Mother and Child

Mother and Child , originally uploaded by askthemoon.

I sometimes feel like this woman, so I drew her. Then I drew the child, who seems to actually be comforting the woman, rather than the other way around. Who is the child? I don't know. Who do you think she is?

Drawn from the Film, Pi ( π )

Traced directly from theTV screen.  From a paused DVD of  "Pi". Sean Gullette plays an obsessed mathematician. Scribble-traced the basic values, then doused the drawing with tea, crumpled it up, smoothed it out, dried it. It didn't seem right to draw upon such an ususual film without being unusual about the art process too.

Humble Offering

I can't go to bed until I draw something," I tell myself. Just a mixture of colored pencil and pastel. The light coming from a lamp on my right, so the shadow falls the other way. Later, I saw a painting of Cezanne apples that so shamed me, I got serious and added a green background, (after also outlining the apple in dark green.) That was a choice I'd never have made but for the Cezanne to guide me. I need to start copying the masters, or I'll be stuck in my bad habits and never learn a thing.

What Else Can You Do With a Book?

The pages of a book that I was about to discard. Better to recycle them this way.

fear makes me

Having an anxious day at work, worried about lots of things. This was the result.

Which one is better?

Original version graphite and soft pastel

Time of the Butterflies, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

I doodled some ideas for a cover to accompany my review of Julia Alvarez's book about "Las Mariposas" - the legendary politically active sisters known as "the butterflies."
Then played around in Photoshop and made another version...which one do you like better?

Photoshopped version

Harp Player Has the Blues

Harp Player, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

An attempt to vary the backgrounds in sketches to see what I like. This isn't particularly dramatic but the meandering lines of the shadow area might set a particular mood. Imagine you can hear the harmonica's sound, all bluesy and sort of sad.

Storybook Character

Storybook Character, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

If I were illustrating one of the popular books kids and teens read, full of adventure and magic this might be a character in that story. I did some shelving in the Library's youth room today - perhaps a Manga spirit followed me home.

Billboard Dancer

Billboard Dancer, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

I drive past a billboard every day advertising Phoenix Children's Hospital. I so like the expression on the girl's face I always want to stop and draw her. Even though this isn't "anything special" I want to post something every day. This is it for today.

Re-read Any Good Books? Re-Cycled Any Good Art?

Read any good books lately? Trying to get back into some ART, inspired by recently read or re-read books. Julia Alvarez's "In the Time of the Butterflies" is a classic, and though it took place in a Caribbean dictatorship during the 60's, many aspects of repression, fear, and love-for-family are equally relevant to people trying to live their lives in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, or Congo. A couple of years ago I posted this illustration to depict conflict. I think it might translate well to expressing "In the Time of the Butterflies."

Maybe I can combine that drawing of Dede from a few days ago, this butterfly drawing (still on my drawing board,) and the below pillars/text to get a certain feel. I like the opposing pillars and the text. It reinforces the idea that "this is something I have read, felt strongly about, and maybe you would like it too..." Also, recycling old art is a good way to jump-start one's creative drive. Don't we always seem to find something that needs "fixing" in old artwork?

My Joyce

May Be Joyce, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

More loose drawing practice. Based on my daughter, Joyce. She has struggled with getting her masters and building her life while managing bipolar disorder. This week she gets her Masters in Library Technology! My lovely MLS Librarian. She is also married to a very sweet guy. This is part of a set of square drawings that might become tiles. I thought perhaps I'd have her looking up at something, but not sure what yet. But things are finally "looking up" for her.

Line practice

Line practice, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

Sometimes I become afraid that I don't know how to draw anymore, and that my work has become simple and uninteresting. This is an exercise in putting my faith in the materials and my actions of the moment. Does anyone else feel this fear of drawing, and what does it mean?

In the Time of the Butterflies

At the library where I work we are encouraged to submit "staff picks" book reviews. While trying to summarize a book I was re-reading, I began to draw the face of Dede, the only sister who survives in the novel by Julia Alvarez "In the Time of the Butterflies."  I didn't even mean to make her expression so pensive and sad, but the book was making me feel that way. So maybe I have another kind of book review, made with drawings that express a book so you want to read it.

Dede is based on a real person, and the novel tells a true story. Dede lives in Santo Domingo during the dictatorial rule of Rafael Trujillo. Her sisters Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa  become resistance fighters (and martyrs) known as "The Butterflies" (Las Mariposas) at the hands of the repressive regime. Dede survives to tell the story. But in this book each sister has her say.
I drew Dede, and you can see how sad she is.
On December 17, 1999, the UN General Assembly made November 25 (the anniversary of the day of the murder of the Mirabal sisters) the date for an International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women to honor the sisters.
This is a photo of the real sisters. Dede is not in this picture: Here are Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa.


