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This is a - nearly finished - drawing from a collection of bottle caps. I only used 3 different sizes of black pigment liners. Why did I choose for crown corks? Because there's such a big variety of type in them. It made me reflect on the fact that every design, how simple it may look, is carefully thought of. And there's only limited space! I learned a lot about type by making this drawing.
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A few weeks ago, I posted this drawing of a chicken. Now I finished my sketchbook page by adding the lyrics of a popular song.
" Aint't Nobody Here but us Chickens" is a jump blues song. Louis Jordan recorded it in 1946. Jordan's hit song popularized the expression "nobody here but us chickens" but the phrase is older. It's a song on an album that we bought in the first years of our marriage and I love it because it's a cheerful, happy song!
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I drew this row of books on the bookshelf in my studio. I only used a very fine fineliner and a black pencil. It was an interesting exercise for learning about drawing type and the diversity of lettering forms.
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I've always wanted to draw a chicken but nothing ever came of it. Finally, last week, I spent the whole day drawing this huge black-and-white chicken in my Moleskine sketchbook, ànd doing the lettering. Now I'm figuring out what I will draw on the opposite page. I've already got some ideas!
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Some months ago I started a new project: immortalizing important objects in our lives. No deadline, no stress and I'll see what comes out of it! In November, I posted a first object, namely a kelim. I bought it when I was in Istanbul in the seventies and it's one of those things with a sentimental value. This time, as you can see below, I made a drawing of a vintage camera. It's an important object in my husband's life who is a photographer. This camera was his first. I only used a fine black pigment liner and the challenge was to achieve the various grades of shading.
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I could make it through 2020, in a large part because of you, my blog and Instagram friends. Thank you for your friendship! Let us all hope that 2021 will be a normal year again. I'm a positive person and I tend to look at the bright side of life but the last weeks of 2020 took their toll on me. I want to take this opportunity to start fresh with you and wish you love and hope in the new year!
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I've been busy, working in my second dotted grid journal. In my first one, I used black and yellow (see my post of some weeks ago). In this one, it's black and orange, sometimes adding a little turquoise. Working in this notebook really has a soothing effect on me and I can recommend it to anyone who has the lockdown blues!
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I'm immortalizing important objects in my life. When I was 19 years old I made an adventurous trip to Afghanistan. Along the way, in the pasar in Istanbul, I bought this so-called kelim. Its actual colors have faded, but for this color pencil drawing I've brightened them up!
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I love folk art and ethnic art. For this small embroidery piece, I was inspired by Peruvian art. These figures can be seen on ancient ceramics. This kind of embroidery is called 'needle painting', so painting with a needle. It is the ideal stitch for filling up large areas.
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In my previous life I was an embroidery teacher and I loved practicing it till the last day. All my embroidery pieces are in a cardboard box now since many years. This is a needlepainting embroidery. I got my inspiration from Indian art and it represents a tree of life, a subject that frequently pops up in folk art from all over the world.
