Drawing Trip to Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University

Another road trip to Lab of O. Our GNSI group met to do research sketches for the "Common Birds in Decline" exhibit that our local chapter will be doing later this year there, which I posted about before. It was good to finally get to see the real McCoy Common Tern aka Sterna hirundo. I had a female and male and a one-day old chick "skin" as they are referred to. The Common Tern is also referred to as a sea starling. It's wing span, according to its tag, is 772mm or 30.3937 inches. I did the drawing on a cream -toned pastel paper and used HB pencil, along with some graphite and white and orange pastel pencil. The feathers on the breast are an almost pinkish grey while the top feathers are more blue-grey. Also got to see a nesting hummingbird and a ruby throated hummingbird's nest. They were so teeny...just amazing! Also out in the hallway was an astonishing skeleton of a very large snake!! EEK!

Illustrator Effects: Cutout

Some interesting effects in Illustrator with "cutout".

IF: Celebrate

Congratulations Penelope!

Sketchbook Studies: Watercolor

Watched another Burton Silverman video from SmartFlix-this one on watercolor. He works utter magic sloshing tinted water around a sheet of paper...must work on some larger wc studies. This small watercolor study I did of Lisbeth Zwerger's Little Red Cap. My favorite of her illustrated books is Little Hobbin. Here is a talented illustrator whose work makes me think of Lisbeth Zwerger and she lives in NY state! I may have to pay her a visit. It sounds like she lives on a big farm with lots of animals that she draws. I'd also like to be a fly on the wall in the studios of Lisbeth, Louisa, Camilla, Burton, Chad, Q and Catharine....and so many others...

The City

Back from a NYC break. This city ceases to amaze me. After a few white-knuckle cab rides, (Oh we took the subway too) we managed a visit to the Time Warner Building, friend and artist, Malcah Zeldis, the Society of Illustrators, and then there were the restaurants-- Pure Food and Wine and Candle 79...my daughter was in vegan heaven.
The Society of Illustrators was really inspiring...Brad Holland, Sam Weber, Dan Adel, Kadir Nelson, Donato Giancola, Marc Burkhardt, Jody Hewgill and Frances Jetter to name just a few.
All the illustrations in the exhibition were editorial or book. It seemed abundantly digital, but there was a lot of mixed media, and some straight out traditional (watercolor, pastel, oil, acrylic, pen and ink) which was fun to look at up close.

NYC Trip

Photo courtesy of Ronnie del Carmen ©2007
Excited about going to NYC soon to visit family and also go to the Society of Illustrators for the Annual Exhibition Illustrators 51
(Jan 7- March 28) I'll be posting again on Sunday. Have a great weekend!

Sketchbook: Know Where Your Food Comes From

Ahhh, choosing what foods to eat has become a real challenge. This is an idea sketch, in watercolor and pen and ink, for a larger piece about foods that are toxic. You can click on the image to see it bigger.

Pastels: Fire in Pharsalia

Just trying to continue on with Fire in Pharsalia. This is just what came up for me. I am trying to think of different scenarios for this story...which isn't really a story... yet. Trying different options in editing for color (saturation and exposure)

Here, Jake discovers the fire in his house.I referenced an old drawing of my son I had done and tried to add a surprise expression with the firelight reflected in his face. I think I'm not done with this...later.

Burton Silverman video at SmartFlix

I just watched an amazing video, Drawing: The Language of Vision, with Burton Silverman. Highly recommend. I rented it from SmartFlix and plan on renting the others maybe, I think there are four in all.

IF: Flawed/ Pastel: Fire in Pharsalia

"The wiring in Jake's house was mysteriously flawed."

Starting a series of illustrations with (Rembrandt) pastels....

The setting: Pharsalia, NY
a village in Chenango County NY.

The town received its first settler in 1797. Pharsalia was founded from part of the Town of Norwich in 1806, but was then called the "Town of Stonington." In 1808, the town was renamed "Pharsalia."

