Many Mini-Me

 A friend noted that the self portraits were becoming more detailed. 

"Are you feeling more focused yourself?" 

If only.... Repeatedly doing something, it is easy for it to get rote, formulaic. These tiny paintings (hand for scale) are more indicative of wanting to work while tired and UNFOCUSED. 

"If I paint really small, it will be over soon. It won't take too much..." Which lead to asking: "How small, how unfocused, how little detail can I paint and still recognize it as me?"

Which I guess is a kind of focus.......

Sculpture and Drawing

We had LuLu with us at Brietenbush. Her 6th grade teacher assigned science work of observing something for 15 minutes every day. What better way to study something than to draw it?

We walked to the river daily.

There were several battered Chinook Salmon in the shallows around this rock.

They were shy and very difficult to draw. What now?

 You let her sharp eyes find what interests her! 

Almost invisible on the rocks above the salmon was this fragile 2 inch exoskeleton of an insect.
Perfect for close observation. We discovered it would blow away if either of us breathed on it!

( I think it's a stonefly nymph. )

My drawing...

 Lulu at work on her drawings above and below, the finished results.

Not an easy thing to draw, tiny and very complex. She did well, no?

Cutting a Rug- Drawing in Concrete

After this project is done, I'm working on short quick sculptures for a while! But why wait?

A friend helped me cut the outline of a rug, complete with fringe into the concrete in front of the studio.
From idea to reality in 45 minutes. A nice quick procrastination and back to carving.

 The result makes me laugh, it's about as conceptual as my art can be. What will the field pattern be?

Studio Guests and Drawing

"Can we come over and draw your birds?"

I felt a funny mix of pride and relief.  Kibu, a Yellow Naped Amazon, and Beauty Bird, a Blue and Gold Macaw, could spend the day out of their cages on their play stations. Ellie, Mimi, and Kay French could draw them and be in the room (just in case!) while I worked on the carving.

Here's the results, first Beauty Bird, then Kibu.

Three sets of drawings by Kay French

 Kibu by Elionor Segal.

Drawings of the Concert

Drawings of the musicians of the Portland Baroque Orchestra.

From their recent Concerti Bizzarri.

I love drawing musicians, yes they are moving constantly, but they also stay in one place,

and return again and again to certain positions. It really trains your eyes.

Haven't tried drawing marching bands.

Monica Hugget Artistic Director

Sculpture and Drawing

I also visited Luise and her daughter Robin.
Luise's mother was the model for carving I'm making for TriMet.

After years of owning pugs, there's a happy mutt in their home,

a terror of a tiny terrier named Madeline.

Sculpture and Drawing

When I was young, I drew as an escape, to avoid the real world.
These days, I use my art to stay present and see the world as it is.
There's a lot to see.

Here's some drawings made on a recent trip to So. California.

Visited my sister in law and nephew. 

Robby is 6 feet 5 inches, though I've never seen him stand.

Sculpture and the Green Man

I've been researching the Green Man for years. Frustrating how long it takes an idea to become reality.

My version of the Green Man is based on the acanthus leaf.
Most Green Men have human faces with applied foliate mustaches and beards.
Mine wants to be more eerie, as much plant as human. I'm liking these recent drawings.

Here's the latest drawings and clay sketches above.  Earlier versions below.

This seemed a good start for a fountain design, there are many paths for water to trickle down.

But as I got started on it, he seemed too clownish. Or maybe I ran out of courage....

Sculpture and Drawing

We were invited to a Super Bowl party.
I'm not a sports fan, but after working in the garden all morning, I was tired so the idea of sitting down appealed to me.

The nice thing about people watching television is that their attention is focused on one spot, allowing me to draw without comment or fuss. Their dogs were interested in the food, so this dog's drawing happened in fits and starts at I drew a bit each time the dog looked at me.

Sculpture and NeoLucida

I saw this video in November, and help fund the NeoLucida.

It arrived this week!

Here's my first drawing, of our girl as she plays a zombie video game.

I've drawn for years, so learning to use the Lucida is harder than just drawing her.

But I'm determined to really learn how to use this tool as I can see how it will make technical drawing faster and more accurate. And since any new tool has a bit of magic in it, I'll see if I can hook the little one on the life long pleasures of drawing and really seeing the world.

For more information on the NeoLucida, click here.

Sculpture and Tools

And I alone am left to tell the tale.....

It's one thing to go to sea and chase a great white whale. It's another thing to have a three ton log delivered to your driveway. (How convenient!) and then be totally overwhelmed by the scale of the project. At sea, as it were....

While hiding out in my studio, I was sourcing tools. This is a peavey.

 It looks like something used in harpooning whales, no?
It's a tool used to move logs. It looks so archaic, but for basic log moving it works very well.

Sculpture and Drawing

I'm in love with 6B.
Not the mysterious stranger in apartment 6B, but the pencil, 6B.
Yes, I love a good soft pencil.

figs by Patrick Gracewood ©2013 graphite drawing

I gave up using pencil in my drawing books. By the time I finished an entire pad, all the pencil drawings were badly smeared all over the preceding pages.

But for finished studies, nothing is more seductive than slowly, carefully building up a drawing with velvety layers of graphite. No erasing, the game is to draw around the highlights. No lines, just thousands of lightly brushed pencil strokes.
It's incredibly tedious, but oh so satisfying once you stop trying to hurry the process.

pear by Patrick Gracewood ©2013 graphite drawing

Sculpture and Drawing

These Parisian stenciled skeletons look as if they are wearing the grates as costumes.

Happy Halloween.

Sculpture and Drawing

People really do sit and draw in cafes in Paris.

A woman was kind to us in one of the cafes, returning D's hat after we'd changed tables.

I drew her luncheon companion, an exquisitely profiled and groomed woman wearing a simple white T shirt. French style isn't only expensive clothes, it's as much about attitude and presentation.
Money helps but isn't everything.

The artist at work.

When we left, I gave her the drawing of her friend. They both laughed and said "Merci!"
It felt good to to be in Paris and draw.  It felt even better to give it away as a gift.