Category: Blitherings

More Pencil Portraits

Last year I started a pencil portrait class, and since have continued with it when offered. It used to be through the local adult school, but with Pandemia, that was quickly shut down. Thus, the teacher offered it to us outdoors at a local park, and I jumped on it, as did others.

The above portrait is the first one I did this year. I was determined to do it within the two hours we have for the outdoor class, rather than the 10 hours I took for the little boy below last summer. The style is rough and quick, but important in the sense of working to get proportions and shadings correct.

This little boy is from a photograph from the mid 1950s. He is really sweet and I think I managed to catch his character. He looks older in the drawing than he did in the photograph.

I think I may have posted this drawing here or on another blog, but this one I was determined to catch a different position of the head. Proportions change when the head position changes, and I was rather pleased with this one!

This profile I completed last week. The photo I used as reference came from Pixabay, a great resource for royalty-free photos. I decided to print out the photo on my laser, forcing black and white, and then using it taped upside down on my drawing board, as suggested by Betty Edwards in her book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”. It worked! At the end, I turned it right side up to put in the eyelashes . . .

This is my current WIP. I started it last Wednesday. As with its predecessor, this one is also being done with the portrait upside down, and from a photo on Pixabay. It’s about 75% done I think. I need to work on the lights / darks and shadows a bit more, as well as make the hair more distinctive.

I got a few others in my class turning their reference photos upside down! The one thing they noticed, as did I, is that the shadows and shapes become dominant – you aren’t drawing a person any longer, but you are copying light and dark, shape and shadow. It’s amazing how well it works.

Well, time to wander off. The day has been spent reorganizing my life, meaning the garage, the closet, the studio, and the bedroom. Cocktail or whisky, anyone?

I Want It Now!

Time to clean up my mess.

Well, I have actually been doing it over the last few weeks

At long last, it is just a few days before the delivery of my new, and final, sewing cabinet. I’ve been waiting for it for 3 weeks. It has drawers and shelves, so hopefully the mess that is my sewing, strewn about the house, will not be focused in one area, and easy to tidy up.

Years ago I had a tiny room off my kitchen in an old and odd boarding house I lived in during the 70s which served beautifully. Good light, built-in wall ironing board. I used a student desk as a sewing table and spent hours in pure bliss. Now, nearly 50 years later, after testing out with a small sewing table in the bedroom, the investment is made. Good light, room to move, and a whole wall to myself.

To accommodate this new member to the household, a domino effect has to happen. Stuff needs moving, discarding, rearranging. I couldn’t do it in one day. This cabinet is made by Koala Cabinets, manufactured in the USA, and beautifully finished. Not cheap. My local sewing machine store sold me their floor model for a reasonable price and are delivering it this coming Tuesday night. The reason? Koala has revamped their sewing cabinet line to become more modular, as well as more cost-efficient to manufacture, but not less in quality.

Below is an old YouTube video that shows the manufacturing of their cabinets, which I think is absolutely fascinating. You can find more info online, of course.

Yeah, so I want it now. Instead, more work has to be done on revamping and moving and reshelving stuff, but in the long run, the effort is worth it: less junk and clutter! I think the arrival and using the new sewing cabinet will not be outpaced by my anticipation!

Another Look Back (1/26 to 3/13/2021)

I always enjoy taking a look at paintings and studies I have done.  Last time I posted them here was in late January, so another posting is due.  I have been really busy over the last couple of weeks getting this mess of a house cleaned up, so painting has been a bit sporadic.  Some of the ones here may be duplicates of previous, but as my life is chaotic, so go my posts.  My pencil portraits need to be scanned, and they will come at a later date.

The Domino Effect

We all know what happens when you plan for something – lots of other somethings push their way to the front of the line! It can be good, it can be annoying, it can be a great motivator.

I am finally, finally, finally getting a dedicated sewing area. Not in the studio but along one wall in our overly large bedroom. At last, I will get a grown-up sewing cabinet with drawers and shelves, that closes up to look like a nice piece of furniture while hiding all the stuff that goes along with sewing.

