Posts in Category: drawing
Natalina
Natalina
Meet Natalina!
Natalina is pastry chef and owner of Pasticceria Natalina, an Italian pastry shop in my neighborhood. It is said on the website that they make the best Italian pastries on this side of the Atlantic. But I have to tell you that I have been to Italy and I have not tried anything better there! Natalina’s pastry is the best I ever had anywhere. Made on site in front of you (the kitchen, the shop and cafe are an open space, you can see Natalina and her husband working) the confections are fluffy, light and flaky and are created to delight your senses. And let’s not forget her gelato and cookies! That’s not your usual Chips Ahoy, they are not made to withstand a delivery truck, but to crumble and melt in your mouth and create a taste sensation akin to poetry. And this is from a person that doesn’t like sweets.
This portrait took me longer than usual because of hands. I felt Natalina’s hands were important in this portrait both because of what she does with them and for their expressiveness. When I showed the portrait to George, my drawing teacher, and complained about complexity he asked “Why are you doing this to yourself?!” meaning why add difficulty and time to my already tight schedule. The hands doubled the portrait time. It is a very good question. I guess I am doing this to myself in order to see if I can manage this.
#25 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
Mr. Walden
Mr. Walden
Meet Mr. Walden!
Willie Walden from 4D is my neighbor. If there is one person in our building that makes you think “Sunshine!” every time you run into him in the elevator – it’s Mr. Walden! With his ever ready smile it seems like he is always happy to see you. Note the signature Fedora. I don’t believe I have ever seen Mr. Walden without one. I even asked once – how come the hat? That’s to greet ladies, he said. Indeed. Mr. Walden always tips his hat to ladies. With his old world charm and manners, opening doors for you, offering to help carry your bags to the elevator, always a gentleman style greeting, always a smile, – Mr. Walden makes my heart melt.
#24 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
Tello
Tello
Meet Tello!
Tello is an original Mr. Fixit! There’s no better way to describe him. Tello is a building engineer for our 20 story high-rise building. He lives here and for the last 20 years he has been taking care of everything that makes a building: boilers the size of a large truck, miles of windows, acres of floors and walls, an endless maze of pipes, wiring and plumbing, industrial washers and dryers. And a myriad small things: you lost your key – Tello will cut you a new one, your faucet it dripping – Tello will tighten it. If we need something fixed, we go find Tello – it is as good as done. Like replacing a dishwasher that went senile (hear! hear! :D)
I live here since 1994. I watched Tello’s daughters grow up, move away, get married and have children of their own. I saw Tello’s beard turn white over the years. But his clever way of fixing anything and everything, making sure that this building is a home for 90 families has never changed.
When I took this shot Tello was fixing AC piping in our unit. Unknown to us our AC was leaking into the unit downstairs. Tello took care of that. I am sure he also repaired a ruined ceiling in the unit below. This building is our village. And Tello is our handyman. The best!
#23 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook
Theodore
Theodore
Meet Theodore!
Theodore, or Ted, is a manager of my favorite Greek grocery store The MarketPlace. The story goes like this. I am worried that I will not be able to come up with 40 faces for my Sketchbook Project. My concern is that I may not know that many people. So I started stopping people in the streets and public places and asking them to pose for my portraits. Generally making a nuisance of myself in the name of Art. So far my rate was about 50%, about half of the people agree to pose for me, bless them. Theodore was the first stranger I approached.
I was standing in line for the register at the MarketPlace when Ted arrived to help bagging groceries. I saw him and had to have his face for my series. He seemed to think it was a strange request, but one has to keep customers happy, and so he obliged. After a couple of shots in the middle dairy aisle he was getting bored, but I didn’t have a shot I wanted yet. To keep him entertained I started telling him what fine man he was and how much he looked like Humphrey Bogart. It was then I got this “Come hither!” look :).
#22 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook.
Phyllis
Phyllis
Meet Phyllis!
Phyllis is an artist, a painter and a student in Kaye’s art studio. Phyllis works in abstract style and mixed media. I want to take a moment here and really appreciate Phyllis and her art. Let me explain.
