Drawings | Frank Costantino

Carol’s Christmas Trike – colored pencil drawing

A toddler’s first tricycle is always a thrill for a youngster, but also a pleasant reminder of an elder’s first three-wheeler. The shiny pink finish suggested the color pencil medium, with the softer hint of Holiday green accent for the ribbon.

Christmas Amaryllis – pen and ink color drawing

A carefully observed and pen and ink drawing of this unusual seasonal flower, with color pencil highlights. The size and color of this bulb’s delightful blossoms signify for many the magic of the Holidays and a harbinger for Spring.

Gloves Worn I – oil pastel still life drawing

Black gloves, set over a vibrant Christmas cloth, reflected light in many ways; graphically portrayed in a limited bright palette of oil pastels.

Gloves Worn II -oil pastel still life drawing

Cold black leather gloves, randomly removed to a wood table, reflecting dim light shaped by color and value; with a waiting warming wine; captured with the gestural marking of oil pastels.

Ironing at Home I -oil pastel still life drawing

Suggesting a necessary domestic chore for many, the colors and patterns of hanging shirts have become a subject of many studies; views of which are common to anyone, whether hanging from a mantle, doorway, or elsewhere. Oil pastels on a clay surface added a graphic vibrancy to this work.

Ironing at Home II -oil pastel still life drawing

Although changed in medium for a series, this drawing was an exercise in careful seeing and linework. Suggesting domesticity at its most necessary humdrum, the colors and patterns of other hanging shirts was a variation of subject.

Ironing’s Interlude – oil pastel still life drawing

With a more studied raking angle of perspective, the angular and graphic quality of this view is about tone and value, with minimal accent colors of red, blue, green. A tighter view in an ongoing series of studies, it was constrained by the sketchbook’s square format.

Garden Tomatoes II – oil pastel still life drawing

An experiment with oil pastels and looser suggestive drawing, the mirrored pair of tomatoes allowed for some layering, patterning, and textures to convey the energy of growth.

Blue Cat on Orange & Green Field – color drawing of sleeping cat by Frank Costantino

A contour drawing of our cat’s curled gesture became the basis for playing with & exploring contrasting color fields. The cat’s fur suggested the background of curvilinear,layered textures and implied movement.

Bootsie- Chalky – drawing of a cat sleeping

Bootsie’s repose was captured in expressive tonal marks with sepia chalk, one of an artist’s oldest and simplest mediums.

Feline Lie-In – color drawing of cats

Adopting indelible mediums for sketching, the pen & ink line is most unforgiving, and hence trains the eye and hand. The color pencil added an air of mystique to the composition, while connecting the two studies together.

Mim Bluer – drawing of a cat

In an evocative meditative pose, our gray-striped coon cat always seemed to be in a tranquil state; as conveyed by the choice of pencil color. She lived a long time, over 100 human years, but her calming effect endures via the sketch.

Boston Symphony Hall – black & white architectural illustration drawing

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