Drawing Anew

It has been almost exactly two years since my last post here.  I'd been tired and somehow needed a break from the simple obligation of even a once a week post.   Now, as I contemplate restarting, even without a set schedule, I wonder if what I post will be a positive additions to those done in the past.  - Let's just see what happens.



This past winter was miserably cold, snowy and seemed never ending. In fact I'd swear we had so little spring we went almost directly from winter into 85 degree summer!  Now with some reasonable weather I've been getting out to do some leisurely drawing - mostly trees.  Back when I first started this blog I posted a few tree drawings that were relatively quick sketches in ink. Here on the left is one of those posted in 2011.






On the right, this recent drawing is a bit larger than can be accommodated by my scanner so it s cropped some on the right side. I wish you could see it all. If it were visible, another tree on the right leaning left helps to balance the composition very nicely.

Today's drawing is quite a bit looser and much more atmospheric using my old favorite Prismacolor pencils, simple black and white on Strathmore 400 series paper, the subject a line of conifers at the back of our property.  Same type of tree, but different materials, different weather, different view and here, a few years older, in many ways a different artist. We change, see things with older eyes and hopefully, if really alive, newer ideas.





The hand in the eye is the ultimate tool. (Randy Sandres)

One doesn't age while one is drawing.  (Natalie Barrett Cook)*

*She actually said "painting" but hey, the arts are all good!

Making History!

This drawing seemed to go wrong from the start!  After multiple corrections and alterations with my Prismacolor pencils, the drawing was a mess.  I gave up and turning to a fresh sheet considered a new beginning.  It was probably what my daughter refers to as "The Inner Donkey" that made me go back to my pencil box to find a lone Staedtler "Pigment Liner", my favorite pen!  Using the previous color marks as scaffold and freed by the knowledge that it would be lost anyway, I redefined the figure with loose line and hatching, saving the day!

One lesson here is the old "Never Give Up",  but perhaps a more important one is, "History Preserved"! Sketched lines, approximations of position or proportion for example, show not only the progress of the drawing but open a window on the artist's visual problem solving process.  The ability to participate in the creation via appreciation of preparatory marks and the archaeology of layered materials  gives the viewer a richer experience.  This is a much more interesting and vibrant drawing than it otherwise would have been!  I like it!