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Life drawing in pastel pencil

In the life drawing class a while ago, we had one long pose and used pastel pencils in black, white and sanguine. I’ve never used pastel pencils before. The closest I came to do something recognizable with pastels, is a little still life I did a few years ago. I dug it out to compare. It was done with soft pastel sticks.

…five a day…

I had a hard time with these pencils. They are harder than the sticks and I kept on coloring in instead of putting in mass. Or maybe it is all the sketching and ink line work I’m doing currently and very little painting. And I didn’t want to smudge the pastel, glazing it, smooth it over. I wanted texture and expressive strokes. But it seems I’ve left her out in the sun for too long…I loved the pose, so maybe I’ll redo this later and try and come up with something more painterly and eye pleasing. Any advice from the pastellists out there?

…fire, fire!…

 

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The story of Vivien, published by Ronell.

Once upon a time…

Continue reading at Flying Pictures Project if you want to see more of Vivien’s book.

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Sketches from Toulouse, France.

We are back from a wonderful time in Toulouse. Beautiful sunshine days and we were spoilt rotten by Marinell. It is so bad being back here and having no one to continue the spoiling!

In between all the coffees and lunches and soulful talks and laughter and movies and dinners and lots of walking and even rock concert by Maroon Five, I sqeezed in some drawings. I did the drawings on site and put the washes in when we took a break somewhere. Toulouse was swarming with people out on the streets, which made drawing extremely difficult. I didn’t even attempt painting.

Toulouse is known as La ville Rose (pink city), because of the amazing red brick used in its architecture. It is overwhelming and I felt totally incompetent, trying to capture some of it atmosphere.

The first three sketches were done in handmade sketchbook (22 x 25cm) in pen and pencil and watercolour.

…la ville rose…

…let in the sun…

…empty…

The next sketch of Pont neuf, crossing La Garonne, was done in handmade sketchbook, 22x15cm in rotring artist pen and wash.

..a wonky pont neuf…

A few people sketches  on Place de la Daurade and the ducks closing in to investigate. Rotring artpen and wash in handmade sketchbook, 22x15cm.

…so, who are the curious ones…

A while ago I came across a beautiful little handmade sketchbook, (30×12, which seems more like a marine sketch format) and this café scene was done in it with rotring art pen and wash. Unfortunately the paper doesn’t take wash well, so I’ll stick to pen drawings in the future.

…”une baguette, du vin, et du fromage si’l vous plait”…

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Children’s art for a celebration.

I am off to Toulouse for the weekend to celebrate 2 important occasions. Our eldest daugter’s birthday and the end of her architecture studies….well, not completely, but the most important project was presented today.

I am excited for her, stepping into a whole new adventure. No more the little girl, running barefoot, but a  soon to be working young woman(who promised to build our retirement home on the rocks, overlooking the ocean!). These  are some of the drawings from both girls’ barefoot years.

…This collage hangs in our home and I hung it years ago, when, as young parents, we had very little money. I bought a second hand frame for a few cents and fixed it at home.  It was our first “original painting”. And it still looks the same. These drawings are of their first recognizable drawings, don’t ask me when, I can’t remember…

…The next few drawings were done over the years..

…Liandri painted the fish when she was 14 years and we lived in Clemson, South Carolina…

…These last two were done by Marinell when she was 16 in SC…

 

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To take a break or not…

I’ve been away from sketching and drawing and painting for almost 4 weeks. Our Flying Pictures Project got me back into it. And I struggled. My hand felt dumb, my mind was foggy, my imagination was glum and even my committment and desire were flimsy. And that brought the question to my mind: “Is it good to take a break?”

…digging deep…

Watercolour, pencil and rotring pen on Fabriano artistico  HP, 23×30,5 cm.

It will probably be different for everybody.

As for myself and some people I’ve spoken to lately: ….to take a break, is fine. To take a long break, is disasterous. Whether it is a break from art, or work, or excercise or singing, design, or studies, or whatever. Routine sounds like a dull, boring, unartistic word. But it is in fact routine that gets us to be committed and effective, creative and original, inspired and determined. To break the routine for a definite period, is good for the body and soul. It is replenishing. But taking a break for an indefintite period can be dangerous.

Being away from art for 4 weeks, had me shying away more and more from the paper and brush. It felt too hard find the committment, the inspiration and the creativity. My excuses showed up more frequently and they got more creative in fact! I would promise myself that I would sit down for some painting an afternoon, just to quickly find that my afternoon was taken up by “a-lot-of-other-things-that-need-to-be-done-first”. Or I would blame lack of inspiration. Or even the weather.

It got easier to replace the joy of painting with other things I do enjoy. Photography and cooking. And writing. I also love gardening and designing.  But then there is my conscience. I have a terrible conscience. One that keeps me from sleeping and drives me to eating. My conscience stirred my guilt. For neglecting something that I truly love and enjoy. 

I’ve come to the conclusion that to take a break is almost like planning a vaction:

  • There is a beginning and an end in taking a break, which has to be decided on in your planning beforehand.
  • There is a “destination”; where is this break taking me? Do I want to spend more time on excercising or do I want to spend time with my loved ones..
  • “Not feeling inspired” is one of the most futile reasons for taking a break, which was part of my reason.
  • There is also a “budget” that must be adhered to. What will this break cost me? Will I not lose the new techniques that I’ve just starting working with?
  • And then there is the decision to fully enjoy the short break, knowing well when you’ll be back so as to not have your conscience breathing down your neck the whole time.

I now have to work on reestablishing my commitment,(which needs time to settle in) digging deep for my creativity(which must be excercised to surface), practice the new techniques I left hanging loose, and just start doing again without thinking…art wise that is!

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Singing in the rain…

It has been raining ALL day,  and I’m not exaggerating when I say non-stop!

♪…I’m si..ingin in the rain, just si..ingin in the rain… ♪♪…