I used soft charcoal and a large sheet of newprint to depict this model in a life drawing class. He exuded a deep sadness and his poses seemed natural to his countenance. He was also very thin.
“The bright side of the planet moves toward darkness
And the cities are falling asleep, each in its hour,
And for me, now as then, it is too much.
There is too much world.”
― Czesław Miłosz, The Separate Notebooks
I was feeling listless about this inktober until I picked up Daily Rituals : How artists work by Mason Currey. I immediately knew that I want to do these portraits for the inktober.
FRANCIS BACON.
At the end of these long nights, Bacon frequently demanded that his reeling companions join him at home for one last drink - an effort, it seems, to postpone his nightly battles with insomnia. Bacon depended on polls to get to sleep, and he would read and reread classic cookbooks to relax himself before bed.
#inktober #portraits #francisBacon
Benjamin Franklin (Part 2)
The plan worked, up to a point. After following the course several times in a row, he found it necessary to go through just one course in a year, and then one every few years. But the virtue of order—“Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time”—appears to have eluded his grasp. Franklin was not naturally inclined to keep his papers and other possessions organized, and he found the effort so vexing that he almost quit in frustration.
This timetable was formulated before Franklin adopted a favorite habit of his later years—his daily “air bath.” At the time, baths in cold water were considered a tonic, but Franklin believed the cold was too much of a shock to the system. He wrote in a letter: I have found it much more agreeable to my constitution to bathe in another element, I mean cold air. With this view I rise early almost every morning, and sit in my chamber without any clothes whatever, half an hour or an hour, according to the season, either reading or writing. This practice is not in the least painful, but on the contrary, agreeable; and if I return to bed afterwards, before I dress myself, as sometimes happens, I make a supplement to my night’s rest, of one or two hours of the most pleasing sleep that can be imagined.
From Daily rituals by Mason Currey
#daulyrituals #inktober #benjaminfranklin @masoncurrey
First time coloring with markers since I was a kid. Couldn't sleep last night so I started drawing this. No idea what it is. Just let the pen do the work haha organized my art supplies today and decided to finally try out my markers.
Zoomed in shot of "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead". Created in 2012. Size: 22” x 30” / Micron Pens on Archival Paper. This piece was all drawn freehand - no rulers or measuring tools were used to create this artwork. 2019 kinda looked like this. It had a lot going on. Lots of changes. A close friend of mine predicted 2019 would be "The year of change", and she was right… at least up in my neck of the woods. Anyway, it has been full of good, fun and challenging things – all worth while. Excited to dive into 2020.
Sleep well David Bowie, and thanks for all the inspiration! Saw this comment on one of Iggy Pop’s music videos via YouTube and had to create something based around it, spelling mistakes and all...
Louis Armstrong (1901–1971)
Armstrong relied on music to lull himself to sleep. Before he could get into bed, however, he had to administer the last of his daily home remedies, Swiss Kriss, a potent herbal laxative invented by the nutritionist Gayelord Hauser in 1922 (and still on the market today). Armstrong believed so strongly in its curative powers that he recommended it to all his friends, and even had a card printed up with a photo of himself sitting on the toilet, above the caption “Leave It All Behind Ya.”
- From Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey
“All music is folk music. I ain't never heard a horse sing a song.”
― Louis Armstrong
#dailyrituals #inktober #LouisArmstrong @masoncurrey
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)
Toulouse-Lautrec drank constantly and slept little. After a long night of drawing and binge-drinking, he would often wake early to print lithographs, then head to a café for lunch and several glasses of wine. Returning to his studio, he would take a nap to sleep off the wine, then paint until the late afternoon, when it was time for aperitifs.
(One of his inventions was the Maiden Blush, a combination of absinthe, mandarin, bitters, red wine, and champagne. He wanted the sensation, he said, of “a peacock’s tail in the mouth.”)
From Daily rituals by Mason Currey
#dailyrituals #inktober #henriToulouseLautrec @masoncurrey