Raena's Sketch Journal

International Quilt Festival in Houston 2011

2011-11-15T11:02:00.009-06:00

I recently attended the International Quilt Festival in Houston for the second year in a row. Not that I have even the remotest interest in quilting, but because I go to meet up with Shirley and any other acquaintances from blogland that attend. This year I also met Melanie Testa, Ricë Freeman-Zachery, and Jane LaFazio. I also made new friends: Roz (not Stendahl, but I somehow didn't get her card so I don't have a link!), Cheryl Sleboda and Judy Coates Perez. I loved being around so many creative people!

Our first stop was the vendor section. I began perusing all the gadgetry and baubles and knickknacky-type stuff so popular with mixed-media artists. I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of it and by the crowd of people around me. And then I learned a big lesson from Shirley. I glanced over to where I had seen her last and there she was, already sketching. She had pulled this old lock out of a basket and wasted no time getting down to business. So I joined her. I added the paint and the border later at home.

It is quickly becoming a tradition with us to head over to the art-dolls for some sketching time. The above doll is called "Allergic to Dogs" and is by Neva Waldt. It was among the most popular of the exhibit. And as I stood in front of this one sketching, getting jostled about by others trying to get a better look, I felt a bit of annoyance with me for taking the best viewing spot. I stood my ground though, sketched quickly, so I could get out of the way.

I was worried about adding the paint to this. I've been working in a giant sketchbook with drawing paper in it which turns everything grayish. I was beginning to believe that I had forgotten how to paint with cleaner colors. But all fears were laid to rest with this. Though the scanner hardly does any justice to it at all, the colors are rich. I'm very happy with this one; I wish you could see it in person!

This was another very popular doll. Everyone's first response was to laugh, and then lean in to appreciate the wonderful face, which is made of cloth by the way. I sketched this one from a photo. It was only when I started writing in the information on the page that I realized it was also by Neva Waldt. This one is titled 'Myrtle Hits the Beach'. Isn't that t-shirt she's wearing a riot? I've seen them around and wondered who would wear such a thing, but somehow it seems perfect for her. I went back through my photos and realized that of the five taken of the dolls, three of them were from this artist. What talent!
I'm really disliking my scanner. I had to go in and darken the blue background and the gray of her hair just to get the colors to show. I liked it better before, but I'm still happy enough. I'm thinking about making the background darker so she pops out better. Think I should do it?

This one was done in that big sketchbook that turns everything gray. I never intended it to be the sketch of this doll that I post, but liked the way she turned out. It is called "Fine Feathered Friends" and is by Nancie Roach. The doll had such a pretty face!

And here we are! I think if I smiled any harder my cheeks would burst! I had such a great time, I hope even more of you can make it next year! Below are photos of the dolls:

You've been missed, my friends!

2011-09-11T20:12:00.000-05:00

Wow, did things ever get complicated around here. Some of you know from our EDM group, or from comments that I've made, that I was in the process of moving to Idaho back in late May. Well, I'm still here in Houston, having just gone through one of the worst (that would be HOT, HOT) summers I ever remember. Oh well, it is a very long story, but the short of it is, I stopped drawing, and when I started again everything I did was really really bad. I'm back on track now. I finished up two sketchbooks and I'm over halfway through a third (huge one, 11 x 14). It has been too hot to sketch outdoors, so the internet has been my friend. Of all those pages that I've filled, I only scanned twenty five of them because most of them are figure drawings and I don't want to have a blog filled mostly with sketches of nekkid people! It took me ages to figure out which scans I did want to include in my first post back. I'm afraid I couldn't resist picking out most of my favorites. Not that I don't like the rest, but there's a little less color on the other pages.

This sketch (above) is done directly in ballpoint, watercolor, and on regular drawing paper (as are all of the sketches in this post--in a sketchbook with 'drawing' paper). The model was on the figure drawing tool here. At least, that is where I thought I saw her. I'm on that site a lot though, and I've not seen her again since. Maybe they took that one off?

Hmmm...I can't remember where I got this photo either. Probably the same site. What I really like about this sketch, is that I did it directly in ballpoint pen and if you look closely, you'll see that I didn't make many mistakes in my first lines. I didn't have much to correct. Her right arm doesn't look quite right now that I look at it on here. Yep, I think the foreshortening is a little off. Even so, I'm really happy with it. That dark looking shadow on her lower back is actually a tattoo.
Well, since I can't be sure where I got this, here are links to the sites I go to for photo references:

http://www.pixelovely.com/gesture/figuredrawing.php
http://www.female-anatomy-for-artist.com/photos/freeSample/thanks
http://www.posespace.com/shop/books.aspx

This giraffe was also done directly in ballpoint. I was going a little faster with it, got tired of making the spots, so I just finished it up with the watercolor. I like the sketchiness of it and would be very happy if every sketch turned out as well when done this quickly.

I've sketched so much lately that I've been hitting that zone where everything seems to come easily, the first time. On these days there is very little need for an eraser. Though I still get days when I'm just off, and everything is a struggle, and I erase, erase, and erase! Happily, the on days now outnumber the off ones. I recently went back through some of my older sketchbooks, and I can actually SEE some improvement. This of course makes me want to sketch even more!

Okay, this is a truer idea of how most of my sketchbook pages look. Mostly pencil sketches, not very much overlapping or unity of the page (I'm working on that!). These are quicker sketches. I especially like the two bottom horses. The bottom right horse is actually a pretty good representation of how most of my sketches start. Sort of a combination of contour, with gesture for arms and legs. Then I go back and add in details, make corrections, etc.

It was quite some time before I realized that the figure sketching tool that I linked to in the second paragraph also had an animal sketching tool. That is where I got the references for these. I really like the cat and horse to the right. I can't wait to get back to a sketchbook that has actual watercolor paper in it. I think (hope) they would have looked even better had I not had to fight with paper that dried almost as soon as it was moistened.

Another one that I liked a lot. Though I had to walk away a couple of times...those spots were driving me nuts. It is pencil and watercolor

I wish that I could show you my current sketchbook in it's entirety. It is by far my favorite. Unfortunately, it won't fit on the scanner. It is even hard to look at in person because I used it landscape-wise instead of the portrait because of its size. It is spiral too and I always had the spiral at the top, so every page has to have the book tilt in the other direction to see it right-side up. That is something I didn't think about when I started this one! But I am proud of it. It has less 'bad' sketches than I have ever had. And I have NO pages that I hate, unlike every other sketchbook that I have. You know, those pages that you just want to go away and stop reminding you how bad you were that day?

Well, I hope that I'll be posting more frequently now. It was hard knowing what to say after being gone so long and having so much happen in the meantime. My temptation was to come on here and start at the beginning. But believe me, that would take a week of posting everyday...big, long, wordy posts too! So, I've hit one giant edit key, and hope I can just take off where I left last time. Oh, and thank you so much for your emails. I'm sorry I didn't answer. It was one of those frozen-because-I'm-overwhelmed situations. I currently have over 200 edm emails sitting unopened in my mailbox. The more they backed up, the harder it got to even check my mail! I'm going to make an honest effort to get through it all. I'll be around to comment again very soon!

Breaking through the dry spell...

2011-02-20T00:06:00.005-06:00

Remember this bust? I got her in January 2010 and I'm just now getting around to sketching her. I've not been sketching much at all lately--there is always something else that needs my attention, like cleaning or cooking dinner. I know it is nothing but procrastination, but unfortunately, it wins sometimes. No, I'm not proud of that fact, but there it is. Anyway, today was beautiful, in the eighties, sunny. I don't enjoy Texas summers much, so I figured I needed to spend as much time outside as possible before it gets here. I mean, eighties!!... in February!? Since the backyard is in that ugly stage it gets after dealing with a week of hard freezes, I picked the Diana bust off my desk to draw and carried all my supplies outside. This is modified contour in my Lamy Safari fountain pen with watercolor added. Limited palette of cadmium orange and pthalo blue. The colors on the scan aren't quite right, the background being more of a greenish blue.
One thing happened on this sketch that you wouldn't think would make me happy...but did. It has been a long time since I've really gotten into a sketch so much that the outside world fades away. If you look closely at her chin, you'll see a little 'blip' in the ink line. My husband had come through the back door, crossed about twenty feet of the back deck (wood, never quiet!), paused a sec, and then spoke. The noises had barely registered in my brain, so it startled me! Seems strange, perhaps, to be happy about something like that!?

I did this one yesterday and it is fairly obvious that I hadn't been sketching much. I did it for Julia Kay's portrait party. This is "Stacey" of staceysketches on flickr. Again, the scanner didn't quite get the colors right...the background is more of an orange color than pink. I wasn't happy with the results, but considering how rusty I was when I did it, I'll be thankful for what I managed!

This evening we went to Baytown and met up with my first cousin, once removed, who I hadn't seen 1986. I took my sketchbook, intending to draw in the restaurant (there were five of us, total, so the focus wouldn't just be on me). The thing is, I was too embarrassed to do it. It is easier for me to sit alone and sketch in public. If I'm with family, it somehow feels like I'm showing off. Do you sometimes get that? I read so many blogs where the artists do this all the time. Am I just being insecure?

First post in 2011

2011-01-24T14:10:00.004-06:00

2011 started off very good for me art-wise. I was drawing, I was painting--I just wasn't posting. The words make me procrastinate. They are this huge mountain, a huge, insurmountable mountain. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to post without words now and then. In reality I like it when others use fewer words because it is easier to get through the hundred or so blogs that I check up on daily. Maybe I exaggerate, but only by a little.

This gal here I thought was from imagination. But, over on Yevgenia Watts blog, Watercolor Hands, I see a woman very similar(on the sidebar, three pictures down below her facebook icon) and I think I may have remembered it when I drew this. It isn't painted the same of course, but I can't help but see the influence. It is small: 1.5"x 2", watercolor and ballpoint pen.

These two are my paternal grandparents. I never met them because they both died when my father was a boy. I think about them sometimes, wondering what they were like. These were both painted on scraps and glued into my sketchbook. The one of my grandmother has the most resemblance. My grandfather didn't turn out very well at all, as far as likeness is concerned. He was very handsome. I suppose that teddy bear belonged to my father. They loved photography and we have a lot of pictures of them, just not any with both of them. Someone has to take the photo, right? I think I may revisit this and try to set them both up in the same picture. She died when my father was four, and on her picture, my grandfather wrote, "My Darling". I love that he did that.

This was done from a morguefile.com photo posted by earl53, ref#179348. I loved the sketch, but felt like I ruined the painting first thing by using a purple for the shading on the lighthouse. It was very sloppy, with me getting out of lines here and there. (obviously not concentrating!) So, I went over it with a micron pen. It's growing on me now. Definitely glad I didn't pitch it in the trash like I was tempted. In fact, I almost didn't even continue the painting after the purple, and only did because I viewed it as practice. My thought at the time was, well, it is already ruined so it can't hurt any.

Every thing else I've done this month has been of the doodle-type. A lot is happening around here, some things I cannot tell you just yet, but I'm excited about it. Dang, I'm terrible at keeping secrets and this one will drive me nuts! I best go now, before I slip!

