I got to break in my shiny new tiny Moleskine at one of Seattle's Winterfest performances (which my daughter happened to be playing in. The Jr. Youth Symphony was sharing a preview of their concert of next week).
Sleepy church sketches...
...and then later on I saw this darling little girl. Had only a hard, hard pencil and a scratchy sketchpad on me right then. She was a wiggler - I had about 3 minutes to get something down...
(which is one of the perks of living in Seattle - lots of awesome Chihuly glass sculptures about!)
They are amazing performers - entertaining, high energy and full of humor. It was a great concert - we were sad when it was over and hope to go see them again when they are next in town. (See another very entertaining music performance here).
They are also incredibly approachable and gregarious - and all came out to sign CDs and T-shirts after the performance. They seem like a great bunch of guys.
("Fancy Chicken" - a Yokohama Red Shoulder Cockerel to be exact. For "The Wind Dancers", published by Feiwel & Friends).
- but the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has a terrific website covering many aspects of it here (the only downside, is that it only covers a smattering of the actual art included in the show).
The painting I enjoyed most in person was Circe Invidiosa - which I've yet to see any reproduction do justice to. The color and detail in this deceptively simple composition and limited-palette piece were just breath-taking. The green stream of poison was nearly iridescent in its vividness. (And I'd never really picked up that she was standing on a fish before.) The choices of which items were finished sharply with detail and which were left much more impressionistically were perfect. The warm and cool choices were perfectly balanced - nearly forming a yin/yang symbol. I am stumped for a better descriptor of this painting than all around *perfect* (not a reaction I had previously had to seeing small reproductions of this piece).
I checked out the accompanying exhibit catalog/book - but it was $60. And in French. So, if you want to read more comprehensively about the life and work of JW Waterhouse, might I suggest this very good offering from Phaidon (details here)?
(from The Wind Dancers, published by Feiwel & Friends) 
There.
Happily, my Moleskine did show up (it had gotten shoved way under one of my studio cabinets), so Sunday-tiny-Moleskine-perched-upon-the-knee resumed today.
We did a series of short poses of our long-necked, leggy model. I decided to mostly ignore the faces/hands/anatomy and focus on the drapery and folds. To see how much I could get laid in in the various scant 20 minute poses. Also tried out different densities of charcoal pencils, from hard to soft - which means I can either have more control or more value variance....
Made good use of "The Virgin Queen" soundtrack for background accompaniment.
I had to use my not-nearly-as-sensuously-surfaced Strathmore mini-sketchbook that was in my other bag. And scrounged a scratchy ball-point from the depths of my purse.... I don't draw in pen that often, so eased myself in by drawing drapery (baby blankets and leather jackets...)
By the time we hit Primary, I decided to attempt some pen faces (which I suck at. I am very eraser dependant apparently). Actually this is a very good exercise and I'm sure will help me be more precise in my initial laying-down-of-lines.
It is sadly dragon-free, but I ended up liking where it went.
Must have it painted by midweek for the agents.
Back in the grind of illustration-deadlines...
Means late late nights - and figure drawing is far too early.
I still gotta so - since I'm charge - but it is less enjoyable, and probably less effective, when feeling sleep deprived for the foreseeable future...
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