Hello!

practice!

Well, I have been practicing my sketches on every piece of paper! There is some excitement in the air! Project Runway All Stars starts tonight! A good a reason as any to have a fashion drawing party don't you think!

from Instagram!

 

'love you copic markers' by myra anderson. . .

Yes, there are so many reasons to be inspired as an artist...and here we are at reason #4...Karen and her copic markers!!

When I first saw Karen's work I ran around and gathered every marker and highlighter I had in the house (see above).  I found that the fashion or sketch artist's favorite marker is the 'copic marker' (see Karen's below).  The copic marker is a lovely thing to have...it's double sided and unlike a regular marker it has a brush tip side that produces a rather what I would call painterly quality (Sharpie also has a brush tip marker that I would like to try).  Copics are very expensive (but refillable) so you may want to venture anywhere you can get a discount and like me - buy one set at a time.  Oh how I wish I had all those lovey copic markers!!!!

'grizzled - duh! this is the way to the diner' by myra anderson painter of the fashion sketch?

Where ever we stand as artists, where would we be if we did not entertain the idea that at some point we will get better.  And so, we accelerate ourselves when we take the unfamiliar and 'go for it'. This is the metamorphism of the artist... the... okay! enough of the philosophical gobble de goop!

Reason #3 to stay inspired is the work of Trish Biddle.  If you google her you will see that she has quite a large body of  colorful, thoughtful, beautiful and varied work.

Trish Biddle

 

Trish Biddle

 

'grizzled - crazy legs walking' by myra anderson painter of the fashion sketch...

Ahhh...there's a reason I haven't posted since the last post.  This past week I have been trying to restore order to my messy little studio space area thingy roo.  I have been eliminating junk and rearranging other junk so that I may perhaps be more productive in a more spacious space! Anyhoo...last week I could only do few sketches like this one just to keep the art chops going.  

Reason #2 of the one hundred reasons to stay inspired is the artwork of Lee Brydges.  Lee is inspiring because she has a fountain of ideas - and - her sketches are embedded with  interesting textures and details.  She also adds expressive text to her art that make you at times stop and say 'huh?' 'what!?'  I chose this little illustration because I love the colors and I thought that it was like 'a short poem that expresses much with very few words'.

Artwork by Lee Brydges

 

'grizzled' by myra anderson painter of the fashion sketch...

I bought these little markers for one reason and one reason only...they looked sooooo cute!  And as promised they were a lot of fun!  Also, there are at least 100 reasons I need to continue to practice the delightful art of fashion drawing, painting and sketching this year. One reason is the ever refreshing artwork of jeanette getrost...

 

'out and about' by myra anderson...

hello beautiful people.  wow! I don't know edmund and edmund don't know me - but I actually had to take a minute to mourn the fact that he was eliminated last night on project runway and will not be going to fashion week.

there is a project runway blog where certain ones think that he will indeed receive the tim gunn save...we just gotta have some drama first.  i hope they're right!

above, you may recall, that this is a series I wanted to work on - where I would do some fashion paintings ala degas.  this is two 4x12 inch paintings together. i'm looking forward to getting back into this or something very soon.

speaking about degas,  who wouldn't be inspired by this lovely painting by Tom Nachreiner.

'something on your mind?' by myra anderson...

hello beautiful people!  so many of you are telling wonderful stories with your paintings.  me? well try as I might, and I did indeed try, but this week I did not produce one painting or one drawing that I liked. they were all, as the kids say 'whack'!  

anyhoo that doesn't keep the party from rolling on!  throwback thursday...here is some artwork I did earlier this year.  I have been wanting to try this collage type technique again...and maybe I will soon!

this photo below belongs to  yasmin on instagram.  what a portrait of healthy food! I really need to eat like this more often especially at the project runway party tonight!

 

'step into pink - an extreme collage' by myra anderson...

 
Sometimes a painting is like a short story and with each glance we discover more of the story.  Also as we know, the drama is not always what is added to a painting . . . sometimes it's what is left out of a painting.  It's what's left to the viewer's imagination.  Robert Heindel was such an artist.  He painted many beautiful figurative abstract paintings of beauty and drama.  I also love the little drama of his painting below.

'her green shoes - an extreme collage' by myra anderson...

Hello beautiful people! How is your figurative work coming along?  Again with the project runway!  It's down to the final four I think!  The interesting thing to me is that Tim Gunn would have used his 'Tim Gunn save' for emotional reasons by now.  That's the curious thing about this season. . . no emotional investment . . . everyone get's "the old heave ho and the 'don't let the door hit ya' do you need me to help you pack?" from Tim Gunn this season.  
Anyhoo. . .I'm not happy with this photograph - this girl is actually smiling!  I'll try another photo later. 

Another thing that also makes art an excellent adventure is getting a glimpse of the artist's studio, workspace and tools.  This beautiful array belongs to artist Hodaya Louis...

more later...

'A big top over some black pants draw-ma' by myra anderson . . .

Ah well kids...tomorrow is the project runway party and looking in the mirror I need to bring  my big top over my black pants party.  The photo below is what I wish I could eat...but I shan't...

I'll take 50 please!

You have to admit that these look like a work of art...speaking of which...I love this painting by Milt Kobayashi. He is a wonderful colorist and I love staring at those lines...speaking of lines...well...next time...

 

'patch work draw-ma' by myra anderson...

Last night PR was a little rough.  They had to create a garment for the everyday woman - in this case the members of the crew. But I'm sure (I think) that Nicole and I would agree that they voted the right person off.

Anyhoo, I love realism, I love expressionism and everything in between.  In expressionism you can even have crazy shapes and orange shoe shadows. And of course in art...you can use a lot of color or make full use of one fantastic color like the artist Sandra Flood below.  She can take dabs of paint and make it look like a woman who can't wait to get home and eat her 'lobster fried rice'! This painting is called 'take out'.

