Day 612 "Lunch Break" pen & ink

This is such a busy time at school.  Students are catching up on missing work, studying for finals, and excited by the warm weather and promise of summer.  I am working hard to keep students engaged, to review learned materials, to challenge the interested students, and to grade all the work.  Today I stepped outside with my lunch, sat on a bench for a blissful fifteen minutes and drew the trees in the school's front yard and beyond.  You can't see it, but the yard to the right was filled with kindergarten students laughing and jumping and digging in the dirt with twigs while they navigated their recently created social mores.  It was peaceful, and a welcome break from the hectic inside atmosphere.  
This is my six hundred twelfth daily drawing.  As always, thank you for looking and for your interest.  

Days 599, 600, and 601 "Festival Days"

 

Every year the North River Arts Society in Marshfield, MA holds its annual Festival of the Arts.  I love the weekend, often calling it a "weekend away" without the cost of hotel. Years ago, before I was an artist, I used to ride my bike down to the Festival to hang with my mother while she painted.  Eventually, I began to paint, and to volunteer, and have now been the co-chair of the juried art & sculpture part of the Festival for a couple of decades.  I paint out on the street for both days of the festival, talking to old and new friends while working.  Great music, food, laughter, fun. Doesn't matter to me what the weather is; so I have painted under a tent while wearing a down vest, and pausing for a warm cup of chowder on occasion, or in 90 degree heat, and everything in between.  It is New England, after all. Here is some of the work I created over the weekend. I get fired up by the festivities, the pageantry, the hubbub, and the catching up with people.  These are my 599, 600, and 601st daily drawings created Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the arts festival.  Thank you for looking.  

Daily Drawing 536 "Crosstalk" pen & ink

I love the motion and the hubbub of the city streets; buildings against the sky creating fascinating negative space while the overlapping elements down below provide patterns and shapes.  
This is a vignette I captured on Newbury Street one afternoon while this man hustled across on front of me, as many people do... phone to ear, hunched over, missing the beauty around him, in that moment.  Maybe he looked up a few minutes later and sauntered down the street taking it all in.  I hope so.  
This is my five hundred thirty-sixth daily drawing. Thank you, as always, for your interest and your comments.   

Day 560 and more - Patterns in Doodles

 Sometimes I create my daily drawing at night, and am interested in exploring patterns, without intent.  I will lay down an asymmetrical grid pattern and begin mark-making.  Occasionally, the lines are more organic, other times more structural.  Interestingly, I almost always draw my sketchbook work that is representational using straight lines, seldom curves.  But, when I doodle these structures, I often opt for curved lines.  As I fill in the space, I am sometimes driven by the density of lines in the grid, and will look for where more detail is needed. 

These are interesting to me... expect to see more in the future. As always, thank you for looking.  I appreciate your interest, and your comments. 

Day 516 "Snow Day Brunch" ink & watercolor

Today, Saturday, we were forecast 6-8 inches of "March comes in like a lion"  starting in the early morning hours.  I took a peek out the window at 5 am and saw nothing, but it was coming down steadily by 8.  We had brunch plans with a few friends, so we headed out on an adventure, expecting the eight inches of snow to materialize by the time we finished eating.  Turns out roads were reasonable, and the big snow forecast became more like three inches of slushy and mushy stuff.  We timed our morning right, and found a table for six of us at a great little spot in Cohasset, MA - 5 South Main.  I have liked this small restaurant for a number of years.  Last year it changed hands, and I like it even better.  The chef/owner is a parent from our charter school family.  I have taught both his children 8th grade math, and enjoyed them both for different reasons.  We had a great meal today, in the company of friends... warm, delicious, and fun, while the gray, slushy, snowy day stayed outside.
This is my five hundred sixteenth daily drawing.  As always, thank you for looking.  

Day 482 "BLT Bagel" pen & ink - A little time in the local coffee shop

Lots to do on a Saturday... car repair, groceries, laundry, end-of-quarter grades, and so on.  A break in the local coffee shop is always a treat... especially with sketchbook in hand. I'm working with my new Copic Multiliner, which I love.  We found a sunny table by the window and I suspended the laws of perspective a little so you could see my yummy BLT bagel and the counter behind and Gunther Tooties shop.  Their food and staff are great.  Last month, in fact, exactly a month ago, I was with my daughter in another Gunther Tooties a few towns north of here, and I blogged about my view out the window and the fascinating conversation that day. Love the coffee shops, or maybe it's about the decadence of spending some time just sitting and taking in the day.
This is my four hundred eighty-second daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest, I appreciate hearing from you and your input about my work. You can see all my daily drawing collected on Instagram @jodypaints.  Come follow me! 
 