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 542 people, 200 households, and 154 families residing in the town. There are 15 firefighters in the Pharsalia Fire Department.

Inspiration in Nature

I find a lot of inspiration in nature. This tree with visiting crows may figure into a future drawing or print. And some bird tracks....they seem like big feet to me...maybe a mourning dove? definitely not a junco or chickadee. I heard there is a big Noreaster brewing up for next Tuesday...Road trip to Ithaca tomorrow for my birthday. Working on a pastel illustration to post sometime soon.... Loved reading this interview on DesignSponge with Maria Vettese who does letterpress and started The Card Society ( I gave a subscription as a Christmas present to a good friend...) Have a beautiful weekend!

Brush and Inkwash: Lenten Rose...Spring Please

Icy, slushy, snowy day. Brush and inkwash tonal study of a Lenten Rose (Cornell Plantations, Ithaca, NY) from last spring... yes, I am still thinking spring....

Interiors, Prints and Rugs

Very beautiful sunny day...two linocut prints back from the framer. Hooked rug by Evelyn Lawrence. This link is a different one and tells alot more about hooked rugs at Wooly Fox. Evelyn has researched the rugs of Magdalena Briner. I love her work. Look at this one.
There is also this book...Woolley Fox American Folk Art Rug Hooking (Paperback)
by Barbara Carroll

Brush and Ink: Cat

Very inspired by interviews I read at Illustration Friday with Ward Schumaker and Vivienne Fleischer, a husband and wife dynamic duo. You can see their work here. They share a website:) Decided to try out the drawn cat for a brush and ink one a la Schumaker. Love brush and ink...will definitely be doing more on this.......snow on the way. I am already thinking of spring...
This is a cool lamp from Germany that does not look like a lamp. Creative Quarterly Call for Entries here.

Effects in Illustrator

A bloated and cutout Bard....

In Progress: The Bard Revisited

The Bard revisited. Perhaps a more haughty, less humble Bard? Pen and ink sketch ....more to come.

The Bard Experiments

More trial and error. I've always wanted to do a portrait of "The Bard". This is a watercolor with pen and ink manipulated digitally. Which one do you like?

IF: Climbing

At the beach, Ana says, "Ideas are like waves,... they come and go", as she climbs up onto my lap and puts her arms gently around my neck.

Experimenting in Painter

Experimenting in Painter. Original done in acrylic. Today I understood what Zina Saunders was talking about when she said she discovered digital painting....and threw away her brushes. Not quite ready for that yet....but it is fun thinking of the possibilities.

Malcah Zeldis and her Peaceable Kingdom

I thought a lot about Malcah Zeldis yesterday during all the Inaugural festivities. Maybe because Malcah is an artist who loves Honest Abe Lincoln and has painted over 100 portraits of him in her own outsider, folk art way. And, because maybe of all the comparative discussion around Obama and Lincoln, I had to call her to find out how she was and what she was thinking during the inauguration. I met Malcah in the late 90's while she was an Artist-in-residence at the museum where I worked and I still visit her sometimes in NYC where she lives. Malcah is known for her many Peaceable Kingdom paintings. Remember Edward Hicks' Peaceable Kingdoms? In them, she paints people she admires--Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Liberace, Anne Frank, Ghandi, Harpo Marx, Ann Sullivan and Helen Keller, and the list even extends to the Clintons and other political figures from all different countries who have tried to work for peace. She has illustrated many books, some written by her daughter Yona Zeldis McDonough, about Nelson Mandela, Marilyn Monroe, Hank Greenberg, and Joe DiMaggio to name a few. I love the Peaceable Kingdom paintings, the bright, straight- from- the -tube colors, the lines and shapes, but really, I love the meaning of it...It seemed an appropriate image for the Obama day of all days...for The Moment. I will be visiting Malcah in February, so I'll try to get some photos to share.