MHBD's Blog
Saturday, July 27, 2024
United Arts Club
Friday, July 26, 2024
A cut-off teapot
I subscribe to James Gurney's newsletter. I'm not a paid subscriber, but I find that his free newsletter is full of useful tips and inspiration. In a recent one, he talked about working in black and white only to explore values. That resonated with me. Let's call it a seed. I need to write that down somewhere! Done. I always keep little post-its on my bedside table for that purpose. This note will make it to one of my notebooks at some stage. Easier than my Microsot ToDo on my phone, where I have to keep moving things forward if I don't want them to disappear in the large list of things that didn't get done!
Lesson learned?
- A light pencil sketch to make sure I could fit the teapot onto the page would have been useful!
- I can't resist colour!
Thursday, July 25, 2024
More gouache swatching
Trying out three sets of Holbein gouache. Definitely love the Autumn and Winter sets. Too many white mixes in the Spring set. I'll just have to experiment and play. Too many art supplies, too little time!
Spring set
Autumn set
Winter set - this one was sent to me by Shelley, because she knew it was out of stock in the European shops I was trying to buy it from. I am so lucky to have friends like her!
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
These shadows are hard!
While we were in New York, I was fascinated by the shadows of the emergency stairs at the front of the red-brick buildings around Greenwich Village. I thought they might make a great subject for painting some day. Well, I tried a little piece with pencil. Not easy! I will park this nudge for a while! Although, it might actually be easier to do in watercolours!
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
People in Grand Central Station
I felt my people sketches in Grand Central Station were a little stiff. So I decided to practise from photo and figure out what I can improve. I took some photos while I was there and worked from them with a brush pen and some Moonglow watercolour.
Two conclusions:
- Brush pen makes for looser sketch
- Overlapping people gives a sense of space
Monday, July 22, 2024
Street View World Tour
I was just back from New York for one day, and it was time for Street View World Tour. Virtually travelling the world and sketching botanic gardens on this occasion. One was Yves Saint Laurent's house in Morocco, another a greenhouse in Kew Gardens. I'm not sure about the other two. I was very jet-lagged, but I didn't want to miss Lis Watkins's demo. I did the fourth sketch the following day, as I had to leave early. So I spent probably a little more than the standard 20 minutes!
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Swatches
A few notes about art supplies. The only lesson is that Neocolor II melt in the sun. But they survived!
Saturday, July 20, 2024
A week in New York - A Beautiful Noise
No sketches here, but the main reason for going to New York, apart from my big birthday, was to see A Beautiful Noise, the Neil Diamond Musical. It was amazing. I want to hold that feeling in my heart for a long time!
Yes, I bought the tshirt
Yes, I got to say hi to Katie Diamond, Neil Diamond's wife
Yes, I went to The Bitter End, where Neil Diamond first started performing, a long time ago.
Yes, I got my picture taken with Deandre Sevon, the wonderful artist who sings Shilo in the show.
No, I didn't wait to get an autograph from Nick Fradiani and Amber Ardolino, the two principals. But I follow them on Instagram!
Friday, July 19, 2024
A week in New York - Part 4 - everything else
Thursday, July 18, 2024
A week in New York Part 3 - Sketching with NYC Urban Sketchers
One wonderful thing about having to travel a day early is that I was able to sketch with NYC Urban Sketchers on the Wednesday and meet up with Alyssa!
After meeting at the Oculus and going for a matcha latte and a chat, we headed to Fosun Plaza to sketch the Wild Couch Party. It was so good to see Alyssa again. This was our third time meeting, first time in Trinity College Dublin in 2022, second time in Auckland at the Urban Sketchers Symposium in 2023. We will have to plan for 2025!
Later on, Suzala joined us and we continued sketching at the plaza, just taking a different view. It was getting close to lunchtime and it was hot!
And finally we sketched near the Seaport and it was time to say goodbye. And did I mention that it was hot in the city! Such a nice change from Dublin. But important to keep hydrated. Also, did I mention that Suzala and me had never met before. But Uma was right, we got on like a house on fire!
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
A week in New York - Part 2 - Bryant Park neighbourhood
We both love Bryant Park. We never seem to be too far away from it. And it's a good place to sketch people.
