Resupply

I just hit both Ocean State Job Lot and Michael's to restock with blank canvases, new brushes and acrylics. Fall is going to be paint-tastic!

Sunday HGTV

After an organized resupply at Michael's yesterday (I had a list, they had a big sale, and I had a 40% off coupon), I knew I wanted to use some of my new materials today. I was a slug most of this rainy day, doing little more than playing mahjongg online and reading, but in the evening after supper, I went on a drawing kick.

Seeing all of the great works yesterday at FAM really inspired me to want to experiment with capturing textures, so I decided to do a drawing of flowing honey. The jar's design took over for awhile, me trying to figure out a pleasing color scheme, but with the application of three different pencil colors (cream, bronze and sunburst yellow) I think the honey came out best.

I was also taken by the ancient carvings of seated Chinese dancers at FAM, and knew I wanted to draw them at some point, so I jumped right in after photographing the honey jar. It was a lot of fun, and it basically flowed right out of my No. 2 pencil. I spent way more time figuring out and then applying the color scheme than I did on the actual pencil and ink stages. I like the idea of them so much that I plan on drawing these often, until I can do them in my sleep. In the future, I'll also apply colored and patterned paper instead of colored pencils. An interesting and fitting bonus: as you can see, the paper has an aged and yellow tinge to it. It is white 60 lb sketch paper, but because the first several photos came out too washed out by the camera's flash, I adjusted the camera setting to 'aquarium', and this happy accident was the result.

Flee

I was watching tv yesterday, and I don't recall what made me think to draw this, but I had in mind to draw a person with lots of random clothing elements flapping out behind him as he escaped something. I'm not sure what he is fleeing from, but it was fun to draw, and the look on his face cracks me up. I drew & inked him yesterday, and I colored him today after breakfast.

I also ran out to Michael's this afternoon for a couple of sketchpads (11"x17" Bristol and 11"x14" recycled, both smooth finish) and several colors to fill in the blanks amongst my set of Prismacolor pencils. I snagged bronze, chartreuse, copenhagen blue, cream, orange, terra cotta, ultramarine, and warm grey. I also got a couple of fine-tipped pens (orange and green), 2 sheets of patterned paper (antique stars and tikis), an aluminum yard stick (actually a meter stick, with conversion tables for all things metric on the back), and a multicolored packet of paper.

On a side note: Congratulations to Abdi Farah, who won "Work of Art: The Next Great Artist" on Bravo last night. He was one of my favorites all season, and his work (along with that of Peregrine Honig, Nicole Nadeau, Erik Johnson, and Ryan Shultz) has been inspiring me for weeks now. He won his own showing at the Brooklyn Museum, which runs from August 14th to October 17th. I may have to make a list of additional things to see in Brooklyn, and make a road-trip...