Farewell to 2010!

2010-12-31T18:59:00.007-06:00

2.5"x 5.75" pencil and watercolor. You may not believe it, but this makes me very happy! I have nothing to say that would pick this apart. I find this strange since I didn't spend a lot of time trying to get the sketch right. I was watching videos while painting it over the course of about three days, finishing it just this morning. Why did it take so long? Well, I definitely could have finished it in one sitting, but after I started and liked the direction it was heading, and because I didn't want to mess up, I would stop until I had a better idea of where to go next. Normally I'm much more impatient! I used a photo on morguefile by Scott Liddell as reference.

Last week I reorganized my studio. I have a new bookcase which has doors on it so I can hide the clutter. My desk now has space available! I don't have to balance everything on top of something, waiting for the first bump to make it all crash down! All of my scraps of watercolor paper were put into a tin. For some reason, I find it so much easier to work on scraps. When they turn out okay, I glue them into my sketchbook.

This woman on top was a copy of a painting by Don Andrews, which came on an insert in one of my Cheap Joe's orders. I liked the painting and put it on my bulletin board. The dove is from imagination. Both are pencil and watercolor. Sorry for the bad scan. I put my hand on it half way through and didn't realize I messed it up until putting it up here.

Not much to say here, except that he was from imagination. Obviously the chords on his neck wouldn't be so thin! (That is something I just noticed!)

So, how did you do on your resolutions in 2010? Me? Not so good! Not only did I not double the number posts of 2009, I didn't even equal them! I did sell something though. Though, it was for Ripple and the money went to a charity instead of me. I was close to being published, but unfortunately, that didn't work out. I'm really not good with resolutions. Something in me wants to rebel and do the opposite. Or is it that I make resolutions I'm not so sure I really want to make?

This is another sketchbook page that I've glued in some drawings done on scraps. The bird is from imagination, again. The woman was sketched while watching a video. The face behind her was a bronze statue. She was blond, the walls were white. Obviously I just made everything the way I felt like making it! (Gray box is just me blocking out some of the words!)

Well, I wish everyone a happy, healthful, and creative 2011!

Learning some fun-damentals...

2010-12-20T15:31:00.004-06:00

The top picture here started as a simple sketch on some scrap w/c paper (scrap paper seems to be the one thing that gets me painting!), done while watching a video. One thing that always get me while sketching a moving person is that one side of the face seems to always be drawn from a slightly different angle than the other. The results are sometimes like this, with one side drooping. This doesn't bother me though. It is in pencil and if I had wanted to I could have corrected it. My main interest here was playing with my new brush and the newly reorganized palette. And practicing grays and browns. (I made that brown myself! So proud... Only, I don't remember how I did it!) The background was not sketched in and just sort of...happened. Even though the whole scene seems kind of STATIC, I do like this one. It seems like Uncle Fred just posed for a snapshot or something.

This one really makes me laugh. I had fun doing it, don't get me wrong. It's just that I approached it in true 'Raena' fashion. You see, it was an exercise in the book "The Complete Watercolor Course". One of those books that I've not read, only looked at the pictures. I decided to do the first exercise, and wouldn't you know it, I only looked at the pictures. So, I missed a few things and the results aren't quite right. I might try this one again, this time reading first!

Neither of these is very large, only 3"x4". They curled up as they got wet which made holding them interesting. And while they weren't very serious studies, I had a great relaxing time. This is how learning should be!

Enjoying My New Brushes!

2010-12-14T13:49:00.003-06:00

I'm really enjoying these new brushes, especially the da Vinci Maestro! What a lovely feeling it has! This top one is based on one of our family favorites, a black and white photo of my dad. I guess he was about four or so. I began with a pencil sketch, adding the watercolor; but, I didn't like it for some reason, so I added the ink. I didn't spend a lot of time fussing with the sketch and probably could have focused a little more on the hands, but I like it. It would be worth revisiting for a more serious painting sometime.
This one is from imagination. I love the feel of the brushes so much that I picked one up and just started putting down some color. This is what came out. No pencil first and only added a few lines when it was done: a line separating the lips, two dashes for nostrils, and lines defining the eyes. May be a few anatomical errors, but it was actually fun to go in without the pencil. It felt more like I was sculpting her face, than drawing it. The results surprised me, and I may try doing this more often.

Rudy's Crowd, Revisited

2010-12-11T17:14:00.005-06:00

Do you remember this sketch from last year, here. Well, I thought I had destroyed it when I went to add watercolor. I stopped before getting very far at all. Sometime during the last year, I realized that sometimes paintings go through ugly stages. I would probably have approached it differently than I did in this particular case, because of all I've learned, but I think I managed a save here. I know there are spots still not painted...but I liked them so they stayed. This has ended up in a frame on my wall. So, yes, it's a good night! (I should mention that the woman on the left was my Sketchcrawl partner, Cecelia. )

Also, I just received an order from DickBlick. I bought a da Vinci maestro travel brush, one piece of Fabriano Artistico 140lb cp paper to try, and a hand.book watercolor sketchbook, which I wouldn't have bought if it didn't come with a #2 escoda travel brush. (My first two pure Kolinsky sable brushes!) I'm WAY excited and I can't believe it got here SO fast! I have to give my kudos for DickBlick. There was a mistake in the address during my paypal processing, so it was shipped all the way to Idaho. Where I no longer live. They were so great about resending the order. They were pleasant to deal with, and I received it two days later!! Great customer service!! (Oh, and I've done a little playing with the brushes....LOVE!!)

Another doodlie-type post...

2010-12-10T13:14:00.009-06:00

I know you're completely surprised to see a drawing of my hand--I just never do that! It is a modified contour that I went back and added some details and color to. Ignore the writing. I had some drawings above it that I had copied from other artists' sites. I really don't like posting stuff that I copied, so I cut them out. This was done on scrap w/c paper and will be pasted into my sketchbook. ('My Molie' is completely random. I'm not sure where it came from, but this is not a Molie!)

I actually don't remember where or how this came about. I often sketch while doing other things. I was testing out a technical pen I was just given and then testing the solubility of the ink. It's a simple sketch, but I like it.

This was done while watching a video online of how to paint trees with two colors. The two colors I've used are lemon yellow and prussian blue. I went back after the fact and added the lines with the same technical pen. This was an interesting exercise. Now, if I can just remember to do it like this! Sometimes I learn these things, then promptly forget to apply them.

This is a sketch of a sketch that I did. I was still playing with the technical pen. Messed up on the hand a little, but I liked the way the mouth and the nose came out. Splashed on the paint and called it Self-portrait #12 of 100. I'm moving along very slowly on this project. It's a good thing I didn't set a time limit!

All of these are on scraps of the canson XL 140 lb watercolor paper. I'm working on getting to know the paper a little better since I had such a rough start with it. I've got too much of it left to let it go to waste!

PS Thank you to all my new followers! I always try to find the blogs of all my followers, so I can follow you too. So, if I've not done that, it is because when I clicked your icon, it didn't give me a link. If you have a blog you would like me to see, please send me an email or a comment! I like to share the love!

Turtles and Sea Gulls

2010-12-06T11:32:00.004-06:00

I did quite a few paintings this summer with sea gulls and sea turtles, during the Gulf oil spill. It has been awhile since I've looked at them, and now with fresh eyes, I see that the gull above needed more shading on the underside. I like the shadows under the turtle and the folds on his neck. This is just a piece of the whole, but the composition was still bad overall, which is a shame because I really love how the turtle turned out. Composition is really something that shouldn't be overlooked. (pencil and watercolor)

This one has better shadows on the gull, but I think the turtle's shell looks a little flat. It could use some highlights in there. You can also tell that I spent a lot more time on the turtle, and then just threw in the background. I'm pretty lazy like that! ;D Oh, and the tail of the turtle really does hit the edge of the page like that. Another composition mistake. I'm really learning some things this morning, aren't I? (sepia and black micron 01, watercolor)

I love the turtle on this one! He looks sad. He has depth. The gull again doesn't have enough form. (but of course, that is easily fixed!) And, he's right smack in the middle of this page. Anyone know any good books that deal with composition? It should probably be a picture book since I rarely read the words to any of my art books. *Sorry, laughing at myself here.* Do you know how many art instruction books that I have that I've only flipped through, looking at the pictures? One day, I should sit down and start to really tackle them. That famous 'one day'! (sepia and black micron 01, watercolor)

It is interesting to go back to your old work and look at things with a fresh, analytical eye. No, I don't have a problem with my inner critic. Inner critics have a purpose and as long as it isn't telling me to give up because I'll never be good enough, then I think it is working in my favor. When I point out mistakes, or things I struggle with, it is because I am learning from those situations. Inner critics can be your friend, if you let them. I am at peace with mine.

Trip to the Cemetery

2010-12-04T22:49:00.005-06:00

That pressure of posting three times in three days has me going. I just couldn't let the day slip by and miss number four! Last year, as one of my new year's resolutions, I had decided to post twice as many times this year as I did last year. Well, that didn't happen for me. In fact, I need to post ten more times this month just to be even with last year. More than that though...and I BEAT last year! (trigger the Rocky theme song, please)

So, I did this yesterday. I went to a cemetery with my mother, who needed to take a picture for someone on a site called 'find a grave' or something like that. (She does genealogy.) I figured it would be a good sketching opportunity. Did you know that it only takes a few minutes to take a couple of pictures?? Well, I rushed through the sketch, sort of in a panicky way, knowing any second it would be time to leave. This rushing feeling made it hard to concentrate and I flubbed up on the folds of the robe. Wasn't happy with the sketch, but threw some paint on last night to see if I could make it work. It was really difficult to tell what was what (fold lines versus shadow lines) and I basically just guessed on everything. The gray color I used was a mixture of everything that was already on my palette. Thinking I was done, I wiped off the palette, only to see that some of the shadows didn't get dark enough.

One thing that I know I didn't get right, is that I drew the hands a little too normal-sized. His hands were HUGE! Big Fred Flinstone hands! But in the end, I like it.

There, four-for-four!! :D

Some doodles on scraps of paper

2010-12-03T14:33:00.005-06:00

After making my last sketchbooks there was a few scraps of paper left over. The one above is 3.5"x6". My blog name and the quotes were written first; then I found an awesome photo over on morguefile and added it to the middle. (photo by keyseeker, ref. # 671269) I was watching a movie while painting this and didn't expect much, but I really like it and now it is glued into my larger sketchbook, along with the following sketch. Pencil with watercolor. (Though I used a black pen to do the pupils.)
This was also done while watching that same movie on another scrap piece of paper. It is about 3"x3". Used sepia pigma micron 01 and watercolor. I think she looks a bit like Nancy Drew. I mean, she has that expression...like there is a mystery to be solved, don't you think? Maybe the guy behind her on the right is one of the Hardy Boys.

Moleskine collaboration with Dan, Page 2

2010-12-01T13:07:00.004-06:00

This was incredibly difficult for me; I really struggled with what to do. My imagination is a rusted out, 1967 model. The gears don't run smoothly. If Dan hadn't mentioned that he didn't think it looked finished (and I agree), I probably would have just started a new page. My first inclination, and don't laugh because it is REALLY boring, was to add floor tiles and ceiling fixtures.