I spent the whole day Saturday with Suzala. We met at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. It's a public library. They even have a cooling centre for the homeless. And a beautiful terrace on the 7th floor. With fabulous views. I only got to sketch one view, but it was worth it Done in direct watercolour, with a tiny bit of pencil. I wanted to go back there on our last day before going home, but unfortunately there was a private event and it was closed to the public. Still, that morning there with Suzala is one of the highlights of the holiday
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
A week in New York - part 1 - travel
The last of our big trips for this year. New York for my birthday! But Aer Lingus cancelled our flights, due to the pilots' work-to-rule. They cancelled our flight on the way over, but we managed to get on the flight the day before. And then, as we were travelling over, we found out that our flight home was cancelled to and Aer Lingus had moved us to travel home on my birthday. Not happy! Thankfully Brendan managed to talk to a service agent who put us on a later flight on the day we had intended to travel. But when we asked if the seats were together, the answer was no, they were not. So Brendan asked if they had seats together, and it turned out that yes, there were seats together. Which just goes to show you have to keep asking until you get what you need.
All that to say that it was fraught. I love flying, but I'm not a good traveller until I get on the plane and the plane takes off. I worry about the taxi, and the queues at checkin, at security, etc. So, I sketch to soothe my nerves as soon as I get to the gate. To be honest, that morning, I was pretty anxious. But less than 24 hours later, it's all worth it. So I never let my anxiety get in the way of travelling the world. And yes, I am aware of my climate impact. It's not pretty. I do drive electric, take public transport and eat almost no red meat. I have also significantly reduced the amount of clothes I buy. It's probably still not enough to offset my carbon emissions from flying. But we probably won't be flying those long distances in 10 years time, whether it's because we're too old or because governments will finally take action on climate, I don't know!
And here is my supplies for the trip. I used almost everything, so I was very pleased with myself. I cut my Neocolor sticks in two to half the weight!
Monday, July 15, 2024
Beara - is that Hungry Hill?
I have reached the end of my A4 Seawhite of Brighton accordion sketchbook! I was going to paint, but when I started this scene, it seemed better to just use colour pencil (Plus Neocol + Stabilo Woody). I just wanted to scribble on the page. I worked from one of the photos I took on my trip to Beara. It's at the top of the Healy Pass. I wonder if the mountain in the distance is Hungry Hill?
Sunday, July 14, 2024
At the Hairdressers
Short hair needs maintenance. And I've given up on doing my own colour. The results were too unpredictable. Plus going to my hairdresser is a great excuse for a self-portrait and other doodlings. Since June is Direct Watercolour month, I brought a small palette and one of my Pigment square brushes. I had to figure out how to do my hair colour (with the colour agent on it) with the limited colours I had. It looked very green, until I lifted some of the paint with the slightly damp brush after the watercolour had dried. I'm very happy with how it looks! It looks like I have a big bruise on my face, but that's just how I saw the light and dark. I used a Rosemary & Co eradicator brush when I got back home to lift a little bit of colour, but found that the Stillman&Birn paper didn't react well to it!
Saturday, July 13, 2024
I love flowers, but not painting them. Why is that?
I was given two beautiful bouquets of flowers recently. I love flowers. Now, before they waste away, I want to paint them, but it's hard. I don't know why it is I find it so hard to paint flowers? Maybe it's the time pressure? I have to get to them before they fade, even if I'm in the middle of another project. Maybe it's the variety of shapes and colours, and trying to give volume to all those greens. And then white flowers are even harder! I made two attempts, from direct observation, and I was completely overwhelmed by the size and shapes, so I ended up choosing some elements only rather than the whole vase and bouquet. Initially, I thought this is never gonna work. But I added darker elements to one of them today (including a little bit of Stabilo Woody - I'm not a purist anymore!) and I am surprised at the result! So I might have another go tomorrow and see how it goes!
Friday, July 12, 2024
Marsh's Library
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Clouds and light
Maybe I used a little bit too much water for the Seawhite of Brighton paper? Some buckling is remaining. It was a lot worse when it was wet. Another cloudy sky with a bit light hole over the Beara landscape. Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue, Burnt Umber, a touch of PV19. Lots of yellow for the foreground, with Posca, Neocolor and colour pencil for texture. Must try this on watercolour paper.
Here are 4 graphite thumbnails I did before actually painting this. I am learning, aren't I?