Beer.

Beer. Sweet memories of a day in New York in ink and mixed media.
I used gold leaf and some sparkly inks. Tried to scan and end up just using my iPhone.
Otherwise, colors and gold just impossible to recognize.  
Used very special paper with deckled edges from the Handmade Watercolor book, my Birthday present. 

Here is the detail.

Bar Mitzvah.

I did this painting about Father and Son.  A moment in life when a boy becomes a man.
I used ink and mixed media on special watercolor paper, which I order from England.

Here is a detail of the painting.  I like to use sparkling textures, most of it doesn't read by the scanner.

Crepes. Creating a memory.

Ink and mixed media. Some sparkling textures. 

                  My work "Crepes" was chosen to participate in the exhibition in Long Island.

Sketch party.

Went to sketch party to draw costumed models. Lots of fun. Used different materials. Soft pencils, ink, Ecoline brush pens.

Here I used ink. We had live jazz music, piano, it was really awesome to sketch and listen to music, my favorite things to do.

Pretty hard to sketch two models at once.

I like these Ecoline markers, colors a bit too bold, but water works with it.  I used Stillman and Birn sketchbook, it took washes nicely, very good paper. I really enjoyed it and since that went to a few different events.

Cafe Sabarsky.

Ink mostly. I used sparkly inks, it didn't scan, and other silver and gold shimmer canno't be seen here.

Israeli.

Ink and mixed media. Shimmering stuff I used, doesn't scan and gold glitter also doesn't show, but it's here. I met this young guy and we had interesting conversations, he recommended me few pretty sharp music groups, which I added to my iPod playlist. He is a modern young boy, but he knows how to talk to G-d. Amazing. Modern and ancient. Young and wise. 

I got flowers.

I got flowers for March 8. I love Hyacinth, they smell so nice, so strong. Here is a painting I am doing for someone. It is far from being done. I will need some hint of wings. The cat died, so early, young, he was loved very much. 

I got myself some art materials to brighten up my day 

and start using it right away. Brush turned to be a bit too 

soft  for my liking, but inks are gorgeous.

Selfie with the toothbrush.

It is sort of a self portrait. Artists look so serious when painting self portraits. I was not joking. I was thinking if my inner pain ( and artists always full of that inner pain, because they constantly searching for ways and answers, so I told my daughter don't ever get involved with artists, :) one in the family is more than enough), so if my inner pain is looking at me in the mirror.
I used ink and Kuretake on Arches paper.

Pumpkins.

Pumpkins. Experimenting on plastic paper. Pretty strange, ink doesn't stick to it, but I fought to the end, just to understand, I don't like it.

Rabbi.

Rabbi. Ink and Kuretake.

Bloody Mary.

One of the brunches with my daughter, we had the best "bloody mary" drink, it was a little bit unreal, for some reason reminded me the atmosphere of 60s, may be her retro dress and red lipstick?
By painting this I stopped the time and I can feel the sun on my skin, remember that turquoise Florida sky, hear clicking of glasses somewhere on the background. Anyway, I used ink and Kuretake and touch of Artist Pitt pens.

Greenwich Village.

Greenwich Village in ink and Kuretake.
I am still digging out pictures from Art folder for 2014, meanwhile it is February of a new year.

Pumpkins on Yupo paper.

A little experiment with ink and Kuretake on Yupo paper. Stubbornly I screwed up the paper, it is plastic, so I can't scan it, but whatever, at least I stuck to my plan. And I was able to draw.

It was a very hard year for me, 2014 and I need to survive another year.
I soaked and washed some of my brushes and pens in a hope that drawing will help me to think positively. 

Charm City Burger. One of the electric nights in Florida.

I used ink and Kuretake. Used a lot of texture, trying to depict broken light from passing cars (it was outside), street lamps, moonlight, late meal, scattered conversation. It was one of the best burgers ever, I asked to go there twice.

Here is my little helper, Lucy, since she came to me from Moscow, she learned how to use scanner (she really likes the sound and blinking light), printer (printed my entire mailbox), she likes to watch me draw and thinks that I am coming to sit near computer just to be with her. She goes in front of the screen and stares at me.

Just like that. Isn't she adorable?

Breakfast in Naples.

Creating memory. Birthday breakfast in Naples, Florida. Experimenting with inks. Ink and Kuretake.
When I asked if it is Ok to stay and draw after the meal, the waiter said I will pay you a million dollars for the portrait of your daughter.

Musicante.

I guess, I forgot to post it, when finished. Scanning and etc. became not interesting, or may be too much to do or no energy for it. Sometimes simple things become to overwhelming. Ink and Kuretake. Subway musician.

This how we do it.

 Lucy and I. Working progress.

A day Upstate.

Near the stream, accommodated by a friend.

Was trying to control myself not to slip into drawing details, but following the Artist's advice, Marc Holmes.
I was right, saving Stillman & Birn sketchbook for watercolor sketches, paper deserve to be used for more serious studies.

Was completely spoiled by my friend. :)

Sketches on NY Subway, few new tools and very uneasy day.

I was lucky to have a seat, so was able to relax unnoticed. This sketchbook is not laying as flat, as my previous one.

3 women, 3 different personalities. Even pencil felt it.

Awesome to have such different characteristics, not only ethnically, but different mood too. This is New York!

Here is my new tools from JetPens (the best shop in the world!), I decided to spoil myself, in secrecy, and got few amazing things, like sparkly brush pen "Wink of Stella", acrylic based watercolor by Rohrer & Klingner, few white pens, interlocking pencil caps, 2 mm lead sharpener, very thin black ink pen. All laying on the top of my drawing of a Subway musician, which is still in a process.

Andy for my friend.

I did this for my friend, who lost her beloved dog, a member of the family. I used ink and Kuretake.

 For me it was also a little bit coming back to myself. Somehow I didn't notice, how I am going further from the life around me, may be because it is hard to agree with something being so far from perfect. May be because I can't find an explanation for the happening in Ukraine, where regular people and their children dying in horrible deaths.  May be because I got into animal rescues, by befriending people who do it every day, and by adopting a little cat from Moscow (yes, she flew to me from Russia), who was in a death row, saved and terribly injured in a pot of boiling water and than nurtured back to life by a very brave woman, who became my friend?