Sunday, January 4, 2015

A passion for roses

Untitled (Roses in process)
Black marker on Moleskine paper
8 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches
Barbara Muir © 2015

If anything can teach you patience in drawing,
it's taking on the challenge of drawing a rose.
Which is just like drawing a car, or a face, or
a champagne glass, only slightly more complicated.
How you do it is (ach here I am giving advice --
after I said we don't need any):
1. You work on what attracts you first, and
then move to the next bit.
2. You work on what seems easiest first, and
then work on the next easiest part.  

As you can see I didn't get time to finish this
today.  Drawing roses is a painstaking business,
and by the time you've drawn one rose, the rose has
changed, opened, stretched, decided it wants
to be different.
The models pose, 
and then change the pose.
Another wonderful day in the new year.  I
went to the Antique Market at St. Lawrence
market and picked up some things at the
$10 table.  Very nice man.  Plus a friend
gave us four lovely pressback Art
Nouveau chairs -- and we had to decide where
to put them.

I love chairs as much as I love roses.  And
probably should own an auditorium, so I
could easily house however many I wanted.

Have a drawing-what-you-love day.

4 comments:

Liza Hirst said...

WOW! Barbara, your drawings are just wow! I absolutely LOVE your drawings! And they inspire me to do some of my own - just have to figure out when I can do them....
I wish you and your family a wonderful HAPPY new year and will take your advice not only on drawing roses but for trying to make it a really happy one for us, too.
Lots of love to you wonderful, inspiring person, artist, friend, writer and all the other things you might be, liza

cohen labelle said...

I can see why you love roses and I agree with Liza!

xo, Marcia

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Liza,

Oh My! Right back at you. Steven was just saying that if we go to the Florence Biennale this year, we must stop by London and see you and Hubert. Great idea! Thank you. It means the world to me that you like my drawings. Happy New Year to you.
And so far it has been very happy!

XOXOXOXOXO Barbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Marcia,

Love, love, love roses. Which are dropping petals on the table as I write (they are such drama girls!).
Have got to have roses. The best.
You are sweet.

Happy New Year! XOXOXOXOXO Barbara

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!