Day 593 "Table Top" and impromptu drawing lessons

 Last night we went to a family party celebration for my niece who graduated college last week.  We saw family on both sides, and some one was asking about my daily drawings.  I had my small sketchbook with me and some blank coasters, and was explaining the coaster art I have been doing. Soon, I had a 7th, a 5th and a 4th grader looking at my work and fascinated... right in my wheelhouse.  Turns out I had four blank coasters with me so we all did drawings on the coasters.  Children are so interesting, straightforward, and we had a comfortable place for them to take a risk.  We talked about building space and perspective and I threw a lot of well-deserved praise.  It was great! Here are some photos of theirs and my work.  This is my five hundred ninety third daily drawing.  As always, thank you for looking.  0

Day 591 "Coaster Art" ink & watercolor 9 x 12

 I recently ordered some blank coasters which I carry with me.  Sometimes, in a restaurant, pub, etc, where a coaster might be used, I like to draw on my blank coaster.  I usually add watercolor later from what I remember in the room, and what I want to convey.  Here is a painting of me adding the watercolor to one of my coasters.  It was an interesting exercise, drawing the coaster, which is a drawing.  The other photos here are of the finished coaster itself, from a lunch last month at MJ Smiths on East 45th Street in New York.  There is also a photo I took from inside the pub while I was drawing. 
This is my five hundred ninety-first daily drawing.  As always, thank you for your interest, and your comments.  You know I love them.

Daily Drawing 495 "The Snug" - 5 x 9 ink & watercolor

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.

Daily Drawing 400 "OT Win!!" pen & ink 10 x 3

 Our daughter arranged a Bruins' game for us earlier this week.  We were up pretty high, where you could see all the Bruins and Celtics championship banners hanging from the rafters, as well as the plays forming on the ice below.  The people around us were great, a group of 11 year old hockey players over our right shoulders, and a group of international young-ish business people behind us, all speaking English, but with a German accent, French, English, etc... and lots of laughter.  There were a couple of young guys in front of us who began conversation with our daughter's boyfriend over game strategy.  The jumb-o-tron was a constant display of fans waving and dancing to music.  We had a blast, and I did my daily drawing from up high.  You can see several stages of my drawing here in the post. 
This is my four hundredth daily drawing.  Thank you for looking!

Day 379 "Arts Walk" 5 x 9 pen&ink

Today was the Hingham Arts Walk, a beautiful fall event during which artists are  on the street, and in many of the businesses and galleries, showing and/or creating their art.  My Girls Just Wanna Paint group gathered to paint in the round at the community center.  Though we paint to a theme each month, we rarely paint together as a group.  It was lots of fun, with tons of visitors.  We painted around a still life in the center of the table, lit almost from the top.  Each of us has a 
 different style so the paintings each have a different feel.  I began by washing in the shadow areas, then painted into the shadows, holding back on the light areas until the last half hour or so.  My finished painting will be posted later, after I tweak it a little bit.  
This is my three hundred seventy-ninth daily drawing. I enjoyed doing a quick sketch of today's event, and enjoyed the event immensely.  Thanks for your continued interest. 


 

Day 349 "Happy 23rd Birthday" 12 x 9 pen & ink

Today is our daughter's 23 birthday.  She loved the drawing I did of our porch a few weeks ago, and said she loved it without the paint in it.  So... not a sentence I recommend saying to an artist, but she knows my work, and knows what she likes and I found no offense.  Today I drew our porch for her 23rd birthday and gave it to her tonight at dinner.  She was thrilled, and it will hang in her new apartment.  So nice to have original art!!  Flattered to be in on the ground floor of her collection. We went to dinner tonight, embarrassed her with a small cake and had a wonderful evening. 

Here is the original image with color to the right, the one she liked without color.  Both have her collection of succulents which will move from the porch to her apartment in the next few weeks.  

This is my 349th daily drawing.  Thanks for looking.

Day 329 "Morning Space" 12 x 9 pen, ink, watercolor, pastel

This summer, we spent time every morning on our farmer's porch, drinking coffee, watching the birds, chipmunks, and squirrels move from feeder to feeder in the yard.  It is a wonderful space.  Now that school has begun, I am finding about 10 minutes each morning to sit on the porch and collect my thoughts before heading off to my day.  I made sure to grab some time out there this weekend despite it being moving weekend for our daughter into Boston.  I love the reflections of the yard into the vintage mirror hanging on the wall above our daughter's succulent collection, which will follow her into town within the month.  
This is my three hundred twenty-ninth daily drawing.  Thank you so much for your continued interest.  I began a brand new sketchbook with this drawing, and labeled the inside cover with my name, and "September - ".  Both my husband and daughter wondered aloud about the year, and the rest of the date.  I will fill it in when I finish the book.  It has 60 pages.  Sometimes I put more than one drawing on a page, so we'll see how long this book lasts.  

