a statue with a real presence at Agecroft Hall ooooOOOoooooOOOOoooooOOOoo

Do you ever get that feeling a statue is watching you?

When I was working on that last painting, every time I turned around there’s this kid in ideal proportions right behind me! And he’s NEKKID! except for a seashell covering the naughty parts, and an animal hide over his shoulders. Sometimes, as I unloaded my art supplies around the base, I thought he might hit me with his flute! I know it’s only my imagination, but  others said the same thing about it.

One lady said she kept thinking it was a live person standing there, and I heard a little girl call it a weird statue! So, I just have to chalk it up to the mad skills of the artist who made it, because it’s only a sculpture made of lead. It won’t start walking around on Halloween, (or will it?)

Creativity Thrives on Route 15 in Pennsylvania!

Does your heart beat a little faster when you hear the words: Mixed media, painting, pottery, sculpture, photography, jewelry? What if we added tasty local wines, deliciously inventive meals, and cozy, relaxing lodgings to the mix?

And what if I told you these features and more are here for you to explore and experience when you journey through the heart of Pennsylvania by following the Route 15 Artisan Trail?

The newly launched website, Rt 15 By Way of the Arts, is your ultimate guide to all art and tourism events held along the Trail. The website makes planning your journey quick and easy by arranging artisans and events by county. Updated by four daily newspapers, The Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Sunbury DailyItem, The Carlisle Sentinel, and The Gettysburg Times content is focused to bring you the best in uniquely flavored regional arts and entertainment.

Looking for a special gift? Why not interact with the artist as they create? Searching for a charming location to rest, relax, and rejuvenate? It’s here for you on Route 15.

I admit I am biased. I live along the Route and have explored many of the destinations. For this reason I am so excited to share this with you. Even if you can’t journey with us physically, I hope you will take the time to experience what our area has to offer.  The website is a showcase of galleries, theaters, festivals, artists and more.

Creativity thrives along Route 15. Hope you’ll come along for the journey!

Nature Connects / Lego Bricks by Sean Kenney

These amazing Lego constructions are at Lewis Ginter Botanical till Sept 18

Legos Float!

The little bird on the buffalo’s back looks real.

They’re feats of Lego engineering! If you’re in the Richmond area, you should see them in person!

Sean Kenney says he’s just playing! YEA!! I like that spirit! hahahahah

Draft Horse after Haseltine / graphite and chalk

It’s not exactly right in proportion, but not too far off. See the photo below.

This is my 3rd try drawing the sculpture. I went to the VMFA on 3 different rainy days and worked on it about 2 hours each time.

Sometimes when I stand there in front of a sculpture for a few hours, I get the feeling I know what the subject is thinking.

His eyes are so realistic, it seemed like he was looking at me. The eyes are made of lapis lazuli, ivory and onyx. The horse is made of bronze and gold plated.

It seems like he’s flaring his nostrils. This is what I imagined he would be thinking. He knows he’s the strongest. He’s a hard worker too, and proud of what he can do that weaker horses can’t. He knows he won the prize at the fair because so many people are making a fuss over him. Someone spent hours doing his hair. Then they showed him his reflection and he’s saying, “RIBBONS?!!! You put RIBBONS in my hair?!!!” (snort)

Secretly he likes the ribbons though. hahahahahahah

I know this because I spent the time looking. If you take a photo then trace it, you don’t get that kind of intuition about the subject.

At the museum, the rule is graphite only.

The plaque at the VMFA says he’s a Suffolk Punch Stallion.

I could ask for a permission slip to bring in charcoal, but I probably won’t. The whole permission slip thing just bugs me as an artist. I’m saying this because if I could use charcoal it would be easier to draw. With pencil it takes longer to block in an area and you end up making outlines more often which is less accurate for getting the proportions correct.

It’s difficult to measure the proportions of a horse, and every breed is different. When I got home and looked at this sketch, I knew it wasn’t right. I transferred it to another paper and did some correcting, but it still wasn’t right. I’m showing this bad sketch so you can see that it doesn’t have to be right the 1st try. You can keep trying until you get something better.

If I continue to draw horse sculptures, when the time comes that I can draw live horses, it will be a little easier because of this practice.

yeah, that’s me. I’m much more attractive in real life. hahahahahaha

This is the way to learn to draw.

Rest your sketchbook against your body. Hold out your pencil at an arms length resting your arm on the sketchbook. Close one eye. Hold the pencil up so you can use it to measure the head of the subject by putting your finger on the pencil at the length of the head. Then use the head as a measure to get the proportions. Compare the length of the head to the length of the body and make marks on the paper in those proportions. Measure in all directions. Measure the length of the legs compared to the head. You can use the pencil in this way to see more easily the angles of the legs or any other angle you want to draw. Measure, draw, measure, draw. Don’t be shy.

Why don’t the art teachers teach their students to draw like this? Is it because it’s no fun? Are they self conscious about others seeing them make a face by closing an eye and squinting? Is it because it’s a slow process and they can trace a photo so much faster?

I see classes coming through sometimes, when I’m drawing, and the students seem interested in how to do what I’m doing, but the teacher doesn’t explain it to them. It seems like the teacher rushed the last group through before I had a chance to give  them the art lesson they wanted to hear. Maybe the teachers don’t know how to draw, so they can’t teach it. I’d like to teach. I’m just not keen on making it into a JOB! So it goes on the blog.

