West:OTI::pics,notes:::1/31/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day 31

West

Old Turtle

Notes:  thought to roll out to Balboa...and, blueberry skoans and hot grande mocha on the driveway...last day of the January stradaeasel challenge...I kinda custom made it to my liking...the "intersections" kinda my conceit...plus I tried to work in a photo for my blog...and, a cartoon...I haven't thought yet of a cartoon for today...the photo and cartoon an aside to the strada sketches...the usual way to paint for the strada contest is to paint, but different media are acceptable...some of us stretch that to mean pencil, and, and the "plein air" challenge part is to paint from life...easily done, but I've done a close study of the 'from life" part...and set aside the painting...pencil and pen and ink pen the media...if I sit at the beach and paint the Palace at Aliso, the light changes so much, that I'm basically painting from memory how the light and colors were in one moment...capturing a moment takes strength of a sort!...so, soh, that's what I've been about...at the other end of things, is copying an old master's painting...this we were assigned often in school...it's what I call "artisan" work...I worked up Fragonard, Remington, Cezanne, Nat Geo Photos, Hollywood actors' photos...copy work...tracing paper cribs...and, and now on facebook a challenge to do an old master replica...lol...with a nine month time frame...that suggests glazing...layering thin thin transparent layers of oil paint until the finish...what that does is give depth, and lighting effects acquired no other way...some, like Fragonard, could pull the lighting off in an hour or two...a la prima...wet into wet...the same as plein air oils....I did Fragonard's The Sultan, the black and white...a friend did Girl Reading a Book...when we put our work up for view, the two were side by side...they had a twist...we inserted our own visage, making them like self portraits!...much fun...seeing the facebook challenge, I remembered this...I've posted them...Girl Reading a Book was on loan at the time to the San Diego Art Museum...normally, it's in Washington DC...and my last Palomar effort was Remington's Waving a Serape to Chase Cattle...and it was in an air brush class, of all things!...Remington's, like Fragonard's Sultan, is black and white-I colorized them both...thinking to see again the Serape, search google images, I find google stuck my air brush student work next to it...these flatteries of finding my blog images in "images" is ephemeral...the algo bots are always churning the soil...or some such...I dunno...oh, what can I do quick for a cartoon..oh, wait!...in the notebook, the one of Old Turtle from 2002 I wanted to post!...

:)

DavidDavid

Silver:OTI::pics,notes:::1/30/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day thirty

Feeding Maya

Silver at Target

Notes:  out for snack...#21 Jack in the Box, large coffee, chocolate cake...listened to Lakers and sketched me and Maya my dog...then rolled over to Target...I broke one of my large corning ware mugs, and have misplaced the other...hmmph...and Target no longer carries them...amazon has them for twenty dollars each...got a giant mug for $6, and some bowls and plates...the Cornings are cool as they come with rubber snap on lids...good for soups and keeping left overs....for Maya and I, this is our twice a day 'pose'...when I put my hand to my chest, she sits...this when I have a snack, or her food bowl...actually, she does it without a treat...but from a distance, I've not been able to have her "sit", or come when I call...that, and her excitable moods, have precluded walkabouts...just as well....I have a big safe back yard, and Town's streets are just a mess with trash, and unpredictable vagabonds...I got Disney Plus...been a Baba Fett fan since his first appearance in Star Wars...Mandalorians resemble Death Knights in  WOW...they have excitable moods too!...episode 4, season 1 tonight...

History:OTI::pics,notes:::1/29/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day twenty nine

Little Cat

Down in History 

Notes:  rolled out with laundry late in the day, and, and the laundromat a zoo...passed...picked up blueberry skoan and hot mocha coffee at Starbucks...Little sat on the hood of Silver, my Jeep, while I snacked...it's become a routine to sketch the cats in their poses when they pose on the hood!...was at a loss for a comic/cartoon notion, and this after binge watching New Yorker magazine cartoon youtube vlog..."all the lyrics have been sung" goes a new love song on the radio...or some such...same could be said of comic ideas...New Yorker has it to take an old cliche and give it a new twist...they have all their cartoons archived according to cliches!...so, soh, lacking a notion I was listening to a song..."down in history" a lyric...thought to stick civilization in a sedimentary band on a desert butte...thought too of others to go with 'down in history'...cliches have like facets, synonyms...I really like my Noah's Ark ones....and here's one I thought of but dont know how to proceed...the cliche is Hopper's restaurant painting, which is being combined with the Bernie meme...brb...

quote

 

unquote

now, prior to seeing that, I had been thinking of making an aquarium holding people, and have it be under water with fish looking at the people as we look at fish in an aquarium...terrarium for people actually, and here I jammed up wondering how to make convincing terrarium under water...and then I saw Hopper's painting, and thought, heck, that's perfect...but then jammed up again as I dont like referencing stuff I cant assume viewers know about...so, the terrarium underwater cartoon on hold...and, I find it is 'cliched"...Larson has a sunken glass bottom boat, upside down, the passengers looking through the glass bottom at the fish looking at them under water...I hadn't thought to work out from cliches...I was just hoping to see something in my out and abouts that clicked as cartoon material!...but now that I've thought of cliches as prompts, welp, pop songs are full of them!