'this is how I walk in my red shoes draw-ma' by myra anderson...

Well, I'm still working on my figurative expressionism.  I'm trying to master what I call the 'none face' face.  The artist Dan McCaw (below) is the master of color, texture, story telling in a painting and the 'none face face'.  I would like to master the 'none face' in my figurative expressionist work because I want to represent 'the every woman' in the painting.  Figurative expressionism was some kind of a modern day movement.  I believe that a part of it was pulling the landscape or figure out of the abstract painting.  If that is so...then Dan McCaw does it well!

I would also like the increase the 'story telling' in my painting.  Patience.  Baby steps.  This is the food we are having at the project runway party tonight.  I don't know what this is...but I'm going to eat this.  Then you are going to have to give me a hamburger...or something...

It's an egg! Seen on Pinterest...

'this is me walking in my green shoes draw-ma' by myra anderson...

I don't believe it!  I haven't seen the last episode of Project Runway yet because so much has happened!  I do know who got voted off however, and I must say that based on that one garment I am not surprised...but indeed...she is a talented designer.  

My drawing above is an interpretation of one of the designs.  I am still working on my 'colorful figurative expressionism' but I saw this painting below (and so far the artist is unknown by me.)  This painting inspired me to turn my drawing into a monocromatic painting with her green shoe draw-ma...It's almost finished!

'me and my ballerina draw-ma' by myra anderson. . .

Well, how is your figurative adventure coming?  Sometimes in art I feel like the three legged mouse who says 'well...I'm going for that cheese again...and maybe this time things will be different!'  Happy to say, I did a couple of ballerina drawings that I actually like!

The artist Connie Chadwell (below) is a master of figurative art in oil as well as pastel...and she is also a master of breathing emotion as well as movement into her drawings of charcoal, pencil and pen.  

Connie Chadwll

Well, gotta go...Nicole and I have to get ready for the project runway party tomorrow!!

'blue pants blue stripes draw-ma' by myra anderson . . .

Myra Anderson

Well...here I was practicing my somewhat figurative expressionism.  Again I started with a simple sketch.  However, many artists start with no sketch.  They cover the entire canvas with paint and then they 'find' the figure within the paint.  Not gonna lie to you...done it before... don't know when I'm going to try it again.

One such artist who paints beautifully and uses this method is Linda Christensen (painting below).  There is another artist who practices doing a small painting every day and then frames them with antique frames he refurbishes from thrift store finds!  Wanna try!

Linda Christensen

 

'drama in my red shoes draw-ma' by myra anderson painter of the fashion sketch...

Well, I can honestly say that this weekend I practiced my art like a dieter eating the last chocolate donut on earth...like it was 'going out of style'.  I sketched some things, I painted some things, I pastel-ed  some things....and I also noticed some things.

I noticed that my paintings were starting to get a little 'rigid'.  I needed to loosen up.  What to do?  "Ahhhh! I'm supposed to be painting the 'fashion sketch'" I thought.  But I was doing too much controlled drawing and not enough loose sketching.

So, instead of a drawing, I did the painting above from this sketch.  And like a baby who eats country fried steak for the first time and says 'I don't know what this is - but I want more' I want to loosen up more...maybe not full out one hundred percent total figurative abstract expressionism...but more!

I absolutely love this painting (below) by Peggy Kroll Roberts - it's so delicious!

'me in the pink dress draw-ma' by myra anderson painter of the fashion sketch...

while interesting and engaging...project runway was also a little - shall we say weird...last night?   Why weird? Heidi said that the runway show was excellent (which it was) but at the same time most of the critiques of the clothing seemed quite brutal.

In my opinion, well sewn or not, all of the garments were just a little bit strange (the winning garment was indeed beautiful) ...and it seemed as if many chose the 'straggly hair and weird eye makeup' look for their models. Of course I could be wrong on all of this (that's me in the pink dress lol!!!)

What makes project runway more interesting going forward is the elimination of the last designer who while good - struggled with each challenge.  Now we are at what I would call 'the top tier' of designers and it's GAME ON!!! 

This is a painting Liepke did some time ago.  Okay! Now he's just showing off!!!! (just kidding!)

'abstract blue dress draw-ma' by myra anderson painter of the fashion sketch...

So indeed, the project runway party is tonight and I have changed my mind and decided to wear my favorite blue dress.  As I previously mentioned, it is the fantastic illustrator and artist Jeanette Getrost who is working with project runway to illustrate the winning designs.  Jeanette has a very large body of varied and vibrant work! (click her name to see her instagram) Below is her illustration of the winning design I showed you before.

Thank you for your previous comments everyone! Helen welcome back to blogging...I missed you!  You know, every artist has their own amazing paint signature.  Askart said of this figurative painter "her process of painting is an endless and ineluctably rewarding cycle of learning and teaching." Uh?? The what??  Anyhoo, who is this artist and what does this word mean?? Next time...

'orange draw-ma' by myra anderson painter of the fashion sketch...

my oh my...how quickly the days do fly by!  It's time to say again that tomorrow is the project runway party!  This is a painted selfie portrait of myself of what I am wearing to the party...just add 82 years and 149 pounds!  I saw this fancy food on pinterest and in my mind this is the food we are having at the party

So, we're working on our fashion as well as our figurative work right?  The painting below is by Leslie Sandbulte.  I love that it's almost monochromatic and has three beautiful, expressive figures.  I was thinking...wouldn't it be great if I actually painted another illustration of the fashion from project runway?  Anyhoo...there is a fashion illustrator who is actually working with project runway to illustrate the winning designs...I'll tell you who she is next...

leslie sandbulte