Prayer for the Dying

8X10"
Pen and ink

It started with the butterfly...

I was just having fun with pen and ink. The butterfly turned out so nicely that I decided to give it a background. And then the unthinkable happened--a disturbed young man went on a shooting rampage in Virginia. I wasn't planning on doing any painting or drawing to comment on the event, but when I tried to decide on a background for my butterfly, the cemetery kept coming to mind. It just seemed so appropriate. We all know that life will go on after such a terrible tragedy, and nature seems best suited to remind us of that fact. In the ugliness of death, if we take a moment to be still, we may just see something emerge that is beautiful and life-affirming.

Face #23

14X17"
Pen and ink

I love vacation time--it gives me an opportunity to finish projects like this one. This face has been sitting in the studio for a couple of months now, waiting for those rare moments when I have a chance to do something with it. This past week I had two entire days to spend in the studio--yeah!!! Now, some people out there may wonder why I would spend hours "working" on a drawing like this when I'm on vacation. It IS work, but somehow it doesn't feel the same as sitting at my desk and working on the computer. There's an incredible sense of energy I get by bringing something to life, by taking a blank piece of paper and transforming it into something else. Does it take time and mental energy? Yes. Do I feel tired at the end of the day? Usually. But it's a worthwhile venture to me.

Card Games (continued)

"Card Games"
6X9"
Watercolor and ink

I just couldn't leave "Card Games" alone. Since it made such a nice black-and-white drawing, I had to experiment with color. After all, love and jealousy are very colorful emotions. I'm not sure which of these versions I like better, so I'm hoping that other people out there in cyberspace will contribute their opinions.

Card Games

5 1/2X8 1/2"

Pen and ink

Talk about your unplanned projects...

This image started out as a simple sketch for a painting idea. I started with the outline of the cards. Inspired by the designs on the face cards, I started messing around with the background. Then a happy little accident occurred and took things in a completely different direction. Well, it wasn't really an accident, but it was certainly unplanned.

When I finished drawing the Jack of Diamonds, it looked to me like he was scowling. Now, why would the Jack of Diamonds be scowling, I wondered. It must be because he noticed something going on between the Queen of Clubs and the King of Hearts. In fact, he must be insanely jealous. He's gripping his sword, and I'm wondering if he isn't about to use it on the King of Hearts. Hmm...

A New Yorkie

"Yorkie"
8X10"
Pencil

I must confess that I am more of a cat person than a dog person. However, when I came across a picture of two beautiful Yorkshire terriers recently, I fell in love. No, I did not immediately run out and get a dog, but I did spend some time drawing one. For me, that is a much more rewarding experience than actually owning a dog. After all, I don't have to feed the drawing or take the drawing for a walk or let it outside to do its "duty". Plus, I don't have to hear any barking...except for the neighbor's chihuahuas.

Face #22

8X10" Pencil

New year, new faces. I don't know how far I'll get with the project this year, but here's my latest prize. She's not really a new face to me. I've been watching Emma Thompson in movies for years...ever since my best friend introduced me to the talented actress. We've watched Emma in sophisticated roles such as Howard's End, Sense and Sensibility, and Remains of the Day. We saw her funny side in Junior, Peter's Friends, and Nanny McPhee. We watched her act alongside her mother in The Winter Guest, and of course, her most recent performance as a disturbed novelist with writer's block in Stranger than Fiction.

I'm not sure that this drawing captures Emma's likeness as well as I would've hoped, but I noticed a definite improvement over the first time I tried to draw her. Practicing with the Bargue drawings really helped me with the eyes, and working with several different degrees of pencils helped me with the shading. I'm really surprised how it all turned out, especially since I did the majority of the work in about 2 hours. I hope that my friend enjoys it as much as I do.

Face #21

4X5" Ballpoint pens

There is a difference between drawing what we see and drawing what we know. When we are younger, we tend to draw with symbols--the sun is a big yellow circle with lines sticking out, the house is a triangle on top of a box, etc. These symbols can follow us as we learn to draw more realistically. In these last three drawings, I started to notice some of the symbols that I use when drawing a face. The particular way I draw the nose, the shape I tend to use for the eyes, the line I use to mark the chin--all of these are my symbols. If I want to get closer to a likeness of my subjects, these symbols will have to be abandoned for what my eye actually sees.