Masks

Today I went sketching at the DE YOUNG museum, with MATT JONES and his pal Scott. For fantastic drawing subjects, we didn’t need to go any further than the “Art of New Guinea” room, where there is an incredible array of fantastic masks on permanent display. So much so that I had a hard time deciding what to draw!

Being a lightening-quick gesture sketcher, Matt didn’t have to choose; he pretty much drew everything in there in about an hour! Whereas I, in my own plodding way, found two that interested me and tried to study them somewhat in depth.

We then had a tasty lunch at a nearby Burmese Restaurant, followed by a visit to GREEN APPLE BOOKS, and ended the outing with a drink at THE BITTER END. After parting ways, I then had a pleasant hike home, as the sun went down.

Yes indeed, my Sunday was a very Fun day.

12 thoughts on “Masks”

    • They are a part of the Permanent collection. There are a whole suite of connected rooms featuring ceremonial masks and artwork from Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and parts of Africa. I could have spent a whole day in there. Some of the masks are hundreds of years old but the designs look incredibly modern. Matt focused on those stylized, inventive shapes. My eye was drawn to the decorative ones.

    • i want to see these masks. i don’t remember seeing that room in the museum. i guess i’ve always focused on the paintings. i love tribal masks a lot – would love to visit there for sketching soon!

  1. Great sketches Jamie. Jones was showing me what he did at lunch. You guys had a productive day with some sweet drawings. Sorry I missed it.

    Reply
  2. Jamie Baker, I love your beautiful right brain (that side controls the left hand, right?)

    …Holy shit, man — you’re unstoppable! please tell me these are all going into a new book!

    Reply
    • Hey Sammie! These particular sketches in this post here were done a while back, when my right hand was still my right hand man! The new ones are in their own LEFTIES section under the CATEGORIES menu. No plans for a book yet.

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