Okay, so I've missed a few sketches from the Everyday matters challenge. Here are a few. Not posting the dismal failures :-) I'm not only a little behind on getting sketches from the Everyday Matters sketching challenge done, but I'm also not doing them in order. Here are #16 and 21. Sometime in the next little while, I'll get around to the four that are missing :-)
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We recently took a little road trip from Thunder Bay to Red Rock, stopping overnight with good friends in Nipigon and spending a day at the Live From the Rock folk music festival. On the road there and back, I pulled out my sketch book and pen, and as we hurtled down the highway, I had a blast making these tiny, thumbnail "drive-by drawings". Later, sitting quietly with my watercolours, I jazzed them up a bit with colour. Good fun. And as I look at them now, there is something definitely North Ontario in them. Such an inspiring landscape! This is a rather lopsided sketch of the old Finlandia Club in Thunder Bay. Standing on Bay Street, I did a quick sketch in pencil, took a couple of photos and then finished it up later with my Lamy Safari pen, Lexington Grey ink and watercolours. It's a venerable Thunder Bay landmark and I misspent many happy hours, many years ago, in the downstairs Hoito Resteraunt eating Finnish pancakes or pirakka and drinking gallons of coffee with my friends.
Danny Gregory has published several books, including "Everyday Matters", "The Creative License" and others, in which he practices and advocates for daily sketching. He also maintains a blog and Facebook page called Everyday Matters where he recently challenged himself and anyone inerested in participating in a motivating and inspiring set of 328 exercises called the EDM Challenge. So I thought, what the heck? That, at least, will take care of the "what will I draw today" dilemma :-) Here is the first batch, which I started last week. I just came back from the Red Deer College Series Art and Fine Craft Workshops where I spent five days learning how to handle watercolours. I've been dabbling around with watercolour in my sketchbooks but really getting to know the medium is something I've wanted to learn for a long time - like most of my life! Susan Woolgar, a Red Deer area artist, guided us into the wonderful world of watercolour painting with numerous demos, tricks, and shortcuts. Despite the many frustrating moments that occur when you learn something new, it really was an exhilarating, rewarding, and satisfying week. It was great to spend a week in student residence with other artists and spend up to 9-10 hours a day at an easel, practicing, practicing, practicing. A rare privilege in this working girl's life! Here are a few of my "successes".
Here are a few sketches that I made since my last post. The first six are sketches I made en route and in Ottawa, attending the annual CLA conference. The spider is a sketch of the monumental sculpture, "Maman" by Louise Bourgeois which stands in front of the National Gallery of Canada. And there's a sketch of fruit and veggie stands at Byward Market. After Ottawa, I went to New York City and took tons of pictures but didn't sketch at all. Just couldn't seem to find a quiet moment or a place to sit in Gotham city so the last three are sketches I made today from photos. The first one is supposed to be the Flat Iron Building. (It looks more like the leaning tower of NYC, but, oh well.) Ventured out of town on the last two weekends. Spring will do that to you. The snow has dissipated, the air is clear and warm, and there is restlessness afoot. I backed into a country driveway to sketch the fields and low wet land across the road. There was an iron gate with a chain and padlock on it preventing anyone from venturing up the driveway. It looked abandoned anyway. I felt safe from interruption and drew up a quick sketch of the view. Then I pulled out my watercolours and water brushes, bent my head over my work and dabbed on colour. Totally absorbed, I was. Into the little painting, I fell. Until I heard a rapping on my car window. There she was, the owner, her truck parked on the roadway, asking me politely to let her in to her own drive. Inviting me to back in after I let her pass if I wanted to. I didn't. I was finished anyway. I not only got a nice little sketch but a nice little story as a bonus.
Then last weekend, we ventured into parts unknown just minutes out of town really. I was on the hunt for old, abandoned barns and houses to draw and found a perfect one. Pulled into the driveway, a field really, tire tracks. No gates and padlocks. My guy got out to poke around and I stayed put. He was back in about ten minutes. The air was really cold and crisp that day. We drove back to the city and I had my drawing. But then, heading west on 115 Street, I glimpsed a really unusual, boarded up storefront. The next day, I went back, sat in a parking lot across the street and endured the quizzical and suspicious looks of some street folks thereabouts. A couple even peered into the car as they ambled by, to see what I was doing there for so long - and smiled at me. I guess they liked what they saw. After a mild and relatively snow-free winter, we wake up today to this! So far, 20 cm of snow and a snowfall warning in effect. Meaning, don't go out unless you have to. Stay in and sketch! Fine with me :-)
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Welcome to my occasional posts
My name is Yvonne Rezek. This is a blog about what my hands are up to. Mostly sketches and drawings, some of my pottery, maybe even some knitting.
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