Saturday, June 26, 2010

Diving Right In (Ripple and Shadow Shot Sunday)

The heartbreak of the Gulf oil gusher: as many as 2.5 million gallons per day rush into the Gulf in a giant plume. Four hundred wildlife species are threatened, to say nothing of the economic damage and harm to our coasts. The largest oil spill in United States history does not cease. It spills and spills and spills. Since April 20th, from 67 million to 127 million gallons have spilled. It is difficult to imagine such numbers.

But it is easy to imagine a brown pelican in the paradise of the blue sky diving unwittingly towards the spill.

At Ripple, artists are invited to portray a subject that "should pertain somehow to the Gulf - the oil spill - the oceans and the creatures that live in it and around it." According to Kelly Light, "It's about not feeling helpless in the face of an overwhelming disaster. We're illustrators. We don't lose touch with that kid inside who marvels at the creatures who swim below and fly above the sea. We draw them. We are inspired by them. We need to help them."

Her request is that the artist create "a small 2.5" x 3.5" sketchcard. The cards can be submitted to ripplesketches@verizon.net as a jpeg along with your links and a few sentences about you (ie: where you live, etc). .. These will be made available for a small donation of $10.00 to either The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (http://www.imms.org/) or The International Bird Rescue Research Center (http://www.ibrrc.org/). .. Every penny will go. When the cards sell, we ask for a donation confirmation and you will be asked to sign the back with a thank you. Then mail them to the address you are sent."

Kelly says that "we may be too small as individuals to do some grand gesture- but together our small gestures can be grand."

I am privileged to have found a beautiful photograph at flickr upon which to base my card. The photo is by Ingrid Taylar whose inspired photographs of wildlife and nature can also be found at her website, The Free Quark. I call my contribution, "Last Dive".

I've recently purchased a few books on drawing hands. I'd like to be able to form hands in many different positions, almost without thought. These sketches of the back of the hand are copied from The Book of a Hundred Hands by George B. Bridgman, a book originally published in 1920. The other book I purchased is Drawing Dynamic Hands by Burne Hogarth, first published almost 60 years after the first. I am only just beginning this study, and as I progress I will give you my thoughts on the usefulness of the books.

One day I carried the wrong Moleskine with me - my other Moleskine, the one with the thick yellow paper that can only be drawn in and that will not take watercolors. As with most errors in art, this was fortuitous. It had been some time since I'd sketched a person without anticipating the watercolor later. I tend to minimize the inking when I know I am going to color (although judging from Raena's recent amazing colored sketch of a turtle, this thinking may be wrong). I saw a man with a very interesting face, and drew with much more detail than I would have done otherwise, just like the old days. I really do love bare pen and ink.

Finally, I contribute a shadow shot for Shadow Shot Sunday. I was struck by these odd bushes with their elongated shadows. I like taking photographs as exercises in composition, and had an interesting time with this one. I had considered cropping lower on the trees to emphasize the foreground. But ultimately I decided that a relatively equal field of blue above the trees, and green below the bushes was the most visually pleasing view.













Well, that's got to be three serious posts in a row, I think - this blog is going to lose it's reputation for mindless frivolity. I hope to correct that in the next post.

UPDATE: The Ripple sketch sold..

28 comments:

  1. Love your Ripple sketch.. It is nice.. Hmm and so is the man's sketch.. You do very well in either media!

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  2. Nice long shadows..love your sketches, I am envious not something I would even try.

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  3. love all your work in this post. Pelicans are such beautiful birds! I am glad you used the "wrong" moleskin..what a good result!

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  4. Lovely work! I'm glad you left your shadow shot uncropped - it has just the right proportions!!

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  5. I love your pelican, he has a determined look on his face. Your hand sketches are really good, something I can't do no matter how hard I try.

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  6. Your pelicans are great - and I'd love to hear more about your Hand Drawing books as you work through them.

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  7. Absolutely gorgeous cards for the Ripple blog. I also did two small paintings for it and was so stunned when they sold and sold quickly. Then I turned around and bought one of another artist's pieces yesterday. I also sold a piece on eBay with money going to another seacoast sanctuary for helping with the rescue and rehab of the birds. I just so wish I could do more. In fact, this whole entry reminded me of a couple of my own of late! Love reading it, Dan. Hands. They make me shudder when contemplating drawing them. Feet do too.

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  8. The pelican work is really good and I really like the message behind it (what the bird is diving in too), its hard to understand the amount and the size of the whole spill, its scary, very scary.

    The hands are really good, I have to take look at the books, I need to work on hands more. And the shadow shot is neat.

