My husband likes to get to church early on Sunday morning to organize his thoughts, conduct book study, and get settled in before the congregation arrives. We drive together, but I like to hang outside and draw somewhere nearby. This winter, I noticed the shadows cast up the street on the Old Ordinary, home of the Hingham Historical Society. I posted my five hundred fourth drawing of the building using ink and markers a couple of weeks ago, with its beautiful shadow pattern. Today I used my watercolors for the same view. There is a snow storm predicted for tonight, so the clouds were encroaching, but I could see the shadows intermittently and took advantage.
You can see my in process photograph below, taken from the dash board of my car as I painted this morning.
This is my five hundred eighteenth daily drawing. Thank you, as always, for looking.
Today was beautiful. I pulled my car into a parking space along Main Street in Hingham above the downtown and drew the street, with my car window open to the sun. It was nice to absorb some Vitamin D, while looking at the sunlit buildings. I like drawing from my car sometimes. I have a bag, kept in the car with sketchbook, watercolor set, pencils, markers, small enamel water dish and brushes. You never know when you'll need it.
This is my five hundred ninth daily drawing. As always, thank you for looking.
After a very busy week of school, my husband invited me to the local pub for a late lunch for him/early dinner for me. We headed to The Snug, great little pub with terrific food. I love the atmosphere there, enjoyed a Friday pint. I don't drink a lot in general, but am discovering I enjoy an occasional beer, especially when they have a little citrus flavor. Today I had Jack's Abbey Blood Orange Wheat. Yummy. I like drawing inside restaurants, the layering of people from front to back, and the shelves of bottles in the back.
This is my four hundred ninety-fifth daily drawing. Thank you for your continued interest, and your comments. You know I love them.
Tonight I had about a half hour to grab dinner with my husband between his work day and meetings, a wake, and my evening work. We grabbed a bite at The Peel, great pizza, etc. I love the look of the shop from the outside, active, and warm inside. This is my hundredth daily drawing! This time has gone quickly... and I plan to continue. Thank you for looking.
Most Sunday mornings I head to church early with my pastor husband, and have an hour more or less, while he readies church, and I don't need to be there. Sometimes I read, or grade quizzes, or read the paper, or draw. Today I spent some time on a side street drawing the skyline ahead of me; a church, a parish hall, the Square Cafe, and a few lampposts. It was a beautiful New England winter morning, sparkling air, no wind, about 35 degrees. Reminded me that years ago I was visiting a friend in San Diego in February. It was about 60 degrees. I said, "why don't we bundle up and walk the beach?" He said, "That must be a New England thing"... um. Yup.
This is my 70th daily drawing. Thank you for taking a look. I appreciate your time.
Here are six versions of the New North Church Steeple. I posted about the upper right four recently. My goal is to create a larger version which will be scanned and scaled up as a banner at the church. I used some tracing paper to transfer the smaller version of the steeple, trying four treatments, then scaled up mathematically onto the larger paper. The ratio is 2 to 1, height to width. I came up with a scale of 1 inch to 2.75 inches small drawing to larger drawing, then used that to divide the smaller drawing and the bigger each into seven horizontal bands. My seventh graders have been working on proportions, so this would be a nice problem to popse to them.
The larger steeple is currently rendered in a couple of colors of blue watercolor pencil. I'm going to apply water to make the color more uniform, then should be finished. This is my sixty-ninth daily drawing. I am getting a lot of satisfaction and a lot of positive feedback. Thank you for looking.
Last summer we watched the Fourth of July parade in Hingham, MA. I am going to do a few study sketches of the floats and attractions against the trees behind. I need to add some dark green behind these firefighters to highlight the light on them, and the fun of the day.
This is my sixty-second daily drawing... thank you for your attention.
I am exploring some designs based on the steeple of the New North Church in Hingham. I added two more incarnations tonight. Are you partial to a particular one? Yesterday I drew the first two, and made a few minor changes to the blue one in the upper left. The design may be reproduced as the backdrop for a large display board. I don't want anything too stark, nor too detailed, nor too overpowering, yet graphically strong. Hmmm. Almost there, I think.
This is my sixtieth daily drawing.
I am exploring a few design ideas using the steeple of New North Church in Hingham. I am adjusting the design slightly each time... and will try a couple of more. I can see by looking at the two side to side that I'll make a couple of the following changes. The blue steeple has a ragged edge up top intended to be some of the light hitting the ridges of the dome edge. But, it doesn't really convey the curve, and looks more like Godzilla took a nibble from the dome. I'm getting there... a few more iterations and we'll see where I land.
This is my fifty-ninth daily drawing. Thank you for looking.
I am working on a silhouette of the New North Church in Hingham. This is close to what I'm aiming for. I drew the church in pencil, carefully delineating the black and white areas. Then I painted it with India Ink, which is such a lovely flowing medium. I like the design. It is the proportions I am looking for. I'm on the fence about the edge of the clock, not sure if it reads as I intend. I'll think it over, and there may be another iteration.
This is my fifty-third daily drawing. Thanks again for checking in on my view of the world.
Trying looking at some interesting angles of New North Church in Hingham... this one is a challenge, but I like the presence against the sky, which was crystal blue. The clock works now! It is one of four clocks in the town that were put in place around 1848. Back then, the town was responsible for providing timekeeping for the town, and installed clocks in the town. This clock was restored this spring; and I was lucky enough to see up in the steeple. Beautiful gears and mechanics.
This is my fifty-first daily drawing. Thanks for keeping an eye on my work.
Thanks to my friend, Sally Dean, for encouraging me to embark on a 31 day challenge, #Inktober. You can read about it at Inktober. I am looking forward to making the time each day for a quick, or longer, ink drawing, perhaps embellished with some watercolor as here. As always, thank you for looking!
My husband and I were grabbing a bite in a local pub last week. I looked out the window and thought.. "I know that tree!" I think the complete thought is "I know that tree in that context with water behind it and its relationship to the other pines around it." Then remembered that I had made this watercolor sketch of it from another angle last summer. I find it a great joy that images can be imprinted on my brain in this way. The memory/relationship/association comes forward and I get a chance to explore a memory, usually involving other senses besides sight. This memory and imprint was only a year old, but I have had images/memories jump forward from decades ago because something I see bumps a dusty corner of my brain. I wrote about a few other examples here, here, and here... the first involving a 300 year old house near the home of my youth, another involving a color palette one of my students used in her still life and a John Alexander White painting, and another involving some quiet snowy trees and a favorite childhood book. When cognitive threads connect, I rejoice.
How about you?
I love the festive flags and bunting that adorn the buildings in July, and Hingham's Lincoln Maritime Center is no exception. I always have, and as I write this, I think it's all due to Robert Preston.
"The Music Man" movie, 1962, with Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, etc, is filled with holiday bunting. The movie takes place during one summer in fictional River City, Iowa. A lot of the movie's fabulous singing and dancing takes place in front of red, white, and blue bunting. "The Music Man" was my Dad's favorite, and we grew up knowing every lyric, every move, every nuance. I remember Dad telling us that the melody of "Good Night, My Someone" was the same as "76 Trombones", and I tried and tried to hear it. I think I pretended I could (but I lied) .. now I can. I loved the barbershop quartet, and sang along to "Lida Rose" and "Goodnight Ladies"... all the while, absorbing the patriotic bunting backdrop. (Click the link above for the rousing win-them-over-by-hijacking-the-assembly-in-the-gym scene.)
Thanks for reminiscing with me, and thanks for looking.
This is my five hundred eighteenth daily drawing. Thank you, as always, for looking.