Daily Drawing 449 "Quincy Center" ink & watercolor

Some time in a coffee shop while drawing, with my daughter while she knit... that was our big plan for today, the day after Christmas, Boxing Day.  We set out, explored a few neighborhoods, and wound up at Gunther Tooties Bagel and Coffee shop in Quincy center.  We frequent one of their shops in our neighborhood; food is fresh, made with care in a pleasant environment. We took some stools by the window where I could see the traffic through the newly-arranged square, and we hung out.  There was a fascinating conversation at a a nearby table, on which, by the way, we did not eavesdrop, they were loud.  We would have had to leave... was it a breakup?  Was it an analysis of a first or second date?  Was it verbal sparring for the un-fun of it?  At one point, he said, "why did we need to come out for food to have this conversation?"  By the way, she ordered the chicken noodle soup, while he asked for ice water... part of the fun of hanging out in a coffee shop.  They left abruptly, got into the same car, though about 2 minutes apart, and drove off together.  Who knows?  Could be the start of a very interesting story, and I hope the right thing happens for the two of them, whatever that is. This is my four hundred forty-ninth daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest in my daily efforts.

 

 

 

 

                   

Day 317 "The Moon and Mars" pen & ink 5 x 5

 This has been an interesting week, as it is each summer.  The new school year is upon us, begins next week, and teachers went back for a couple of days of PD this week.  There is a lot of physical and mental energy that goes into the week.  And, the Marshfield Fair is in town.  I volunteer at the Fair and spend time there more than half of its ten days in town.  I use all the visual stimulation as a distraction and a counterpoint to all the school energy.  The other night, we arrived home after a day at school and a few hours in the glitz of the Fair to this scene.  Across the street, Mars and the moon hung together in the azure sky, the moon shyly behind a pine while Mars shone its red glow best as it could from 33.9 million miles (54.6 million kilometers) away.  Our moon is 238,900 miles from Earth.  (btw, as I typed "Earth" with a capital "E", I suddenly remembered an argument with my 3rd grade teacher who insisted the planets were NOT capitalized.  I was relatively new to this reading/writing thing, but took a stand, and was adamant that our solar system's planets were proper nouns and important enough to be capitalized.  After all, aren't they the proper names of places as in "persons, places, and things"?  He insisted, and I deferred to his authority in that moment, but not for a minute longer than 3rd grade lasted.)   

I was entranced by these two celestial bodies hanging together.  I captured it in pastel on a field of black ink in my blog for Day 316.  For today's drawing, I saw the scene as five values, and constructed them with two width black markers and line density.  Someone commented that it has and Edward Gorey quality... which brought to mind "The Gashlycrumb Tinies", an alphabet book in which each child meets a Victorian demise.   Click the link to see the Gorey video.

This is my three hundred seventeenth drawing.  Again, thank you for your continued interest.  

Day 314 "Quiet Harbor" 6 x 9 ink, marker, pencils

We are home from Mohegan Island, but still feeling the quiet and peace of mind.  It is hot and sticky here at home.  I long for the breeze and cool of Monhegan's climate.  So, here is a drawing of the harbor at dusk one quiet evening.  The boat in the foreground is from an Outward Bound type of outing, and sleeps a surprising number of people, sardine-style, under a tarp within its hull.  The harbor is lovely in the evening as the sun sets below Manana, and dark descends.  
This is my three hundred fourteenth daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest.  

Day 281 "Party of Eight' ink & marker 6 x 12

A couple of good friends and I have a standing dinner date once each month.  In our busy lives, it's wonderful to have the date on the calendar each month so we need to communicate if we have to change it.  Having the date on the calendar as default means we get together about eight times each year, missing the monthly date only when we are away, or over-booked.  If our default was to see each other only when we made plans, my guess is the frequency would drop significantly.  
The other night, we ate at a local waterfront restaurant, always busy, reliably fresh, good seafood.  The next table had an extended family dinner, diners aged about eight to eighty.  I loved their varied conversational poses across the generations.  
This is my two hundred eighty-first daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest, and comments.  

Day 279 "From Wessagusset" pen&ink 9 x 12

Today, my daughter and I meandered our way north along the coast on an errand.  We found ourselves above North Weymouth's Wessagusset Beach, looking out over the Fore River Bridge.  Such a beautiful spot, on a beautiful summer afternoon.  I had never been here before.  After we left, we learned on the news that a police officer and a woman from Weymouth had both lost their lives this morning in a shooting, and that "Wessagusset" was the original name for the Weymouth Colony, as depicted on the Weymouth police badge.  We have prayed for these two families today in the face of their tremendous losses.  
This is my two hundred seventy-ninth daily drawing. 
 