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  9. Excellent card. Your posts are always so interesting, serious or not I enjoy reading them. That's a great sketch of the man and your hand drawings look good too. Enjoy your new books!

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  10. I suppose it's difficult to engage in mindless frivolity when such a devastating environmental disaster had no immediate end in sight. But I do hope you'll find some relief from the agony even if only for a few moments. I read this last night and the image of the pelican diving right in was too strong, too powerful, too sad.
    Your hand sketches are lovely and your shadow shot is superb. A study of composition is a big reason why I like photography too.

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  11. Excellent drawings Dan! Can't get enough of them... they are gorgeous! And we all are feeling for the tragedy that's happening in the gulf, and hopefully the Costner machine will do something good there.

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  12. Pelican plummeting
    into the sea, will you snatch
    a wee fish for me?

    Derelict Dwelling Shadows

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  13. Beautiful pelicans, Dan, and a great cause--it is an almost overwhelming disaster.

    I never seem to find the hand I need in my books. I usually set up the camera and photograph my own.

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  14. Fabulous sketches. Great Danny Kaye quote. Interesting colors in your shadow shot.

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  15. Hi Dan, thank you for your nice comments on my drawings and paintings! I looked at your artwork and I must say it is really beautiful! I love these pelicans!

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  16. I can't comment on technical proficiency and technique, but I can say 'Well done! And especially for participating in 'Ripple''! The idea of artists contributing by doing what they do best is absolutely beautiful and so is your Pelican.

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  17. I think both the pelicans are great! I love the highlights on their feathers. There must be something you can do to salvage the second one. Maybe glue it onto a larger drawing? (That is the 'messed up' one?) Then say it's collaged! I think it would sell very quickly!

    The hands are great. I have another of Bridgman's books, and I really like how he breaks things down into volume. I checked the second book out of the library once, but it was one of those times that I never actually used it. Just a quick flip through and turned it in. Please keep us posted on them! Oh, and I love that you did them straight in ink. I need to find someone with great hands to be my model. NEEDED: Lumpy hands with character!!

    Oh, and thanks for the mention. I didn't actually start out planning to do anything with the turtle...it was really just a doodle. That's the only reason I did so much cross-hatching in pen. It was a nice surprise, but I'd be careful; I think it only worked because he was so dark.

    Portrait turned out great! Are you still using the Lamy Safari? Mine needs cleaning out, so it just sits. And nice shadow shot. Love the grouping on the bushes.

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  18. oops...look how long that is!!

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  19. Wonderful

    good
    sources

    of
    Inspiration

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  20. Thanks everyone for your supportive comments. It's really nice to do something, even if it's only a ripple. Otherwise it'd be nothing at all.

    Hallie - interesting re the hands..I may have to do that myself as time goes.

    OK folks, the two pelicans are the same. I only turned it on its side to have it fly off into the air!

    Raena, the 'messed up' pelican is toast and will never see the light of day! In fact, I am not using the Lamy Safari right now. I am using the 005 sized Pigma Micron (I like the small line). The main reason is laziness, I guess. I haven't gotten around to refilling and hate the ink all over my hands that I can never seem to avoid when I do it. I'll get back to it someday. I love my Lamy!

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  21. Hey Dan, I love "Last Dive" and I'm not surprised that it's already sold. It's great! I had already figured out that the 2nd pelican was the same one before I read your comment. I thought you were intentionally leaving us with a message of hope by having the second image of the bird flying upward.

    -Don

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  22. Hi Don, you are absolutely right - I intended to couple the second pelican with the phrase "we may be too small as individuals to do some grand gesture- but together our small gestures can be grand."

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  23. Hi dan, Thanks for the comments in my blog, and I wanted to send you an email with an answer to your question about art and autism. But my computer wont let me in to the program you use for your email (???) so I was wondering if you could email me? at colourblob@yahoo.ca

    Cheers,

    Mari

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  24. Wonderful drawings and a worthy cause!

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  25. Great pelican sketches Dan, I'm sure you'll raise good money with those. I've just finished a painting of a seahorse and think I need to make an effort and donate some prints too. I shall try to get myself organised over the next couple of days.
    I love reading your blog, it's always informative and entertaining!
    Lesley :o)

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  26. Dan, I have enjoyed your blog and your Ripple entry is fabulous! I am now aware of this org. and will do my part! Thanks

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  27. Dan, what a lovely blog -- and an important work on behalf of Ripple. Thanks so much for the mention and link on the photo. I cannot tell you how gratifying it is to have an image used for such purposes. I wish you much success with all future endeavors!

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