How to draw a reindeer

Found. Frank Lloyd Wright leather bound sketchbook

I’ve been shifting, repacking, tossing and trimming.  I had boxes of notebooks.  I found this one, c 2004 stored with the other $4.00 ones.  But it’s for sketching and not blogging, which is probably why I never used it.  The design is May Basket, the same as one of our pillows.

Friday Family Photo--Haiti Mission

Boarding the plane after a long delay in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. Better to have problems on the ground than in the air!

The classes he's teaching this week are perspective drawing and they get to make a model. This is the model he constructed there which is one of the classroom buildings not yet built (no money) which he designed a few years ago. Each tiny piece was cut out here at home and carefully packed into the suitcase.

The accomodations for the volunteers are nice--much better than what the people of Haiti or even the mission staff have. It's sort of like a camp--they have a dorm and working toilets and showers plus very good food. This mission group's purpose was to build up the tech support so it involved a computer team. Equipment was sent down ahead. My husband doesn't even do e-mail, but he went along and did after school classes in art. These photos came via Facebook from the team leader, Gary.

Here he is at work in Haiti during his last architecture class of the week, Friday. From their hands, I'm guessing they are working on perspective. On Friday the kids get to wear school t-shirts, but M-Th they are dressed up and the teachers too.

Update April 29: Home safe, and on time. He says it was the best mission ever! But I think he says that every year. Monday's teaching day was lost because of the delayed flight into Cap Hatian, but the rest went well. He was teaching 4 classes a day, plus one day filled in for a teacher who didn't show up (very common in the public schools but very rare in the Christian schools).

Using MS Paint to draw

I've done really simply lines using MS Paint, usually to figure out perspective; but this sketch of a woman (see link) is amazing. Of course, it is a big help to be a good artist to begin with, but this shows what can be done with a simple program (came with my last 3 computers). The trick is knowing when to let up on the mouse and have an extremely steady hand (I don't).

http://sketchingdrawing.com/?p=20

This artist has many instructional videos and well worth the look for all my artsy readers.

What's happening week 9 at Lakeside

It's hard to believe that we are almost at the end of summer, half way through August. I've seen the sunrise every day--just later and later. Yesterday I watched the 7 a.m. ferry instead of the 6 a.m. I'm also reliving my March 2009 trip to the Holy Land by reading A.D. Wenger's account of 1899-1900, and brushing up on architectural styles of the cottages each day, getting ready to write about Dutch Colonial Revival. This is week 9 in programming, and the seminar topic is "American Writers and Composers." I learned my lesson from Health and Wellness week when I was too worn out to attend the lecture on fatigue, so I'm picking carefully.

The 10:30 seminar time is the most convenient for my body clock. I'm up by 5 a.m., so lunch and a nap are important parts of my day. That gives me time to walk, hit the coffee shop, visit the farmers' market and blog before I head off for the "Green Room" in the Fountain Inn (2 blocks). However, most of those are about musicians, a topic I find not as interesting as writers. So I'll have to also look at 1:30. If I hadn't signed up for drawing again at 3:30, that would be fine. So here's what it looks like for me on paper: Monday, Aaron Copland; Tuesday, Mark Twain; Wednesday, Eudora Welty; Thursday, Emerson. As I've noted before, because I was a foreign language major in college, I didn't have any British or American literature courses, so I walk into these classes as a novice. Friday is contemporary vocal music at 10:30, but the drawing class is moved to 12:30 that day so the Rhein Center can close early, so I may not get to that one. No time for lunch or a nap if I did that.

Last Tuesday I wouldn't have dreamed of a second week of "intensive drawing." But I did fill the entire 70 pages of the sketch book, something I would have never done if I hadn't signed up. After I was in the class, I found out she meant 140 sketches on 70 pages, front and back. But I stayed with my original interpretation. I'll miss today's class because Joan of the Idlewyld B&B is having a paint in/out on her porch and I've been invited.

Week 9 began with the Opera on Saturday night with our terrific Lakeside Symphony. I'm not a huge fan of opera, but it's such fun to see it live, especially with the English words flashed on screen so you can follow the story. Sunday's service on the Lake front with pastor Jennings was wonderful as usual. A friend whispered to me that her granddaughter (Ivy league college) doesn't consider this "real church" and won't attend (I think she's high church Episcopalian). However, God's handiwork, even with an August haze, is far superior to the most glorious cathedral in Germany, and there is a blend of traditional (19th and/or early 20th century) hymns with a beat and some contemporary provided by a guest singer. The sermon was "Shoulda, coulda, woulda," and just the title is food for thought at my age.

In retirement I've been able to do most of the things I could only dream about when I was younger, thanks to penny-pinching, good health, and early retirement, but I do wish (shoulda coulda) I'd done more memorizing when I was young--it's a learned skill, but it's also a solid foundation. Remember, even in the 40's and 50's, memorizing had gone out of style with educators and was thought unneccessary--except maybe for those in drama or literature. I'd love to be able to recall an entire poem or section of scripture instead of just a title or line. Google is a wonderful gift for finding just that right/write item, but it's of little help when viewing a sunrise.

