Poem In Your Pocket Day

Let's see if this works.

listen to ‘Poem In Your (audio) Pocket’ on Audioboo

Abstracted Minutia

DRAW! Day 19: Abstracted Minutia, a photo by chaimann on Flickr.

This was a fun exercise. Collect a bunch of little doodads, arrange them, and draw them using different media.

Moving the sofa yielded several of the knickknacks, and it also facilitated a much-needed vacuuming.

Variety

DRAW! Day 18: Abstracted Drawings, a photo by chaimann on Flickr.

Believe it or not, these were all drawn from the same reference photo. Today's theme was "abstracted drawings", and the variation among these proves that point. Pop over to my Flickr to see some other drawings of the same picture, done with stick graphite. (There are also some more figure drawings from yesterday, artfully NSFW,)

We had an "ice day" today. That's like a snow day without snow. Rain falling on cold streets makes a slippery mess. Many churches, including ours, cancelled services, so we hung out at the house. I made pasta, and then kicked it up a notch with chocolate chip cookies. Then I drew. That makes a good day all around.

Feel the fear

DRAW! Day 16: Ten Minute Figure, a photo by chaimann on Flickr.

You've heard the saying, "Feel the fear, and do it anyway"? Yeah, that.

Today's art assignment was ten-minute figure drawing. Even though I'm a prude at heart, I wanted to have the full artist experience, so I browsed both clothed and unclothed models here.

The first picture that said, "Draw me!" appears to be a vintage photo from the flapper era, with the Louise Brooks hair and all. Heck, it may BE Louise Brooks, for all I know. A quick Google search just now indicates that she was not unfamiliar with posing au naturel.

I decided if she could pose it, I could darned well draw it, and I did. Parts of it are a mess (pay no attention to the calves), but parts of it are impressive.

Luckily, I am more enchanted by the good lines than I am annoyed by the bad ones. I was nervous about doing the exercise at all. Just finishing it was a victory, and liking some of it is a wonderful bonus

Even better, it was fun, and I can't wait to do it again.

(Don't know who Louise Brooks was? Look here, and here, and below.)

Almost like life

DRAW! Day 15: Figure Drawing - Gesture, a photo by chaimann on Flickr.

Today I did some 10-second and 30-second gesture drawings of figures. "Figures" is art speak for NEKKID HUMAN BODIES ZOMG!!!

I didn't have any actual nekkid bodies on hand, though, so I used the figures at Posemaniacs. That site uses muscle figures, for lack of a better term, so it's somewhat less shocking to my delicate sensibilities than real people with skin and everything.

This was actually a lot of fun, once I got started. If not for the annoyance of turning the pages in the sketch pad, I'd probably still be doing them.

The weather outside was frightful

DRAW! Day 11: Pencil sketch, a photo by chaimann on Flickr.

So I had plenty of indoor time to work on today's drawing. I wanted something that had irregular lines and shadows, and boy, did this crumpled cap meet that requirement.

Parts of it I like, and parts of it remind me that there is still a lot I don't know. I'm cool with that.

And the part over at the far left, the line sticking out from the bill, all crazy-like? That reminds me to check the scanner for cat hair.

Don't look back

DRAW! Day 8: Blob Animal, a photo by chaimann on Flickr.

This dude, today's drawing project, appears not to have like whatever he saw when HE looked back.