Like a Ninja

Washington Park is for Ninja Drawing Sessions...

The Disadvantage of Low Rise, 2013

Krystal Booth

 

 

I felt that the second sketch needed such a title.  Low Rise jeans were invented for standing people who never want to sit down.  haha  But yes, Mom jeans are equally bad for opposite reasons.  Perhaps we are about to enter the Golden Age of Jeans, as Goldie Locks has tried both and is ready for the pair that is just right.

 

Ninja drawings sessions have been fun at Washington Park.  I try to stay undetected so they don't get self-conscious.  It's about getting them down on my paper as fast as possible.  It is an authentic real-life, real-time session of Figure Drawing on crack.  Hurry!  Hurry!  Get it down!  He's about to move - Fast - get down the angle of his arm!

A Continuation of "If You Looked Over My Shoulder" Post

If you looked over my shoulder, you would see that I can create some pretty ugly things.  In the quest for improvement, it seems that it is inevitable.  I finally decided that the two images didn't work together - the layer study and the charcoal drawing.  There was something to it that was attractive to me, but I'm not sure if they really did anything for one another except muddy the golden ratio type of design of the charcoal drawing, and then add confusion to visual space.  I tried.

So moving on...this is what I have been working on lately.  I've been trying out a different strategy for incorporating layers with drawing.

This one has been exciting to make so far, and will have a narrative when it's done.

Olive helping me...whether I liked it or not.  She was allowed to lay there before I had drawn the center leaf, but it was brief.  She began batting at my pencil.



Also not done yet - it's for a Talenthouse/Secret 7 opportunity to create an artwork

based upon a song by Florence and the Machine- "Only If For A Night".  It's an awesome opportunity to create work for one of my favorite musical artists!  What's not to love about that?!  The submissions are due 9 days from now, and this work needs much work before then. 

(Check out http://www.talenthouse.com/creative if you are interested in this or other opportunities - very fun site that I had no idea existed until three days ago!)

Will these be ugly?  Who knows.  Maybe.  At the very least, they will bring me that much closer to creating something that is beautiful, and I'll hopefully learn from them.  I'll be posting about the 2011 Vision Board Review in the next few days and creating a new one for 2012.  Cheers to a new year for all of us!  Happy New Year to you and your family!

If you looked over my shoulder...

I've darkened areas with more washes of color...it's better, but still is not quite right.  Maybe I'm trying to make two works that are too different combine into one, and they are stubbornly saying, "NO!"

This is the way I had them positioned beside each other in the last post. 

And now I kind of like them like this! ha! 

The third work that will be incorporated into this is about to get underway.  I think after that I'll be at a better place to start making judgement calls on this...hopefully! 

Enjoy the beautiful sunshine for me (if it's sunny where you are)!  The sun is taunting me as it comes through the window and onto my two slumbering assistants.  I'm sure I'll sneak out for a walk at some point.  Have a good day!



Photo of the Slumbering Assistants from 2010

New Work of the Day - Will It Work?

Transition, 2011

Charcoal and graphite on Paper, 7x5"

This is how I spent my day - space traveling with the point of a charcoal pencil.  It was inspired by a texture study and the golden ratio.  The big moon type of sphere in the upper right corner was drawn using graphite so it has a sheen to it - (the sheen/values/textures turned out beautifully in person, but don't quite translate in photographs or when scanned - the shiney graphite fights against the dark areas).  After I finished it, I placed it beside the texture study to see what it would look like together as a single piece of work.

What is strange is the fact that they fit together more peacefully with these sides touching more than the way I had planned.  I can see an elipse type of shape that stretches across both of them in an almost seamless manner (squint at it and then it appears).  That is what convinced me that this is how they want to be shown...

However, the two do not quite fit because the layer study is anemic in the contrast department.  It needs darker areas in order to balance out the charcoal drawing.  I'm going to go back into the layer study and work on building some more dark and light areas.  I'm hoping that maybe they will be more unified and balanced after that.  We shall see!



From Doodle to Puzzle to Meditation

Charcoal on paper, 18x11", 2011

Detail of the above work

A week of exploration!  I have been working on the drawing above this past week and I finished it last night.  It's been a strange one full of fun compositional puzzles to figure out.  It began with just a goal of doodling bubbles one night.  I've been really attracted to circles in recent months...I blame the doodle of overlapping circles I drew on our drawing table for this obsession.  Though the pen marks have faded with cleaning, the circles remain present.  It's acting like some sort of strange reminder.

Soon the page was filled with the large circles connected by lines and I didn't quite know what was next.  It wasn't long before swirls of small circles began swooping down on the picture plane to add depth to the space.  I somewhat do not feel right in taking credit of the small circle placements - it was as if they just appeared, and I was only there to follow directions of what it wanted.  The paper texture guided my marks as well.  It was somewhat of a meditation to create this, and now I have begun a second drawing of this theme using the same materials, but on more of a close-up focus. 

I think the challenge that may be presenting itself is the illusion of space - or the ability to look into an area and feel as though the drawing goes beyond where my eyes can see.  I like that idea paired with areas of flatness.  This idea is not new to contemporary drawing, but it is a new venture to me.  It seems like an interesting direction to see what happens.  I'm still doing the layer studies as well, and perhaps these ideas will cross paths soon - or at least at some point during this year of exploration.

I also purchased a big piece of vellum-like paper for the pleasing price of 99 cents this week!  I have seen some artists use to overlay drawings and draw on the front side and back side to create more depth.  I will be experimenting with this to see if it will be a successful way to go forward.  I'm wondering if it will enhance that depth, or if it will just agitate the compositions by making it seem as though something is obstructing the view (and we'll all be looking at it while screaming in our heads, "Get that damn thing out of my way!").  ha!

Thanks for reading and love to all!  Have a great rest of the day and an excellent week!

In the Studio

A peek at what I've been working on and what's been staring back at me in the studio.  I'll be working to finish this drawing this weekend.  There's always something so pleasing about working with charcoal - the directness of that rich, dark mark.  It seems like it is indulging that 2-year-old inside that just wants to make marks appear on a page through simple movement.

New Self-Portrait - A Drawing

Self-Portrait 2011

 Graphite and Charcoal on Paper.

6x6"