I thought a lot about what Dan's wife had mentioned...that the dancer didn't really match the 'big band' type of music, so I thought I would make it about music itself. Music and it's ability to transport us, make us feel alive. I painted the music bars yellow to show that it can bring light into our world. I thought of writing a quote at the bottom, but couldn't find a single one that I thought would go well. If Dan wants to do something else with it he is certainly welcome. Otherwise, I'll keep looking around and add one later. (Any suggestions?) Maybe I should just add some grass or something??

One of the ideas behind our exchange is that we would challenge each other. This was certainly a challenge for me! Part of it was connecting the big band with the colorful girl. I thought long and hard on how to do that one! The other part was in the composition. Dan placed his band right smack in the middle of that space. I'm not sure how well I've handled that, composition being a weakness of mine, but I did enjoy, through gritted teeth, working through it.

You should see this in person. I have to say that Dan did an excellent job on that band. Each person has such a unique face. The details are impressive!

New Sketchbooks and some older sketches

2010-12-01T11:15:00.004-06:00

Remember the sketchbook I made? The paper wasn't folded with the grain and as a result it was all a bit wonky. Also, I hadn't realized I knicked the spine, which began to fall apart after being carried around in my purse. It was very heavy! So, I tore it down and made these three sketchbooks. The material is just some I had laying around from an old project. The rings are 1", not the really big ones; and I used Yes! paste for the glue. The small one pictured with the cover open is identical to the largest one, and they all have an envelope glued into the back. These are incredibly easy to make--I made all three the same day! But what I really like, is that I have no fear because there is always the possibility of removing a page. Or adding. Or even selling one! I'm not embarrassed to have someone look through it and as a result, I'm taking it everywhere and actually getting it out to use!

This is a failed experiment that for some reason, I still kind of like. Paul Wang, Hong Kong correspondent for Urban Sketchers, had a few pictures of his pre-painted pages along with the finished pages. I love his color so decided to give it a go. Well, what was supposed to be a light red wash turned out much darker than intended because I was sitting in the sun on a dry day and as I touched the paper it seemed to dry on contact. A wash was next to impossible using my waterbrush. I left it with the red wash over my sketch for several weeks before deciding to add more color and see if I could make it work. Since this scan I have actually gone back and touched up the trees some. They look better, but I'm too lazy to rescan. The sketch was done while waiting in the truck at Lowe's, during all that recent construction.

Another sketch from Lowe's parking lot, done back in Sept; and a sketch of mom's car in her garage. Never went back to paint them, but I'm not interested enough to bother with that. Maybe one day I'll get the urge.

And of course, what sketchbook doesn't start with a page like this? (for me, anyway!)

These three sketches are the first three pages of the larger sketchbook pictured above. I've also added some loose drawings that I didn't want to get lost. So far, I'm really liking the freedom I feel with these sketchbooks! (The sketches in this post were all in the sketchbook before I tore it down to make the smaller ones.)

Houston Quilt Festival

2010-11-11T18:58:00.005-06:00

I'm not much into the quilting arts or knitting arts, or really, anything to do with sewing unless it is necessary in the scheme of things. (ie adjusting hems, making journal covers) I only went to the quilt festival because Shirley Levine was there and I wanted to meet her. But, I have to tell you...these aren't your grandmother's quilts! I was amazed at how far they've taken quilting. Some pieces were truly 'fine art'. I walked around for an hour and a half before Shirley and I were to meet, and still, I did not make it down every aisle.

We had a great time, talking almost nonstop, except while we were sketching. This was the first time I've ever had a crowd build around me. It was a bit nerve-wracking and all I could think about was how unfortunate that I let myself get out of practice! Yep, I did that again! But, I had all compliments and they were very nice, even though I was blocking the path a little! I wasn't watching Shirley, she was behind me somewhere, but I'm sure they made their way over to her too. This was a great experience for me. I don't think I would have had the nerve to pull out my sketchbook if I hadn't had a companion with me. Safety in numbers!!

So, where have I been? After we finished siding the garage, we repainted the exterior of the house. This is no small feat since we are in a tudor style home with very tall peaks! Picture me, teetering on a 32' ladder, stretching as far as I could without falling off, with a paintbrush! It took 20 gallons of paint and several weeks (because we had to replace a lot of wood along the way...completely rebuilding a bay window). Each night when I came in, I cooked dinner, and then collapsed in front of the television. I made a sketch here and there, but they were doodles really. And not very good ones. It looks like this completes our list of projects for this year. We only have two or three more, which we plan to wait until next spring to begin. Thank goodness! I'm really feeling my age at the moment!

The Weather is Making Me Smile

2010-10-12T13:24:00.006-05:00

I know, it's been eons since I've posted anything! But, if you knew how perfect our weather has been and how seldom we are treated to days like this, you would understand completely my need to be outside for every possible waking moment! I've been swamped with projects (just finished residing our garage) and loving every minute of it. I had a birthday back on Sept 22 and went absolutely nuts ordering things online. Most of it has arrived, but would you believe I am still waiting on one of them? I mean, really, THREE WEEKS? If it doesn't come today, I think I'll scream!

So this first image above is just a sketch I did on some recycled printer paper while testing out one of my presents, a trail stool from REI . I was afraid to order this stool, thinking it would be another one of those things that just collect dust in my studio, but I'm so happy I did. I've already used it quite a few times and I love it! The view is of my neighbors house from my back patio, with the corner of our back deck showing. Not really a great view composition-wise, so it probably won't be developed any further than this. Other presents included two more books, Mary Whyte's Watercolor for the Serious Beginner, and Charles Reid's The Natural Way to Paint, six tubes of wc, a scrubber brush, a box of drawing pens, and an antique set of 100 pastels. which my grandmother passed down to me, and were her grandmothers, pre- WW2. Haven't played with them yet!

This is more of a doodle type page, I think. The woman is from imagination, the man from a photo at utrechtart.com of Jody Dole, the photographer. The rest is just notes I was taking from reading the articles on the site.

These were studies done from photos of a clothed model that I got off Matt Archambault's site.
That is a wonderful site, though he has upped his prices to $19/month. (I am no longer a member, but do highly recommend!)

I debated whether to show this one. Nothing really great about it. The figures are once again from posemaniacs.com. The cartoon skeleton, well, I was just being silly. The girl at the bottom, my only touch of color on this post, was sketched from the news, mostly from memory as she was gone just as I started to sketch. The quote is a comment that Winna made on someone else's blog. That person was also suffering from a block, so this hit me perfectly and I had to write it down. (Thank you, Winna!)

I hope to have more color for you next time.

Sketchbook Miscellany

2010-09-19T11:13:00.008-05:00

Finally there was a day when I could sit outside and comfortably sketch without feeling the oppressive heat suffocating me. My husband was working on a lawnmower in the garage. I sat in a camping chair out front, in the shade. Of all the things I was surrounded by, this dirty old gas can is what I chose to sketch! (well, technically, I guess everything out there is dirty!) I sketched it in pencil. Then I used tracing paper to transfer it to watercolor paper. I knew of this technique, but believe or not, I had never tried it. I think one of the advantages of it is not worrying about messing up the original sketch. Definitely something to remember if you've lost your confidence or if you would just like to try painting with different techniques!

Sketches from posemaniacs. I had just about forgotten this site existed until someone posted some sketches they did. I filled nine pages (9"x12" sketchbook) with 30, 60, and 90 sec gesture drawings. Then, I went to random pose and did these sketches, untimed. I'm not sure how long they took, 5 mins or so? And for the first time, I realized I could keep the same pose and sketch it from a different angle. (The two on the left are the same pose, rotated slightly.)

This was done mostly while watching Pirates of the Caribbean. I paused the scene at the pier to draw the two men. I loved the guy's face on the left. Very unique! Started as a blind contour in ballpoint, so his face is somewhat skewed, but I like how it gives it a caricatured look. Then I drew the skeleton, bottom left, from memory. I have a photo of a skeleton head that I drew from next, to see how much I had retained in my memory sketch. More meerkats, started blind contour, shading and texture then added. This page was fun to do. See the tilted girl? Do you do that? Seems like there is always at least one drawing on my page which somehow ends up cockeyed!

This is self-portrait #11 of 100. (A redo of it, actually, as the first one was a disaster!) After the first sketchbook I bound, I actually made another, thinner one, using a different paper. Easier to carry around! My first one is a little wonky and I discovered that I had folded the pages against the grain instead of with it. So, this book actually turned out much better! However, I've now made another discovery. I really DISLIKE the Canson XL 140lb watercolor paper I bound in it! (I think it might be their student grade. ) Everything I've done on this paper has turned out dull and sort of fuzzy. It doesn't hold up to scrubbing at all! Here, I had a sketch that I really liked. I made a small mistake near the chin area, and using a technique that Dan told me about, I tried to gently scrub it away. And, I emphasize that I was gentle! Terrible results! The paper disintegrated and nothing I did would fix it. I only realized that it was the paper, and not me, while reading Cathy Johnson's Creating Nature in Watercolor, which I just purchased. (I love the book, Cathy!) Suddenly I realized that I had not done a single painting on this paper that I liked! And really, I think it was this blow to my confidence which started the whole block I've been suffering lately!

Bitten by the Dog Days of Summer

2010-09-07T14:48:00.007-05:00

Whew! It's been ages since I updated, longer if I go back to the last art I posted. This summer hasn't been great for me. I am not prone to sulking or depression, but I'm an outdoorsy type and Houston just had the hottest August on record. I do not like heat, especially with high humidity. It had me thinking about Boise, and wishing I still lived there. I lived right on the Boise greenbelt, which runs straight through the middle of town next to the Boise river. From the greenbelt I walked to Boise State University (not as a student), the library, the post office, the grocery store (when I only needed a few items!), 8th St marketplace, the zoo, numerous parks. You get the idea. I was outside all the time; lots to draw too. So, in my sulky state, I complained about not having anything to walk to...everything is spread out. Not that it matters because who would want to walk here?! And what the heck is one supposed to draw around here, a barbed wire fence? To compound my problem, after doing numerous remodel jobs in the house, which was exhausting but satisfying, I got out of the habit of sketching. I made a sketchbook, then another. But when I picked up my pencil to add the first sketch, I couldn't get into my groove and it turned out terribly and now I have to look at it every time I pick up my sketchbook. I have struggled with trying to get it back for several weeks now. (Upper left: morguefile photo: ref id# 208873 by LU311 done in pencil and watercolor; Upper Right: A very small gesture sketch of a fleeting moment, done in ballpoint. )

For Labor Day weekend, we had my brother-in-law's family come for a visit. My 7 year old niece, whose work I've posted here before, loves to draw. I gave her a sketchbook last year and in it we are writing a story and illustrating it. We drew tons this weekend, all of it from imagination (very unusual for me). I was really getting into the groove by the third day, feeling like that dreamy child again. In the story, my husband and niece and I are always getting captured and we have to use our super powers to get free and conquer the bad guys. After watching "The Spy Next Door" (Jackie Chan movie), we suddenly remembered we were Master Ninjas. I do wish I had remembered to scan in some of our artwork to show you! I know that you would have been impressed with her talent!

