Last Week's Drawings

I resolved to draw more creatures and humans in 2015, so the practice begins with my close-at-hand models. Manon is better at sitting still than J., but neither of them are particularly cooperative so I have to work fast or wait for them to fall asleep!

It's a matter of "practice, practice, practice, and don't worry about the failures and mistakes."

The lessons carry over even when the subject is an inanimate object. I like the spontaneity of drawing here; this is a little pot that my mother made.

And most of all, I want to have fun and enjoy it. I love the feeling of the brush on the paper and seeing the color flow out and create forms. Trying to work fast and spontaneously, and to capture some of the energy -- both of the living subjects and that of my own hand --in the drawings and sketchbook watercolors. I think of my old friend Aya Itagaki, a remarkable person and Sumi artist/Japanese calligrapher, whose work simply exploded onto the paper after some moments of silent, intense concentration and self-emptying. We need to let go of our thinking at a certain point, but one can only do that after lots and lots of practice and total awareness. I'm not there yet with this sort of drawing, but I trust the way forward.