{"id":16601,"date":"2014-06-04T06:16:11","date_gmt":"2014-06-04T11:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=16601"},"modified":"2019-11-26T06:58:27","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T11:58:27","slug":"its-fun-to-draw-at-the-y-m-c-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2014\/06\/04\/its-fun-to-draw-at-the-y-m-c-a\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s FUN to Draw at the Y.M.C.A."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"YMCA-Girl\"<\/a>My son is a water-bug and always has been so we eventually signed him up at the local YMCA<\/strong> and got him squared away with swimming lessons which he took to like…a…fish to water<\/em> (nice simile, Hemingway!) Our boy goes swimming at least twice a week, and a parent has to accompany him which is usually me. While it’s pleasant to watch him effortlessly glide through the water, I usually sit at the side of the pool trying to turn my attentions to a sketchbook I bring along in the hopes of working out a comic or brainstorming ideas for an illustration. More than once my eye,\u00a0 my attention and my sketches wander to the folks swimming in the pool. I try to be subtle and make it seem like I’m not staring, but people are usually so caught up in their work-out, they don’t notice me scribbling away. I have to work fast because people don’t necessarily stand around posing. I quickly sketch out some shapes and maybe jot down a note or two, and I wind up refining the drawing as my unknowing models are well into their swimming routines.<\/p>\n

In addition to notes, I’ll rely a lot on memory or my impressions of people. As I said, nobody takes the time to pose, and pulling out a camera would be obvious and creepy. This gal is sort of a composite of a few swimmers I’ve seen at the pool.<\/p>\n

This was done with a mechanical pencil and my beloved 0.9mm red leads. I’ve come into the habit of working in either indigo blue or red leads, and I’m happier that way. I may refine a drawing with black leads, but I love the blue and the red, and I always use a mechanical pencil. You never have to sharpen them!<\/em> Besides, I don’t think the folks at the Y<\/strong> would care for pencil shavings by the pool.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I was going to talk more about computers, but I figured I would give that a rest and bask in the analog world for a while. I did scan this and crop and adjust the contrast a bit in the version of Photoshop I talked about recently<\/a>. It’s all got to be turned to pixels if you want it seen in this day and age.<\/p>\n

\"YMCA-Girl-det\"<\/a>\"it-came-from-the-SB-banner-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My son is a water-bug and always has been so we eventually signed him up at the local YMCA and got him squared away with swimming lessons which he took to like…a…fish to water (nice simile, Hemingway!) Our boy goes … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,49],"tags":[158,3195,3194,907,43,3661,5,2030,1753,3663,25,3066,480,3660,3193],"class_list":["post-16601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-illustration","category-it-came-from-the-sketchbook","tag-analog","tag-athletic","tag-bathing-suit","tag-drawing","tag-humor","tag-illustration","tag-joe-williams","tag-pencil","tag-pool","tag-sketch","tag-sketchbook","tag-swimmer","tag-usa","tag-willceau","tag-ymca"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-4jL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22241,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2017\/05\/09\/sketchbook-from-heaven-%e2%80%a2-1222017-572017\/","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":0},"title":"Sketchbook from Heaven \u2022 1\/22\/2017 – 5\/7\/2017","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"May 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Usually when I finish off a sketchbook, I have either a feeling of accomplishment because I've managed a few competent scribbles within or relief in that I finally put an especially irritating pad that I made the mistake of purchasing out of my\u00a0misery. With this cheap little scratch-pad I got\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "It Came From the Sketchbook"","block_context":{"text":"It Came From the Sketchbook","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/sfh-the_end.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/sfh-the_end.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/sfh-the_end.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21660,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2017\/02\/07\/return-of-the-atomic-warrior\/","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":1},"title":"Return of the Atomic Warrior","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"February 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"An old friend returned for a visit via the pages of a cheap sketchbook (which I will review once I finish it off.) I was playing with a water soluble Derwent Dark Wash pencil which I bought a while back and never did much with and paired it with an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Halloween"","block_context":{"text":"Halloween","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/halloween\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/atomic-warrior-red.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17367,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2014\/09\/30\/scarf-boy\/","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":2},"title":"Scarf Boy","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"September 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A while back the site Stuff White People Like did one of their many lists of objects and activities particular to Caucasians, and one of them was women wearing scarves as a year 'round fashion accessory. I chuckled because I had noticed that a lot of lightly complected females were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adventures in Commuting"","block_context":{"text":"Adventures in Commuting","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/adventures-in-commuting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/horizontal-stripes.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":40850,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2023\/07\/12\/done-with-another-discount-sketchbook\/","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":3},"title":"Done With Another Discount Sketchbook","author":"Joe","date":"July 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I finished off the HQ Fine Stroke Sketch Draw that I picked up from Philadelphia based discounter Five Below. The price was right, and I liked the pad's size of 5.5 inches by 8.5 inches as well as the wire binding being placed along one of the short ends, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "It Came From the Sketchbook"","block_context":{"text":"It Came From the Sketchbook","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Nora-the-cave-woman.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Nora-the-cave-woman.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Nora-the-cave-woman.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40404,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2023\/04\/11\/second-thoughts-on-a-cheap-sketchbook\/","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":4},"title":"Second Thoughts on a Cheap Sketchbook…","author":"Joe","date":"April 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I may get my $3.25 worth out of the terrible little sketchbook from discount chain Five Below after all. I have stubbornly refused to put it aside, and I continue to doodle in it as I sit on the couch with a cat and a spouse. It's been more miss\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Doodle Tuesday"","block_context":{"text":"Doodle Tuesday","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/doodle-tuesday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Teenage-Werewolf-at-the-Reunion.jpg?fit=640%2C578&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Teenage-Werewolf-at-the-Reunion.jpg?fit=640%2C578&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Teenage-Werewolf-at-the-Reunion.jpg?fit=640%2C578&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40462,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2023\/04\/18\/hacking-away-at-a-cheap-sketchbook\/","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":5},"title":"Hacking Away at a Cheap Sketchbook","author":"Joe","date":"April 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I continue to throw graphite at the unwilling little sketchbook of which I have written about lately. I've had no evidence of anything close to supernatural brilliance bubbling up from the pad's cheap little pages, but I continue to make a go of it. I'm using it as a sketchbook\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Doodle Tuesday"","block_context":{"text":"Doodle Tuesday","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/doodle-tuesday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Get-the-point.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Get-the-point.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Get-the-point.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}