What's wrong with this picture?

Just about everything.

To begin with, my materials. I was using cheap colored pencils on paper that wasn't appropriate for this medium, so the colors didn't blend. I didn't have a good range of colors to use. Almost nothing dark. Using colored pencil is becoming extremely popular because they aren't messy or toxic, and good for on location work. However, I've never seen how it is done.

In art, even if it's practice, use the best quality materials you can afford. Skip the "student" grade. These were materials used at the art center pulled from a box, not my own. My husband, who has sold 7 paintings this summer, is using some of the brushes he bought for college art class 50 years ago (it was a requirement for architects, but it was almost another 20 years before he took up painting as a hobby). A good watercolor brush can cost $50.

Second, either this duck is terribly fat, or I've misplaced him (Mallard) in the water. If you're going to put animals in paintings, they need to have the appropriate weight, shape and shadow.

Third, I was working from a tiny (about 2 x 2") black and white sketch, then realized I needed to know his color markings, so I used Google to find a photo. Probably should have started with a photo instead of a tiny drawing.

Fourth, here's the biggest, and I knew it the minute I drew it. The sun. When you stand on the dock, pier or shore facing a rising or setting sun, the reflection in the water is not going to angle away from you. It looks like this reflection of the sun over Lake Erie taken this morning about 7:30.



I drew this Mallard for "Intensive Drawing" class, and because I'd just seen a family of 12 on my walk. Our 22 year old instructor wanted 140 drawings; I finished 56 and thought that was pretty darn good for an old lady. I even drew 55 and 56 last night in the living room--my cat's head and a floor lamp. But there is a sense in which this really does work. The more you draw the better you get--just like tennis, golf, sewing, writing, exercising, knitting, etc. Practice may not make perfect, but it does move you along.

Walking the lakefront, week 8

The summer population is thinning--the average age it going up, perhaps. But then maybe there are more people with pre-schoolers, now that so many school age children have gone home. I've been watching some cross-country teams running the streets at dawn. Yesterday I passed a 70-something man on my walk along the lakefront. Later on my return I saw him settled into a park bench on the hotel lawn. Just then, a girls' cross country coach decided to bring her team to the lawn for sprints and squats, or whatever it's called. Here were these willowy and gorgeous young women prancing within 2 ft. of the older gentleman. I thought he'd move. He didn't. But he was smiling big.

Although they say obesity in children is on the increase, I know there were no girl athletes this thin when I was in high school 50 years ago. They certainly didn't look anorexic, however, there was no fat anywhere on these young ladies. I think there is tremendous pressure on female athletes to remain thin. The swimmers, basketball and softball players seem to be stocky and muscled, but the track, cross country, and gymnists will probably pack a few pounds when they get to college. I wasn't even an athlete and I managed to add 20 lbs my freshman year.

Today I walked behind the men's team (don't know if they are the same school, but probably are). One has been lagging behind each time I've seen them. He's certainly not over weight, but is the only one with a jiggle of fat above his waistline. Perhaps he's just joined the team, or had a growth spurt that has spread his weight around his frame. When my husband lettered in cross country in high school (enrollment 4,000+) he weighed about 125 lbs. at 5'9". Even into the 1970s I could buy some of his clothes in the boys department with a waist about 28". He still only weighs about 155, but I doubt he could run more than 2 blocks today. Imagine picking up a sack that weighs 30 lbs and trying to run!

This week I met the new owner of a home that my husband designed on Cherry Ave. a few years back. They only live about an hour from Lakeside, so it is easy to get here even for a short visit. They just love their cottage. I told her a little about what it looked like before an experienced architect who loves Lakeside got a hold of it, and she was amazed. She's never even seen a photo, nor had she met the previous owners. She began searching for a home when they sold almost as fast as they came on the market, but one day a realtor called and said "I think I have something." Of course, it was 2008 and the market was starting to go soft. I think it was only listed 3 days before they made their offer. The former owners live in a Chicago suburb and the trip to Lakeside was getting burdensome.

Other events this week is today's herb class on the lakefront, the topic is Lemongrass. The seminars are for "Interfaith" week, and there's nothing of interest to me on that list--although Eugene Swanger on Friday should be good. (Strong Lutheran with expertise on eastern faiths.) Yesterday I wasn't feeling well after my walk, so I didn't do the Tuesday bird watch. Debbie Boone's concert Saturday night was just fabulous. I can't remember when I've heard such a voice or seen such a professional performance. It was a tribute to her mother-in-law, Rosemary Clooney. Also did some Red Foley pieces, her grandfather. Her father, of course, is Pat Boone, but she didn't perform any of his hits.

I'm in an "intensive drawing" class this week, and am supposed to complete at least 12 drawings a day. Doubt if I'll get that much done; the instructor left early on Monday, and wasn't there on Tuesday, nor were the four other students from Monday! Here's one of my efforts--this one's for you Lynne, since you asked.