Here is a very quick sketch of my niece. She looks very serious here, but believe me, she is nothing but energy and giggles! I asked her to be my model and hold still. I laughed when she instantly went rigid with her arms straight down at her side, her eyes unblinking. After I got her a little more relaxed, with her arms folded, she asked me how long this would take, to which I replied that sometimes it could take hours. Her eyes went huge! This sketch might have taken five minutes; that is all she could take.

I have since filled six pages of my larger sketchbook, hoping to break this spell. I think it is working, I do feel lighter/less burdened. Left: Wishing at was at the Urban Sketchers Symposium. Pencil sketches from photos posted on their site. Orange background added in Photoshop. (It made the sketches stand out more.) Right: Sketches with my Lamy Safari using morguefile photos as reference.

And the heat has finally broken. We are only in the seventies today, as we are getting pummeled by Tropical Storm Hermine. It has been dark and rainy all day, but to me it is much preferred over August's weather. This is the view out of my studio window at the moment. Let's hope that I've gotten over my moping and that I remember next year, when it is summer and miserable again, to at least keep drawing as that is what normally keeps me happy!

A New Sketchbook

2010-08-21T13:13:00.005-05:00

I'm very picky about what I want in a sketchbook. It can't be too small to sketch comfortably, or too large to carry with me. It must have watercolor paper in it. I prefer portrait format. Both sides of the paper should be the same. Preferably hardbound, not spiral. Again and again I purchase some commercial sketchbook, hoping that this will be the one to make me happy. Sometimes I dislike the book so much that I move on to the next without even finishing it, which is why I have ELEVEN sketchbooks going at the moment. Well, make that twelve now because I just made my own sketchbook a couple of days ago! And I love it, and wish that I had done so sooner!

So, here is how this came about:

I went to the art supply to see if I could use my 40% off coupon for a nice watercolor sketchbook, only they didn't have the one I wanted or anything else that I wanted to try. They did have a terrific sale on paper though, so I scooped up a bunch of paper and told my husband I'd make my own. Keep in mind that I had no supplies for bookmaking on hand. I thought I'd improvise. Because that's what I do.

I'll skip telling the hows and just send you to the two sites I used. I'd like to thank Shirley for the information she has on her blog, and for the inspiration--her journals are so beautiful! And Martha of Trumpetvine Travels for her instructions.

This was much easier than I thought it would be! My book doesn't look great, but I learned tons my first time out! Remember the "improvise" I talked about? First, I didn't have the proper thread, so I thought dental floss seemed like a good replacement. It went together quickly and easily with that, but when I finished I realized I had put too many folios and it didn't fit very well. So, I tried to take one off and that is when I discovered dental floss wasn't as strong as I had believed. My only other option was some hemp that I had for making bracelets. So, I restitched the whole thing and when I got done, it was once again too fat. I removed the top folio. It was still just a little too big, but I glued it in anyway. This book is VERY strong, though it looks a little funny because the middle mushes out a little.

What I learned:

Don't use dental floss.
Don't use hemp. While it is strong enough, it is also so thick that it makes the spine of the book fat, while the other side is skinny.
If you're already having problems with the thickness of the spine, for goodness sake, don't cover the gaps left between folios with strips of paper, which makes it even thicker!

It really is not a difficult procedure and with the right tools, it should be easy to make a sketchbook just the way you want it! I'll be going for some bookbinding thread as soon as possible!
Buying the paper on a mega-sale, each sketchbook that I make will cost about $6. I have enough to make three 9" x 6" books of the 90lb Frabriano cp paper that I bought. (This book counts as one of them.) And I also bought some 140 lb Canson cp which will make three more. I'm set! Except maybe for the string. Definitely need that! Oh, and some pretty endpapers to dress it up some!

EDM# 104 and An Idea for a Painting

2010-07-28T19:30:00.004-05:00

I had an idea for a painting that I attempted to sketch out here. The plan was for a girl to be walking with little tiny elephants dancing all around her feet. Well, not really dancing, think Heinrich Kley. Then her feet went off the page and I really didn't feel like correcting anything. After this, my heart wasn't really into the drawing anymore. Not that it is terrible. I used two reference photos for this, both from morguefile. Here and Here.
And this is something I haven't done in a long time! EDM Challenge #104: Salt and Pepper shakers. In fact, I just turned myself into a liar because I recently commented on someone's blog that I don't do the EDM challenges anymore. (Not that they're bad or anything!) I think I said that today, in fact! But then I saw this salt and pepper set in my mother's china cabinet and couldn't resist. Not sure how I've missed these. They look quite old, with some of the shine worn off the ceramic. The sketch isn't very well observed. Have you ever been in that mood before? Where you don't really care to focus that hard? Just throw down some lines and let them be? That was me today. I just said, 'ah! Nobody will even notice!" Except, I'm a blabbermouth-- I forgot. It looked better before I added the ink lines, which I did because they actually appear on the birds that way. This was done on some very old paper that I found amongst my late aunt's things. The paper is pretty rough, and 300 lb weight. I had never used paper this heavy, and I love it! No buckling whatsoever! No taping down! Maybe it's a little rough for my taste, but I do love the weight!

(They are still sitting next to me. I just looked over and they have been pushed together in a way that it looks like one bird is whispering in the other's ear. Now why couldn't I have set them up that cute???)

A Brutal Self-Portrait!

2010-07-26T16:31:00.006-05:00

Everyone in my family has a "specialty", and when there is need for that specialty, that person is expected to do the job. For instance, my husband cooks the meat, I am not to be trusted. I cook the side dishes and homemade breads. I am also the painter of walls and ceilings and cabinets. Because I am persnickety and I won't leave splotches everywhere or crooked lines. No, definitely no crooked lines. I have a half inch flat watercolor brush that I do touch ups with! Well, recently someone stepped through the attic floor/bathroom ceiling, and after it was repaired I was sent in to do the painting. I hate painting ceilings!! Seriously! Neck and shoulders...it just isn't good! Anyway, as I grumbled while applying a second coat, I heard a reciprocating saw in the next room. I came around the corner just in time to see the saw blade hit the drain pipe to the bathtub upstairs and see the water come gushing down. It was not my job to clean up that mess (TG!), so I got off easy there; but, guess what I'll be doing again in the next couple of days? Yep...another ceiling. Bummer!
This is me, in my painting get-up: a cheapo baseball cap to protect the hair, and an old reject t-shirt of my husband's with paint all over it. Now, this is not an attractive look for me in the least, but I'm just going to go ahead and let you know that I didn't do myself any favors here! It is micron pen (sepia) and watercolor on exacompta sketchbook.

Self-Portraits 8 and 9

2010-07-22T15:31:00.005-05:00

After my serious portrait attempt with charcoal left me feeling a little down, I decided I needed to try something a little more upbeat, fun. The charcoal drawing was laborious without the quality you would have expected for something taking so long. So, at the top of this sketchbook page I wrote, "unkempt me", because I hadn't showered yet, and I looked a little bedraggled. The shirt that I was wearing was actually just a plain dark blue t-shirt. I made up the stripes and the folds in the shirt and this actually turned out to be my favorite part. The drawing was done in five minutes (the best kind, if you want to know my opinion!) I like the colors I've used on this. Notice the name, 'unkempt me' has been cropped out here...I don't think I caught the slovenly part of my look. Plus, it looks like I have makeup on and went crazy with the blush, and who does that before the shower? I look serious, don't I? That expression makes me laugh. It is so recognizable in artists' self-portraits. This is pencil and watercolor in my exacompta sketchbook, which isn't for watercolor but works surprisingly well for simple ones. (you can see that the paper waves)

Eh, this wasn't intentionally a self-portrait. This was a doodle with a ballpoint pen that I thought looked similar to me, so I slapped on the glasses and watercolored. I'll never get to a hundred if I don't take these freebies when I can!

Of the self-portraits I've done so far, only #3 and # 8 (above) are from looking in a mirror. All the others, except nine, are from photos. Now, I really like #6, it is probably my favorite so far, but I think the two done from life are really good, and they were much easier. Both were drawn with relative ease. I will keep this in mind for the, um, 91 more that I have remaining!

Self-Portrait #7, and a Redo

2010-07-20T11:34:00.004-05:00

You may remember this one from here. I really liked this sketch but ruined it with watercolors the first time. So, I redrew it from the prior sketch, and amazingly enough it looks MORE like him this time. I wanted a portrait similar to the one I did of myself (#6), so I could frame it and put it next to mine. (see it on the wall in the photo of my workspace?) Things didn't go as smoothly though, and even though I used the same paper, the mistakes couldn't be scrubbed out. The paper began to disintegrate. Can you see that dark spot under his chin? That would be one of the spots! I also don't like his pupils being that dark; they're distracting. This was sketched in pencil and the tone was added with neutral tint watercolor.

After seeing Dan's wonderful charcoal drawings, I decided to pull mine out and try using them. I had vine charcoal once upon a time, but I couldn't find it. I have these things, but don't confuse that with 'having used' these things before! Like my oil paints, they have been sitting in a drawer, unused. Now, when I did a quick sketch with the vine charcoal-- a couple of decades ago--I remember it being easy to smudge around. I didn't realize the pencils would be so different! If I had known it wouldn't be as easy, I think I would not have put in the tone the way I did. See all those lines in the background? I thought they would smudge out. Anyway, I struggled with this one and finally gave up. I knew something was off, but didn't realize exactly what, until I scanned it and accidentally hit mirror! Now do you see it? Maybe you saw it in the first scan and I didn't because my eyes weren't fresh, but when I mirrored it, it was so obvious!! There is a definite slant to the head that shouldn't be there. The good news is that I now know of a quick way to look at things anew. I'd like to try this again, but I think I'll pick up some vine charcoal next time I'm out, or perhaps locate the stash I have around here, somewhere!

There is a lot of talk amongst our group about how negative we can be on our own work. We see the flaws that others don't. I think about that a lot when I write my posts, but I just can't stop pointing them out. But, I wonder if that is really a bad thing? The way I see it, if I don't acknowledge the flaws, how can I improve? There is a lot that I like about my drawings too. I may not mention them as often, but I think if I didn't find some redeeming qualities, I would have quit already. Sometimes I am embarrassed to admit that I like them, almost like it is too immodest(?). Maybe, but perhaps by my picking out things that bother me, it might help you too? I can think of several occasions when other bloggers have pointed out things they didn't like, which I hadn't noticed or even thought about before. It was new to me, and I learned from it, and I can now apply that to my own artwork. What are your thoughts?

I'm moving slowly on these self-portraits. Number 100 seems so very far away!

Oy vey!

2010-07-18T14:59:00.006-05:00

Let's pretend for a moment that I know the teensiest bit of Yiddish and didn't just have to look that up to make sure I was using it correctly! So why am I saying that? I have the dreaded feeling that a momentum change is coming. I feel it out there, a hovering gray cloud. Things are starting to not come so easily and I'm struggling with color again. I don't know why this keeps happening. I go skipping along merrily, only to be blindsided by the feeling that I've never painted before so how could I know what I'm doing!

I'm still doing portraits. This is my sister again, and I'm quite happy with the results. (drawn about a week ago...before the feeling started) A few things need tweaking, but I look at it and definitely see her. I went to pencil after struggling with the paints a few times. This is 2B mechanical pencil, and an 8B pencil. I'd like to try it in charcoal on canvas like Dan did in one of his recent drawings. Then one day, when I'm feeling confident, do it in the water-soluble oils I have just sitting in my drawer, aging as I type this.

And this is my entry in the moleskine collaboration I have going with Dan. One of our plans is to push each other out of our comfort zone. So, with this one I prepainted the background to give us something we had to work with/around (against?). I drew it in a medium bic ballpoint pen, no pencil lines first. (The exception is in the teeth, where it isn't good to outline in black!) I've used this technique with the background a few times now. It is supposed to help unify the whole page. Only, it didn't work out so well this time. Is it just me, or does her back arm almost look like it belongs to someone else? Oh well...let that be part of Dan's challenge: to make her arm look attached! Something else that I did was zoom in. I don't see him do that often. The drawing is loosely based this morguefile photo. Like I said, I went in straight with the pen, so when I went astray with the face, I just went with it.

Yevgenia Watts, of Watercolored Hands

2010-07-10T13:14:00.005-05:00

Also known as Yevgenia Watts! I really need to start doing these a little larger! This is about five inches square, making her face only an inch and a half? It's hard to do too much that small. Although, you would think it would stop me from overworking!! This is for Julia Kay's Portrait Party again.

A Busy Couple of Weeks...

2010-07-08T16:48:00.008-05:00

Two weeks ago, I was contacted by Melissa Rovner, whose two children had written a book about the oil spill. She wanted to publish the book, so she asked some of the artists who had contributed to Ripplesketches if they could contribute pictures for the book. I said okay. It's to raise money, so really, it's just a donation; I don't get paid. But, I was so excited to be invited that I couldn't say no! I decided to do three versions, and let her pick which she liked best. You can see a write up in the Walton Sun.

This is Jerry Waese, a participant in Julia Kay's Portrait Party. I tried using just two colors, indigo and burnt sienna. I had never done this type of exercise before, so poor Jerry was my guinea pig. I got the reference photo from here.

This was a piece of watercolor paper with preexisting splashes of paint on it. In the midst of the swirls, I could barely make out a bird. So I found a photo which seemed like it would fit and this is the result. BettyfromTexas tells me it is an African Grey.

And this is my semi-new workspace! Before, my desk was L-shaped and I had two areas that I could pull up a chair. The problem with this arrangement was that I'm a little lazy and disorganized by nature, so the end opposite of my computer became a place to stack my junk! What to do? Grab a round saw and cut off the last two feet (didn't take the desk outside...it was too heavy!), swing it around to the front, and attach. Wha-lah!! U-shaped workspace! Okay, now, don't laugh...but, this is CLEAN! And because everything is within reach, I am managing to keep it relatively so! I love my new space!

Update: I should have mentioned that I did not post any of the pictures that I've done for the book. I'm not sure what the rules about such a thing are, and I decided to wait and see which one she decided to use.

Contributions to Ripple

2010-06-22T13:32:00.008-05:00

Here are two atc's that I did for Ripple. I hope that you will stop by Ripple and either buy a card, or make a card, or both! Here is what it says on their blog:

"Each sketchcard on this blog is $10.00. The $10.00 is a donation to help the animal victims of the Deep Water Horizon Gulf Oil Spill. Every penny is donated. The two Non-Profits that are benefiting are The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and The International Bird Rescue Research Center. You can purchase a card if you donate directly to one of the non-profits and email me the confirmation and your address to ripplesketches@verizon.net. The artist will mail you the signed card.
We don't have to feel helpless. We can help. Our small actions together will ripple outward. "

The pelican has already sold!! So, thank you to the buyer; I'll have that in the mail today!

This is one that I've just sent in; as of this writing, it hasn't made it up on the site yet. I did the background first, sort of an abstract all colors running together sort of thing, because I was deciding what to draw still. Then I drew in the turtle, directly in ink (Micron, sepia). Then I added more watercolor. I like the way it turned out.

UPDATE: The Sea Turtle is now sold!

More for Julia Kay's Portrait Party

2010-06-13T15:27:00.003-05:00

This is Wally Torta of CrackskullBob. He recently did a caricature of me for Julia Kay's Portrait Party which I was thrilled with, so I wanted to do one of him. The pencil sketch was scanned in just in case it became necessary to finish it digitally. I was really happy with this (and actually, I do like it) but I felt it was getting away from me there at the end. I accidentally made the shadow under his chin too dark, and the shadowy side of his shirt got confused. The light circles in the background were actually orbs of light on the original photo. They aren't very noticeable until you change it to black and white. I liked them, so didn't edit them out. This is done with pencil and watercolor in Canson Mixed Media sketchbook.

And this is NC (Norman) Mallory. He thinks I've made him look like an elf and assures me that he's really a troll. It's done on used computer paper (sorry Norman, I was watching a movie and didn't think I'd do a sketch worth keeping), with pencil and a watercolor wash for the background.

We're having a blast at the portrait party; you should join us! All levels welcomed!

Two More Portraits

2010-06-09T15:49:00.006-05:00

This is Inma Serranito, done for Julia Kay's Portrait Party on flickr. I'm having a blast with this! If you're looking to improve your portraiture, this is the perfect way to do it. Lots of photos to choose from, all skill levels accepted!
This is a not-so-good portrait of my sister. I recognize her, but something in the eyes is off...I think it's the pupils. In fact, as I look at it now, I think the eyes aren't even pointing in the same direction. There was a point earlier in the painting part that I actually liked this. But I couldn't stop; I obsessed. Oh well. I'll try this again. But maybe I'll look for a photo that shows her beautiful smile, instead of the little smirk she had in this one. Yes, that would be more flattering.

Self-Portraits 4, 5, and 6

2010-06-03T22:20:00.004-05:00

Whew! I've been doing some crazy things the last few days. Most of it has been a complete fiasco. Like the canvas that I glued tissue paper onto and then tried to do a portrait in acrylic. Only, I've very limited selection of acrylics and they didn't work the way I expected. Not only did the skin tone turn out a hideous orangy color, like someone spending too long at the tanning beds, but the tissue began to dissolve and break apart as I added layers of paint to hide the mistakes. It WAS a failure-- an utter failure. But that's one way I know I won't fail again. And it was fun to do something I've never tried before.

Not letting that get me down, I had something else I wanted to try. I've seen people draw and paint in books and I always thought it looked cool. So, I tore out the last pages of some book I had just read, you know the part where they introduce you to the first three chapters of some other book they want you to buy? I started splashing around and having fun. But, it was harder than I thought it would be. I misjudged how much the paint would lighten when it dried. I didn't get a good likeness. I tried again on another page...still didn't get a good likeness. So, I quit for the day, knowing that I had at least been experimental.

Oops...lips too red. Oops...face to red.

Oops. Oops. Oops. That was my yesterday.

So, I woke up today determined to do something a little better to get my confidence back. It started off as an exercise in tones, but I quickly realized my photo was taken with a flash camera and had washed out most of the tones. Though it's light, I kept going. I made a few mistakes along the way. Like when I got a little green mixed in with my black and then painted the lenses. Oh, that was a happy accident. Then I decided I would paint just my eyes blue. But the pupils weren't yet dry and it turned into more of a gray. I like it enough. I did have fun with this one. There were other things I had intended to explore in this one that I didn't get to, but hey, it's only #6 of 100!

You may wonder why I put that one at the top of the post, when I talk about it down here at the bottom. Well, it's like this: Would you be able to look at your blog with these horrible drawings being the first thing you see? No way! Not me! If I'm going to post my uglies, I'll do it with dignity thank you very much!

First Entry for Julia Kay's Portrait Party: Ujwala Prabhu

2010-05-31T19:48:00.007-05:00

So I finally got around to doing a portrait for Julia Kay's Portrait Party; this one is of Ujwala Prabhu! Didn't do a great job on the skin tone, but I'm still learning. It's done in a tiny little sketchbook (only 3.5" X 5.5") I made as per directions from Sketchalina. I know I'm always complaining about sketchbooks being so small, but this one needed to fit in a small fanny pack that I have for walking. I think the size made me paint tighter than I normally do...if that' s even possible!!

I also posted some pictures of myself, for those who were wondering if I actually look like that little cartoon icon or not! It's here. It's been a busy weekend for me, so I'll be catching back up with you all tomorrow! Have a great weekend!!

Self-Portrait #3 of 100

2010-05-27T16:54:00.002-05:00

This is the first time I've ever attempted to draw something while standing up. And while the drawing only took about five minutes, my arm thought it took at least thirty! Wow! It was burning like I was holding a twenty pound sketchbook instead of the little 8" X 5.5" Exacompta (very lightweight!) that I was using! Seriously, my arm was nearly shaking by the end. This could become a new workout routine!

I'm undecided on the painted version. I like it; but it's not what I had pictured in my head. No reason to get down though...this is only number three!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present a Breakthrough!

2010-05-25T09:28:00.008-05:00

I admit, it may not look like much of a breakthrough, but for me it is-- and, I'm ecstatic about it! So ecstatic, I can almost not wait to do it again. Yesterday, I drew in public. Right there, in the middle of the crowd, not hiding in the protection of my car. I was at the VA hospital, with family and while I waited, I sat at a table in front of this Starbuck's kioske. The table was tiny, maybe two feet in diameter and I was sharing it with two people so I didn't pull out the watercolors like I wanted, maybe next time. I still plan to add color, but I just had to show you! I was out in the open-- sketching! And nobody came and yelled at me or made fun of me or anything horrible! I lived through it, and actually, I wasn't even nervous! This is a HUGE step for me!

Self Portraits 1/100 and 2/100

2010-05-21T13:58:00.005-05:00

Nothing like a commitment to do 100 self-portraits to make you suddenly realize you need a haircut--BAD! So, I went and got one on Monday. Time to get on with the project; no more excuses!

It's a good thing I've committed to doing 100 of these. I can only get better, right? The first one I did for the series, Self-portrait Picking Weeds, was done from of photo of me working in our garden several weeks ago. It seems I spend a major part of my days doing this, so it's only appropriate to have as one of my portraits. My hair was a mess, half up, half fallen down. Wind blowing. You get the picture!

After surfing the internet for hours on end, without doing any sketching whatsoever, it being very late and time for bed, I finally decided I should at least do one drawing before bed. So, I did a very, very quick self-portrait with my Pentel pocket brush pen. Not being warmed up, nothing went quite right. It's on some cheap printer paper. Added watercolor the next day. The watercolor was very difficult; nothing wanted to stay wet long enough to make decent washes. Though the resemblance isn't all that strong, I do like it. It is looser than my usual work.

And Time Flies!

2010-05-13T15:55:00.005-05:00

You wouldn't know it from looking at this blog, but I have not been completely idle, art-wise! I've been busy during the day, and sketching at night. April and May always seem to be like that for me. The garden needs tending. All the major projects for the year begin, and this year is no different. Our garden has kept us very busy. I've started repainting various rooms and shampooing carpets throughout. Then, at night, though I'm tired, I at least pick up a pencil or a pen, so I don't lose the feel for drawing. I've not felt like posting or even practicing with watercolor. Pencil or pen is just easy. And I'm all about easy when I'm tired!

This is a morguefile photo (#209568 by Nesstor4u2). I've noticed that although it is relatively simple to draw people (for me), I find it more difficult to group them together and keep proportions correct. That is why I chose this particular photo. It's done in pencil and I probably should have scanned it sooner, before the smearing could begin.

This man is also from a photo on morguefile.com. (ref#607477, by Bboomerindenial). It's done in ballpoint pen. I love weathered faces, so much easier to do than perfect, youthful ones. The shapes are easier to see because they are broken into smaller pieces by wrinkles and folds. And it's easier to make them not look like plastic! Have you ever noticed that?

This is morguefile again. (ref#221173, by CarolinaJG) It's of several people walking along a beach. I never finished it. There was another woman walking alongside the one. The two men weren't walking together but at angles to one another. It's in pencil on watercolor paper, but I never went back to it, and I put too much shading in for wc.

This one (ref#217100, by jarndt, and on morguefile) was of two men riding horses in a small parade. I wasn't doing very well though. This horse didn't, in actuality, have these long, long legs. And the man is actually sitting in the saddle, not behind it! I know it sounds like I'm complaining and pointing out all the flaws, but I just see it as it is. It needs redoing is all.

I've decided to participate in MommaNinja's challenge. I like that I have an unlimited amount of time (a year is good, I think) to complete 100 drawings of something. A dog sounded good, but mine has sadly passed. Our cat isn't always around when you need him, and he hates to cooperate. So, I'll be doing 100 self-portraits! Yikes!

Feet and Hands

2010-04-19T15:38:00.007-05:00

A certain theme runs through most of my sketchbooks--because wherever you are, if you don't feel inspired by your surroundings you can always fall back on these...hands and feet. They are supposed to be one of those difficult tasks when drawing people, so why not get all the practice you can; right? Let me tell you, I do get lots of practice!

This sketch appears about once a month, almost always exactly like this...sketch too close to the top of the page to get the whole thing in, holding the side of my sketchbook. You think I would be tired of doing it but somehow I find it more interesting than my surrounding! Maybe I should take this as a sign than I need to redecorate?

This would actually not be my own feet, and I really enjoyed getting a view I wouldn't otherwise be capable of getting. These are my mother's feet. She had them pulled up onto the couch as we watched "Castle". She had figured out what I was doing by the time I got to her bottom foot, was itching to move, so I rushed and couldn't seem to get the size right. It appears smaller when it should, in reality, appear slightly larger as it was closer.

This may look odd at first. I was sitting in my backyard trying to find something to sketch. So, in a very unladylike manner, I threw my leg up onto the table and sketched. Luckily no one can see into our backyard as I would never sit like this in public!! Could you imagine doing this at a restaurant? Of course, I would hope you would be inspired to draw something other than your foot!

Decided to add watercolor, even though it wasn't watercolor paper. The plants in the background are supposed to be my tomato plants and that is asparagus in the very back, next to the wall. Edited out were my rosemary, chives, and parsley. The gray of the concrete didn't scan well, so it loses a little of the depth.

So, how often do you resort to your hands and feet?

An Elephant Post

2010-04-14T14:30:00.007-05:00

I love elephants. I love their eyes and the way they move. I love how you can look at their faces and see expressions there. (or is that imagined?)

There is an artist that I saw in a book one time that drew elephants, cartooned in ink with very energetic lines. I wish I could remember his name; those sketches were so inspiring. If you think you might know who I'm talking about, please leave a comment! The above sketch was done from imagination/memory and I found that it was not so easy to do. My memory of how it's ears are shaped, the way the head moves into the shoulders was minimal, at best. I couldn't even finish because I just didn't have enough information in my head to do it. I think I'd like to focus on elephants for awhile. It would be nice to sketch an elephant that looked anatomically correct without a photo reference.

I did this one from a photo on morguefile, posted by JDurham. (ref# 660685). It was done on the bottom corner of my page, so I wasn't able to get the entire body in; well, I guess I could have if I had drawn smaller! As you can see, I couldn't decide what color to paint his skin, so I just tried different things. A little purple, a little blue, a little of this or that. It was fun to do.

This photo was posted on morguefile by KeithCr, ref # 87221. I love this photo! It started as a gestural sketch, but I kept going because I liked it. This one may need a watercolor version-- he's so cute! (In the recesses of my mind, I am praying that he is treated well and is happy!)
Another gestural sketch of an elephant posted by katmyspiry, ref# 61608, on morguefile. This was the last one of the night, and it was late. I wanted to keep going but the eyes weren't cooperating anymore. The other sketches on the page were done on an earlier date, when I was trying desperately to sketch my way through that block. Unfortunately I didn't write down the reference numbers or the names of photographers, but they also come from morguefile.

With the exception of the first one, and the people sketches on the last page, these were all done last night. I was just in the mood for sketching some elephants!

UPDATE: Thanks to Timothy Schorre, I have found the elephant artist! It is Heinrich Kley! Some is bizarre, but I love, love, love his elephants!

Moleskine Exchange, First Entry

2010-04-07T12:14:00.005-05:00

This was not easy for me! I had already felt the block coming, then to receive Dan's moleskine...it was enough to send me reeling into the abyss. But, I've done a lot of thinking about that block and this is what I decided- Focusing too much on learning watercolor, I was doing quick sketches in order to add some color and play with the paint. It doesn't sound like a bad thing, does it? But, by doing quick sketches and immediately going to the painting, I was never allowing myself to get into the sketch zone. (Saying that reminds me of the "Suck zone" from the movie Twister!) It didn't take long to loose my rhythm, and the pencil began to feel awkward in my hand. I learn a lot by watching Wil, and I noticed that even though he paints, he still does a lot of sketching. I never realized that I could be doing art everyday, and still not be doing enough drawing to maintain skill. I need to paint to get better at painting, but still need to sketch to not get worse at sketching! And a good sketch is important to a good painting!

So this is what I initially showed Dan as my first entry. I was excited that he noticed how I played with the light to which he had hinted with the sunglasses on his figure. Because the lady I drew had her back to that light, I pushed her sunglasses up on her head, then added the shadows. He noticed that I had kept it in pencil and asked what my thoughts were on that. Well, my thoughts were that I hoped he wouldn't notice!! Or that he would choose to ink that himself because my pen and I hadn't been getting along very well! I knew it needed to be inked though, so I did go back and do it. Luckily I didn't make a mess and I do think it looks better now.

Deciding what to add to Dan's drawing was very difficult for me. Did I want it to be more of a montage of sketches? Should I start telling a story? Of course, crazy ideas popped into my head, playing with scale, putting bizarre people in the background. The possibilities were endless and overloaded my brain! So, I just decided to keep it simple. Dan's figure was turned and I felt she needed to be looking at something. Perhaps it is not the most creative solution, but considering my recent state of mind, it needed to be simple. Maybe next time I'll pull out the wild card!

Fake Journal Post #1

2010-04-02T18:58:00.005-05:00

Front Cover:Day One:
Click on the photo to enlarge!

To participate in International Fake Journal Month, click the bulldog on the right of my page!

Back from the Depths!

2010-04-02T10:53:00.007-05:00

Wow! I just want to thank all of those who commented on my last post. You are all terrific and supportive and just great people! Your ideas have helped so much. In fact, I've decided that in order to prevent myself from feeling uninspired again, I'm going to pick a theme for each month. This month's theme has already been decided, since it is International Fake Journal Month; but some of the others might be self-portraits, dogs, colors, architecture, Halloween characters, package labeling, books, and possibly a comic strip diary. The important thing is that the ideas are finally popping! Especially for the current one...my fake journal will be written from the point of view of my cat, Ollie. I have so many ideas that I actually had to start writing them down so I wouldn't forget!

Also, I wanted to tell you something that recently happened. A neighbor gave me five internet cams/video cameras. They're outdated but new and still in the box. The cameras are okay for the internet cams, but for regular pictures and movies, my digital camera is better. So, it was really nice of him to give me these, but do you know what I liked most?

The bags! They make great travel/urban sketching bags! Inside holds three waterbrushes, a pencil, a fountain pen, a 5"x5" sketchbook (a 5"x6" book max), my paints, a spray bottle, and a paper towel. It is approximately 6"x7"x3".

It also has loops on the back making it possible to convert to a fanny pack. The only con I see is that I don't like to use small sketchbooks. Yesterday, I took the sketchbook out, added a small bottle of water, a cellphone, a camera, and a debit card. Then I carried my sketchbook. Either way, I really like the convenience. And it is nice to be able to get the weight off my shoulders and around my hips...my neck thanks me!

What I've been doing in the absence of my creative muse.

2010-03-31T19:46:00.006-05:00

Okay, so my creative muse decided to just up and leave me; perhaps I stepped on his foot once too many times while dancing? Nevertheless, I've decided to keep going and I'll apologize profusely the next time I see him. What to do when nothing is working and nothing is inspiring?Well, I did this horrendous self-portrait. It was from a picture which wasn't so good to begin with, but then I proceeded to accidentally get out of lines here and there; and then it started looking a bit like a villain from a Batman movie. I'm posting it though, to prove that I can take what I dish out to my loved ones. I now think I understand why they run from me when my sketchbook is in hand!

You may recall, if you've been around long enough, that last year around my birthday I got a full-pan set of Yarka professional watercolors (above). I was asked my opinion of them and never got around to answering. I cannot say, with any real knowledge, how they compare to other artist quality paints, since mine were all student grade prior to this. I have since purchased a few tube paints, some Sennelier, some Dick Blick, and I do like both of these brands a little better but it could be due to them being tube paints. My biggest complaint about Yarka is the palette. If you have carried them around, it is very likely that when you open them again that the pans have come loose and scattered. They are set into some cheap plastic that can easily crack. And the 24 color, full-pan set is enormous. Not great for urban sketching.

Solution:I found a company called Kremer who sells empty palette boxes for a reasonable price. I could have ordered the large one for only three dollars more, but being more interested in portability, ordered the small one which holds eight full-pans. In my mind, this meant it held sixteen half-pans, but not so; I wasn't considering the width of the pan sides! It holds fourteen. I stayed with this format for about a week but found myself missing some favored colors, so I made a few modifications and now it holds 21 half-pans. I LOVE this setup! It is tiny and I can take it anywhere! (I filled most of the half-pans by cutting out half of the full pans from my Yarka set. It was a tedious process, but I'm happy.)

I also replaced my cheapo waterbrush (on the top) with some kuretakes from jetpens. The difference in quality between these two brands is incredible. The cheapo version was just too stingy with the water and my hand would shake while trying to paint and squeeze at the same time. It was frustrating and I couldn't see why everyone loved waterbrushes. The ones from jetpens are perfect. The plastic is soft and squeezable. Don't waste your money on the cheaper version (even if it is all your art supply store carries!)...for only a little more you get something that works the way it was meant to work! I will not be leaving home without them!

Okay, I'm off in search of my muse. Take care!

And the winner is....

2010-03-27T20:01:00.002-05:00

You're probably wondering where I've been lately. Well, did you read that post by Dan, comparing art to dancing? It was interesting, but I was merrily stepping forward without having any ideas at all about dance, just enjoying myself and making progress here and there. Well now I'm dancing and all the steps seem to be going backwards. I felt like I was doing great for awhile and now everything keeps going wrong, and not by just a little bit. No worries though; I know I'll get over it, just keep painting. Oh, and I just removed the stupid games off my computer so I stop playing spider solitaire for hours. Yes, I just had to do that; I was too addicted. And it was getting beyond stupid. But it's gone now. So I know I'll be feeling better soon!

So on to the drawing. I put everyone's name into a bowl, the old fashioned way, and pulled out....

PAMO!

So Pamo, just drop me an email with your address and I'll be sending you Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory!

First Blogaversary Giveaway!!

2010-03-20T10:30:00.005-05:00

I'm going to be ONE next week!! And to show my appreciation for all of the wonderful comments and support I have received, I'm going to do a giveaway. Anyone can play, just leave a comment to be entered into the drawing, and be sure to check back next Saturday, March 27th. There will be one winner who will get to choose one of the following three books:

Everyday Matters: A Memoir by Danny Gregory. Most of my readers probably already own this book, since it is the origin of our yahoo group and the start of this fantastic journey for so many of us. But, if you have not read it, and do not know of it, it is a memoir of the tragic event in Danny's life which started his search for meaning in life and essentially brought him back to art. It is handwritten, and full of his wonderful sketches of everyday things. Thousands and thousands of people all over the world now keep sketch journals because of his inspiring story.

Fast Sketching Techniques by David Rankin. If you are a slow sketcher, you might want to read this book! There are some key techniques in it that are beneficial for sketching on location, where it's important to get the basic information down quickly! Being able to do perfect drawings is wonderful, but sometimes it isn't practical. Have you ever tried sketching at the zoo and the animals wouldn't hold still long enough? Fast sketching is a skill all artists should have in their arsenal. (My opinion, of course!)

Drawing Realistic Textures in Pencil by J.D.Hillberry. This is the exact opposite of Fast Sketching and I have a lot of admiration for people who have the patience to do this type of drawing! This is the slow, perfect drawing best done at home, in your studio. It too is a great skill to have, even if you don't wish to use it often!

Okay, so if you would like a chance to win one of these books, please leave a comment, indicate which book you would like, and make sure you check back next Saturday! I will give three days for the winner to contact me and if I do not hear from him/her, I will draw another name. Good luck everyone!!

Where did the beginning of March go?

2010-03-11T11:22:00.006-06:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. It isn't that I haven't been drawing-I have! But, a lot has been copying the works of other online artists whose work I enjoy. I can't post those. Plagiarism and all.

Another thing slowing me down is the writing part of blogging. It makes me procrastinate. I wrestle with words; we have a tumultuous relationship. Sometimes they come easily, sometimes they don't. I do better when I'm reading a lot, but that hasn't been the case lately. Too busy sketching!

Yesterday I drew a very loose pencil sketch of my husband tilling the soil in our garden. It had energy and I was excited by the results. I sketched it in my exacompta sketchbook which takes light washes fairly well. Then I started adding a little watercolor. Starting with my husband, things were going fine. But then I came across a portion of the page which must have had something on it because it didn't want to accept paint. I wish I had left just my husband, the tiller, and the dirt painted because I couldn't fix the sky and the fence after that fiasco. I went over my pencil sketch with a micron pen in sepia because the loose pencil lines got lost in all the mess. The paper will fall apart if I do any more, so it must stay this way.

This little girl is Sarah, my uncle's Mexican chihuahua. She's taller the most chihuahuas you see in the US, and doesn't have that roundness at the top of her skull. And unlike most chihuahuas, she rarely barks. That's my kind of dog! This is done in my moleskine sketchbook in pencil, with a little bit of colored pencil added. I don't like the way it scanned. In my sketchbook, it doesn't appear to have the dark dark outlines. I think it's because I did a little with black colored pencil, which scans better than the graphite pencil. This was done from a photo, fairly quickly. I tried not to get too fussy with it.

These two sketches are also in my moleskine sketchbook. (You probably remember the watercolor dude-thing, whatever he is, he got taped in here a while back.) I drew the girl from imagination with my Lamy Safari fountain pen and noodler's eternal black. After it dried, I added tone with a uniball micro which is water soluble, and then brushed with water.

The cat is Eddie, the one that adopted us last summer. We couldn't let him in our house because of our other cat, so we found him a good home with one of our neighbors. He is now a very happy, and spoiled cat who refuses to take one step out their door! I think his previous owners may have abandoned him and he's afraid it will happen again. He's done in 3B pencil.

This month marks the end of my first year of blogging and being a member of EDM. To celebrate, I'm preparing a give-away. I have three books and the winner will get to choose the one they want. I should have that post up in the next day or two. Hope you'll check back soon!

Oh, one more thing! For those of you who haven't already heard, Dan and I have started a new blog to showcase a project that we've started together. We are mailing a sketchbook back and forth from Florida to Texas. Our purpose is to challenge ourselves to improve, and stretch ourselves as artists. There is something about doing these exchanges, which pushes you to do your very best. It will be nerve-wracking at times, but that is the very thing that makes me try harder. We hope you'll stop by to visit, here.

Strange things are happening.

2010-02-26T22:20:00.005-06:00

These were never intended for posting, but as I have a little story for you and nothing else to post, I thought Why Not! These are more imaginary scenes for cloud practice. The smaller one is about 1"X3", the larger about 1.5" X 3". I've really enjoyed doing these.

Anyway, the real reason for the post is that something very strange happened to me the other night. I watched a video by Myrna Wacknov over at Creative Journey. She was using a coffee stir dipped in ink, standing back from her paper, arm extended, sketching from a photo. I loved the drawing, saw the value of the exercise, and decided to give it a try. Only I compromised and used pencil since it was late and I didn't feel like cleaning any messes. No problem. Arm extended, grasping the end of my pencil, I copied her sketch (which is why it isn't posted here). This isn't the weird part! The weird thing was when I went back to normal sketching and realized I had to change the pencil to my left (dom) hand. That's right, I unintentionally used my right hand to do the sketch. Have you ever accidentally used your non-dom hand? That is so weird!

Portraits, doodles in watercolor

2010-02-21T13:44:00.004-06:00

Remember this ? I was afraid to paint it "at the moment", and though I said I would be getting to it right away, I lied. I only did this last night. The background was too intense so I did a glaze over it to tone it down. Let me just say, I find red hair extremely difficult to do. It was much darker than this in reality. And I'm still trying to figure out how to do shadows on people. Do you go with more saturated skin tone color, or do you add blue, or what? How do you create your shadows? Overall I like this. I just don't look at it too closely because my inner critic will begin picking it apart.

Okay, this, this is someone I love and miss very much. I wish she lived closer and that I could see her more often. It is done from a dark photo of her in a cave, where details are often hard to discern. Like the glasses on her head. They just looked like a continuation of her hair in the photo. I almost didn't even notice them, except she had weird-shaped hair which would never happen in reality because she's beautiful, always. I only see a resemblance here. She may not even think it looks like her at all. Especially the skin tones! I'm still having difficulty getting those down correctly, so her beautiful glowing tan looks more like a sunburn! So my message to this person is, don't be offended, I'm still learning here! Oh, and LOVE YOU!

I went back to this and toned down the background with a glaze. Thanks Dan for the suggestion! There is some improvement, though I think it may need another glazing. I'll probably just leave this one alone though. Never was too excited about it to start with!

This ocean scene is only about 1" X 3". I did it for study purposes only and from imagination. I wanted to get better at doing clouds and this is the one, out of about five, that I liked best. I got the idea for doing it from Barbara Weeks. She did some really great studies at the beach.

I've also recently been awarded the Over-the-Top award by Jennifer Edwards, and the Sunshine Award by Cathie Tonkins. I haven't forgot about these; I promise to get to them soon! Thank you both for thinking of me!

A Glorious, Sunshiny Day!!

2010-02-16T22:16:00.007-06:00

The sun came out and I could think of no better way to celebrate the occasion than to lie down in the grass, smell the earth, and soak up some of that precious vitamin D I've been craving! (well, no better way that was practical at the time!) Of course, I had my sketchbook with me, much to the dismay of my fellow celebrator!

This began as a blob of paint that I used to test the paper of a new journal I got from Hobby Lobby-- a 7" X 10" spiral bound Canson Mixed Media journal. About a week later, I was wanting to doodle but felt stymied by the blank white page, so I flipped back through previous pages looking for a place to stick a doodle. That is what all the mini portraits were about...fear of facing a new white page, and instead of jumping in there, I found small places on previous pages to cram in some sketches. Well, at least I did draw! And the picture above is that fearsome blank white page.

This is another of those tiny portraits I did. An inchie. It is loosely based on Capt Elaine's profile photo. Really, I should say "influenced by" because I really, really felt like drawing and I saw her icon and in a couple of seconds had this down. I know Elaine has to be thinking, that doesn't look like me at all! And she would be right. I was basically jotting down the composition, maybe we could just call it taking visual notes. I loved the way the dog came out.

I caught this guy's profile for only a second. I was happy with how well I caught his likeness. Only, he was walking, and was wearing an orange jumper. I didn't get any of that down fast enough so I made up this little scene. The orange came out a little (lot) stronger than I like. I think I'll go back and change the color of the background. There's too much competition with his face.

Mini Portraits

2010-02-14T18:19:00.011-06:00

I profess no political ideologies with this sketch. President Obama's photo was there and I was looking for something to sketch. I didn't get a very good likeness. In fact, I was pretty careless about it. His eyeslant was actually the opposite of what I drew, but I couldn't change it since I sketched in ink first. The sketch is approx one inch by one inch.

This was sketched while I was watching Coraline. It is supposed to be her, though when I added the watercolor, the ink was not yet dry and it messed up her nose and her hair doesn't look as blue anymore. This is also quite small at about an inch high. Has anyone seen this movie? I was a bit shocked by the dancing ladies scene and had to go see the rating on it. It's PG-13, not G! The artwork was great, I just wasn't very keen on the story.

This guy, also only an inch in width, is from imagination and was sketched with my Pentel Pocket Brush. I cannot sketch from life with this pen! With all of the blind contours that I've done, I've trained myself to rarely look at the page. But, when using a brush it seems like you need to pay attention to how thin or how fat a line is; this isn't something that I have a "feel" for yet. Do any of you out there draw with your Pentel brush pen while not looking at the paper? Is this a skill you can develop with practice?