Every 8 or 10 studio sessions we have a discussion / peer review / critique session where we all hang our recent productions on walls and discuss them as a group. For the longest time I had next to nothing to say about Phyllis’ work. As an artist I gravitate to hyper realism; abstract art the farthest on a spectrum for me. At these group discussions I realized that I don’t even have the language, the vocabulary, to talk about abstract art. I had nothing to contribute except an occasional “I like this” or being quiet when I didn’t because I didn’t know how to express what it was I didn’t like.
Thanks to Phyllis and her art this is changing. As I look at her work, hear her thoughts on developing it, listen to Kaye’s suggestions to her I started acquiring some initial understanding and language in the area of abstract imagery. When I like something now, I have some ideas as to why I like it. Last time I even ventured forth with a suggestion on color.
Thank you, Phyllis! Working next to you is a pleasure!
#21 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook.
Mary
Mary
Meet Mary!
Mary is a new student in Kaye’s art studio, but her exuberant and fun personality makes it feel like she has always been there. Mary has been an artist her whole life and has taught art in grammar school for many years. She loves working with graphite, charcoal and pastels and is self-admittedly addicted to drawing giant heads – full sheet size. They are spectacular, and for me, who can fit a fully modeled detailed portrait into 5 inch square, are mind-boggling and worth a great deal of respect.
This portrait is also significant because with it I’ve reached a so important milestone of 20 – I am half done. It is all downhill from here.
#20 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook.
Happy 80th!
Shimon
Today is my dad’s 80th birthday. Happy birthday to the very best father in the world!
Папа, я тебя очень люблю!
9″ x 12″ (23 x 30 cm) graphite on Bristol Smooth
David
David
Meet David!
Dr. David Solzman is a professor emeritus (geography) at University of Illinois Chicago Circle, an art photographer – the man behind The Affectionate Eye, an author of a book The Chicago River, a talented piano player and a friend of ours. My husband has been friends with David for almost 40 years and I can claim half of that. Oh, we can tell you stories… but we won’t, not here! I will certainly not share the compliments I have received from David through the years, some of which now belong to the annals of family legends, they are that… umm… creative! A true Renaissance man David is, we have a wall in our place dedicated to his art. At the same time while being a person of such great renown he is not opposed to babysitting our cat when we are out of town.
On September 19th we went on a day long boat tour on Chicago River guided and narrated by David. We went out of the river mouth, south on Lake Michigan, up Calumet river, through Cal-Sag Channel, the Sanitary and Ship Canal, connecting to Chicago river again and completed the circle. How can anyone talk for 8 hours, not repeat himself even once, and keep it rivetingly interesting all the time? The amount of Chicago history that David brought to us during the ride was astounding. Here I caught him with his mouth closed for just a second.
#18 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook.
Arturo
Arturo
By now it seems like everyone in my drawing class knows about my sketchbook project and a goal of 40 portraits. My classmates and even the teacher oblige me and let me photograph them for portraits, be that a bad hair day or not. Some with quiet resignation and a sigh, some with a smile and jokes about fame and Louvre, others informing me that they are making a great exception for the sake of Art. Be that what it may, people are helping me out and I appreciate that.
Arturo wasn’t all that thrilled about an impromptu photoshoot during a break between classes, but being a kind man and a true artist he felt obliged. Here he is studying figure sketches he has just done. They appear not to his liking… I find them to be pretty good.
#17 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook.
Allison
Allison
Meet Tinker Bell!
She goes by Allison these days, but this doesn’t change anything. If you are too grown up and as a result do not believe in fairies, you should come to my clay class in the Drawing Workshop and meet Allison in person. As is suitable for fairies, Allison makes puppets for theater productions and acts them. That’s her job. She is also very good with stilts, but this must be easy for those who can fly. She even has a website, One Flea Circus, where you can check out her puppets. A very 21st century fairy she is.
So if you driving streets of the Windy City late at night and while waiting for the light to change notice a girl flying by your driver’s window, her pants constructed entirely of colorful patches, red cape fluttering behind her, bicycle helmet on her head, remember the pixie dust and make a wish. It is never too late to believe in fairies.
#16 of 40. Graphite, Moleskine Cahier sketchbook.