What's Next?

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 I'm afraid my current drawing is just not looking good or promising or even intriguing.  Arthur said last week, "It's not supposed to be easy," but I'm not so sure. Sometimes a struggle can be enlightening but then again, it's nice when things seem to flow.  Actually, this looks better than I had thought.


Here's the next phase.  Maybe it's not that bad.


You know what?  I've been feeling discouraged, as you may have observed but seeing these shots makes me feel a little better.  I'm going to keep on keeping on.

I'm writing this Thursday morning, to post it tonight so it will be in your inbox first thing tomorrow. Our son, Sam, and his wife, Annye, are visiting, and later we're going to the Met to see Manet/Degas. We'll take the C train to 86th St and walk across the park.  I bet I see something really inspiring to share with you.

Later in the Day

Well, I feel much better now.  A nice walk across the Park...


And then the Met.  Manet and Degas. I never think about those two together but they certainly thought about each other.

the is Manet by Degas.


And I love this hat.   This reminds me of the song from Sunday in the Park with George--"Finishing the Hat".  When I heard it I thought--he (Stephen Sondheim) knows exactly what it's like to paint! Or write, or compose or anything, I guess.


I'm not sure which of the boys did this and I don't love it but I  took it because I want to remember that red-orange and blue.

Manet's "Boating".  I so love his blues.



The Horse Races! This is Degas for me.




This composition with the carriage almost out of the canvas was part of my first lesson in Impressionism--the fleeting glance.


Those elegant horses!

  Sam loved...


According to Wikipedia, 

The Battle of the Kearsarge and the Alabama is an 1864 oil painting by Édouard Manet. The painting commemorates the Battle of Cherbourg of 1864, a naval engagement of the American Civil War between the Union cruiser USS Kearsarge and the Confederate raider CSS Alabama. Many spectators were able to see the battle from the coast of France and saw the USS Kearsarge sink the CSS Alabama. Not having witnessed the battle himself, Manet relied on press descriptions of the battle to document his work.

A civil war sea battle took place off the coast of France? Who knew? Manet, who had considered joining the navy, sympathized with the Union and Degas, whose brothers were cotton brokers, rooted for the Rebels.  The New York Times had a big article on this show and here's the link:Manet/Degas NY Times

It's been a great day, and it just goes to show--when things look gray--take a walk and look at beautiful interesting stuff! It's amazing how quickly thing brighten up. 

And I came home to find the Central Park Conservancy calendar in my mailbox!  this is the page for October.





With my boy at the Met.

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