September 18, 2011

    While I was drawing the magnolia pod I was thinking about the way the pod is formed to protect the beans until they are ripe enough to be released to the earth. The cupping segments reminded me of hands clasped protectively around the beautiful beans - which, after all, really are the next generation of magnolias. I decided to do another magnolia pod drawing, emphasizing that relationship rather than what a pod looks like... although it still looks like a magnolia pod... erm, in a way. 
    By the way, the bean/baby that has been released is dangling by a cord, and the actual magnolia beans really are fastened to the pods by fine white silken lines which sometimes remain attached to dangling beans. 
    Click to enlarge the drawing and check out the faces! The dangling bean baby's face is hidden from us, but the baby looking at him is the only one with open eyes, and is looking surprised - like we would all feel if we could see our future. 

Jan 3, 2011

     This sketch of someone picking seeds from a pomegranate was used to think about the hands on a painting I started a while back from a photo. I had wanted to change the hands around some, and that brought me to a halt on the painting... thus the decision to do a study for the third sketch-a-day sketch, although I don't plan on restarting this painting until I finish a different one...