In praise of drawing

"Do not fail to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is, it will be well worth while, and it will do you a world of good." (Cennino Cennini, 1370-1440) "

"For those of us who would be fine artists, drawing is still the bottom line. Next to composition, it's the most neglected skill. A drawing a day keeps the cobwebs away. One in the morning before coffee is a credible tonic for a day filled with above average work. Canvas or paper, it matters not. "Good drawing forms the bones on which a strong painting hangs." (Chris Bingle) (In praise of drawing)
The painters Keys archieve, August 1, 2006 http://www.painterskeys.com)

Sketching for years has led me to drawing world again. Drawing is skelton and infrastructure of all good paintings. No wonder the masters put so many times and efforts into drawing.many art classes advocate painting before grasping the roots and essense of drawing these days. Though the students will be happy not spending much time to draw and jump right away into painting, their teachers are in fact not leading them in the right trait.

Lugano, Switzerland

These images show Lugano the city in Swiss, close to Milano. The Mountain in the background is Sansalvadora' seen from all angles in the city. You can walk along the lake in less than an hour. I've done some paintings, sketches and photography from the scenes of the city and surroundings on different occasions.

Abstract image

As a flavour to sketches, I thought why not post some sketchy paintings once in a while between the real sketches .

Untitled

This sketch was done in a couple of minutes. While I was going to draw a bit more detail of this figure she changed her pose quickly and left the location where I spotted her. I had to stop .

Sketch of old man in N.York Library

You can find people from all walks of life in main libraries in Toronto. Libraries, as in book stores, in North America are very alive and active. The first thing that impressed me in the time of my studies in the States back in the 70's was the different large libraries you could find everywhere at campus or in the city. I usually spent a few hours a week in North York library and my favourite book store Chapters. I sketched this old serious gentleman in the same library. He was so mean that I hesitated to sketch him right away. So, after I was sure that he was busy looking at the paper I made this quick sketch of him.

Sunflowers

Sun flower is my favourit flower which you may see everywhere you go from mid summer up to mid Fall . The seeds spread around very easily. I have painted several live sunflowers that you may see in the still life gallery in my website : watercolorinweb.com . Recently, some friends of mine have become interested in this painting which appears on top of my website . Since the original is not in a larg size, if interested, I can reproduce it ias you want.

Corner of Yonge & Church, North york. Toronto

this small size grave yard is on my way to everywhere. No matter where I go in the city, I have to pass by it. The night this pic was shot was a Sunday which luckilly the camara was in my pocket. Today I had a chance to take a more lighter one. I always envy the people who respect the culture and the past. According to the its profile, when there was no Yonge St, and more farm lands were around, this graveyard was part of the church right on the other side. It is good to have the dead not too far from us , isn't it ? There is a full moon and a reflection of the street lights on the standing tomb.

Testing the water

I'm testing the sketch papers I bought recently from the "Above the ground", art shop. The paper is good for sketches with dry and light washe . I changed the setting totally, From studio to a bright sea side. Also I tried the whole washes with no prior design. The shadows are emphezied by watercolor pencil. The hair is darkened with pen and ink for a better effects.

Poppies

Sunday Sep. 10 Old painting

This is one of the first watercolor paintings I made in mid 90's with not much of technic knowledge . FirstI I soaked the paper in water and did a wet in wet brush work for most parts. Roses are done with dried brush. To paint loosely with not much overworks, is kind of ideal for me now.The joys of Sketching almost every other day, has made me lasy to work on more datailed paintings. May be this is one reason that I would not be able to put a show in contemporary commercial galleries. But, I 'm looking for a place to put up mainly the sketches and small paintings with no frames. I will do.

July 08/0 North york Library, T.O.

Sketching in position of face to face is much harder than from behind or from the sides. In libraries, bookstores or the coffee shops, when in mood of sketching, first i choose the location carefully. The safest position is when the model is not aware of, and you can study them a bit and make a relaxed sketch. In libraries you may find sitters in relaxed positions and not much conscious. i found these two ladies in the reading room where they were sitting apart toward the windows. I made them closer to each other to have both in one shot.

Media : pen & ink, and washes of light watercolor.

09/07/06 Hippie time, Urbana Illinois

what a pic !!! I was browsing my photo albums that ran to this nostalgic pic. The time is 1971 . Yes, almost 35 years back and the location is in our back yard in Urbana, illinois, the city i did my M.S.studies in social work and privileged life studies in post Vietnam war. The chaps , besides me , are cool hippie yankees who all used to live together in a large house sort of commune kind of life. We shared the expences; rent, food and etc. that did not usually run more than 70-80 bucks in a month. The vegetables, like zuccinni, brucli, tomatoes and some sort of herbs was grown in the yard and had food enough to feed some uninviting quests who often walked to the house. The people lived togethernwere doing job in whatever they liked. Andy facing to us, worked in a bike repair shop. You can see the tiny mirror right in the corner of his left eye for not being hit by the cars. Ed. looking toward left was a math. instructor and boy friend of sue who is sitting in front side. There were three more in the house who used to do some other odd jobs. we all had a good time together and now i fell that I miss them all.