Olympics and Artistic Growth

Well, the Olympics are coming to a close. I've found myself more interested in speed-skating after our drawing groups involvement in a speedskating project. We went to watch some practices and an early competition. We were able to do sketching and also take photos. Then we completed a painting or two for submission to Speed Skate Canada. We also made a group collage of our sketches. Selected paintings and our collage- along with a wonderful video documenting our project (made by Mike Hughes) - were then exhibited in Richmond's City Hall and are currently being auctioned off. Some are also printed on cards and even posters. It was a really interesting project and I was glad to be part of it- although my painting was not selected for the big display. We had fun being at the Oval and had a great group camaraderie. I had a great time studying how artists have portrayed movement- and I enjoyed trying to do so. However, this *did* result in a painting that would not easily lend itself to being copied commercially! Definitely it would not work for printing on a sweat-shirt, for example. However- another interesting attempt - and isn't it, after all, through trying different things that we grow as artists?

Life Drawing variables

Life Drawing can change from group to group. In one group we always start with 5 one-minute poses, then five two-minute poses and then a four-times-five pose in which the model poses for five minutes then rotates 90 degrees to assume the same pose- until a full 360 degree turn has been made. That's a good one for improving drawing ability from all angles. Then, in that group, it is on to 10 minute and 20 minute poses - so lots of variety to the session. In another group, we have a long pose -usually one and a half hours, after the "warm-ups". Of course, this is broken up with breaks for the model. Sometimes this is draped, or semi-draped. This pose gives some a chance to paint - or, for me, a chance to get out the coloured conte' crayons and do a pastel. I'm not a fast painter but I love the chance to work in colour and to have time to work on a "likeness".

New Gallery

Well, I'm *almost* up-to-date as there has been a new digital gallery added - Gallery 2009. I've just been adding titles and sizes to the images. Quite a few are European paintings. Funny, it doesn't seem that long ago in some ways- and like a million years ago in other ways. This is one of the "not- Europe" paintings. The title "Blink" is because one of the books is just that. So, would the impression of the painting also be made in a blink? The jug is an original piece of pottery bought at Circle Craft on Granville Island.