Bumper Cars

Bumper Cars

9" x 12"

watercolors

Bumper Cars (Sketch)

8.5" x 11"

pencil

Payday, when I was working, meant going out to eat that next Saturday, stopping at a bookstore to buy art and writing magazines, then taking in a movie before heading to the grocery store and home. I always liked to go to someplace with good food and a lovely enviornment. China, crystal, silverware, white tablecloths, fresh flowers or candles. Of course, the kids always wanted pizza and games, so we usually looked for someplace to keep the kids occupied. They ate, headed for games, and I watched tv and used my sketchbook.
The pencil sketch above is of a very striking woman who was returning to her table after refilling her glass. I did the sketch, first, which doesn't show the dress or her surroundings. I worked to achieve a sculptural quality as I drew, something that I think was helped by doing clay sculpture of heads and figures. I also wanted to work on the effect of light and shadow on her dark skin, as well.
Later, I did the painting in watercolors, beginning with a pencil drawing of her, then adding the color of the dress, the restaurant, and the sign. There was a little girl, with blonde curls and a big red bow in her hair, playing on the floor. I indicated movement and figures having a good time in the game room, with Indigo Blue and purple in the background. Spatters of bright colors add to the festive atmosphere.
The woman didn't pose for me. She just walked across the room and I captured what I could, then remembered what I could, later.

Observation is something that artists, and writers, need to develop and continue to work on as they grow. There are exercises that one can do in order to improve that skill.
One example is to have a person walk into a room, pause, then walk back out. Then practice drawing, or writing a description, of that person.
Another thing to try is to have someone bring an object into the room. The object should be covered or wrapped so that it can't be seen. Then, have the covering removed, and give a time limit to write a description, or draw the object. When that time is up, cover the object and finish the drawing or description, without looking at it again.
I've done these exercises individually and with groups, and the results are a bit amazing, sometimes.

I hope that you enjoy these two pieces of work. As always, let me know if you see something that is of interest to you. And please share these with others. Thanks for reading. I hope that you will consider subscribing, and send some others who would like to get my blog.
Be sure to check out things on my sidebar, and also in the BlogRush section, if you see a topic of interest there. By going to those sites from my blog, it gets more exposure for my own blog.
Have a great weekend!

Vision- The Good Eye II

The Good Eye II
Image size 8" x 11"
Paper size 9" x 12"
watercolors
These were actually two different episodes in July. But, I combined them into one painting, for the sake of composition.
As I sat at the computer, there were four small circles of light that appeared at the lower part of my screen. Trails of light sparkled downward. Something like tiny comets of red, yellow, blue, and purple, with a hint of green.
I closed the good eye and they went away. When I opened that eye, however, they reappeared. They were only there for a short while, but, again, they reminded me of what I had read previously about a detached retina. Flashing lights. But these were not actually flashing lights. Just sparkling little comets.
Another day, at the computer again, I noticed something like floating wheels, some overlapping, across the lower right side of my computer. They appeared to be divided into mostly triangular sections of light. These, too, sparkled, and were happening in the good eye.
This one lasted most of the day, but was gone by the next day, and, like the other images I have been seeing since Macular Degeneration and catarcts struck me, it hasn't reappeared.
In my painting, I used Winsor Newton watercolors on 140 pound Arches watercolor paper. For sparkle, I added a bit of silver acrylic. However, it doesn't appear to show up very well on the monitor. It looks like a bit of gray on my monitor.
There is a new feature on the sidebar of my blog. Check it out under BlogRush. You can go to other blogs there. This will change as people post to their blogs, and those are added to the list in the little frame.
And, if you have a blog of your own, if you click on the bottom where it says to add your own posts Free, you can go to their website for a short video and more information. You can also set up the BlogRush feature on your own site. By inviting other bloggers, whose blogs will be read by a different group of people, that should increase traffic to your own site.
I learned about this from Nancy Standlee on her blog. And I really appreciate her help in setting it up on my blog. (I always run into some problem that is something really simple when I try to do things on the computer!)
Check out her blog at http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com/ . She is another Texas artist. I really enjoyed reading about the workshop she attended in Galveston. And, she is always up on the really cool, new things.
Be sure to check out the other links that I have on my sidebar under Artists and Authors, Interesting Sites, also Storks, and Eye Sites.
The weekend is here, and I just realized it. One advantage of retirement. It's almost always the weekend!
Hope you have a good weekend, doing whatever it is that you enjoy.
Thanks for reading and sending my work along to others who might be interested. All work is copyrighted and most of the art work is for sale. I do welcome comments and inquiries. It helps to know that others are reading, are supportive, and are interested in my work. Check out my group to see more of my watercolors, and join, in order to get an e-mail when I update my blog.