Maybe it was because a slow start today but I couldn’t figure out what the context of today’s rhyme, A Little Man From Derby, could possibly be. Fortunately I had plenty of options in our present context and went with snooty maître d’.
Well my second day of folklife went very well and I was very productive with at least two of these definitely working as grist for the mill of portfolio material. For today at the moment it’s raining. I have been told it will dry up by noon and if it doesn’t I have a camera and I’ll enjoy the music.
For most of these sketches I’ve been trying to do period, not that I know much about 17th century England, but for ones like today’s rhyme, I Had Two Pigeons Bright and Gay, I just couldn’t. I’m perfectly aware that pigeons are raised in the country but from my own cultural perspective pigeon fancying will alway be an urban thing.
For better or for worse, the first thing I thought of when I read this rhyme was Marlo Stanfield with his pigeons from The Wire.
Well technically Northwest Folklife starts Friday… but since it’s a work day and all I rarely get there before three. Since there aren’t quite as many performers I spend most of my time casing the joint and going over the schedule to see if there,s any I should actually put on my day planner. So I did that until I ran into some friends and we mostly hung out for the rest of the afternoon. I got some sketching in… but then it started to rain, the sketchbook’s kryptonite.
Still my first one was a good one.
Two Punks Dancing to Bluegrass
Today’s rhyme, A Robin Redbreast in a Cage, was really easy to visualize, though I ended up overthinking it anyway. First I went on line looking for a visual reference for a European Robin, first because these are English nursery rhymes, and second do you really think Heaven would get that worked up over an American Robin? They’re evil little blankety blanks! After that I spent a little too much time looking up period birdcages until I decided it was a waste of time (even though the Dutch ones were nice.)
I really have to redo this one as a watercolor. It’s bad enough I can’t give a Robin a redbreast but it’s downright depressing you can’t do a proper stormy sky with a pencil!
Today’s rhyme, Little Jenny Flinders, was pretty straightforward, other than the problem of going period or not (when a poem involves child abuse, it’s safer to go period) From there it was quickly looking up what children wore in the regency. After that the only problem of doing it in this medium dirt is indistinguishable from shading.
