Sunday, April 29, 2012

Lily

Lily by Gwen Buchanan


 She tells me that her name is Lily... 
  I will always think of her that way.
She cautiously considers her path upon the morrow...
Forward...
Backward...

Come what may.


GB








"There is a Garden in her Face,
Where Roses and Lilies grow."
 Thomas Campion, 1567-1620, Composer, Poet.





 ...my drawing desk just after I finished "Lily"
... yes, cluttered, I know... but really, I need all those things.




Lily... approx. 7 1/2' x 9 1/2", Sanguine conte and charcoal, with matt and frame 16" x 18 1/2"

..  The Hand Series will return with my next post.


Thursday, April 19, 2012

Hand # 6

 Accuse, Gwen Buchanan



"But alas to make me 
the fixed figure for the time of scorn
to point his slow unmoving finger at."
 Othello 4, 2, 54... Shakespeare

 

I rubbed away most of the red chalk  to give the background more subtlety 
 and used the eraser to expose the white of the paper as
 the highlights of the hand and the gauze of the sleeve.
 I outlined the finger with graphite to represent the darkness associated with accusation.


 This is my interpretation of  Leonardo's "Study of a Hand"  c. 1483, 
  His was done on dark grey prepared paper with black chalk heightened with white.
It is stored at Windsor Castle Royal Library, England.
also found in "Leonardo da Vinci, Sketches and Drawings", Frank Zollner, Taschen.




 6" x 8" , sanguine conte, graphite, eraser on card stock weight paper
 created at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, NB Canada

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Hand # 5

 
How do you like your coffee?  Gwen Buchanan


The Turks have a saying...

" Coffee should be Black as Hell, 
Strong as Death and
 Sweet as Love"


 ... I like mine with Foamed milk and Chocolate shavings... 
...a morning Ritual ...


 It got me thinking...
about how many people are taking part in this same morning ritual worldwide... 
...we are doing it Together... but separately,  in different places..  
and as a continual wave as the world rotates...
it's a huge communal Earthly coming together... even if we drink it all by ourselves. 



6" x 10", 140 lb. Arches watercolor paper, india ink, conte, brush, pen
...found a set of 4 of these heavy pottery blue and white mugs at a favourite thrift shop in Saint John last Fall.

...created at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada

Thursday, April 05, 2012

Hand # 4

Sanguine... Gwen Buchanan




"Will all great Neptune's ocean
 wash this blood clean from my Hand?
No... this my hand will rather
 the multitudinous seas incarnadine,
making the red one green "

Macbeth 2, 2, 60  .... Shakespeare




... experimenting ... something about the shade of sanguine...

6" x 10",  pen/ink, india ink wash, watercolor, sanguine conte, charcoal,chalk,  140 lb Arches watercolor paper


Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Hands # 3

 Reach... Gwen Buchanan



"Ah, but a man's REACH should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a Heaven for?
from Andrea Del Sarto  by Robert Browning... 1812-1889



The ring in the drawing is known as  "the Goddess"..
I made it from Silver and Copper years ago.. it's my favourite.


6" x 10", Crow quill dip pen, brush on 140 lb. watercolor paper in sketch book, india ink, sepia watercolor

...drawn at Desideratum Art and Jewelry studio, St. Martins on the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick