Life drawing has saved my life over the past year. I am thoroughly amazed at the professionalism and creativity of the artists, models and coordinators.
Since 2017, I have explored urban sketching, Plein air, life drawing, and portrait painting groups, and love oil painting on canvas from long poses.
In March 2020, starting online sessions when time (luckily, working from home as a graphic designer and web designer through the pandemic), I’ve gained a sense of community, sketching from shorter poses on a smaller paper size due to limited space!
Materials include watercolor, ink, pencil/graphite, watercolor pencil, marker, charcoal, gouache, and acrylic, prepped watercolor paper trying techniques, mixed media paper in tones and weights, and iPad for 1-5 minute poses and transitional movement.
A favorite is animal life drawing from live sessions with handlers, professional video footage or stills, and even from webcams!
2BOrNot2B Collective has done an amazing job. I also look forward to drawing from their incredible replays.
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Janet Dodrill during the Peninsula Art Academy Plein Air Competition, Fall 2020.The Wandering Sketchers, Zoom sketch session, 2020. Drawing by Janet Dodrill.Tomika, model, at Drawn to the Valley, Valley Art Center, open portrait studio. Oil painting by Janet Dodrill.Urban Sketchers Cleveland sketch event at Heinen’s downtown, 2020. Watercolor study by Janet Dodrill.
About three years ago I joined a Friday night portrait sketch group, The Pretentious Cleveland Portrait Artists. The website is at www.literarycafeartists.com and the weekly model sessions can be found at the blog link. The group (formerly known as The Pretentious Tremont Artists of the Literary Cafe) was founded in 2005 by Tim Herron and Brian Pierce, who wanted to practice portrait drawing and drew bar patrons late every Friday night at the Literary Cafe in Tremont, Ohio. Over that past 15 years the group has grown. It is unique that it pays the model for their time with the finished portraits! Though the original meeting location has changed, the group has still been open to all for both drawing and public viewing while the artists work.
Since March 2020, because of the Covid-19 pandemic and stay at home orders, the group was able to move to an online streaming platform, thanks to the help of seasoned arts interviewer, Roger Miller, of Tues@7 on Facebook and YouTube, managing production for the first 12 weeks. This has enabled even a broader reach of artists to join in the weekly drawing session, beyond the Cleveland area. Artists then send in their portraits to give the model.
Around April of 2020, Tim Herron was interested in drawing portraits of doctors and nurses as a thank you for their service on the frontlines of battling the Coronavirus. Several artists around the world were making the news at the time involved in similar projects. Through his network of models, artists, and friends and their connections, he started receiving photographs and selfies of healthcare workers from different locations and hospital systems, including MetroHealth Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic. He opened up the project for any artists in his Friday group that wanted to participate.
So far (as of March 23, 2021), 18 artists have participated in this “Doctors and Nurses in Covid 19 Times” project, creating 155 original portraits, which are showcased on the group’s website at www.literarycafeartists.com/doctors-and-nurses-in-covid-19-times.
I personally have produced 28 portraits for the project to-date, and will continue to do more. It’s great practice and I enjoy being part of a group of artists working together. I have an individual webpage on the group’s site at www.literarycafeartists.com/janet-dodrill, where they can be viewed under my general portrait gallery. We are following along with the idea of giving the portraits to the models, in this case the doctors and nurses.
MetroHealth Hospital in Cleveland currently has an exhibit in their lobby, since last fall, of their portraits, which is visible to the public when they visit for their Covid vaccines. Linda Jackson at MetroHealth organized photos and exhibit. They also produced a video on the project, Local Artists Honor Frontline Health Care Workers.
As a result of posting some of my doctors and nurses portraits on instagram (@janetdodrill), I have been asked to tag these works for a curated North American exhibit using hashtag #portraitsforcovidheroes for inclusion in the project by Jules Smith @jules_smith_artist and @portratisforcovidheroes.
Thank you, to all healthcare workers helping to battle this virus in this pandemic and save lives. You are true heroes.
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Snippets of portraits of doctors and nurses on the frontlines by Janet Dodrill.
Snippets of portraits of doctors and nurses on the frontlines by Janet Dodrill.
Portraits of Covid frontline healthcare workers exhibit at MetroHealth Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio (photo by Roger Miller).
Portraits of Covid frontline healthcare workers exhibit at MetroHealth Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio (photo by Roger Miller).
Many of the sketch groups I participate in (on Zoom) feature two models in their sessions. Here is a sketch of a lovely couple for the month of February from one of those life drawing sessions.
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Figure life drawing of a couple by Janet Dodrill, 2020, watercolor, 5.5 x 8.5 inches.
Cleveland, Ohio wallpaper manufacturer, Schmitz-Horning Company (1905-1964), designed and produced beautiful high quality wall murals and panoramics for homes and institutions. Here is a selection of just of few landscape designs from their 1941-1942 catalog, “Scenic and Sectional Wall Paper.”
The company produced large-scale chromolithographs and was maker to Kro-Mura, San-Kro-Mura, and Venwood wallpaper brands.
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Treasure Island, no. 8044 natural coloring on rachelle, five sections each 40″ wide by 80″ high, by Schmitz-Horning Co.
The Woodland, no. 367, two sheets each 36″ high by 60″ wide, by Schmitz-Horning Co.
The Heron, no. 608, natural on off-white ground, two section each 40 inches wide by 60 inches high, by Schmitz-Horning Co.
The Forest, no. 601, two sections each 40″ wide by 60″ high, by Schmitz-Horning Co.
Sierras, no. 363, three sheets each 36″ high by 60″ wide, by Schmitz-Horning Co.
