Welcome Back and Giveaway

Well I'm back after our amazing trip to the UK visiting London and Bath as well as Stonehenge.  It was very busy as we tried to cram as much sightseeing as possible in and I had absolutely no time for all the sketching and painting I wanted to do.  Here is a picture of St. Paul's which I have painted before.  The early morning sun came out for about 2 minutes and the whole cathedral seemed to glow.

Here is an old sketch I did of the same view.

We have been home for a few days, kids are back in school, and I'm taking a few days to settle back in, clean the studio after the Christmas whirlwind, and plan out the next few months.                                     

I have to show you my favorite purchase from the trip.  London had more scarves, scarf/hood combos, hats and mittens than I have ever seen, this coming from a Canadian where we spend at least 7 months of the year bundled up.  I have never seen these wrist warmers.  Of course we have all seen the fingerless gloves with or without the flap to turn them into full gloves but I always found them too fussy.  These are so simple and my new best friends (especially with -15 this morning).

They are just a knitted rectangle about 10" x 7" that is then sewn into a tube and then a few stitches are added to tack in a 1" pocket for your thumb.  Now how easy is that!  Put them on before your jacket and you are quite snug and your fingers are free.  A great knitting or crocheting project for January.

On to the Giveaway.  "Drawing and Rendering THE FIGURE in Black and White and Color" is a new book by Canadian artist Doug White. I was given the chance to review this book and pass along a giveaway copy by Vantage Press.


First the details:

- soft cover
- 8.5" x 11"
- 130 pages
- suggested retail $24.95 US and $27.95 CAN
- published August 2011



This book is set- up like a student guide from a Master Drawing class.  It contains 43 exercises to work you thru not only the basic mechanics of drawing the figure but also how to develop and refine your style.

Some highlights include:
- excellent use of proportion calculations
- exercise #5 where you practice the elements of the face 20 x each at 3 different angles (this is a serious book not just a casual read)
 - tips on using yourself as a model to practice foreshortening, etc.

- 3 exercises specifically on clothing and fashion drawing
- the Box Method which has you create your own ruler to measure out a box on your page.  You then use this ruler to help you create a composition of the figure contained in this box.  I can already see the practicalities of using this method to teach the kids at school.

Figure drawing is one of those areas in which artists continually have to practice, refine, and repeat. In fact most artists will continue to attend a figure class (where able) throughout their career.  This is a good alternative where you can work through the exercises and then repeat. I plan on working thru all the exercises as increased Figure work is my (as usual)#1 art resolution this year!

So if you are interested in winning your own copy of this book you have 3 ways to enter:

- leave a comment on this post
- email me at thatartistwoman@shaw.ca
- like or comment on this post on my Facebook page

The draw will be on Saturday Jan 14 so you have until Friday 11:59pm to enter.
This draw is open to all Canadian and US residents.

Good luck everyone and hope to see you soon with more art projects from you know, that artist woman....what was her name again?

Happy New Year from London

Well it's officially 2012 in London and I just thought I would show you a few photos from the past few days.

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

Some treasures from the British museum.

Wall painting from the tomb of Nebamun.

The Portland Vase.

Head of the horse of Selene from the Parthenon.  Way too many pictures to show you here.

The Painted Chapel in Greenwich.

and for all you Tudor fans the site of the original home of the Tudor palace and birthplace of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and Mary I at Greenwich.

Two of the ravens at the Tower of London.

Some graffiti at Beauchamp Tower at the Tower of London site by a prisoner.

And finally the view of the Tower Bridge from the wall at the Tower of London.

That's all for now.  Wishing you a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2012!