Buttnekkiddoodles

On the grounds of Quebec Provincial Parliament, drew two toiling figures from Honoré Mercier’s monument. Mercier was a lawyer, journalist, politician, francophone, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party and ninth premier of Quebec. Well, of course we expect liberals to be champions of the working folks, especially those who toil in the fields and bring  us our food. But as you see below, the fascists felt they had pull with the very same crowd.

Turns out, the Mormons chose to applaud the same honest folks of the soil. To wit, a statue in the Utah capitol in Salt Lake City. Notice the bee hive cradled by the gentlemen. That’s their symbol for industry. Busy as bees. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop it is said.

Oh there’s more to it than that, in young countries, new states, huge countries with large agrarian tracts and burgeoning mouths to feed, new arrivals were welcome. Check out another statue in that same state house.

Yep! Welcome them newcomers. Bring us them tired poor yearning to be free and hankering to start fresh with a hungry work ethic. Well, we’ve seen what become of that unfortunate message. Canada’s prime consideration now is the size of the new applicants wallets and if you have specialized skill sets and educational pedigree. And their haughty neighbor to the south is no nobler, trying as they are to round up the very foreign born workforce union busting businesses are quietly encouraging. Quietly so they don’t run afoul of their angry political constituents who’d like to see our southern border bricked up solid. There just might be a Great Wall for sale in China.
And then of course, any country worth its salt will promote the education and cultural enhancement of its citizens, both longstanding and newly arrived.

Again, even the Fascists seem smitten with the notion of nurturing young minds.

Although a quick look at this pre WWII building from Mussolini’s reign could leave one unsure of the nature of the nurturing, and a suspect notion of the subject with which whom is smitten.
It seems all governments rush to extol their virtuous and historic accounting of noble intentions. The arts even get a slap on the back as long as their leash is short and their creativity finds its way to ad firms with a gimlet eye for well heeled clientele with a product to pitch.

Let’s have a look at dynamics useful in moving any great, ambitious nation forward. You know, building stuff. Useful stuff, and figuring out how to make grand projects, and new cool stuff. How to make better, and bigger stuff than your competitors. Well sir, you might just be talking about Science, Engineering, Architecture, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and other learned kinda stuff. How things work and how to make it all work better. Grow faster. Fly faster. You see where this is going. Check out my man below with the telescope. A visionary, looking beyond the local realm.

Now if we’re to tell the whole story, you gotta keep in check those who’d try and abscond with your cool new stuff, your good ideas. And maybe, someone’s got something you need to make your stuff better. But, they don’t wanna share it. Well, that’s where these guys come in.

And they just might have to do THIS!

Boy howdy!!! Who’d wanna keep doing that?

Well, you’ll need to come up with something persuasive. Something that not only show real gratitude, for like, your dangerous toil and maybe even ultimate sacrifice! But to let you know, you’ll be taken care of, real good, and for like, all of eternity.

So we kinda come back around in a way to the original statue where that hunched over woman looks to be working her tired body like a rented mule. And it’s not like all them fine folks in their fine shoes and soft fabrics eating delicious meals on fancy gold rimmed plates, don’t give thanks to those who had a role in …. well for certain they give some kind thanks. Maybe it’s a catch all thanks. One that covers ALL the bases. Like a big creator. You know, the BIG creator. But some time they leave thanks in a fairly permanent way, you know, as when they do a statues that represent all that contributed to this uplift. And they make it in stone. Or bronze, which will be around for gosh, a long time. Unless it gets melted down and reused, for something like a bell. Or probably a canon.
I’ll give further thoughts in a later post.

Drawings made with various inks, DeAtramentis and Platinum Carbon and pigmented markers by Faber-Castell and White China markers on several different papers, Stillman & Birn, Tomoe River Paper, Strathmore.

 
I had the absolute delight to watch Lenin Delsol give a presentation of how he approaches portraiture with pastels. Lenin is a first rate draughtsman with an exemplary work ethic who has a long career as an illustrator and teaches at the Palette & Chisel Academy in Chicago.
Both knowledgeable and accessible he has a smooth and jocular personality that is perfectly suited to the P&C where his students may range from the advanced and professionals brushing up on their technique, to beginners with whom he is especially good at giving them the nuts and bolts of foundational skills and encouraging them that challenging techniques are within their reach. Especially appealing to me is how he deflates the nerve racking apprehension of learning a demanding craft with self effacing humor that stuffs the notion of genetic gifts of genius and pompous celebration of technical bravura. His relaxed manner assures all his students that one and all are humbled by the challenges of the craft and that joy, thorough investigation and perseverance are more dependable paths to creative and personal success.
Some of his fine work, as well as that of the other instructors at the Palette & Chisel are currently on display in the galleries on the main floor.

Keep getting the message that this is a craft that requires constant, regular attention. Minus the daily commitment, the rust sets in.

      I don care how long I’ve been at this,   may have s baseline of ability, but it’s sub peak performance if my time commitment slides below 4-5 hours a day with daily activity.  
  This last page of two reclining figures is an example of how my anatomy is not sharp. the eyes on the yop, light skinned woman were too high up on her face and attempts to lower their appearance just thickened them but still dew her face out too long. Also her neck claviclar area was rich with structural information but I came up dhort there as well. 

The bottom figure is a rubbery mess.

 
Caught some artists life drawing and sketching out and about.

Fountain pen and Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens on Tomoe River Paper and Tomoe River Paper.

 
Just as one would hope to capture the essential features of a car, or tree, building, baseball stadium, or someone’s home such that they could be identified by a person who hadn’t been present when the artist drew said thing, I try to “get essential features” of the people I draw, when out and about, so that you might gather important info about them. What I think of as “capturing fleeting expressions“ or “capturing the ephemeral”.

Maybe you sense gender, have a rough estimate of age, hair texture, ethnicity, or race. That they aren’t just a template, a simplified symbol for a human. Will I be able to set features and the ‘structures beneath their skin’ that their individuality might be evident and their identity known? And if I have even a modicum of time, can I give indications that they are cognizant, sentient people with expressions that give outward evidence of emotional states of ….say stress, anger, surprise, delight, or that they are concentrating, focusing, in the act of speaking, perhaps listening. Can I capture a sign they are thinking?

I’ve always done better when there were lots of features such as mustaches, wrinkles and weathered faces, prominent noses, or unusual hairstyle, less so if someone had simple features, smooth skin, button noses. Hence young children and babies vexed me. Young women were much more difficult than old geezers. With years of practice and concentrating on the goals stated above I’ve made strides, but them dang young kids still expose some of my shortcomings.

However, last week, on a crowded #22 CTA bus, I managed to get a young child taking a snooze in a stroller that surpassed the majority of years of attempts. There’s still hope for yer Uncle Darn.