Looking up at Persephone
May 28, 2015 § Leave a comment
Another view of the sculpture of Persephone with the viewer below the doorway.
Additional Work on the Perspehone Drawing
May 16, 2015 § Leave a comment
I’ve added hue to this drawing of Persephone from a series related to sculpture in architecture. Colors and shadows are intensified to provide a greater sense of depth.
Adding Value and Depth to Drawing of a Stork
May 7, 2015 § Leave a comment
I’ve been looking at a drawing I had completed years ago for The Little Book of Drawing and realizing that it seemed quite linear in nature and lacking a real sense of depth. The original was a pen & ink done in black of a stork sunning itself on a rock. I added color with a limited palette of black, dark umber, and sienna. Also thrown in is white Conte’ crayon to allow for more contrast with the background. The gradations move off of the line and instill a three dimensional nature. Funny how it’s easier to tell your students to do this than see it in your own work! Oh well, better late than never. I am including both drawings.
Persephone in Late Spring
May 7, 2015 § Leave a comment
I’ve added more contrast and hue to this colored pencil of Persephone in late spring.
The Power of Telling our Stories
April 28, 2015 § 2 Comments
I am showing you a contour of a still life consisting of garlic. This tool does much of the work for you, It is revealing of form by demonstrating the light source, laying out your composition, and letting your personality pour out onto the page. This contour is part of a two drawing series that merely looks at a changing light source. Here are the gradations that were based on informative contour. We can begin to say more about our subject material when we examine ways to say something different about it. Here, we keep the placement of the still life the same and change the light source.
Perspehone in Fall
April 22, 2015 § Leave a comment
I’ve been reworking the color on some of my drawings Again this is the sculpture of Persephone over the doorway of McNeal Hall and part of a series depicting her in the different seasons. Here, the leaves of the vine are drying, changing color, and falling away in the wind.
Persephone in Summer
April 19, 2015 § Leave a comment
This wonderful sculpture over the doorway of McNeal Hall on the University of Minnesota campus always spoke to me as she hid under the vines of summer. She was part of a series based on the relationship of architectural sculpture to the building it inhabits and its meaning to the surrounding community.
Architectural Sculpture
April 8, 2015 § Leave a comment
I’ve worked a bit more on a drawing depicting architectural sculpture at the University of MN.
This was part of a series completed to demonstrate the importance of such sculpture to the people within surrounding communities. Our sense of heritage, humanity, and belief system is reflected in these forms.
Garlic Still Life
April 8, 2015 § 2 Comments
I’m showing the informative nature of the contour as it provides the framework for the finished gradation of garlic and cloves. 
Notice how the contour allows you to reveal your thought process of compositional considerations, the light source, area of emphasis. Once you have determined those elements, you are free to keep your eye on the subject and allow your personality to flow out onto the page. At this point, I keep my eye on the subject, let my hand become an extension of the eye, and rarely look at the surface of the paper. The contour line moves from light to dark describing the three dimensional nature of the subject, the light source, and the storyline you have set forth. Notice how my contour is curvilinear in nature. Yours will be very different. You can find examples such as these in my book The Little Book of Drawing; a Friendly Approach. My teaching style is encouraging in nature and allows you to try different media, techniques, and to find your own personal style of story telling through drawing. 
Flowers Near a Stone Bench
April 1, 2015 § Leave a comment
Staying in the floral mode as everything seems drab outside.
This scene is from the Como Conservatory. I’m examining the relationship between the organic forms and the curvilinear aspects of the sculpted bench.
Dr. Mary McNaughton and Drawing 