Hollywood made a film IN 2001 from the book starring Salma Hayek, Edward Olmos and Marc Anthony among others. A spanish-language film based on the book is just being released entitled "Trópico de Sangre. "

Sketch on Black

Sketch on Black, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

I paused an episode of Deep Space Nine to sketch this. The sharp contrast and reliance on black and red in this show made this easy. No decisions to make. The whole show is very stylized in its appearance. I liked the angle looking down on the man in the uniform.

What is Important

What is Important, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

No one lives in an unimportant place. I read this recently. Do not let furtive truth slip away from you. So draw the cup and think of what you told your friend as you looked down at it. "He told me he would be right back...." Now the cup has a story.

My Day Off

Today I went for a mountain hike with my daughter. Later we had lunch at The Farm, a place near my house. In the cool months here, The Farm is as close as she can get to her Northern California roots. Gardens full of young seedlings, three gourmet eateries, and a canopy of pecan trees overhead. Near our house in an old orchard, someone has begun to grow lush garden greens. Yesterday I stopped by and bought all the collard greens, swiss chard and beets I could carry for $3.00! I ate some of them for dinner. Being close to the dirt that grows things and smelling and tasting food you just pulled out of the earth is a very sensual  experience. In some way I want the feeling of this day to find its way into art. I don't know how it will do that yet. Borrowed this scene from the mountain from Youtube:

Artists are those who

Artists are those who, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

Writers talk about their craft as I feel I must learn to about doing art. "Writers are those who write...when they are depressed; when elated; when in love; when in despair; when they need dental work and when they don't; while governments are toppling and while they are being built up again. They write because they write." (Walking on Alligators by Susan Shaughnessy)
Last night I felt art in my fingertips but not in by belly: nothing looked draw-worthy to me. So what the heck, just lie there and draw what you see. So this is what I see: a body tired out from a day's work in a busy library. Too late to still be up but too early to feel sleepy. Let's see...a foreshortened leg looks like this....

After the Rain

After the Rain, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

Lyonel Feininger inspired me in art school. His dramatic angles, rays and sheets of light have remained with me in how I see. After despairing over the grayness of a rainy day I added sunlight as it appears after the rain.
The need to add light arose after I badly overworked a drawing that had essentially failed. As often happens, a Lost Cause is just the loosening up I need to try something new. First I tried lines angled all in one direction. Then I remembered that faceted light effect of Feininger's and liked it better with a prism-like effect instead. Never mind that the drawing is heavy handed. I had fun.

Upstairs Runner

Upstairs Runner, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

This drawing was done from a paused DVD. I liked the people streaming down the hall and up the staircase. In the left background are some people coming in through a lighted doorway and they looked really neat in silhouette with their long shadows, but the drawing didn't come off to show that. But I sort of like it anyway because working from DVD's is a really good exercise. You can keep skimming back and forth til you find just the image you like, and pause there. And all the while you have a sense of the three-dimensionality and motion of the scene because it isn't a still photo- it's a frozen moment.

The Kiss

My daughter. This began as a badly lit interior shot. I loved the pose so much, and took it into Photoshop for a good working over. Now it will be inspiration for a tonal drawing on black or dark grey. I once apologized to my artist aunt for sending her photos of my children that were blurry and bad. She said they were really much better for artistic inspiration because they inspired you without being so good you were led into copying. She has done some wonderful watercolors of this daughter from "bad" photos I sent to her. I think it's true: something that needs "fixing" gets the creative juices going more than something that is more perfect. Thank goodness for that, or I'd never start anything!

Grecian Sketch

Grecian Sketch, originally uploaded by askthemoon.

I’ve been reading The Faith Club, in which 3 friends of different religions discuss their commonalities and differences. They talked about ritual and its importance. To me, there is often more life in quick sketches where the process is visible. I wish my finished work didn't lose that energy! I wish the world agreed that art is ritual rather than the creating of a thing. Religion doesn't require you to leave the ritual bearing a product (worthy of approval, or sale, or critique.) People understand that the ritual is meaningful of itself. The visible part of a ritual, or what remains afterwards, is the altar or other center point where the ritual took place. Ritual trappings are incidental: burned down candles for instance. I persist in turning this around so my ritual is a throwaway, and the end product speaks alone. Imagine slowly beginning to turn that around so that the ritual became more meaningful and the result only derives value from the process. Well, this is an ongoing conversation I've been having internally for a while.

Janus or Gemini 2010

New Years resolution time. The past year isn't "dark" in a bad way, only dense with events and heavy with emotions. Like you, I want a fresh start occasionally. Somewhere in my head a switch clicked the other day saying to take a breath and move into this year doing art with purpose and energy! The original sketch was a scribble of shoe polish, then playing around with pencil to see what it suggested. Later more playing in Photoshop for the two images.