Back alleys bisect many blocks in my Cedar Fall, Iowa, old-town neighborhood. They're unpaved and un-curbed. I love walking down them and peeking into people's backyards. Even if homeowners keep the fronts of their property neat and tidy, the backs--as seen from the alleyways--are often scrappier. I find this interesting.
One of these days, the garage on the left is going to fall over or be taken down. Meanwhile, I wanted to capture its twisting form. I drew this this evening after the temperature dropped below 100 degrees. It's a couple blocks from my house. I tested out my new stool for the first time, the one I'll be taking to the Urban Sketching Symposium next week.
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| Tilted Garage |
I drew this next one the day before, looking from my backyard down the alleyway to the bi-colored brick Lincoln Elementary School, several blocks away. I was attracted to this scene initially by the curvy shape of the alley and the odd shaped patches of weeds that grow down the center. Again, the heat was beastly; I waited until evening when the temperature dropped to the tolerable 95 degrees in the shade.
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| Unpaved Alleyway from 11th |
I love the way the neocolor looks on the toned paper in these sketches. Your technique and use of the color is wonderful! I really like seeing these out of the way places that you illustrate . . . Beautiful stuff to say the least!!!
ReplyDeleteCedar Falls, Iowa IS an out of the way place. The more I look for scenes to draw here, the more I realize how visually rich it is. Perhaps, there’s that potential wherever you are. I love this toned paper. Not sure what I like better of this Canson paper, the wicker-colored or the black. The Neocolor II comes alive on both. Thanks for your comment, Don!
DeleteI love both of these SO MUCH, Marcia...I love urban alleyways, too, and newer developments just don't have them. You've really captured that feeling...
ReplyDeleteMy shed studio opens out onto our alley, but there are only woods directly across from me...it's a bit of an anomaly.
The neocolor WORKS on your toned paper...these feel as if Gauguin had visited the Midwest.
I must have been an alley rat in a previous life. You, too, I suspect. Maybe that’s how we know each other (outside of this glorious art-sharing that we do). :-D
DeleteYour comment about Gauguin in the Midwest made my day Kate. My husband John and I chuckled about it over lunch. Well, since Gauguin missed the opportunity, somebody’s got to do it so I’ll gladly carry the banner.
Indeed, some of my earliest memories involve the alley behind my childhood home, and the one one street over--a great place to ride bikes and pretend we were away from "civilization." Or parents!
DeleteGauguin didn't know what he was missing!
I didn’t discover back alleys until I was in my early 20s when I moved to South Minneapolis. I loved how perennial gardens spilled out in untended ways in the crevices alongside of garages. Great places to forage for wild grape leaves and black raspberries. I’d find neat stuff abandoned next to people’s garbage-like an oak drafting table I have to this day & a maple crib that I cleaned up and used for my first born. It was before Amazon Prime and Walmart. Even if there were, I couldn’t afford buying anything new then.
DeleteGreat finds! I think I just loved the less-cultivated, more relaxed feeling, which you've captured beautifully...
DeleteAnd people put more INTERESTING things in their backyards...old woodstoves used for barbecues or planters, washtubs with herbs or sweet potatoes growing in them...and yep, those fruit trees and berries overhanging the fence, yum.