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A Quick Art Break, Watercolor-Style

h1 March 13th, 2014 by jules


“… I remember my aunt Gladys’s house next door. It was also a big stone house, but it smelled different from ours, like old milk, and there was randomness in the way that everything was placed as though it had been dropped in haste wherever it was.
There was also a crucific on the living-room wall.
It was an object that was missing from our living room. …”
(Click to enlarge)


 

Since I chatted at Kirkus last week (here) with author-illustrator and graphic designer James McMullan about his new memoir, Leaving China: An Artist Paints His World War II Childhood (Algonquin, March 2014), I am following up today with two watercolors from the book.


“… The stories [my father] wrote were filled with inside jokes about Cheefoo life and personalities, and he stole unashamedly in much of his music from the tunes of popular songs. He cast the productions with friends and family members,
whether or not they could sing or dance or act …”
(Click to enlarge)



 

And that’s that. Until tomorrow …

* * * * * * *

LEAVING CHINA: AN ARTIST PAINTS HIS WORLD WAR II CHILDHOOD. Copyright © 2014 by James McMullan. Published by Algonquin, Chapel Hill. Paintings here reproduced by permission of the publisher.





4 comments to “A Quick Art Break, Watercolor-Style”

  1. Gorgeous watercolors! I just saw the book at my local Indie bookstore- beautiful! Thanks for sharing these.

         by Lauren Stringer March 13th, 2014 at 9:43 am

  2. I’m usually not huge on art of people, but I do love these watercolors. Beautiful!

         by Laura Purdie Salas March 13th, 2014 at 11:49 am

  3. I am going to have to get this one. The cover alone…

         by Robin Smith March 13th, 2014 at 7:32 pm

  4. McMullen’s figures are so simple and so lively – just enough line for expression – really wonderful. Looking forward to getting the book. Thank you!

         by Katy Gilmore March 15th, 2014 at 12:56 pm

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