Book Review-The Drawing Lesson by Mark Crilley

If only I had a mentor like the lead character in the graphic novel The Drawing Lesson by Mark Crilley when I was in upper elementary, early middle school.  This book not only demonstrates the importance of mentors in helping kids learn to draw but gives some great fundamental concepts to practice and internalize to become an accurate draftsperson.

The graphic novel format is fun to read and the storyline is engaging between the mentor, Becky, and the young student, David, as they interact and David becomes a more accomplished drawer, gains self confidence and skills.

There are many ways and books to teach drawing.  The graphic novel format is a clever way to reach another audience.  The book is excellent for all ages even though it is mainly effective for a 10-12 year old wishing to learn more about drawing. However, with any skill, reading about the skills necessary to be good at something is not the same as working hard to develop the skills to accomplish them.  But the book definitely leads the reader to the basic drawing techniques necessary to become a good drawer.

By the way, Mark Crilley has many YouTube videos on drawing that are very detailed for those interested in realistic drawing or mastering Manga.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

And the Band Plays On

Arches near Picacho State Park in CA  8"x10" Acrylic on hardboard

Our small town has a annual celebration as all small towns do which includes a parade.  If you are not watching the parade you would be in the parade.  In my case I am in the parade playing the clarinet in a little band that performs marches, polkas and popular music called "Sig's Band".  Live music is on the decline in most parades.  It is difficult to find organized groups to perform let alone pay them for their service.  We work for a minimal fee and lunch.  Our band performs at several of these little town parades throughout the summer.  It is a great gig because everyone is in a good mood.

The painting I did yesterday is of an area that I took a hike to with my cousin in southern California last January, just north of Yuma. I have been interested in doing a landscape and I was wondering how I would solve the problem of the rocks and sandy ground.  The painting is basically monochromatic and I am somewhat satisfied with how it turned out.  It was definitely a moonlike landscape compared with the lushness of greenery and black dirt in Iowa.

Let There Be Light

Tosca  Acrylic Painting, 6"x6"

Due to the resent storm that destroyed our large shade tree in the backyard, today the tree removers came in and little by little took the branches down to where just the six foot trunk currently remains.  I am saddened by the loss of this one tree that has brought so much to me on a daily basis.  Not only did it shade the north deck with lacy shadows but it housed many songbirds and bird feeders.

So, now change is happening.  Light has entered an environment that has been in darkened moistness.  A hummingbird sits on the tip on a fallen branch. Time to adapt to what is now the new normal.

Today I included a painting of Tosca, a cat that came from Portland, Oregon to live in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  Tosca's new caretakers are kitty lovers from way back.

Unpredictable

Coffee Cup Acrylic 3'x2'

Last night we had a huge storm.  It came at 2:30 at night with straight line winds. Trees were twisted and torn, uprooted and tossed about.  In the morning the neighborhood looked like a war zone.  Luckily only minor damage was done to homes in the vicinity.  However, the destruction of the trees caused a sense of loss. Many in the neighborhood I had watch grow and change with the seasons.  Now they were the victim of chainsaws and dump trucks. You never know from one day to the next.  Life is certainly unpredictable.

I did paint today.  The painting I included today was not the result of my days efforts however.  My coffee mug was painted a couple weeks ago when I was just getting my feet wet in painting once more on a daily basis.  It is actually a rather large painting, 3'x2' done with acrylic on black gessoed paper.  It was an exercise used by my instructor, Kat Corrigan, at a workshop I was taking at Grand Marais, MN.

Demolition

Chihuahua What?  6"x6" Acrylic on hardboard

In order to create you have to tear down.

Today I observed the total destruction of the house across from our garden being torn down that has not been occupied for 15 years.  Bulldozers and other unnamed large machines came in and broke it up like a cardboard box and it ended up in a pile of dust. I regret not absconding with some of the perennials that were scattered around the foundation, now lost to the rubble.

Change happens.  The house had created a sort of private wall to our backyard.  Will there be builders on the lot?  Will it sit abandoned and simply a grassy area? Nothing stays static.

This creative path that I am working on has its own sort of demolition.  Old habits need to be redirected in order to make room for creative pursuits.  Time to paint, time to think about painting, and time to collect subject matter to paint.  It shakes up the complacency of life and forces new ideas to come forth.  New directions to emerge.

The painting today is from a photo of a little unnamed Chihuahua that was sent to me by a friend.  I used zinc oxide white instead of the usual titanium white in my color palette.  Zinc oxide is much more transparent than titanium and therefore the white texture. He looks alert at these little dogs usually do.  Nothings seems to get by them.

Solitude

Quieting the mind is essential to creative exploration.  The continual chatter of my "to do" list bounces around my head as I take care of this and that.  When I finally eek out a bit of time to enter my studio and paint I first put on the music, get out my supplies, fill up the water jar, and begin the ritual that slides me into the zone.  It always amazes me how once I start the ritual how lost I can become in the process of painting.  How calming the process becomes to my inner self.  

The painting I am posting today is called Solitude.  It is a 6"x6" acrylic on hardboard of Lake Superior North Shore in northern Minnesota.  The sun is low and the horizon is lost in the distance as water and sky meld together.

Reading for Inspiration

Life has got in the way as I have been trying to sort out the various parts of my new endeavor of painting, buying supplies, getting set up, photographing subject matter, reading, and looking how best to market my work.  I am of the concept that if I do it all at once I will somehow bring it all together in a single mass.
Couple of books that have been helpful lately have been Daily Painting:  Paint Small and Often to Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Artist by Carol Marine.  The other book that I have been reading has been The Painter's Keys:  A Seminar with Robert Genn by Robert Genn.  Both have been instrumental in  guiding me forward on this path I am on presently.
The painting I included today was done from a photograph I took in Clear Lake, Iowa on the bike path that goes for about a mile through a prairie.  I call the piece Prairie Life due to all the activity that was surrounding the butterfly and plants as I rode through this area.  this is an 8"x8" acrylic painting on hardwood board.