Ming Floral, no. 8036, turquoise ground, four sections each 40″ by 80″, by Schmitz-Horning Co.
Larkspur, no. 8020, pastel colors on light yellow, three sections each 40″ by 80″, by Schmitz-Horning Co.
Elysia, no. 8032, pastel colors on old ivory, five sections each 40″ by 80″, by Schmitz-Horning Co.
Die Niederlaender, no. 410, two sheets each 40″ high by 60″ wide, by Schmitz-Horning Co.
Chinese Floral, no. 80733, full color on wedgewood, four sections each 40″ by 80″, by Schmitz-Horning Co.
Chinese Embroidery, no. 808014, pastel colors on ivory grass cloth ground, two sections each 40″ by 80″, by Schmitz-Horning Co.
Schmitz-Horning Co. 1941-1942 catalog, Scenic and Sectional Wall Paper.
Who doesn’t have an appreciation for an artist’s handmade Christmas card, or one displaying their artwork?
My grandfather, Warren R. Schmitz, who ran the Schmitz-Horning Company (1905-1964) from 1938-1964 received Christmas cards from artists who were either associated with the company or family friends, including Harvey Stief, Walter Sinz, and Charles Reiffel. Here are a few examples of the wonderful artwork on cards he received from them in the 1930s and 1940s.
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Another amazing life drawing session, and this time with a ‘Parrots’ theme with Macaws, Cockatoos and Parakeets with the special online event produced by The Henley on Thames School of Art and Oakley and Crew. Birds were shown flying, landing, sitting on perches, walking on the ground, and an unexpected trick at the session end, and was held on November 27, 2020.
Below are highlights of my drawings from the session.
There are more online animal life drawing sessions scheduled for December 2020, featuring Wild Mountain Gorillas, Draft Horses, and Reindeer at www.thehenleyschoolofart.com/online-classes. Artists are welcome to join!
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Incredible live drawing session with ‘Birds of Prey’ theme. Beautiful Owls (Dark Breasted Barn Owl, Little Owl, and Long-Eared Owl), Harris Hawk and Peregrine Falcon with event produced by The Henley on Thames School of Art and Feathers and Fur Falconry Centre (handler Sadie) via Zoom. Great lighting, camera work, and props, held on October 30, 2020.
Below are highlights of my drawings from the session.
There are more online animal life drawing sessions scheduled for November and December 2020, featuring Longhorn Cattle, Fjord Horse, Raccoons, Kinkajou, and Coati, Parrots, and Wild Mountain Gorillas at https://www.thehenleyschoolofart.com/online-classes. Artists are welcome to join!
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Schmitz-Horning Company, a well-established Cleveland wall covering printing firm, 1905-1964, had a patent granted in 1906, from the United States Patent Office, for the printed frieze for walls. It was signed by co-owners Hugo M. Schmitz I (my great-grandfather, 1867-1938), president, artist and lithographer, and William Horning, artist and lithographer, along with Warren R. Cox, head salesman.
Printed frieze for walls patent granted to the Schmitz-Horning Co., 1906, sheet 1. Photo: Google Patents
Printed frieze for walls patent granted to the Schmitz-Horning Co., 1906, sheet 2. Photo: Google Patents
Because of Covid-19, it has been safer to stay at home. As an artist, the art life drawing groups that I once attended have not met since early March, 2020. A couple of the groups have moved to Zoom or Facebook Live. I have found dozens of additional art groups online, both out of state and out of the country. I have been fortunate enough to stay busy with these drawing sessions, while meeting people, and fulfilling the sense of community that I seek in addition to improving my drawing skills. The life models have their own remote cameras and setups at their homes or studios, and these sessions have brought people together from all over the world.
I am especially impressed with the talent, professionalism, athleticism, and creativity of the models. Additionally, the organizations have been offering theme-inspired live drawing sessions on Zoom. In the past couple weeks I participated in a Picasso’s Vollard Suite inspired session featuring models Andrew Crayford @andrewcrayford1 and Annie Mae @amlifemodel both of London, a two-day live performance by Juliano Hollivard @julianohollivard of Brazil with constant movement by the model with lighting, music, poetry, video, props and masks, and most recently a session in the style of Matisse, the Odalisques, with model Valentina Rock @valentinarocklondon. Another group simply draws each other’s portraits. Most of them I discovered on Instagram, and there are many more yet to be discovered.
Some of my favorite (online) life drawing groups during the pandemic, on Instagram:
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Matisse, the Odalisques, theme with model Valentina Rock, by the collaboration of Adrian Dutton Life Drawing and Madhouse Studios, watercolor and ink by Janet Dodrill.
An ink drawing by Janet Dodrill of Juliano Hollivard’s Day Two, The Sacred, performance life drawing session through The Renaissance Workshop.
The Cooper Hewitt Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution features a collection of Schmitz-Horning Company wallpaper.
Schmitz-Horning Co., a Cleveland wallpaper and mural manufacturing firm, was in business from 1905 to 1964. Cooper Hewitt was gifted 111 wallpaper rolls in a variety of patterns by the Wallpaper Council, Inc. of New York City in 1960, and they spotlight specific papers in different areas of their site.
Here are some of Cooper Hewitt’s links that feature Schmitz-Horning wallpaper.
THE OUTSIDE COMES INSIDE, 2017 https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2017/12/17/the-outside-comes-inside/
Learn about the 1913-1914 Schmitz-Horning Co. catalog in the Cooper Hewitt Design Library and features and qualities of the friezes, and about Smithsonian libraries’ Adopt-a-Book-Program, for books that need support for preservation treatment.
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