:)

DavidDavid

Rabbit:OTI::pics,notes:::1/28/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day twenty eight

Rabbit  

Chubby Cheeks drinking

 

Notes:  rolled out for snack...#21 Jack in the Box, Breakfast sandwich with large coffee...sighted rabbits on the corner...Chubby Cheeks drinking on the porch...daylight left...thinking of just going for a ride and imagine I'm at the movies...

:)

DavidDavid

Heron:OTI::pics,notes:::1/27/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day twenty seven

Scooter

Blue Heron

Notes:  out and back to Balboa...the Saloon spot...hot dog combo at the Snack Stand...sighted the Scooter rider from the parking lot, Heron from the Blue Picnic Bench...midafternoon quiet...Pelican, Heron, Black Phoebe, Gulls, Coots, I think...too far out in the channel to tell, maybe some kind of ducks...nearly lost the notebooks...forgot them on top of Silver, my jeep...just took the photo at the Bench...sketches at home in the driveway from memory glimpses...grande mocha and cheese danish...

:)

DavidDavid

Dragon:OTI::pics,notes:::1/26/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day twenty six

Food Server

Cloud Dragon Slayer

Notes:  quick out for chile relleno combo take out...it's a kid with a helmet chasing a cloud dragon on his hobby horse...hmmph...

:)

DavidDavid

Tractor:OTI::pics,notes:::1/25/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day twenty five

Tractor

Soccer ball, Skateboarder, CloudDragon

Notes:  clouds again, and windy...but only got as far a Mile Square Park...there noticed the tractor in the strawberry field...parked and sketched...saw soccer player retrieve his ball in rear view mirror...skateboarder glimpsed at West and GG Blvd...cloud dragon on return thereabout too...

:)

DavidDavid

Clouds:OTI::pics,notes:::1/24/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day twenty four

Cloud Dragons

Lobster Art

Harbor Sycamore

Notes:  thought to chase the clouds all the way to the beach, but too late in the day...settled in on the driveway looking for cloud dragons and ships, snacking on Derweinershnizel Chicago Dog and rootbear float...maybe Lobster in the top photo!...

:)

DavidDavid

Clouds:OTI::pics,notes:::1/23/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day twentythree

Cat

Clouds Traffic Light

Notes:  rolled out for pet food at PetsMart...near sunset and clearing rain clouds on the horizon...and, I focused on the traffic lights way way in the distance...just that I wanted...a traffic light against the clouds...each iteration I tried to flatten the perspective, and couldn't manage it...hmmph...Tucker Cat on the hood of Silver, my Jeep...sourdough chicken sandwich combo at Jack in the Box, and coffee...rolling out again...maybe Best Buy has the Sony transistor radio...

:)

DavidDavid

Notebook:OTI::pics,notes:::1/22/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day twenty two

Bus Stop

Notebook/Art Gallery 8/2002

 

Notes:  bus stop ink after roadside glimpse on foray out to Wendy's for southwest salad and coffee...gallery sketch from class work 2002 at Palomar...there were things I did on my own, like going through all the art books in the Palomar Library, and assignments I neglected, like keeping a sketchbook...Professor Crouch thanked me for starting up this old one I've been adding to...I'd only completed like ten pages, and these strada sketches are new to it...I did another one of watercolors...there was a hill like an arboretum on the campus, and I'd go there for sketching watercolors...I've posted those, way back...a watercolor sketchbook was a follow on to that when I went to Yosemite right after Palomar...I've posted those too...the ones I did in this unfinished note book were ink brush...some from life drawing...and, and she's right...my brush work is trick...lol...now and then, I'd do life drawing in ink, nib pen, brush, and it's like impossible at my skill level...but as Professor Stiernagle noted, I have a penchant for "unforgiving media"...it's cool to do...I tossed everything from school...down sized to go to the Valley...but a few things I still have...I miss having class, classmates...when this pandemic is over, I'll enroll in a class...this zoom stuff is nuts...