It’s easier to stand up to draw. Sometimes, at places like the museum, where taking an easel is a problem, you need to be able to hold the sketchbook in one hand and draw with the other hand. That way, you can look from the subject to your sketch so much easier because you don’t have to keep looking up down, up down. You hold the paper up and compare what you drew to the subject.

Also, if you can draw without an easel, standing up, you can exit the scene faster when it gets crowded, or not block other people from the spot.

Here endeth the lesson. hahahahahahah

 

 

Horse Sculpture

Can anyone tell me the story of this horse?

I bought it yesterday at “Through The Garden Gate” antique mall for $15.

Isn’t it a beautiful animal? I wish I knew more about horses because this puzzles me.

When I got home and polished him up, I said, “OH NO! What’s going on here?! Why is he tied up so tight?!”

It looks like cruelty, but see how fat he is? Could he get that fat in the wild? Or is this a style of art that makes fat horses?  Do you think he’s wild and just got captured? And if he is wild, how did they get the reins on him?

I’d like to know, if any of our readers has the info, who made this sculpture? And does the horse have a story?

I’m trying to decide, when I draw him, should I draw him without the reins, or reined in.

Daniads by Rodin and Waterhouse

bronze

plaster

The story of the Daniads is they were the 50 daughters of King Danus an ancient Greek, who were promised to marry the 50 sons of Danus’ brother. On their wedding night all but one murdered their husbands by cutting their throats. They were sentenced to carry buckets of water to fill a tub with holes in it. Also, their buckets had leaks, so they could never finish the task.  It’s a myth that was used as a theme in art by various artists. Rodin shows the Daniad collapsed by the futility of the punishment.

The Rodin exhibit at the VMFA is a great inspiration.

This is a Pre Raphaelite painting by John William Waterhouse showing the Daniads.

cartoon anatomy by Hyungkoo Lee / Korean

Bugs Bunny skull

Image lifted from imgur

Ganymede and the Eagle by Bertel Thorvaldson

Danish 1815

The plaque at the museum says Ganymede was the prince of Troy and the eagle is Zeus in disguise. Zeus then carried Ganymede off to Olympus to be cup bearer to the gods.

Do you think Ganymede wanted be cup bearer to the gods? Is that all Zeus wanted from Ganymede? I don’t remember this story, but it sounds kind of fishy to me that Zeus had to disguise himself to get Ganymede to go with him. I remember Zeus disguised himself as a bull and became Europa’s pet so she trusted him enough to go for a ride on his back. Then he abducted her. Ganymede, who probably had a nice life as a prince was another good looking victim for Zeus. Did ancient Greek parents tell their children if a wild animal wants to be your friend RUN! Because it sounds like Ganymede might be Zeus’ slave. And I was surprised Zeus went after a boy because I thought he only went after girls. Those ancient Greek gods had a bad reputation. Zeus was the worst and he was the boss.

Amor Forgiven / Venus and Cupid / Prosper d’ Epinay

marble 1888

Cupid was Venus’ baby, and a naughty boy. Always shooting those love arrows into people who weren’t a good match for different reasons. And Venus herself broke the rule about the gods and goddesses not interfering in the affairs of mortals when she promised Paris the love of the most beautiful woman in the world if Paris would pick her as the most beautiful goddess. Paris gave the golden apple that was the prize to Venus and she gave Paris the love of Helen of Troy. Helen was married to the prince of Troy and when she ran away with Paris it started the Trojan War. Plus, remember the stories of how Zeus changed his appearance to disguise himself as an animal in order to seduce some woman, man or nymph? All of the gods and goddesses broke the rule. So how could Venus stay mad at Cupid for messing up people’s lives? She couldn’t stay mad at him. Cupid was just too durn cute!

The Torch Bearers by Anna Hyatt Huntington / aluminum

One of the castings sold for $315000.

I am one of the torch bearers. My strange ironic life made me this way. Here’s a story about me.

I grew up in a family where the adults didn’t talk much. It might sound bad but I thought I was lucky because no one was paying attention so I did what I wanted to do, and if I didn’t want to go to school I didn’t go. Maybe I was a little naughty. Still lucky for me, York Academy of Art accepted anyone who would pay. It turned out to be a crash course in traditional art which isn’t taught in art schools much these days. I’m one of the few in the world with the real old school academic art background and even though I’m swimming against the current with it, I’m not part of the ruin that is modern art because I’m carrying the torch of the Academy.

In York I shared a house with other girls who were art students. Our next door neighbors were Dick and Mai Clayman. They always invited me over to eat. Mai was very kind and Dick was an artist, genius and a gentleman. Dick loved to talk and he was worldly and wise. We stayed friends till he died. His talk was like college classes about his favorite subjects. ( art, history, politics, religion, the Civil War, the opera) I liked listening to him. I should have taken notes. Dick tried to impart his wisdom to me.

Now I want to share what I remember. But here’s another thing:

Two guys I know had the same dream about me. They both told me they dreamed it was pitch black and they saw me walking in the dark carrying a light. What does it mean about me? Was it a flashlight a tiki torch or a camping lantern? I don’t know, but if I ever do a self portrait I might try to draw myself carrying a light on a dark background.