Christmas Day

Christmas Morning: All the world was quiet (unless you have small children) and it was a lovely time to go drawing at my usual spots. I hope you had a good holiday. You might put an extra helping of bird seed out.

These are all 18 x 24", pastel and ink.

12-25-19-hawk

12-25-19-riverbank

12-25-19-ducks

Winter Welcome

So, winter is here. Not officially but in spirit; it's cold and snowy as you can see in last week's sketches below.

12-06-19-island

12-09-19-dam

Winter followed me to Washington, D.C. over the weekend where my daughter was graduating from college. While she was having her picture taken at the Lincoln Memorial, I was sketching the fog-shrouded reflecting pool and what I could see of the Washington Monument. A flock of geese levitated and  decorated the air above the pool.

12-14-19-washDC

But when I returned I discovered that Natick had had a lot of rain over the weekend. The island was inundated and a big tree was stranded on top of the dam. This is good as far as I'm concerned. Maybe it will attract some ducks.

12-17-19-bridge

12-17-19-dam

Autumn Colors

11-28-19-island
pastel, oil pastel, ink

11-27-19-willow
pastel, ink

11-29-19-pokeweed
pastel, ink, oil pastel

11-29-19-reflections
pastel, ink, oil pastel

An Autumn Miscellany

10-03-19-arch01

10-08-19-heron01

10-12-19-geese

10-14-19-island

10-22-19-sparrow

10-26-19-catalpa01

11-18-19-mallards

11-20-19-river

Pastel and ink

Each drawing I do happens rather quickly. I wonder why this is.

- I don't really want to even start the drawing (fear of failure).

- Working quickly can circumvent self-critical thoughts.

- My time is limited (5-15 minutes each) and there are too many other things to draw.

- I have to return home in time to drive my wife to the train.

To fully address the problems of representation (light, space, fidelity) and to attention to the smallest dynamic moment of perception, I work gesturally. I'm inspired by (am validated by) different forms of Asian brush drawing, action painting and Impressionist painters. And lots of other things as well; too numerous and diverse to mention. Using pastel allows me to quickly establish some definition of space and light. The ink builds on this (although sometimes I put the ink down first) and offers bold contrast. I like the commitment that ink enforces.  So that's a little description of one of my concerns regarding drawing.

What do you think about when you make a picture?

11-01-19-willow

11-01-19-crows

11-08-19-bridge

11-08-19-swan

Ready, Set, Go!

Ready!

Steady…

Go!

This heron is shy. I only make 2-3 quick sketches before he's had enough of me and flies away. It's good practice at least.

Here we go again: Ready?

Steady…

Bye bye

Cormorant

A cormorant has been residing at the dam for the past few weeks. It's great fun to draw. I wonder what odd birds will come home to roost this week. Perhaps a CIA whistleblower?

09-25-19-cormorant02

09-14-19-cormorant

09-28-19-dam

09-13-19-cormorant

A Flock of Herons

08-12-19-heron
ink, pastel

08-14-19-heron01
ink

08-18-19-heron02
pencil, watercolor

08-20-19-heron02
ink, charcoal, pastel

Drawing in the Rain

Me and the rain are friends.

A few geese seen through the stone archway of the old bridge
07-12-19-geese01
ink, charcoal

A family of geese. Yay!
07-12-19-geese02
ink, charcoal

07-12-19-hawks
ink, crayon

drawing exhibit: July 1-31, Wellesley, Massachusetts

I'll have a dozen of my larger drawings and paintings on view at the Wellesley Free Public Library for the entire month of July. Please stop by for a look. And, let me know if you do (email) so we can see each other.

Closer, closer, closer…

06-13-19-heron
ink, charcoal

06-10-19-heron01
ink, charcoal

06-10-19-heron02
ink, charcoal, pastel

Me and Degas

05-22-19-riverbank
charcoal

"Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs"
lithograph
1876–77
Edgar Degas
MFA Boston 

Now you see it, Now you don't

05-09-19-heron
pastel, charcoal, ink

05-04-19-heron03
ink, charcoal

05-02-19-heron
pencil, charcoal