:)

DavidDavid

BalboaSaloon:OTI::pics,notes:::1/21/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day twenty one

#inktober   week three

Notes: just went for a drive, so pretty blue a day...far as Aliso with pauses at Balboa and Corona Del Mar,,,from Aliso returned to Balboa, same spot I was yesterday...did the ink of the Saloon, and a pencil sketch of the Showboat while snacking on chile nachos and coffee...favorite stand open today...had thought to do the Saloon earlier on the out, but glad I did it on the back, as the shadow of the lampost fell perfectly on the brick wall...something I wouldn't have thought of!...ocean view is the Wedge from Corona del Mar's bluff...forgot how charming this neighborhood is...rode the ferry to and fro...Highway One full of resurfacing equipment at Crystal Cove...there were like ten fellows with yellow vests operating the big asphalt repaving machine...ocean view in background...this near Shake Shack, the uphill part of the dip there...tried to get pics on the fly, driving by, but just got sky...lol...lobster chorus at home on the driveway...

:)

DavidDavid 

ArmInArm:OTI::pics,notes:::1/20/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day 20

Arm in Arm Vietnamese couple in Crosswalk

Westminster and Harbor

Notes:  rolled out to Balboa...Vietnamese couple crossing at Westminster...these snapshot glimpses I take are actually pretty detailed...but trying to memory transpose the details with a sketch problematic!...they were an elderly couple, both wearing wide brim sun hats...she was holding her husband's arm-a purse over her other arm; and he had a man purse too...too cute!...pencil sketch looks like an arrest by a park ranger-not intended!...at Balboa, I parked by the Saloon, preferred now to parking by the Pier...and my favorite snack stand was closed...lots were...mid afternoon weekday wintertime maybe why...found one open, and a hot dog and lemonade seated back at the Blue Picnic Table where the Showboat docks...I had all my gear, and plenty of time, but, picked up and returned home...at home on the driveway, did the pencil sketch...later, out for a Jack in the Box #4, Jumbo Jack cheeseburger combo, coffee; and worked the glimpse sketch some more while listening to NPR radio-grim tale of Texaco/Chevron entangled in legal battle over drilling pollution in Ecuador/Amazon, on going for decades...

:)

DavidDavid

Two Poems:1/20/21

 

Venice

Oh, one could ring the alarm
Everyday everynight
But it would be like a flashlight in the sunlight-
Venice, you're going down.


Stewards

So, all this time, I've listened and watched what has been made,
And aspired myself to the same stage,
The only place it seems where everyone meets.
You on your grand winged journeys,
Me on my vagabond walkabout,
Our morning workaday seperate ways,
Between continents and tables.

DolphinWords

:)

DavidDavid

WindArrow:OTI::pic,notes:::1/19/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day nineteen

Windy Day   State College and Katella

Notes:  rolled out to Blick's Art Store, on Placentia in Fullerton...it comes over me to go to art stores and browse and buy something...like a kid with the toy section in the Supermarket...four tubes of Blick watercolors, four packets of Generals compressed charcoal sticks, set of three Micron pens, two Strathmore newsprint pads, two Canson small water color, 140lb, spiral notebooks...g'mint check made me feel rich...

:)

DavidDavid 

Shopping:OTI::pics,notes:::1/18/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day eighteen

Shopping Mom

Sleeping Cat

Notes:  out for groceries and snacks...Autumn was asleep on the picnic bench under the Jacaranda...of late, she sleeps in a straight line...Shopping Mom from the grocery store...tried to go right at it...then did a pencil sketch...then tried again with just ink...more to do...rinse and repeat...things take awhile!

:)

DavidDavid

Carts:OTI::pics,notes:::1/17/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day seventeen

#inktober  week two

Carts, Ark

Notes:  no photos today...yesterday too...hmmph...rolled over to Old Town Orange, but no where to park, and streets blocked off for outside seating...rolled back and napped! after Chinese food leftovers...Brontasaurus Ark over last few days...one panel cartoons are an art!...at Starbucks later sighted the carts at that grocery store's lot...

:)

DavidDavid

amazon:OTI::pic,notes:::1/16/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel   day sixteen

amazon delivery girl

Notes:  and she was!...I can't fit in 36/36 blue jeans anymore...can't button any of the old ones....so ordered a new pair of 38/36 wranglers...delivered by an amazon goddess...lol...if they fit, I'll order some more...one at a time...I get the logo confused...

:)

DavidDavid

Stargirl:OTI::pics,notes:::1/15/21

Open To Interpretation

#stradaeasel  day fifteen

Stargirl    after Starbucks

Euclid and Garden Grove Blvd.

Notes:  rolled out for gasoline, and snacks from Starbucks, danish, chocolate croisante, hot grande mocha...some "fan" art...

:)

DavidDavid