The Art of Doing Nothing #1
Where I live (South of Spain) it is an Art in which 90% of the population excel!
There are 1000 ways of doing nothing here, but most of the time, you can be sure that a glass of beer or sangria is involved!
ATTENTION PLEASE!
I speak and read French, German, English, Spanish, and understand some others too…
so please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or to contact me in your own language!
The Art of Eating #1: Donuts!
Yes, it is always a big pleasure for me, as a painter and a student of human nature, to watch people eating. If you haven’t already, pay attention to it in the future. There are millions of different ways to hold a fork and a knife, and each way says more about the eater than a mirror…
But I will start this series with something very basic to eat, where you don’t even need a fork and knife to eat it, (except of course if you belong to the aristocracy or are from the precious kind); Donuts!
In Cafe Masko, which I presented to you some days ago, they serve the cafe con leche with delicious tiny donuts. It is an incredible pleasure to eat them, but even more to watch people eating them. Generally the women are specialists in holding them very daintily from the top of their long fingers, and eat them slowly and elegantly, tiny crumb by tiny crumb, their heads turned absently to the horizon. The men, generally, search for the shortest way between their mouth and the fingers holding the donuts, and their eyes are fixed to the donuts, cross-eyed, when they eat them. And they need a maximum of 2 bites to be finished with them.
But the most extraordinary donut eater I have ever seen is my Kevin. And when I say “seen”, I should better say “not seen”! I can’t even show it to you because he is so fast that I never have time to see him eating his donut. A little bit like Lucky Luke, you know, that guy who shot faster than his shadow.
As you can imagine, the man on the sketch had already finished his donut and was coveting the woman’s one. This is why his face is green with envy. While I was drawing there, I was wondering if he was planing an attack…
Miki @ Masko
I just wanted to show you where I regularly make my people sketching here in Mojacar (Spain):
Cafe Masko!
For the ones who are already here or plan to come here, I can only recommend the place: the cafe con leche is fantastico, as well as the little donuts which they serve with it! And if you have a great face, this is one more reason to come: I need you there!!!
The Art of Reading #2: Little Fat Hands
As I saw this woman reading her newspaper, I was totally fascinated by her little fat hands and arms, especially by her wrists, in this case only a line between arm and hand. This kind of transitions between different parts of the body can be very thankful to draw and make the charm of the whole drawing… look at baby wrists or ankles and you will understand what I mean… it is so touching some how. By this woman here, too… and strange enough, the way she holds the newspaper makes even think then her fingers are too small
Selfportrait #1: Miki & Mousy
I never was a fan of self-portraits.
Why not?
Well, in fact, I don’ t like to look at me in a mirror!
Why not?
Well, it is a little bit embarassing to answer, but to tell the truth, when I look at myself, I only see the ugly details! I focuse my eyes on them, exactly the way I do when I do a painting. The difference is that I can fix the errors on a paintng, but not on my face or body!
But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that I am full of complexes and that I suffer. I have the right amount of self-confidence and I have a partner who repeats me 10 times the day that I am the most beautiful woman in the world! Nothing better to feel like Miss Universe!
I did that sketch of me some months ago. Ink, water colour, and computer manipulation. Mousy is a product of my imagination… I was alone at home, my Kevin was gigging in the UK and I needed some company…
But do you know what? In honour of this new blog, I will make a series of self-portraits! Perhaps I don’t even need to put myself in front of a mirror for that… many painters do it that way!
The Art of Reading #1: The Wall
I started this series of sketches about people reading newspapers in my main blog some weeks ago, but as I decided to present all my paintings concerning people here, it is where they belong now.
It really fascinating to watch at them. To start with some of the papers are so gigantic that the people’s arms and hands seem to grow accordingly! So if you think, looking at this first sketch, that I don’t know the natural length of arms, you are wrong. Look at people reading newspaper, and you will see: their arms are suddenly made of elastic stuff!
What amazes me sometimes is when people come together to a Cafe, and one starts reading, holding the newspaper between him/her and friends. I find that incredibly impolite and careless!
This is by the way my nightmare picture of a couple: sitting at breakfast, the man reading newspaper, and holding it between him and her in a way that they can’t see each other. Like a wall, kind of. And in fact I guess it is really meant as a wall, consciously or not!
About
The “normal” people… and the celebrities!
To see some portraits please click in the menu bar above…
To see many more portraits from Miki go to my Portraits Gallery
Contact me at miki@goodaboom.com
