This was a great experience. I learned a lot (including how frustrating it is when your computer, or your husband’s, is not working).

For one, when you need do a lot (of drawings) fast, stick to a theme and go with it. Too many decisions slows you down.

Sometimes we get caught up in trying to arrange things. I found when I decided to sketch in a restaurant or doctors office one could always find something and limit myself to what is in front of me. In my house there is sometimes so much I find it can get too confusing to just choose.

I really liked it at the beginning when I had more time and could be playful. For those still lifes I need time to relax and let my mind explore the possibilities, take things apart and put them back together.

Since my coffee table is reflective I really enjoyed painting the shadows. I have explored the shadows in oil paintings but never in my drawings.–CG

These are some of the drawings I did on the last day of this project. I chose 486 for the 90th, because it was the one most in the spirit of Morandi. I saw the exhibit this weekend (along with Miro at MOMA and Alfred Kubin at the Neue Gallery) and I was not disappointed. Morandi’s works were grouped in series. He was quoted as saying that because he chose to focus on a limited number of objects, he had to really work hard to find subtle distinctions amongst them. He read about and studied works of old masters and contemporary artists, but mostly followed his own path. His drawings and watercolors are much more abstract than the oils, although the oil paintings have an ambiguity that sometimes defies logic. He once said “I don’t ask for anything except for a bit of peace which is indispensable for me to work.” I find it relaxing to draw when I am least concerned about the outcome or particular subject matter. The exercise in daily drawing (The Still Life Project), along with reading about and seeing Morandi’s work, has made my drawings more natural and effortless.–KAD

As we head into the last week, I’ve been looking over my drawings and trying to get a sense of them as a whole. I’ve continued using pencil (for the most part), alternating between hard and soft points, shaded and more linear depictions. All of the drawings, except for one, have been done in Strathmore Windpower Sketchbooks (there are three) 6.25 x 8.5. Some of the subject matter is more angular, some inherently softer. I have chosen to stick with black and white. This is not to say I have been unaware of or not influenced by the riot of color in the still lives of my fellow artists. I have actually been more adventurous in my use of color in the collage/paintings I have been working on concurrently, but have not had the time to post to my own blog.

I hope the readers of this blog will take the time to go through our three galleries and comment on individual works and the course of The Still Life Project as a whole. The participating artists will do that as well.–KAD

I entered the Morandi exhibition galleries from the disorienting hurly-bury of the crowds at the entrance. I rejoiced at getting through a maze of rooms that precede arrival at the place. This was the first exhibition space that I visited when I got to the museum. Immediately my eye could begin to focus on the clusters, the relationships, the themes. One might compare Morandi’s work to Bach’s Goldberg Variations, or the Czerny scale book. Within a scale run there are so many possibilities. The same conditions exist in these still life creations.

I had less fondness for his landscapes, however. I kept wondering if the choice of still life subjects masked a dread of Fascist scrutiny. In fact a quote on the wall led me to believe that Morandi tried to call as little attention to himself as possible for about 25 years, potentially the most fertile period in his adult development. Art critics scrutinizing the post-World War II work of the New York abstractionists in the 1950’s alluded to a similar retreat from McCarthyism. With the exception of graphic artists like Levine, painters retreated from figurative work to avoid social commentary.

Morandi’s aesthetic haunted me subsequently as I moved through other parts of the museum: In Monet’s HAYSTACKS, another suite of a subject seen at various times of the day. And once again, with Lorna Simpson’s complex treatment of props from the van der Zee studio.

Guest blogger–M.E.

I moved to a condo just a few years ago and left behind pounds of interesting stuff to draw. My husband and I lived in an oversized downtown historic house that was stuffed to capacity!  We lived in this house for over 30 yrs. so there was a lot of STUFF from so many, many sources.  

Because we moved to our condo with only things we needed (almost) there is a shortage of stuff to draw.  I secretly like it that way.  So far books and art are okay possessions.

For the pass few weeks I have been sketching at Carol G. and Dorothy D. houses.  The still life drawings that I enjoyed sketching the most have been from these visits.  Their stuff is very interesting to draw and it is such a fun way to visit friends.

I just finished looking through my Still Life Project sketch book and became inspired to elaborate on some of the drawings in my future paintings.–Mary D.

    

               

       

I spent the day with RK, drawing, painting, eating & drinking, all the while yakking. We sat down at her kitchen table and set up our own arrangements. RK began with a pencil sketch, then switched to a marker. She worked on the second sketch for about 3 hours, adding more and more fine detail which you can enlarge (by clicking on it) and enjoy. I began in pencil, then decided to switch to ink as well, redoing earlier drawings. In the second I added color, using markers RK had on hand. I wasn’t happy with my efforts, but continued at home and came up with some interesting variations on the computer, which I will talk about in A Still Life. We have some ideas for collaborations in the future, although our styles are very different.

I finally convinced RK to draw something for the blog. I brought a carton full of supplies to her house in anticipation of possibly starting a painting. I convinced her to draw with me. We went around the house choosing things to draw. I thought it would be interesting to work from the same still life, but we wound up working on different set-ups on her dining room table. We drew for about three hours. Ruth worked on one piece in markers, and I drew three different arrangements (59-61) in pencil. We talked non- stop, and the time flew. –KAD

I decided to take my sketchbook to RK’s house for a change of scenery. She has some lovely Art Deco pieces and lots of plants.

I am drawing for myself, as I please, not for a project or a class or an assignment.  And quality is not an issue.  I just wait to see what will happen. DD

I had a heck of a time with processing of this piece.  There is no way to adjust the  yellow in Photoshop or iPhoto.  I had to go back to real life and add more red to get the yellowness of the background to distinguish it’s self.  Anyone have any experience with this Problem? DD

Here is a link to a still life artist, from the Netherlands whom you might enjoy–Jos van Risnick. He does a postcard sized oil painting a day and comments on it. –KAD