A focus of my 2021 summer art is drawing and sketching. I’ve been away from it for a little bit while I was doing so much painting in the winter and spring. Now I am interested in chronicling, in a mild kind of way, my current life. Rather than dig through my photo archive for subjects I hope to choose scenes, however mundane, from what I am doing at the moment.
My process works this way: I go somewhere, I take photos, I draw something.
Yes, that is it. I’m not much interested in drawing at the site: I like taking photos and I like covering a lot of ground wherever I might be, so sitting and drawing generally doesn’t appeal to me. I prefer to be at home and work from the pictures I took.
This way I get to enjoy both photography and the pen.
Here is a recent drawing. It’s the home of my son, daughter-in-law, and their marvelous baby. It’s in a row on a shady street, very pleasant place! We visited not long ago and I worked from a photo I took then. I show you the image on its page in the sketchbook and then cropped, since the picture didn’t take up all the page.
Claudia McGill and Her Art World 
Exquisite!
Thank you. I love drawing houses and of course this is a special one. But it’s also an architectural style I really enjoy.
Really wonderful in every aspect. The drawing itself, the house, all those who live and visit there
Thanks. It’s a nice house for the family and very comfortable. They are happy with it and enjoying being new homeowners!
Very nice drawing. . Thanks for sharing your process.
Thank you. I really enjoy taking photos (the act of taking them, I don’t worry too much about the results) and then drawing. I also like the fine strokes the small nib pen requires. Very peaceful work.
That is a lovely home they live in and a lovely drawing!
Thank you, it’s very comfortable and just right for them, size, location, style. I think they have found a good home.
I always enjoy your architectural drawings. I like the way your drawing of it creates lines and angles that draw you in towards the door. In that way, the home seems very welcoming.
Amazing work, Claudia! Thank you!
Thank you. This style of house is found where I live in PA and in a lot of the cities in the Northeast US, so it is a familiar sight, and yet when there is one that you are connected to, well, now it is one in millions and special. I enjoyed drawing this home.
I love the way all the shapes work together for this house. (K)
Thank you. There are so many of this kind of house all up and down the east coast and yet this one is special to me of course. But beyond that, I feel the same way – these houses have good proportions and nice features, with a porch, or how the windows are, etc., just those little details that add up to something pleasing and even when the whole street is similar, not monolithic or oeverwhelming.
Claudia, you have a way with line! It shows in your paintings and especially in your drawings and scratch board pieces.
Thank you. I have not done a lot of drawing until the last couple of years, I did not think I could really draw anything and make it look like anything, and for some reason, more than my painting , I wanted to record the scene. (Amendment, as for my painting I wonder if I have ever wanted to record the scene…why in drawing I am different who knows, but I digress.) I have been trying to just draw something every day if I can and I think it is paying off. I also really love houses and these row homes are favorites of mine (I mean any row homes, they are common in our area) from way back. Notto mention that to me, this is one special house!
In your paintings you often have long brush strokes that contrast with the adjacent colors. To me, that kind of boundary serves as line. You do it so beautifully, I am thinking of the series you did with the art class. I see that same strength in your drawing and scratch board.
Thank you. I feel very complimented by what you said, thank you. I don’t know why I work in this way, I have wondered if it is partly because of my eyesight, which has been poor most of my life, and so I mark out sections or boundaries. I know that is the way I handle seeing, in real life. Interesting to think about. In any case, I like drawing in the various forms I am doing it now, I never had patience to slow down and let the pen go at its pace, but it seems to have come to the time in my life where I was ready. I am glad, I really am enjoying myself.
Hi Claudia, I had internet problems and so am slowly making my way through the back comments. Anyway, your comment about your eyesight and style are relevant to a library book I brought along on this trip called, the Artist’s Eye- Vision and the History of Art. Have you seen it? The later sections talk about various artists and their eyesight, and then go on to speculate about the impact on their work.
No, I don’t know this book but I will look for it because the subject interests me for a lot of reasons, not the least being how I feel sure my eyesight has shaped how I record my version of the world, and from and early age, not just visually but also with words. Thank you.
Oh, this is super!! I really like that the lines are freehand, and not using a ruler of any sort. Very charming! Love it!
Thank you. I just draw as my hand takes the pen and don’t worry much, luckily, since I never get the proportions right or things can be in the wrong places, but, if the drawing looks nice to me, well, that is enough. I really enjoy drawing for the peaceful feeling I get when doing it and how making all the little pen strokes slows my mind down.