A Start

11-17-2014, 3.5" x 5.5" Moleskine sketchpad

I have this little 3.5" x 5.5" Moleskine sketchpad that's been around for a long while. I pulled it out of the box in the bottom of the buffet not long ago, itching to do some artwork but not inspired to get out the paints. My pencil bag was right there, so I grabbed it, too.

But what to draw? In the past, it was easy to paint or draw, but since I moved from New Mexico to New York I've been feeling cramped artistically. I used to say that I had to draw or paint every day, and that if you took away my paints and pencils I'd draw in the dirt with my finger, but that's proven not to be so. I'm not troubled, not blocked; I was just not inclined to do any artwork.

Until now. 

I realize I have a growing body of drawings started and it might be fun to keep a record of the artwork I do in this new environment. That's why I called this blog Depicting Things. I could draw. I could paint. I could do any of a number of things. Open-endedness pleases me right now. 

Above is the first pencil drawing in my little sketchpad, so I list it here first. It's from a photo I took of the view out my south-facing windows into the woods beside the apartments across the street. I distilled it a lot, cropping out all kinds of things. I enjoyed the interface of wall, trees and telephone pole. My husband told me I'd be drawing intimate views here in Western New York, and he's right. As westerners transplanted to this flat, treed land, we remark on the "view" when we cross the overpass!

But there's beauty to be seen. 

I've always enjoyed the landscape. I painted in pastels for over 25 years, mostly depicting the landscape in New Mexico, a grand, light, open place full of color. 

Right now, in the fall and winter months, New York is almost devoid of color, so I'm enjoying pencil. The bare trees give me a chance to see the interlacing complexities as big areas of value first. I'm so used to working small, having worked with gouache in miniature, that the tiny Moleskine is perfect for me. 

I've also been drawing from photographs of kids' faces, mostly making gifts for friends for Christmas lately. Those will go here, too. I need to practice likeness! I've known intellectually for years that likeness is a matter of millimeters, but never had the patience to draw that precisely. I guess I'm maturing--and I have plenty of time to draw that way now. 

I'll probably post a few of the drawings right away, and soon fall to posting from time to time, depending on how things go.

Let me know if you're visiting or following along. It's always nice to share. Art is, after all, meant to be communication! To that end, I've posted many of these on EveryDay Matters on Facebook.