The Practice and Science of Drawing

Today, I'm reading The Practice and Science of Drawing, by Harold Speed. The book discusses various drawing techniques, types of drawings--drawing with mass, value, line. Right now, I'm reading about line unity. The author provides many examples throughout the book and although the topics are labeled as specific types of drawing, the principles of unity, harmony, composition, etc are always discussed. I'll be honest and say there are portions of the book easier to digest than the others but I'm enjoying the book. My goal is to read as many books as I can that will enhance my atelier education. Tonight, I have basic drawing and like the idea of having Speed's principles floating through my head. I am excited to report I have my new camera (!!) and so, I'll begin posting the progress I'm making on my drawings.

This book was given to me by Melody Phaneuf, who happens to have an excellent blog post today. She discusses her painting, Harbor Sunset, which is one of my favorites. Looking at the warm sunset, I can imagine myself in the harbor, I smell the salty water, I feel the breeze. This was the perfect painting for her analogy of a painting to a great feast.

Richard Lack: An American Master

Check out what I picked up from the atelier this week. The book, Richard Lack: An American Master, is usually $65 and it's not terribly common but can be purchased through the school store. The school had a box of books that had some water damage and I was able to get a copy for $15! That's right, $15! The water damage is negligible. I picked a book from the center of the stack and it has very minor warping. I can't wait to sit down with it and a cup of coffee this weekend.

Fenway Studios

I'll be visiting Fenway Studios for my annual open studios trip in October. I look forward to the visit all year so I'll be writing more as it gets closer. Here's a 30 second video with a little about the building. I'm in the slide of the wine tasting at the end.

Generative Art

Remember Erik Natzke? I was exploring his work again and downloaded some source files. I played around with colors and different variables in the code he wrote. Here's what I came up with.

Sparrow Quartet

I saw/heard the Sparrow Quartet at the Guthrie last night. They were wonderful. I was sitting on the end of a row and at one point, looked down the stairs and every foot was tapping. Here's their interview on MPR with quite a few songs they played last night.