Sunday, April 7, 2013

Back in time in the sketchbooks

 
 Thomas Edison Sketch
Brown Pentel marker on bond paper
11 x 14 inches
Barbara Muir ©
(The blue on his hand is a mystery)

I was not going to post tonight, and then I had a
brilliant idea.  Pardon my pun.  But I went
searching through an old sketchbook,
and found this sketch of Thomas Edison.  As
 you can see some things about my drawing
style have not changed that much, and that makes
me happy.

I was fresh out of art school and university when
I drew this sketch.  At OCAD drawing in sepia was
big, and I really loved my sepia Pentel drawing
marker.  It's good sometimes to look back on what
you were doing artistically in the past.  Your
drawings and paintings from that time document
both your preferences and your life, in a way
that no photograph can ever match.

I was delighted that I liked the idea of Edison
and his light bulb back then. Now I'm sure I'd
illustrate the light bulb with more light. I think
I may have worried it a bit when I drew it, which
seems funny. But I ended up marrying an engineer,
and an inventor.  Aren't I lucky?  I feel especially
lucky that Edison invented the electric light bulb and
made life much easier for artists.

It is an excrutiatingly busy week, so you may
see more out of my notebooks.

Have an-enjoying-your-brilliant-ideas day.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Barbara,
Lovely strong sketch, shows how much you loved drawing even back then. You are so right about past work documenting one's interests and life, my sketchbooks take me down memory lane when i take a look.
Glad you're getting my feeds again!

Liza Hirst said...

I haven't had any brilliant idea today but I sure enjoyed today's Barbara post again! Lovely drawing and very true about finding older work and bringing back memories!
Crazy week here, too. Let's tackle it...

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Sally,

I tried to answer this the other day
but my blog info was leaping around like a rabbit. I kept hearing the roar of a train going by, but it wasn't a train at all. It was a huge thunder storm. So...I'm glad to get your feeds again too. Big time. Yes I did a lot of marker drawing as a student too. I don't think it was considered at all good form (Rubens et al you know), but they had such great pens at the art store. Couldn't resist. Still can't.

XO Barbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Liza,

Trying to tackle the busy week as you suggest. Still winning so far. I think artists and writers are lucky when they want to reminisce. Paintings and drawings really take you there. And journals do too. Hope your busy week is going well. I look forward to seeing more of your beautiful paintings and incredible drawings sometime soon.

XOBarbara

Portrait Artist

My photo
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I paint and draw on commission and for shows. To commission a portrait, or purchase one of my paintings please contact me at: barbara.muir@sympatico.ca
A major highlight in my career? Drawing Oprah Winfrey live via Skype for her show "Where in the Skype are you? Galleries: Studio Vogue Gallery, Toronto, Canada. The Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, New York City. Gallery at the Porch Door, Kingston, Canada. Your positive comments on this blog mean the world to me. I'd love to hear from you!