Showing posts with label waterhouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waterhouse. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Flowers, Ink Pens, and More Movies

Well, I worked on this a bit and a painting over the weekend, and finished it last night. When I started it, I was re-watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and finished later with Sense and Sensibility. I think I was looking up Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) to see what else I had seen him in, and that reminded me of Sense and Sensibility's existence (he plays Colonel Brandon), and put it into my head that I could use a bit of Jane Austen.

   I used a Bic Atlantis pen for this. I discovered this pen's amazing ability for sketching during my note taking days at Franciscan University. Yes, I DID take real notes- it was nothing for me to take 10 to 15 pages of real notes per class- but I will admit to being distracted here or there at times, especially in the library whilst studying. Ugh, especially then. Whenever I wasn't sketching I was being distracted by the AMAZING selection of books there.... but believe it or not, I did actually get a lot of work done in that unattractive modern building full of wonderful old books. I love you Franciscan, so much, but you don't always have the best taste in architecture..... When I am a famous artist I will come help you out- when I am on vacation in the states away from my home somewhere in the British Isles that is.
      I am in the mood for yet MORE Jane Austen- I think I will listen to Pride and Prejudice while I work today. I hope the narrator's good, I can't stand it when I listen to audiobooks and the narrator is getting on my nerves. It messes with the feeling of things! I prefer real books, with actual paper and smells. Which reminds me, John William Waterhouse, one of my favorite artist of all time, used to draw in his books (novels, for example), and sometimes ended up using those drawings for his paintings. I think that that's a wonderful idea! I should try it sometime. Here is an example:

     I had no intention to discuss Waterhouse at the beginning of this post- but he is a delightful diversion any time.

   How about some Jane Austen quotes?

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."


When a young lady is be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.” 


    This was a rather, um, gushy post, full of Waterhouse and Austen. Maybe next time I'll post something on Caravaggio or Michelangelo- they were pretty tough! Not that someone like Jane Austen wasn't hard as nails to be sure! But I am due for another dragon soon. It has been a while. 

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

1st Post: February 23rd, 2011

Officially, the post of the day is the header. But I needed to do a post to point that out. Also, I decided to put the past two sketches I did over the past week. The first is my attempt at copying a Waterhouse while watching Quantum of Solace. Which I thought was kinda lame.  

Note to self: trying to draw while watching an action movie you've never seen before is not the best idea in the world. Fun maybe, but the drawing rather than the tv watching suffers. 
    Another is a lesson or two from The Structure of Man: Drawing the Human Figure From Your Mind DVD set that i am using in an attempt to teach myself anatomy. I have been working on these DVD's for about 3 years now. It's about time I got past the foot don't you think?

How about an art quote for the day: "Art allows us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." -Thomas Merton