Day 323 "Birds' Eye View" or "Birds Watch Tourists" 6 x 9 pen&ink

This year began what might be a new tradition.  The night before school starts for me, we went out to a movie and dinner.  My room was ready, my plans ready, my head back in the game... if we stayed home, I would keep reviewing plans for the days and weeks ahead.  Instead, we headed out.  We went to Plimouth Plantation, which has a nice art movie house and saw "Puzzle", a quiet, interesting movie about a woman who changes her life, prompted by a birthday gift of a jigsaw puzzle.  I liked it.  Then we headed to downtown Plymouth and ate dinner on the second floor of a restaurant.  When I looked over my shoulder out the window, I saw a pair of birds, sitting on the ledge, looking down upon the passing tourists.  I'm sure they were interested in any crumbs or more that hit the street, but I loved the point of view.
This is my three hundred twenty-third daily drawing.  Thank you for looking.  

Day 302 "Braintree T - Pick Up" ink & marker 6 x 9

Our daughter is living home this summer and commuting into the city via the T (that's short for the Mass Bay Transit Authority or MBTA for those not from the Boston area).  We're dropping off and picking up for these few weeks, time we enjoy in the car together.  The arrangement of pick up/drop off/cars/buses/pedestrians/parking garage egress and exit can be pretty hectic certain times of day.  Again, I don't mind, but timing is of the essence as there are very few places to stand, waiting for the sometimes-delayed commuter.  This day, I saw a bunch of cars standing along the back of the parking garage, away from the tracks and passenger discharge.  The loop in and out was pretty packed.  I attempted three times to have my circling coincide with a space emptying up front, and failing that, fell in with the "standing" crowd in the back.  Looking up, I saw this sweet scene, bounded by the signs above, the garage on the left, road and lampposts to my right, and some trees ahead, a little bit distant from this concrete conglomeration.  I had just enough time to get it into the sketch book before my passenger arrived.
This is my three hundred second daily drawing.  Thank you for taking a look.  

Day 299 "Art Auction at Trailing Yew" 9 x 12 pen & ink

Each August when we visit Monhegan Island, there is a benefit art auction on the lawn of the Trailing Yew Inn and Cottages.  The auction benefits The Monhegan Island Sustainable Community Association (MISCA).  This worthwhile organization works to help attain affordable housing for year-round Monhegan residents without interfering with conservation.  This is accomplished by buying existing island properties as they become available and selling them to residents for less than market price.  You can read more at the link above.  
The auction has silent and live items, and is always well-attended and entertaining.  There were a number of terrific art pieces this year as well as strong silent auction items.  I drew while sitting in my chair.
This is my two hundred ninety-ninth daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued attention.  

Day 287 "Village Sketches" - walking and sketching on Monhegan

 Today's goal on Monhegan was to walk farther than yesterday, to find a spot among the rocks to settle in and draw.  So, I walked down to "Swim Beach", interestingly named, because it is mostly too cold for swimming, found a way up onto the rocks and did some drawing.  My physical therapist and I have been practicing stepping up with balance onto a surface about a foot off the ground.  In fact, his parting words to me before vacation, after 30 of these step ups, were "Don't you think there are a LOT of rocks on Monhegan about 12 inches high?"  Hmmm.  Feeling listened to... So I drew for awhile, watched the visitors, then headed back to the local coffee shop for more sketching and people watching.  A family had a couple of dogs with them, who mostly hung out under the table, although the spaniel was on alert every time the door opened.. never confrontational, just watching.  You can see below how I began my drawing.  
This is my two hundred eighty-seventh daily drawing submission.  Thank you for looking.  

Day 282 "Humarock" pen&ink 8 x 9 - deserted beach, and a little history

If you walk our local beach, you may find this view familiar.  Our local beach is separated from the mainland by the South River which you can see below in the map.  The South River joins the North River and the ocean in a very turbulent mash of currents and tides.  A little history:  The Portland Gale of 1989 shifted the mouth of the North River, separating Humarock and Scituate's "Fourth Cliff" from the rest of Scituate, and eventually the mouth of the South River moved there as well.  This drawing is from the location of the "old mouth" of the South River, now beach.  You can see the old and new below, a familiar contour to those familiar with the local landscape.  The seawall and beachside homes come to an end at the old mouth.  I wonder if someday the old mouth will open again to the sea.  

