Drawn reports in the form of the portraits - war in Ukraine. March 13-19, 2023.

March 13-12, 2023. Days 385-390 of war.
We had some wonderful conversations this week. My parents told me stories about my childhood conversations with dogs on the streets, elephants in the zoo, and a picture that one of my brothers drew on the door. We talked about the difference between Ukrainian words for the frog and toad and how Google translate is failing sometimes with Ukrainian one way but works the other way. 
Tрey sang me a song (which is always a treat!) - it is called a Hutzulka Ksenya - and is a version of the Ukrainian tango and is mentioning a Ukrainian musical instrument which my parents' claim is the longest musical instrument in the world - Trembita :) 

Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 3: Process Photos, Sketching Materials and Sketchbook Flip-Through

I started telling a story of the trip to Croatia in my previous posts:
Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 1: Cities 
Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 2: Views

And this is Part 3 - where I will share some photos of the sketching-in-process, as well as a list of my materials which I made to start the trip and some thoughts on what materials I used the most at the end of the trip. And to combine it all - a video of a sketchbook flip-through where you can see how it all look in real life.

Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 2: Views

I started telling a story of the trip to Croatia in my previous post: Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 1: Cities and continue it with a Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 3: Process Photos, Sketching Materials and Sketchbook Flip-Through

Apart from the old cities, the places I enjoyed the most were the mountaintops. To me, there is no better way to get a feel for a place than to get as high as possible and try to make sense of the general idea of the land. And the seashore with views of endless islands and water of colors that change while I try to name them, captured my heart for good! I will have to come back and sketch these again! 

Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 1: Cities 
Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 2: Views

Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 3: Process Photos, Sketching Materials and Sketchbook Flip-Through

Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 1: Cities

In February of this year I went to Croatia to visit my parents (I've uploaded a bunch of portraits from the visit here) - and now I scanned and sorted out a bunch of sketches to share here. 

First and foremost - February is an amazing time to visit Croatia - we were lucky with the weather of course but having all the historical places to ourselves was such a treat! Taking a tour guide (which we did for Split) is always a great idea! We enjoyed a curated approach to a city where one can spend years researching things and connecting epochs! The nature was stunning and I got my feet in the Adriatic sea even if for just a minute :) We tried some local fish dishes, famous lamb roasted on a spit, both red and white wines, and some gorgeous desserts! Here are some sketches from the visits to the old cities:

Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 1: Cities 
Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 2: Views

Trip to Croatia (2023) - Sketchbook - Part 3: Process Photos, Sketching Materials and Sketchbook Flip-Through

Drawn reports in the form of the portraits - war in Ukraine. March 6-12, 2023.

March 6-12, 2023. Days 379-384 of war.
This week started with a conversation about one of my parent's friends. They finally got in touch with him and found out that he was ok but had to take his wife to the hospital. My parents were in a good mood about it because a) he was not only alive but restored his computer which was damaged when russian missile exploded in his backyard in 2022.  b) the hospital on the outskirts of Kharkiv was still working and taking non-war patients c) his wife was alive and, hopefully, getting some help! Unfortunately by the end of the week, all of Ukraine and Kharkiv in particular were shelled badly. The city was without power and water for a few days and my parent's friend lost his wife. The overall mood went down. Mom said: we feel like we are a suitcase without a handle.

We also talked about international women's day and some new Ukrainian authors that were honored (though my parents disagree with the choices, it is always great to hear about their alternatives). I shared a tulip that is growing on my table and Mom told me about an interesting new plant that she found but we haven't identified it yet. And they prepared some new Ukrainian words for me to learn. 

Getting back in the rhythm after a break

I was a little slow getting into a rhythm with regular personal sketching time after a trip and was looking for something special to help me. So when I heard that @umapaints was demo-ing a painting at the #streetviewworldtour (which I meant to join too many times but kept missing) - I decided that this is a sign.
Street View World Tour is a monthly two-hour drawing session organized by Gage Academy, Eleanor Doughty, and Jenny Adam and attended by people from all over the world on zoom. 

We did a warm-up, then had a demo from Uma, and then did two more 20 min sketches from online maps. This session was very much about seeing layers and painting greens (and I enjoyed seeing all the colors that a wonderful group of people painted) - but I went with my stencils, inks and black and white printmaking attitude - which only means that I can re-watch the demo and do it with color later! I had a blast!

