The result was an extraordinary collection of insightful drawings from China, Japan, Burma and other countries. Here is a small sampling:
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| Smith made several drawings of this puppeteer. Smith was so intrigued by the puppets that he brought a set back to the U.S. According to tradition, the puppeteer must place hoods over their heads at night to keep the puppets from seeing. |
Smith's sketchbooks, overflowing with drawings such as these, contain a marvelous record of his Asian travels.
12 comments:
Can you give an indication of what size these drawings are? The metal spiral in some images doesn't really help. Just wondering how big a sketchbook he used
The majority of his sketchbooks were 13 X 16", an odd size because they were linen-bound and made in Japan. I believe that the spiral sketchbooks from which David has taken the scans are yet bigger, about 16 X 20", right, David? It's a lot to lug around Asia on the 5-month trip! Dad and Mom were on a cultural diplomacy tour which started in Japan and continued through Vietnam, Burma, Nepal, Cambodia, India into Europe, (I may have missed a few countries) and was sponsored by the State Department. Not only was there a rich stash of sketchbooks, there is an outstanding collection of slides and photographs from the trip. Dad was also an excellent photographer.
P Rice-- to follow up on Kim Smith's answer, I scanned images from a variety of sketchbooks, from 8 x 12 to 12 x 18. Most, as Kim says, were about 13 x 16.
Sometimes the most detailed and realistic drawings appeared in the smallest books, while the simplest sketches appeared in the larger books. The linen-bound sketchbooks she describes were wonderful, with a very classy, solid feel to them.
I am very grateful to Kim and her sister Kathlin for allowing me to spend time looking through their treasure trove. This week of posts will barely scratch the surface.
WOW! These are brilliant.
Thanks for the special gift!
Could you indicate each sketches size ? It really is very helpful to imagine how it looks in real life.
Also any idea about how fast he drew etc? sounds silly but I always wonder about how much time these wonderful drawings might have taken someone and if the people he drew were 'sitting' for him or he drew them from memory.
These sketches were done quickly and from the live subject. As a young girl I loved to watch dad sketch, because it was like watching magic unfold.
You are lucky. It would be great to watch Smith drawing these.
We had our own personal and loving art instructor.
So lucky! Thank you so much for sharing. I live in India and am waiting for some drawings he made here. Hopefully David scanned some.
If Kathlin Smith or Kim Smith is still here, Did Mr. Smith write a book or any articles about his technique? Is there a DVD of him working?
JSL
All these sketches are simply beautiful!
Anonymous (9/13) -- Thanks for your question. I'm not aware of any articles by dad about his drawing technique, but he was working on a book about watercolor technique. Sadly, it was not finished before he died. The manuscript is in the Archives of the James A. Michener Museum in Doylestown PA. It's possible there is some video of him working -- I need to review the cassettes that have been passed on. Will follow up if anything surfaces.
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