Figure Drawing aids

Some people are naturals at figure drawing and the rest of us struggle. The library has a number of artists' anatomy books to help those of us in that second group. A particularly lovely one is Sarah Simblet’s Anatomy for the Artist. It has mylar overlays showing how bones, muscles, and skin affect each other. Sarah Simblet's Anatomy for the Artist

Recently I spent some time on the National Film Board of Canada's website. As I watched Norman MacLean's 1968 classic Pas de Deux, featuring two back-lit dancers, it struck me how useful this video would be for understanding the modelling of the human figure.                  NFB's Pas de Deux

Similarly, Ryan Larking's animated short, Walking, may be helpful for us drawing duffers. Larkin uses line drawing, color wash, and a keen eye for animation detail to illustrate the way people walk at various stages in their lives. NFB's Walking

And while you’re in that website, I dare you NOT to have a look at any of the other videos. Just like I dare you to eat one potato chip.

Colored Pencil Society of America

http://www.cpsa.org/

The Colored Pencil Society of America sponsors two competitions each year. One, the annual juried show held in conjunction with its annual conference, is for works created exclusively in colored pencil. That competition's deadline is March 31st.

The other, the "Explore This!" competition, is for mixed media explorations that include colored pencil as one of the media. The deadline for this competition last year was November 15th, so I'm guessing it will be some time about then for this year also.

The library has a number of books on creating with colored pencil and mixed media. Here's a sampling:

Check the Harris County Public Library catalog for these and other books at our online website http://www.hcpl.net

Art in Black and White

A lot of us received charcoal and conte crayon at the Christmas gift exchange. Let me inspire you to use it. As I walked by the art shelves the other day, Tom Feelings' The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo caught my eye. As soon as I opened it I was blown away by the amazing composition, command of value, and emotional impact of his gray scale paintings.
You can request a copy for yourself from http://catalog.hcpl.net/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1P9519720029D.249795&menu=search&aspect=subtab13&npp=60&ipp=325&spp=60&profile=webcat&ri=&term=&index=.GH&term=middle+passage&index=.TH&term=feelings&index=.AH&term=&index=.SH&aspect=subtab13&x=41&y=2#focus