Monday, October 4, 2010

Alice Waters

sketch by Rosa Phoenix


This is a contour drawing I did of Alice Waters.

Alice Waters is well-known in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond for founding the Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse, and for championing local, organically-grown food.

She also created the Edible Schoolyard project at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California, which is an educational program that centers around students growing and preparing their own food at school.

I briefly lived in Berkeley in 2008, in the neighborhood known as the Gourmet Ghetto (so-called because of the many wonderful markets, specialty food shops and restaurants).

Of course Chez Panisse is there and Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School's Edible Schoolyard garden, where I enjoyed occasional morning walks watching the squirrels taking the best figs from the fig tree. So I admire Alice Waters and what she has done for Berkeley, food, local farmers and the community.

A contour drawing is a nice exercise to try. Use a single line to make your drawing and don't lift your pen or pencil from the page. You are supposed to make a contour drawing without even looking at the page, but it's OK to cheat a little bit. This is a good way to stop thinking about what you are drawing, and just rely on your eye and your hand. 

You will have to draw slowly to get a good drawing. 

Try it, you will be surprised at the results!


LINKS





4 comments:

  1. Nice work! That has to be hard, not to lift your pen from paper and to keep going! Wow!

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  2. Actually it is fun, I like this kind of challenge! Thanks for visiting Davis.

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  3. Amazing that you did this with one line. It really is fine and full of character. I will have to give this technique a try, maybe even today with company. Thanks for the inspiration and so nice to get to know you a little more.

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  4. Yes this is a fun exercise, especially when you try doing it "blind" ... the results are pretty crazy but can be cool-looking! of course in this drawing I peeked. ;) Thanks for your feedback Tammie! Love seeing your drawings too!

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