  This is my two hundred eighty-second daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest.                                                               

Day 280 "Train a Comin'" 7 x 9 pen & ink with pencil

This morning I drove my daughter up to the T to start her new job.  On my way back, I stopped at an intersection for the commuter rail to pass.  It moves fast, the kind of fast that creates a vacuum so you can feel the air move as it passes.  I like the arrangement of lights, barriers, poles, intersections, and activity.  How complex this one little intersection is, and how reliant we are all on the lights working as intended.   We take some things for granted.
This is my two hundred eightieth daily drawing.  Thank you for continuing to look at my view of the world.

Day 266 "Prospect and Franklin" pen&ink 6 x 6

We spent last weekend in Brooklyn for a family wedding at the Botanical Gardens.  What a beautiful venue.  We stayed a couple of nights in an AirBnb in Prospect Heights.  We walked around the neighborhood the first night looking for dinner, and found Gueros Tacos.  What a spot... counter service, a few tables, and a line out the door for a variety of terrific tacos.   We ordered, and walked back to our apartment with take out, after waiting for a few minutes on the street, watching the city evening, including the train passing overhead.  This is the nearby street corner, Prospect & Franklin, and is my two hundred sixty-sixth daily drawing. Thank you for your continued interest and comments.
 

Day 249 "Counter Seat" pen & ink 6 x 9

Had a nice evening out with my daughter where we went to see "Ocean's 8" and then went out to grab a bite to eat at the local burger bar. I expected the movie to be a bit of a rip off of the Ocean's 11 movies, but didn't find it that way at all. 
 There is similarity in that a thief pulls together a team, each expert in their con artist field, to pull off a heist on the grandest scale.  It was dramatic, suspenseful, visually stunning, with some wry humor, with men only in very supporting roles.  We loved it.  Afterwards, she and I sat at the bar locally to grab a bite to eat.  We had a nice evening, and the view from the bar can be so fascinating, glittery, intricate, functional.  Great evening.
This is my two hundred forty-ninth daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest in my view of my world. 
 

Day 196 "Thoughtful" 11 x 11 pen, ink, marker

I spent today with three good friends enjoying coffee, conversation, and sketching one another.  We took turns posing.  It was a pleasant morning, and I look forward to our next get together.  I drew my friend, painter Kelley Macdonald, and later added some shading using gray marker. I like the drawing.  It could be a better likeness.  As I said, looking forward to our next get together. 
This is my hundred ninety-sixth daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest into the world as I see it.  

Day 192 "Boat by Boat" pen and ink 7 x 7

I love the beautiful, hard working lobster boats in the Maine harbors.  Their shapes are abstract, and interesting, especially when cropped.  These boats are layered one in front of the other and make a fascinating pattern.  I may explore this as a painting.
This is my hundred ninety-second daily drawing.  Thank you for following along on my journey.  

Day 173 "Island Alley" pen & ink 6 x 9

I am continuing to revisit my photos from trips we took a few years back.  This is a drawing of an alley on Hydra, one of the Greek islands we visited.  Everything sparkles in the Mediterranean sun, and there is a lot of blue trim which enhances the effect of sparkling by the sea.The buildings create a

striking overlay of shape upon shape.  I like to pick up a piece of art whenever we travel.  I bought the painting below from a street artist.  He painted it on a shingle scrap.  I love its vibrancy, and its primitive design. 
This is my hundred seventy-third daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest.  It warms my hearts.

Day 133 "The Snug" ink and pencil 6 x 9

Tonight we had a small Ash Wednesday service at my husband's church, then headed over to the local pub for some dinner... very cozy, great food and a chance to draw while we hung out.  I added some yellow behind the bottles to mimic the light from above on the shelves.
Thanks for looking at my hundred thirty-third daily drawing.  I added a photo below of the drawing in

process.

Day 129 "Busy Harbor" 5 x 9 pen and ink with pencil

Spent a few minutes outside today in my busy day, face turned to the sun.  I can feel spring hidden in there... which means summer can't be far behind.  Thinking of the summer with this drawing of the busy harbor.. only months away.
This is my hundred twenty-ninth daily drawing.  Thank you for looking. As always, I appreciate your comments.