Tag Archives: drawing

G’Day Dürer

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A few years ago I did a drawing of Dürer’s preyer hands. But it was a quick drawing and I feel like I am way better at drawing now than I was then so decided to revisit it. While I was looking at reference material I came across more hands studies of his so decided to do a few. These are the drawings I can do while on the run – cafes, swimming chauffeur duties, at the kitchen table waiting for red beans to cook down.

I started out with seven and have ended up with five that I am happy with.

 

 

 

All drawings are 14x19cm, by Lily Mae Martin

 

Thank you for reading and looking and sharing and supporting my work. I have a number of drawings I haven’t added here and I will do soon.

 

 

5AM period pain and drawing

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That title just about sums up my week so far. A lot of the unexpected keeps on happening and my body clock is all out of whack – daylight savings! Title of this post courtesy of waking up at 5AM in a lot of pain, with the cat jumping on my face and me finding off the drawing above.

I’m working on bigger drawings but needed a little break from them so decided to do a little series like some of Dürer’s hand studies. He is a favourite artist of mine, I thought of two things while researching him recently.

1.) In the past it was perfectly acceptable for an artist to draw, etch, paint, sculpt, woodwork etc while these days I feel the pressure to do ONE or the OTHER.

2.) MASTER artist is definitely a word reserved for male artists.

Yesterday I had a very big day in Melbourne looking at a lot of art. I really want to write about that but my thoughts are still formulating also I am running out of time as today is also a big day and then Friday I will DO NOTHING.

 

Weekend in drawings

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Daughter wants to go to a birthdya party dressed up as a fridge.

 

 

Little puppy that we a minding for the week.

 

Went to see Aunty Marlene Gilson’s paintings at the Art Gallery of Ballarat and came across these two women who talked and looked for so long I thought I’d capture the moment with a quick drawing.

 

I’ve been having some struggles so gardening and quick drawing is bringing me back into focus and calming me down.

 

A tired, beautiful little face.

 

Not every drawing has to come out as you planned, not every drawing has to be ‘finished’. Art is such a unique window into the human experience – I have to remember that.

bird of paradise

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Earlier in the year I ran an observing nature drawing work shop at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. Each class I would bring in seeds, flower and leaf samples. In the end, as it was getting colder and my flowers were not flowering I was sourcing from florists.

Teaching drawing is pretty amazing, but it’s also a battle as I just really want to sit down and draw too. I took in two birds of paradise flowers to the final class and decided to also draw it – after the class, of course 😛

This was months ago but I forgot about it and just came across it in my sketch book last week. I think it is pretty good.

Inexorable – new drawing

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Inexorable, 105x75cm by Lily Mae Martin, ink on cotton paper- 2018
Drawing photographed by Gene Hammond-Lewis .

 

I did various studies for this drawing, and then I took my time rendering and rendering and trying out a slightly different technique to the usual. Then my kid got sick, I got sick, kid got sick again and it seems like I had been working on this drawing for so long I couldn’t see it anymore. In fact Gene and my kid both told me that it was finished and I didn’t believe them for about a week.

Titling this work was hard too, I had read various poems and birth prayers to try and convey what this work is about in one or few words, what a job.

I loved these lines from Plath’s Three Women in regard to birth

I do not have to think, or even rehearse.
What happens in me will happen without attention.

And the line from the birth prayer by Louis Macneice

I am not yet born

Judith Wright’s Women to Child

You who were darkness warmed my flesh

But as with the work and the title I have to accept them for what they are – a piece of a larger conversation, all of my works. And to not put so much on one work, one title that I can’t move forward.

When I accepted this I was happy again, though I must say the difficulty also comes from a year of very little recognition, little positive feedback – or any feedback. It gets very easy to get lost. I don’t expect to be in everything but nothing is a little tricky to navigate. So this too – makes it very hard to see my work and to keep on going.

Anyway, here we are – I did it and I am digging extra deep to keep on keeping on.