M.A.H.O.D.

Before being dragged into the season crush, thought this little drawing would make a cute gift tag. Will import the image into Publisher. The business card template will make a nice size and yield 10 tags on each sheet.

Have you started your season preparations?

M.A.H.O.D.

Another study of hands. I found the left hand exceedingly difficult to draw. Just couldn't "see" the shapes and get my head and pencil to go around them. Barbie says, "drawing hands is hard." I'll set it aside and come back to it later.

Have you found a task difficult to comprehend and execute? Do you just plow through it or, do you set it aside for a later time?

M.A.H.O.D.

Another view of MAHAND. Anybody but me remember the ventriloquist from The Ed Sullivan Show? He had a face painted on his hand, moved his thumb up and down to make the face talk. He rested his hand on a wood stand with a little suit. I thought it was hysterically funny so of course I painted my hand with a little face and made it talk.

Anybody else do this as a kid? Anybody still do it?

In case  you were too young to remember The Ed Sullivan Show, you can see a clip of Señor Wences on YouTube

M.A.H.O.D

Today's M.A.H.O.D. is MAHAND. LOL I just slay me!

Color me surprised. Usually I have trouble drawing hands that look like hands. I'm quite adept at drawing a hand that looks like a mitten, or a cartoony hand with four fingers, but not a real hand. Still have to draw my hand in two other positions to complete this assignment.

What's your take on puns? Love 'em? Leave 'em?

M.A.H.O.D.

Found a leaf on my walk. While waiting in the car, I sketched some leaves. At home, outlined them with Pigma pen and filled in with watercolor pencils. Added some detail with colored pencils.

What do you do while you wait in the car?

M.A.H.O.D.

Armed with my sketchbook, I visited the Roman gallery at the Worcester Art Museum. I thought I would try to sketch the statue of Venus. I felt awkward, all by my lone, in the gallery. A bit disconcerting having the busts of several Roman emperors staring at me from across the room. I nearly jumped out of my skin when the security guard making his rounds came into the gallery.


Statues have always fascinated me. Amazing how the sculptor can shape the hard stone giving it the soft roundness of flesh, or the cascading drape of clothing.  The statue is dated between the 1st. and 2nd centuries A.D. I should have paid more attention to the description to find out why she is headless and one arm is broken. I wonder what her face looked like?

As I sketched, I wondered why plus size women's clothing is called Goddess size. This Venus was every inch a goddess, but hardly plus size. She appears to be a very lush size 8 or 10 tops. I'd love to have her curvaceous shape, though at my age, I don't think certain parts would drift North., at least not without the help of a roll or two of Duct tape.

M.A.H.O.D.

The rose bushes didn't do so hot this year. What the hail storm didn't destroy, the beetles did. I was thinking of digging the bush up. Roses are so fussy. No amount of dusting/soaping/spraying keeps the beetles and bugs away.The year we put out a beetle trap, we must have attracted every beetle from three counties. I was very surprised to find a rose and a rosebud on the bush. Clipped the rose and put it in a glass vase. This drawing done with watercolor pencils.

Any late roses blooming in your garden?

M.A.H.O.D.

The school the Young One attends is a tech school, and the techies do love their acronyms. I was surprised to find acronyms had evaded her art class when she told me she had to work on her M.A.H.O.D. Make A Habit of Drawing. The instructor compared art to sports or music. Athletes and musicians practice every day to improve their skill. She told her students artists should do the same.

The instructor gave the students a list of things she wanted them to draw: a comic panel, tree, their foot, hands in various positions. I decided to play along too as I can use the practice, especially when it comes to drawing hands (I make mittens)

This exercise is an example of Ukiyo-e. Japanese wood block prints. The illustration was taken from Kendo master, Miyamoto Musashi's (c. 1584 - 1645) philosophical text and life's work, The Book of Five Rings.

My samurai looks tipsy. Perhaps, he's a master in the Drunken Master technique, a style comprised of unpredictable movements and surprise attacks. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it. Rent the movie The Legend of the Drunken Master starring Jackie Chan to see a master in action. Good movie.

If you're involved in an artistic or athletic pursuit, do you practice every day?