Friday, August 24, 2012

Breakfast at the Hotel Hammer 3, 2, 1 (iPad sketches)

This month, I spent several days in Mainz, Germany, where my husband was teaching a short course at the university.

After the first couple of mornings, I used the morning breakfast time as my "sketching from life" opportunity.

Each morning I set myself up in a corner, so no one could see what I was doing on the iPad.

These sketches are in reverse order: the first at the bottom, the last at the top.

By the way, should you be going to Mainz, the Hammer is a good place to stay:  nice rooms, breakfast and staff, right across from the train station and easy walking to the old town.


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26 comments:

  1. KonstantinaPAugust 24, 2012 at 8:59 AM

    You always make the colors part of your story and character of your subjects. I love the way you 'see' the world.
    Warm regards.

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  2. nouvelles couleurs - vienna atelierAugust 24, 2012 at 9:37 AM

    Ps still not understatement how rage works...

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  3. minnemieAugust 24, 2012 at 1:29 PM

    Wow, I would not have guessed by first sight that the pink lady is an i-pad creation. You really did a great job creating authentic canvas and paint textures! I also really like the pieces with the words (both here and the post below):-)

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  4. Pam HugginsAugust 24, 2012 at 7:31 PM

    I absolutely LOVE these!!! The top one is especially intriguing to me. Great character. They are all fantastic!!!

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  5. Cynthia Fox-GiddensAugust 25, 2012 at 11:30 AM

    All three are great sketches and I like the order you put them in. Very nice colors in each.

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  6. Banjo52August 25, 2012 at 2:25 PM

    Top one's my favorite by far. As extra-bright and bold as the colors and strokes are, ?he? still seems entirely real--though also a potential comic book character.

    I wonder if one answer to my questions the other day is the portability of the iPad compared to easels, etc. Is it in your head at all to convert some of these to paint on canvas or paper, somewhere down the road?

    By the way, in my one trip to Europe, a long time ago, the first leg of an 8-week travel "vacation" was standing on a train every inch of the way from Brussels to Paris. Inauspicious, but educational, I guess.

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  7. Pasadena AdjacentAugust 25, 2012 at 2:43 PM

    Europe's a long way from Austin (which isn't a bad thing - much cooler)

    The top one seems editorial to me, the second more charactature and the last more fine art.

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  8. Nora MacPhailAugust 27, 2012 at 5:20 PM

    You've definitely mastered the iPad art! These are fantastic. Very free and very unique.
    Wonderful.

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  9. Jean SpitzerAugust 27, 2012 at 5:27 PM

    Thanks and regards, Konstantina.

    Playing with color possibilities is easy on the iPad.

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  10. Jean SpitzerAugust 27, 2012 at 5:30 PM

    Laura, I think art rage works like real art tools. You can control your tools just the way you can in life.

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  11. Jean SpitzerAugust 27, 2012 at 5:32 PM

    Thanks, minn.

    The credit for the canvas texture goes to the app. It lets you pick your support with great specificity, and then the materials applied on to it behave pretty much as they would in real life with a real support.

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  12. Jean SpitzerAugust 27, 2012 at 5:32 PM

    Thanks, Pamo. I thought of him as a
    Baby bird.

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  13. Jean SpitzerAugust 27, 2012 at 5:33 PM

    Thanks, Cynthia.

    I got more comfortable with drawing at breakfast as the days went on and I think it shows.

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  14. Jean SpitzerAugust 27, 2012 at 5:37 PM

    Thanks, Banjo. Mad magazine came to my mind, doing this.

    I am really glad I got to sit during the train ride, though I suspect it was a much quicker journey, less than one hour and a half, than the one you took. The fast trains are really great.

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  15. Jean SpitzerAugust 27, 2012 at 5:38 PM

    PA, much cooler was a large part of the reason we went traveling this summer. And overall it was.

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  16. Jean SpitzerAugust 27, 2012 at 5:39 PM

    Thanks, Nora. But no mastery, just experimentation.

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  17. MargaretAugust 27, 2012 at 9:23 PM

    Looks like yu used your time well. I've always wanted to see Germany. I hope you liked it.

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  18. WatermarycolorsAugust 28, 2012 at 4:37 AM

    These are wonderful! i love it, you`re so good working with ipad.. Cheers!!

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  19. Jean SpitzerAugust 28, 2012 at 9:38 PM

    Thanks, Margaret. I didn't really see Germany. Just the area around Mainz and Wiesbaden and some of the Rhine up to Cologne.

    My favorite things were probably the Chagall windows in St. Stephan's in Mainz--and the vertically terraced hillsides growing grapes, along the Rhine. This is castle country.

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  20. Jean SpitzerAugust 28, 2012 at 9:38 PM

    Thanks and cheers, Mari Jose.

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  21. AnonymousAugust 29, 2012 at 8:20 PM

    I'm not going to read the comments in case they influence me. I love the humor in #1, and his hair and cheeks. #2, as an illo. I've read an entire story in this one.

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  22. Jean SpitzerAugust 30, 2012 at 6:20 AM

    Thanks, AH. Me, too.

    I thought of the young man as a baby bird.

    And the gentleman with the letters spilling from his mouth and other places--I would enjoy seeing the story you come up with.

    This last bit isn't directly a reply to your comment, but I thought of something else I loved in Mainz, besides seeing some / making some friends: the Temple of Isis.

    These are Roman ruins and artifacts, uncovered when the parking garage for some shopping was being dug.

    Especially delightful are some of the offerings to the goddess. Little man figures with enormous penises.

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  23. AnonymousSeptember 1, 2012 at 11:24 AM

    Bird -- you're right!

    Off to google little men with big penises..

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  24. AnonymousSeptember 1, 2012 at 12:18 PM

    I love every one of these!

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  25. Jean SpitzerSeptember 1, 2012 at 4:00 PM

    Sounds like an interesting search, AH.

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  26. Jean SpitzerSeptember 1, 2012 at 4:00 PM

    Thanks, Joni.

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