Woman Walking With A Stick

I wish that I had unlimited time to just draw and paint like Van Gogh did.  I have resigned myself to the reality that is just not going to happen because no matter how hard I try something else always takes precedence.  Every once in a while I put my foot down and say Enough, I'm spending the day in the studio! While I enjoy working on craft projects that is not enough for me, I need to draw or paint.

Vincent Van Gogh was not only a prolific artist, he was also an eloquent writer.  He included sketches or drawings in his many letters to his brother Theo.  I have several books of Van Gogh's letters complete with sketches.  Recently when I felt the need to draw, I chose a drawing from one of the books of letters.

Woman Walking With A Stick after Van Gogh.

There was something about Van Gogh's drawing of the old woman with a walking stick that touched my heart.  According to Van Gogh, it was a cold morning and the woman was walking, slightly bent, to work at the mines with a shawl wrapped around her head to protect her from the cold winds.

Van Gogh thought that the only way to improve as an artist to copy paintings by the masters.  He often copied the great Delacroix's work and drew and painted several versions of Millet's The Sower. I don't think that Van Gogh would mind that I copied the Woman Walking With A Stick and hopefully he might find my rendition of his work an acceptable tribute to him as an artist.  I did use the drawing in an art project to illustrate Robert Browning's poem because the woman seemed to illustrate the line "grow old with me, the best is yet to be."

Projects, Projects, Projects!

Congratulations Brittany for passing the written part of your Masters Exam!

Today was my first day back in my atelier. It's nice to be back in my space sitting at my drafting table with all of my art supplies close at hand.

This past month I have been reading, knitting and sketching to pass the time. I finished the first half of Louisa Harding's beaded scarf. I love how it's turning out and can't wait to finish it. The Grace hand dyed (wool/silk) yarn is a joy to work with. The yarn is soft, luxurious and glides along the Addi needles.

Louisa Harding Beaded Scarf

While searching for projects to occupy my time, I came across several interesting books. Amazon suggested Doodling in French-How to Draw with Joie de Vivre by Anna Corba. It seemed like a fun book from the on line preview. The book takes the reader step by step through each of the drawings, which can be used to highlight scrap book pages or collages. Having trouble drawing the Eiffel Tower or a fleur de lys? Don't worry, Anna Corba's step by step  instructions make it easy. This book is very beginner friendly and a great way to pass time.

Misty Mawn is one of my favorite mixed-media artists. Her work has been published in Sommerset Studio magazine and she teaches workshops. She recently published her first book, Unfurling, a mixed-media workshop with Misty Mawn.The book is in workshop format and starts with portrait drawing, and ends with journal making. The journal section shows the reader how to create (bind) a journal from sheets of paper and then gives a variety of exercises to inspire creativity in journaling. There are also projects for making stamps, sculpture, pottery and paper dolls. I found this book to be inspiring.

Zentangles have recently become very popular. I was intrigued and wanted to try it but didn't know where to start. The books on the market contained a few "tangles" and projects but they weren't beginner friendly, they all assumed that the reader was familiar with the process. Walter Foster art books has recently published The Art of Zentangle. This book explains Zentangles and the tools used to create them and then walks the reader step by step through each of the "tangles" and then step by step through each step of the Zentangle projects. As a beginner, I found this very useful. After completing several of the beginning exercises, I created the mushroom garden below. I started with the toadstools on page 46 and added my own "tangles" using the "tangles" from the exercises in the first part of the book. My materials for this practice Zentangle was a piece of drawing paper, #2 pencil and eraser. I really enjoy this book and try to Zentangle every day.

Toadstools