Day 274 "Brooklyn - Taking a Break" pen & ink 9 x 12

As you have seen in a couple of recent blog posts, we were in Brooklyn recently for a family wedding.  I love the vignettes every where you look, whether a street corner, a great neighborhood taco bar,  or an  interesting sidewalk view. 
I saw this young man, leaning casually against the edge of the shop window under a tree.  I may add color to this drawing; the silhouette of the man against the lit street behind him is striking.  
This is my two hundred seventy-fourth daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest in my view of the world.  

Day 271 "Consignment Treasures" pen & ink 6 x 9

Once each month I work at a local consignment shop.  It supports the Clift Rodgers Free Library, a small public library in town that supports itself through its consignment shop and fundraisers.  A few weeks ago I painted in the Library's garden tour, another fundraiser.  The shop always has a great collection of clothing and items, and is a nice place to catch up with neighbors when they stop in.
I drew the contour drawing inside the shop during a lull in the usual traffic, then added some shadow later using a Prismacolor warm gray marker.  I think the comparison is interesting, and am interested in your thoughts.
This is my two hundred seventy-first daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest in the world through my eyes.

Day 270 "Lincoln & Franklin - Brooklyn" pen & ink 12 x 9

I love examining the buildings on city streets.  They cut into the sky and descend in a variety of shapes, repetitive, and varied.  There is so much detail above the ground.  It is luxurious to sit still and observe all the nooks and embellishments.  This is the corner of Lincoln and Franklin in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.  You can see how I began the drawing yesterday.  
This is my two hundred seventieth daily drawing.  Thank you for continuing to look at the world through my eyes.  

Day 260 "Commercial Street - Dusk" 9 x 6 ink with pencils

My daughter spent a few days in Provincetown recently and brought back this photo of the street at dusk.  By the way, I love the way Provincetown's skyline is punctuated by power lines.  It adds an intimacy to each street scene that I enjoy.  The wires can be designed to support the picture, as long as they are believable. When I leave them out, I miss them.  They are part of the landscape to me.   
This is my two hundred sixtieth daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest and comments.  

Day 257 "The Tower" pen&ink 5 x 6

This cupola/tower caught my eye at a local private school campus as I was driving by on a side street.  It's important to observe the little vignettes that are available to us every day if we pay attention.  I love how buildings shift and change orientation as we pass, whether walking or driving.
This is my two hundred fifty-seventh daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest and comments. 

Day 244 "Incoming Tide" pen & ink 6 x 9

Today we headed over to the Scituate Lighthouse, and took a walk around the loop.  The road is flat, and good for my new knee.  We walked .8 mile, a good distance for today, and had time to sketch the harbor.  It's a beautiful time of day, families walking about, some bringing take out dinner to eat on the benches overlooking the water, boats returning into the harbor from a day out, the smell of salt, and sound of soft waves.  

This is my two hundred forty-fourth daily drawing.  Thanks for your continued interest and your comments.  

Day 232 "Guns of Navarone" 6 x 9 ink and markers

 Tonight we watched "The Guns of Navarone", 1961, based on the book by Alistair MacLean.  I read the book in my late teens, along with the James Bond novels, Taylor Caldwell historical fiction, and a bunch of Margaret Truman murder mysteries.  "The Guns of Navarone" has a strong cast, including David Niven, Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn, filmed in Greece, using a lot of locals.  Tonight, as I watched, I noticed how well designed many of the scenes were in this World War II action drama.  The movie was directed by J. Lee Thompson. 
This is a sketch of a very tense scene during which the band on the mission discovers a traitor in their midst. 
This is my two hundred thirty-second daily drawing.  Thank you for taking a look at the world through my eyes. 

Day 205 "Boylston Street" 12 x 9 ink & marker

Yesterday I zipped into Boston to take my daughter and a couple of friends to dinner in their last week of school for this semester.  I love spending time with these smart, sassy, articulate young women.  They sparkle, and love one another.  I am joyful to be in their presence.  I have a few favorite parking spots I look for in town, which usually involves a ride down Boylston Street, beautiful late in the afternoon with the sun low behind me.  This is the Old South Church catching the late light.  

This is my two hundred fifth daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest.  

Day 199 "After Auster" 6 x 9 pen & ink

Over the years, I have kept a number of images of paintings that intrigue me, that I want to study in more detail, or that I just want to look at longer for the sheer enjoyment.  This pen & ink drawing is an exploration of the value shifts in this luscious Ken Auster painting.  I don't even know the name of the painting, nor where I grabbed it. The value and temperature shifts are so subtle and juicy and effective.   Just look at the man in the background, and the number of "white" colors there are between his hat, the newspaper and the items on his table.  Between about 1.5 values and some very subtle temperature shifts, the entire story is told.  Masterful.  This is my hundred ninety-ninth daily drawing.  Thank you for taking a look.