FF Ala Victor Perard

As a kid the only art book we had was by Victor Perard--"How to Draw." I paged through it again and again. I never realized he affected me by his examples. With no attempt to imitate, or even remembering his style, this sketch turned out to look al lot like his drawings.

FF Sky Pieces

This challenge really opened my eyes to finding things to draw. Interesting sky pieces reveal heretofore unnoticed subjects. I was parked at the side of a strip mall. Nothing to draw but a blank wall--but, ah, there, a small hill with an interesting sky piece. I divided it into three, but the trees and fence could be a fourth, their own "black piece."

KEEPING AT IT CHALLENGE "Sky Pieces"

This is an idea I got from David Millard, "The Joy of Watercolor." He talks about the "sky piece," an interesting shape of the sky as it is outlined by buildings, hills, trees, or anything else. Sometimes he'll leave out a mountain, just to have a better sky piece with the building roofs. That's a liberating idea, not having to show everything.

He also refers to the "land mass" as everything that's not the sky piece. In the land mass you can have earth lines, earth pieces, sea pieces. I would add road pieces, field pieces, sidewalk and lawn pieces, etc.

He says, "Notice how the edge of one object forms the boundary of another--try to be aware of this as you draw." Below this post are a few samples of Millard's that show this whole boundary and pieces notion. Millard recommends, "Always be on the lookout for good shapes." Thinking in terms of pieces helps that.

Being aware and on the lookout, until "Sky Piece Saturday." Let's make that December 19th.

PS DY Jump back in! We miss you! And your five minute accrual is lagging.

Millard's "Sky Pieces"

FF December Drawings

Bottom: My first concerted effort to include people.
2nd & 3rd up: Wood V.A. Hospital, Milwaukee
4th up: Froederdt Barley Elevators, Milwaukee; guessed a good deal of the foreground--see below.
Top: The passenger-side option after a semi came and blocked our view of the Barley Elevators. What caught my eye was the yellow-gold wedges where light hit the stacked lumber. While I painted the sun came out and ignited the white plastic. After the paint was dry I erased my usual "perimeter lines" around the distant foliage.