Halloween

We didn't really have plans for halloween.
Then last-minute Daya and a friend at school needed a large number of scrunchies to both dress up as VSCO girls. (look it up if you don't know)

(I asked Daya if she had any VSCO Girl pics of herself and she said no, which I thought was highly ironic, but she didn't seem to get it.....)

THEN in geometry Daya found 2 kids from instrumental and they ended up going trick-or-treating!
I said bring me kitkats, since I do require the standard parental cut.

Daya cleaned up.

I was really happy she had a good time with new friends, such a change from last year!

Life, the Universe and Everything

Everyone knows the answer to the meaning of life is 42.

Some say Douglas Adams came to this conclusion by a precise mathematical means.

He has also been quoted as saying, “The answer to this is very simple. It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one. Binary representations, base 13, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat on my desk, stared in to the garden and thought 42 will do. I typed it out. End of story.”

The latter is more my speed.

“All right,” said the computer, and settled into silence again. The two men fidgeted. The tension was unbearable.
“You’re really not going to like it,” observed Deep Thought.
“Tell us!”
“All right,” said Deep Thought. “The Answer to the Great Question…”
“Yes..!”
“Of Life, the Universe and Everything…” said Deep Thought.
“Yes…!”
“Is…” said Deep Thought, and paused.
“Yes…!”
“Is…”
“Yes…!!!…?”
“Forty-two,” said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.”

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

42, here we go.

I want a towel for my birthday.

Yellow Leaves

In the morning I went over to Laguardia to volunteer with hospitality during auditions, then I went to the park to paint. It's nice that they are so close.

The weather was perfect and I found an ok spot behind the carousel.  It's not my best.  And it needs more red, I should have invented more red.

I finished at exactly the right time, as in the last 5 minutes or so a guy came and sat right next to me.
He was too close and I didn't like that.  I don't mind people stopping by, it's nice actually,  but I don't like people settling down with an intention to watch.  I don't want an audience like that.  It's unsettling and feels intrusive.  When someone is watching you like that, you can feel it.  I'm not there to do a demo.

If I had longer to go in the painting I would have re-positioned my tripod.

Central Park is absolutely terrible with pot fumes, really really bad, it wasn't so bad even 2 years ago.  My spot was pretty good when I started but then people started coming around to sit and smoke.  Gross.  And it is illegal to smoke at all in the park.... cigarettes were banned years ago. 

And I don't see or smell cigarettes in the park.  Now it reeks of pot instead- if cigarettes aren't allowed they should enforce that with pot too.  I'm baffled as to how they enforce not smoking something legal and not enforcing smoking something illegal.

But a lot of nice people came by to say hello, too.

8x10 oil

Two Reasons Why Drawings Fail

I like going to the instructed drawing sessions on Friday evenings.

Because I am a geek I take notes in my sketchbook.
Then write them here for an extra layer of art-nerdiness.

First Simon had us do a 10 minute drawing of the model- but skeleton ONLY, from memory.
Ok, so I haven't done a skeleton study since college and, well, that was a.... fun..... way to realize just how much I forgot!

This was a really good exercise though.  Simon said do this from memory, then compare it to an anatomy diagram just to see what you don't know, then you know what you have to (re-) learn.

I think I need to re-learn the whole skeleton....
The book he recommends is Artistic Anatomy which I want to buy and will not because 1) I have several anatomy books already with diagrams and 2) let's be real I would have great intentions and never open it.

******
The rest of the session was a single pose in 2 stages.  It was was excellent but exhausting.

Let's see if I can explain it, because it's a little bit...hard to explain. If you know about making your mind flip into seeing everything as only abstract shapes you'll understand this a lot better.  The beginners in the class had trouble understanding what Simon was talking about, even though he did a demo.  And it is kind of a mind-twist but it is one all visual artists should know how to do.

(Drawing is incredibly mental. It is all about training your mind how to think and see.)

First stage was what Simon calls "inside drawing".  Basically, no linear outlines. You can start anywhere on the model inside the form and just meander around looking at the shapes.  Accuracy NOT important. He really stressed that.  Not something to show, just wander around.

It reminds me of the way Daniel Gerhartz paints... which is extraordinary.  DG doesn't really draw, he just paints the abstract shapes he sees and it all comes together.  Color is his interpretation (and he is a genius) but as long as he gets the shape and value of the abstract shapes correct it all works.  It is a very unusual approach to painting, if you ever get the chance to see him paint definitely do it, it is... extraordinary.

Anyhow this type of drawing is quite exhausting as it requires sustained intense focus. (You will really look forward to those model breaks!) But it is excellent for your abstract artist brain and visual memory.

So we did that until the final 20 minute pose, then Simon did a 180 on us and said now we had to bring our drawing to a finish with the mindset that it will be on display for everyone to see! Think of it as something to show! Well crap!! Wonky proportions oh my gosh!

*******
So here's something important:

Two reasons why drawings fail:
1. Lack of planning
2. Lack of finish

*******

Well, my drawing was suffering terribly from lack of planning!! Oh well what could I do, we were exploring forms not planning.  Finish though, was something I could do.

This is an important point because it can differentiate a drawing into another level, and is unconsciously how people will evaluate it (and you).  Clean it up. No scraggly lines, clean any mess, make it neat.  This makes a huge difference. 

Also side note that the figure should always be placed in a setting, it doesn't have to be fully developed but it needs some context.  This is something I already do automatically as it was heavily stressed at Pratt.

We did get to see everyone's drawings at the end.  This is the best part of any class!! There was some truly astounding work in the room.  I ALWAYS learn just as much from seeing everyone else's work as I do from drawing.

School of Neverending Stairs

Last night was open house for prospective students. I was there to greet people, answer questions, and give directions.

Daya was upstairs doing, I presume, the same thing.

I said to myself, I'm not going up to 8. I'll stay in the lobby.
BUT I had some fundraising signs I needed to leave at school, and Daya's locker is a good place for that.

So towards the end of the evening, I did the mountain climb.
But... the elevator....? you might ask.

Oh, there are 2. One small and one freight.
As far as I was aware the freight one was not being used and the small one had a line the size of the NYC population.  The kids are not allowed to use the elevators unless they have a medical reason.

There ARE escalators but usually they don't work.
I think four of them worked.

I got all the way to the top, thought I was DONE, only to find the escalators don't actually go to 8, they only go to 7.  So, more stairs.

The entire school is all stairs.
They never end.

Dead Shoes

I'm organizing a joint fundraiser at school between art and dance which involves dead pointe shoes.
If the other kids are even a little like Daya they have a big pile of old dead shoes hanging around.

When Daya gets a NEW pair of shoes I am not allowed to touch them, oh she would kill me if I put them on (as if I want to).  But a dead one?  She forced me. Her shoes are all mostly too big for me as her feet are a lot larger so the one she found that fit is probably 2 years old.  Yuck.

I don't know why anyone wears these things voluntarily, they are so uncomfortable.

Daya strongly disagrees.

Jockey Hollow Plein Airing

I went to see Beth and paint in New Jersey.
We went to Jockey Hollow, which is a Revolutionary War site, I guess George Washington camped there for a while or something.  It's very historical and there is a farm, a museum, and a shop..... but also lots of pretty woods.

Here is a painting I did, 8x10 oil.
(This is the pic I took at home which is a better color representation... I used cobalt turquoise (PG50) for the sky.

I might have sold the painting... I got an email from someone who stopped by to say hello.
UPDATE: he wants to buy it!  SOLD!

Weekend at Cathys

We went to CT over Columbus Day weekend to visit Cathy.
It was so nice to see her and we had a nice time.

Cathy has been fostering kittens, who all got adopted- and mom too!

We went to the shops in mystic Village, and found these socks:

And Daya bought me a cupcake!! With her own money!
An amazing salted caramel cupcake, it was such a nice gesture.

******
I brought all my painting gear but felt so lazy I didn't paint!!

Things Teenagers Do

SIGH

New-New Gaynor Mindens

So those new expensive Gaynor Minded pointe shoes I bought 7 weeks ago......
.........well Daya said she needs new ones.

They are supposed to last longer than other shoes, and 7 weeks is way too soon for a new pair, so we went back to the shop.
They were SO NICE and re-fitted her.

Also they have a cat named George. ;)

Some Drawings

Here are some life drawings, all graphite.
I stood next to my friend in the corner.

Graphite Seltzer

I wanted to take Simon's painting class this month at Art Students League, but I'm going to see Cathy next week so I don't want to pay for 4 classes and only take 3.

I think I'll draw with Drawing NY, which Simon runs, this month instead.
He's a really good teacher.

Friday nights are instructed sessions at the National Arts Club which in itself is just a great place to be in.  I always get a lot out of instructed sessions.  It's always good to get different perspective and change things up.

It's good balance too, because a lot of what I have been doing is so fast, and it's good to just slow down.  And work larger.  Drawing is the root of everything so you never can have too much.

Ron was our model.
Simon talked about developing the drawing- 1/3 planning, 1/3 drawing, 1/3 accenting.
How much to measure and not measure....

I worked in graphite which I haven't done for a long time, so that was nice too.
The session was 2 1/2 hours but Simon did a demo for the first 20 minute pose.  So this drawing was about 2 hours.  There is no possible way I could finish in that time but that's fine, that isn't really the point.

It's also really nice to see everyone's work at the end.
Being around other artists is very important.
I'm going to another session on Monday, but I don't think it is instructed and that's ok too.
I just want the practice.

16x20 (i think)

*****
I did use my graphite putty for some of the background (Simon hates that stuff lol) and it dries out quickly so I needed water.
The only water I had on-hand was seltzer so I used that to wet my putty and also to clean up.

At the end of the session I had a nice cup of Graphite Seltzer, a combination that might never have existed before!