I have a small cabinet,  but I have to move it around and such – it’s not something that I really enjoy using, but it has served its purpose very well. I’ll be giving it away in the next few weeks.  We moved it into the bedroom to see how sewing in there worked out.  Success!   Good light, minimal clutter, and both of us are much happier.

Or, I’ll be putting it in my garage until I find a new home for it!

And, there is, at last, space emerging in the garage. I have been cleaning things up, traipsing to the local Goodwill donation center, throwing things out, and mucking through my years and years of accumulation.

To create more space, I have found a mobile shredding service that will come when I call – probably in about 3 weeks once I go through more boxes and some filing cabinets. Legal and financial papers are not to be thrown into the regular rubbish – too much personal information.

Additionally. a local book store which has boughten books from our extensive library will be here Easter Monday to buy more.  I will be sending all my weaving books to a friend in Oregon.

Time to move on and simplify and free myself of the burden of excessive possessions.

Oh, those of you who know me will probably be laughing at me, and even if you don’t, you are most likely chuckling at the idea of buying a sewing cabinet and clearing out stuff to make way for another stuff. Well, isn’t that what we all do?

Domino effect, indeed. But, in the end, I will have a lot less stuff than before. And since I am ancient, I rather like the idea of having less these days than too much.  What a burden to take into the afterlife!

Precious Pocketses

Clothing without pockets is ridiculous.

I carry a lot of things in my pockets.  I put my phone in, my keys, money, a small wallet with ID.  At times my pockets carry lens caps, tissue, paper towels, pens or pencils or markers.  If I can stash things in pockets, I would rather do that than go out with a purse slung on a shoulder.

Defined by Wikipedia as

A pocket is a bag– or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets are also attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag or pouch.

That works for me.  Pockets have been found as bags to carry items, such as with Otzi the Iceman, bags worn under clothing with slits to access them, and so on.  It’s good to have them to carry things, leaving hands free.  Backpacks and other types of bags (fanny packs, butt bags, whatever, be you English or American 😉 ) are all useful ways to tote.

And then there is a “poke” – a dialectical word for a pocket, used in mountain areas to this day in the US.  “A pig in a poke” leaves a lot to the imagination.

So, why pockets?

Sewing.  I love sewing, and have decided to work on expanding my skills as well as knowledge.  Hand sewing is an art I have long enjoyed, and have set myself the task of improving those skills, such as hand sewing a 17th century shift in linen.  (Nearly done!)  I have also collected some books on medieval clothing, Tudor, and Regency era clothing.  Hand sewing was done in all those eras.  But, as I also like modern clothing, I have decided to improve my machine skills, such as with my serger / overlocker and coverstitch machines.  All this in addition to my first love, painting.

Back to pockets.

Burnley  & Trowbridge have a whole YouTube series on sewing pockets that tie around your waist, accessible through your clothing.  Very simple and elegant.  Here is the first video in the process:

And there is a book that I just bought, by Barbara Burman and Ariane Fennetaux:

Definitely a great read so far – scholarly, thought-provoking, and a great look at the humble pocket.

However, is it just utilitarian? Nope! Pockets can also be works of art, with fine embroidery, as seen on the cover of the book above. They are also included in the wardrobes of dolls form long ago. You can read about pockets at England’s great Victoria & Albert Museum.

Besides the V&A,  VADS has a whole series of pictures and information about pockets – 373 to be exact – of accounts of material bought for pockets, paintings with pockets, dolls clothed with pockets, children and adult clothing with pockets.  Scroll through it – it is a stunning resource for pockets and all kinds of other things.  Words cannot describe the visual richness and historical treasures found at these sites.  Here is an image of a doll, skirts flying, and pocket showing:

And so, I will leave you with thoughts of the humble pocket.  I have plenty on me today – two in my fleece vest, two big ones in my pants.  I am a very happy girl, I assure you.  If it ’twere true I had on socks, I could also use those for pockets.  (We won’t discuss my underwear.)

Pocketses are truly precious.  Gollum knows.  So do I.  So do you.