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I almost scrapped this one. Her face was in shadow, but still there, and when I felt things get too dark I wasn't sure what to do. When I panic I start darkening with quick scratchy lines as though that will somehow stop that going-down-with-the-Titanic feeling. Then I remembered how Sherrie McGraw says "Draw less, see more" and how she points out that a drawing is an artist's nervous system on paper. It reminded me to step back, take a breath, do the best I could, and not give up despite the darkness.
I love this gesture drawing. I like the way the face and hair turned out, and how even though there are few lines it really looks like her head is resting in her hand. It's fascinating how that can happen, how you can't plan for such a thing because you're drawing quickly and it just falls out of nowhere.
I also like the way she looks solid and planted. Maybe because that's been on my mind these days as I just wrote a post on my therapy blog about falling.
I started going to a life drawing session on Wednesday nights and I'm really enjoying it. It feels like an oasis in the desert. This is one of my first gesture drawings. I like the way I didn't shy away from the face and leave it blank like I once would have. It doesn't have much detail but I made sure it was part of the gesture as a whole.
Study (after Watteau). Watteau is a master of angles and I'm learning so much from his drawings. For this one, I used less detail on the body to show that it's moving further back in space.
Study (after Sherrie McGraw). As my comfort level with drawing heads increases I can feel that it's time to bring the body back. My 20's were a time of headless torsos, my 40's a time to come face to face with faces. It's now time to bring the two together. I turned back to Sherrie McGraw's drawings for some guidance. I love the way a single line for the ear and neck separates the head from the hand.
Study (after Watteau). Tara once told me that, having moved here from California where there are so many people and everything you need is right there, living in Albuquerque makes her more appreciative of things. Like when you find someone who shares an unusual common interest, such as Japanese tea ceremony, it feels like an oasis in the desert, precious and rare. It's true, we don't have the abundance of the Japanese gardens at the Huntington or Japantown in LA, so when you sip the green tea at Kokoro, sit by a stone lantern at the BioPark, or see the pink paint smear of cherry blossoms on the Japanese Railways poster at the Deco Japan exhibit, you feel almost giddy with gratitude.
For further ideas on how to pretend you're in Japan when you're really in the parched desert begin reading here. The story runs from March 18 - April 8. It's interesting to feel a longing and look back to discover you had the very same longing at the very same time, years earlier.
Study (after Watteau). Speaking of Japanese design sensibility I just went to see a great show at the Albuquerque Museum called Deco Japan. If you find yourself in Albuquerque longing for Japan get a cup of green tea and head to the Japanese garden at the BioPark.
Arrive when it first opens, when it's cool and quiet, and before you end up surrounded by kids feeding the koi. Sit on various rocks, sip tea and notice the patterns on water, stone lanterns, and Spring blossoms. Maybe you will see the Night Heron who lives there. From there stop by the museum to see the Deco Japan exhibit and end your day with lunch at Kokoro. Gochisousama deshita.
