Melissa Mendes

Freddy 4/5/2025 + more pencilly things

Added 2025-04-05 23:39:56 +0000 UTC

This week's Freddy was inspired by my trip to the Clark Art museum the other day. Here's the sketchbook page I drew during my time there, I really enjoyed doing studies of the paintings. My two favorites that I saw were Wood Gatherers by George Innes and The Pilgrims at Emmaus by Maurice Denis. I really want to go back and spend some more time drawing them.

I'm trying to practice drawing in pencil more. I think that this is how I was to draw my next book. There's something about it, I don't know how to describe it really, but like a layer of depth and emotion to pencil drawings. And I think this book will be heavily influenced by my own childhood in the 80's and 90's, so I've been trying to dive back into those memories lately.

Here's a study I did of my favorite photo of my Papa, my grandfather on my dad's side. The photo is of him eating a cupcake in their kitchen in Taunton, MA in the 90s, and to me it perfectly encapsulates how it felt to be in that space. I can almost smell the Portuguese food being cooked by the neighbors upstairs, and hear the Red Sox game on the tv. Papa would watch the game in one room while Mémère would watch her soaps in the other room. My sister and I spent a lot of time there, lots of time watching Nickelodeon and eating Poptarts (my flavor was Apple Cinnamon and Amy's was blueberry). I dream about my Mémère and Papa and their apartment all the time. We lost them both a few years ago, and someone else lives there now, but I hope their home stays burned into my brain forever.

And here's a drawing of the Beetlejuice figurine that I got from Burger King when I was 5. I was obsessed with it and slept with it under my pillow. I don't think I'd ever seen the movie or the show. I don't have the figurine anymore, but I wish I did!

Hope you're all hanging in there. Also, if you have a favorite painting let me know in the comments!

xoxo