased with it for many reasons (in many places it's incorrect, period) - and I missed a great opportunity with this natural and relaxed pose because the muscles and bones that were on display in this case were marvelous, showing the model's age and the beauty of that age expressed in male flesh. There was so much going on, though, and I was so greedy to capture all of it that I believe I lost most of it. But I just grinned and moved on. The hand is actually better than I often manage, so I was pleased with that progress.

This last drawing finally captures some of the feeling of the model as an individual, and I'm happy with the male lines, the muscles and the bones, particularly in the shoulder, which I emphasized here. I finally remembered to hold the chalk for a moment and LOOK - and think how I wanted to position things, what was the focal point for the drawing, the form or series of lines that were the most important for this pose. Previously I had just been attacking the page, trying not to think too hard about anything, to keep my left brain out of it.

I wish the head weren't off the top of the page - I would have liked to have the top simply fade into the paper, as I did with the back of his hair. And the head should probably be a bit larger, I think. But these aren't finished drawings - they're exercises. They're about seeing, not about creating something in particular. Like music practice for a musician. Scales at first, and perhaps, by the end, something someone might want to hear through an open window. Then gone.

More Airport Sketches

These are from my recent trip to Florida. I flew down on Saturday and worked Sunday afternoon through Wednesday, then flew back on Thursday. So I had time to sketch in airports, and time to sketch a little on Saturday and Sunday there at Universal in Orlando. Those sketches were more detailed drawings, and are for another post. Here is the Mexican band which was playing in Raleight-Durham Airport on Saturday when I flew down. They were by the ticketing area, and so I went right over and sketched them. I love that the shortest and widest musician was also playing the shortest proportioned and the widest instrument. It was as if he here playing a short necked cello as a guitar, or a guitar proportioned like a cello. I'd forgotten about this unusual instrument - I haven't seen one in many years. These guys were pretty good, and lots of fun.

Then, with my boarding pass printed and bag checked, I sat down and did a drawing to try to capture the sweeping open beauty of the new terminal, with it's wood and cables and metal connectors. The very first time I ever saw it the construction reminded me of the style and materials used by the Wright brothers on their first plane - and I wonder if that's what the architect intended. I wish they would suspend one of the replicas of the plane from the ceiling.

This sketch was done with people coming and going at my gate, built up gradually while I waited to board. Nothing makes the time go faster than sketching.

These all feel unrelaxed and forced to me - and they felt that way when I drew them. Later, in Florida, I got more into the drawings, and relaxed more. Practicing a little nearly every day is the only way to make progress, and to regain the quick connection with the right side of the brain which is so necessary to doing good drawing.

On the last day, after the other sketches (separate post, as I said above) I was again in the airport, waiting for my departure home. I could not resist this scene, and the style is more relaxed, and more effective. This sketch made me feel I was ready for a figure drawing session when I got home. But that is yet another post...