Another exhibit I would love to see in 2023.

A few weeks ago I wrote about two exhibits that I want to see in 2023. It started a little avalanche of things I would suddenly notice and think about as "what if that would be an exhibit to visit? How far would I be willing to travel to see it and what else would I do in that place? Who would I love to go with? What would be the title of that show and what other artists would be cool to add to that experience - art/audio/video/dance/fragrance/food etc.? What would I draw there?

One of these daydreaming sessions was inspired by a new book "David Hockney. My Window" - a very much overpriced collection of 120 works by one of my art heroes and it contains his latest works done on his iPad and iPhone - views from his window in Yorkshire. And then I saw that there is a new immersive performance that he put up in London - David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)" (which by the way is very much a manifesto I would like to adopt!) 

This article in the Guardian will show you some stills and tell you more about this - but in short - I think it is a retrospective, a moving way through  Hockney's thoughts on looking, it is a new kind-of exhibit with animation, video, multiple points of view, multiple screens surrounding viewers in 3D space of the room, it has its own score of music and yes it is probably overwhelming but also exciting! It looks like a celebration of the joy that humans get from making things. 

I would love to experience it!

All this meant that I pulled my Hockney books (see below, and more are waiting for me at the library - hurray for public libraries!). And went back to my notes on the exhibit that I saw in San Francisco some years back - "David Hockney. A bigger exhibition" (it blew my mind then) and now I am knee-deep in thinking about my own curated version of Hockney exhibition :) 

Drawn reports in the form of the portraits - war in Ukraine. February 27-March 5, 2023.

February 27- March 6, 2023. Days 371-379 of war.
This week we talked a lot about exercising and all sorts of supplements and routines. Cold weather, rain, and lack of movement due to various reasons, meant that on both sides of the ocean muscles and joints were a hot topic.  My mom continued interesting conversations about hydrogen inspired by the "Hidden Hydrogen" article in Science Magazine. I shared some names of the new (for me) artists that I found and hope to discuss them with my parents next week. We talked a lot about family and friends - checking on who shared what news with whom and discussing how to support them. 

Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 3 - the last days)

With time I trimmed some leaves and removed some flowers. I enjoyed writing down things that were changing. And watching my violet get into some super bloom next to the purple bouquet. Top - ballpoint pen which I colored with pencils later, then ink and watercolor sketch, and the last sketch - water brush with gray ink and some dip pen lines with watercolor and finger smudges.  

Looks like this bouquet got 4 posts on my blog:
One Sketchbook Page in 3 Parts
Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 1- with paper experiments)
Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 2 - Gouache and Ink + Watercolor)

and this one: 

Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 3 - the last days)

Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 2 - Gouache and Ink + Watercolor)

This bouquet got 4 posts on my blog:
One Sketchbook Page in 3 Parts
Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 1- with paper experiments)
Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 2 - Gouache and Ink + Watercolor)
Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 3 - the last days)

 

Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 1- with paper experiments)

I love working in series. My first take of this bouquet I already shared here with videos of the painting process. And now I would like to share more versions of the same bouquet as it was changing over time. 

These three are some using different transparent papers. The top one overlaps a gouache painting and the bottom two are done on very thin paper with ink and gouache and some colored pencils over. 

This bouquet got 4 posts on my blog:
One Sketchbook Page in 3 Parts
Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 1- with paper experiments)
Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 2 - Gouache and Ink + Watercolor)
Life cycle of a bouquet (Part 3 - the last days)

 

On My Table: Beginning of March 2023.

The fun of making these is in sharing a tiny slice of my world and I usually am very literal about these photos - yes, I open a sketchbook and move things so that they are easier to see but this is literally the mess that I have on my table right now!

There are some water-soluble sticks from creatacolor that I really enjoyed during the Macpherson's demo that I attended this week and I pre-painted some cool backgrounds with the new for me Lascaux Gouache that I tried there as well. 

I have a pile of treasures to paint (and some amazing flowers that are blooming on my table).

I am working on some fresh ideas for the "Deck of Textures" class that Suhita, Uma, and I are running in September in Asilomar. 

And the war in Ukraine and my parents are a constant presence.