There is something about me that I'm just starting to recognize. It seems that if I say I'm going to focus on one thing, I end up doing the opposite! For instance, I said I would focus on tone with pencil for the year; but suddenly I hardly want to mess with sketching at all I'm in such a rush to get to the watercolors. If I say I'm going to focus on learning watercolors, suddenly all I can do is sketch! It makes me feel like I can't move forward. Is it fear or is it boredom, or is it that I like to do it all and need variety?

I've also noticed that I'm starting to doodle more in watercolor. This is new to me, since I normally doodle in ballpoint or pencil. I like that change. I also like these tiny little messy portraits.

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!

More imaginary people...

2010-02-09T18:00:00.006-06:00

I remember the very first realistic face I ever drew. I was quite young and my peers were still drawing circles with smiley faces. I liked loved to draw and would spend hours lost in my own little creative world. But this first face was done quite by accident. My parents told me to clean my closet, and well, you remember the story about the parrot, right? My locker was bad, but my closet was a disaster! And though I always hated having to do it, I often found myself flung into this imaginary world as things forgotten suddenly were rediscovered. On this particular day I saw a piece of paper with a squiggly line on it, just a scribble really; it looked like a profile. So I added the mouth, eyes, ears, etc., and I ended up with a very realistic profile sketch. I worked on this for hours. Putting down some pencil marks, rubbing it to get shading. Looking in the mirror the best I could, to see how it looked from the side. It was a new discovery to me, and I remember that feeling of joy.

And so began my fascination with drawing people. When I doodle, it is almost always faces. All kinds of faces. I try doodling shapes and zentangles, try to be random, but always I see the slightest inkling of a face in there and unable to help myself, I push it to become a face. I once told a friend of mine that I could make a face out of any line. She challenged me and I did it. My proportions may not always be correct and sometimes they come out a bit bizarre (e.g. the lady with the tree arms), but they are always there, found scattered about my pages.

Feeling lazy...Need some sunshine!

2010-02-07T11:33:00.005-06:00

I took this corner of a page I had doodled on with ballpoint, put it in corel painter to add the color and the type. I like the addition of the text. Before, the page looked empty and disconnected.

This is Oliver Wendall, our cat. This was sketched in the span of about five minutes, and I didn't even try to draw every pose he made! I thought cats were supposed to be lazy! Done in col-erase pencil with a little w/c added later.

Haha! This is what happens when I try too hard to be imaginative! This silly thing was sketched in black col-erase pencil, w/c added later, and with not much effort to be neat. I just felt messy that day!

A pig from morguefile. Sometimes I just don't feel like putting in the effort of a neater sketch or painting. This was an interesting photo; I may go back later and try this again. With more focus next time!

Some Corel Painter Doodles

2010-02-01T22:42:00.005-06:00

These are from imagination. No rhyme or reason. Not technically correct. They just became. I thought they looked kind of cool. Anyway, I wanted to get something up on the first. So Happy February everyone! Spring is right around the corner!

I think the guy sketch is begging for some color, and maybe a quote above his head. What do you think?

Here Come the Excuses!

2010-01-31T10:33:00.008-06:00

In order to meet one of my goals for the year, I need to post approx ten times a month. This month, the first month, started off quite well...only to fumble near the end. I want to blame it on an unwanted, and unexpected, "guest" we had this past week, Mr. Norovirus. It wasn't a terrible visit, not as things can get with him, but my productivity stopped. And I know, I know, that I could have kept going and was just using this as an excuse to sit around doing nothing. And that's basically what I did for a whole week! Nothing. And I was bored and I wanted to sketch, yet still, I did nothing! Why do I torture myself like that?

Okay, so about the Toucan. He started off as an experiment. I sketched him with a Pentel Pocket brush, then used some water-soluble oil pastels that I had from long ago, which I rubbed with my finger. I was trying to achieve something similar to Roz Stendahl's Stabilo Tone sketches. Well, a combination of poor quality materials, and inexperience, resulted in a really ugly, smeary drawing. I took it in stride though, it was my first try! So, I scanned the picture and using only the blender tool in Painter 10, I smeared it around until I got this. If it hadn't been just an experiment, I think I would have worked harder on the composition, which, now I see is rather awkward! What I loved about the toucan from my photo reference, here, is how very black his his feathers were and the colors were incredible!

And these are the sort of doodles that come out of me when I watch television--which I've admittedly done too much of lately! Above is ballpoint pen with a General's Sketch and Wash pencil, then watercolor added. Below is just ballpoint pen. I started of well with the layering, but then the movie was too good and I ended up not doing any more.

Just some ballpoint pen sketches...

2010-01-18T16:23:00.007-06:00

I don't have very much to say about these. I started off trying to get more layering into my sketchbook, as shown to me by Wil, even tried some typography. Things I learned: It takes a long time to fill a page when you're layering; and when drawing fur, it is probably not a good thing to start off with solid lines, as you have to work very hard to get the fuzziness back in. I had a slight headache when I began, which steadily grew worse and led to some cheating by filling in a lot of space with black. I tried to fill some with writing too, but the words wouldn't come to my aching head. My favorites are the cat and the ostridge (or is that an emu?). The boy? I didn't do him any favors, AT ALL! It was the first sketch of the page and I obviously was just warming up!
This is a small sketch done while my husband and I were cooking dinner. I think we can all guess who did most of the work! It's approx. 2" X 2" on a cheap writing pad.

After using a ballpoint for so long yesterday, I cannot wait to use my pencil again. Or some watercolor.

A True Story

2010-01-13T19:35:00.003-06:00

To say that I was uptight about my grades when I was young would be a massive understatement. I was a good student, but I fretted constantly. I was also disorganized. You know, one of those kids walking around with papers falling out of their notebooks, opening lockers to have the structural integrity of its contents give way. I was always forgetting my homework at school, or losing it on the way home and would have to rush back to the school to pick it up, or call a friend.

(I should also mention that I grew up in a rural neighborhood. This was the late seventies, maybe early eighties, so people still felt safe enough to leave their doors unlocked.)

One day in middle school, I forgot my homework again and decided to call a friend. I didn't know him all that well at the time and had never been to his house. He told me that I could borrow his book, just come over and get it.

My parents drove me to his house and I ran up to knock on the door. Somewhere deep in the house, a woman yelled “COME IN!” This wasn’t uncommon; we weren’t afraid of intruders. But, you did sometimes feel a bit awkward, knowing the person was probably expecting someone they knew to walk through the door. This was one of those times for me. So, instead of going in, I knocked again. I got the same response. I reluctantly walked in and looked around but no one was in the room. I called out, “Hello?” The same voice yelled, “I’M BACK HERE!” Even more awkward! But I started my way back towards the voice. And I didn’t see anyone, anywhere. It was eerily quiet. Finally, I got to the last room, and when I didn't see anyone, I said “Hello?” again.

Imagine my surprise when a yellow and green parrot screamed out, “I’M BACK HERE!”

The next day, I went to confront my friend about not being there, but before I could say anything he asked me what had happened; he had been waiting for me. I told him, “YOUR BIRD IS WHAT HAPPENED!”

He said,“What bird?”

The above parrot was drawn from a morguefile.com photo, free use section. It is watercolor and colored pencil on hot press paper.

And the day just kept getting better!

2010-01-12T13:17:00.003-06:00

I said yesterday that it was a great day, but that was before I received this gift in the mail from Wil Wong. Now, I know I am horrible with my adjectives in that I used the same ones over and over again, but I really mean it, really, it was a fabulous day! I had sent Wil my invitation to the Art Exchange but he said he was unable to participate. He kindly offered to send me something anyway, which I won't lie, I made sure he knew I was interested! It is a page from his sketchbook. He described it as an average page from his sketchbook. Wow! Average? I've a ways to go, folks! I love how he has layered everything and it all looks like it belongs together on the page. I'm going to try bringing this into my sketchbook pages. I don't know about you, but I've learned something here. My sketchbook pages are usually a bunch of unrelated drawings spread out evenly over the page. They have no unity.

Wil, I am definitely not disappointed! This couldn't be more perfect for me. Thank you!

Casts and Tonework

2010-01-11T13:28:00.007-06:00

This torso was done as part of my effort to work on tone. The reference image is taken from the drawing tutorials website (linked at right) and was intended to be a longer, more finished drawing. This is not one of those! This was done in about twenty minutes, while watching the cast drawing instructional dvd on the site. He highly recommends buying your own casts to work from, as opposed to his photos. But, the links he gives are for expensive casts. Very expensive! Like this one, about three hundred dollars! I know that some art supply stores carry cheap versions, but they can easily run thirty dollars apiece. That's quite a bit when you are looking for a selection. I had the idea that I would go to the thrift store and look for knick-knacks/statues that had a lot of definition. Then I would paint them with gesso to get the flat white color.

This is the inexpensive pencil sharpener that I carry around everywhere. I was watching "Signs" when I drew this. I enjoy watching movies again and again because you don't have to pay very much attention. You don't miss important information as you doodle in your sketchbook. (I find that people get very irritable if you keep asking what you just missed!)

And this, THIS, makes me happy! I went to Goodwill to drop off some clothes and made a quick run in to look at their statues. And there she was sitting on a shelf, looking at me as I stepped in the door! Just waiting for me! How serendipitous can you get? I know it would have Julia Cameron smiling just as it had me smiling! Look at all that definition! And she's not small at nearly two feet! I don't even have to paint her! Meet Diana, I think. Or Artemis. Aren't they the same person? Daughter of Zeus? There isn't any information on her, so I'm guessing here. Only ten dollars--It's a good day!

For My Grandma

2010-01-09T12:32:00.004-06:00

My grandma is fond of cardinals, so for Christmas I was going to do a cardinal painting for her. I've been making calling cards out of some of my drawings and giving them to family members. Well, I was struggling with my cardinal so I set it aside and didn't finish it in time for Christmas; plus, I got distracted by another idea, of doing portraits of the person on the calling card. I did a portrait of grandma instead of the cardinal. Her response? "That is AWFUL!" I finished the cardinal and am sending her replacement calling cards!

First Post for 2010!

2010-01-05T12:06:00.004-06:00

I haven't done any drawing at all for about a week so I'm putting up some quick gesture sketches I did in December. These are three minutes poses, which I paused and did in about five minutes instead. The time goes so fast!(from the drawing tutorials site)
January 2nd was my fifteenth anniversary, so while I've had ideas in my head about what I wanted to post for my New's Years resolutions, I was away from my computer and didn't get them in. And, for me, the longer I let myself stay away, the harder it is to return!

So, I resolve to:

1) Post at least twice as much as last year. That's 116 posts for 2010. I'm pretty sure I can do this since I didn't even post Jan-Mar last year! And several months have pretty low numbers!

2) I'm going to focus more on drawing than on painting, more towards getting good tonal values as opposed to everything being about line.

3) I've never done a "finished" drawing before, everything has been a quick sketch. I'm going to try and get several of these done this year, hoping that my short attention span doesn't betray me!

4) Sketch more in public! One group I've wanted to join for some time is Urban Sketchers, yet I never go out and sketch! That has to change!

5) Completely fill three sketchbooks--at the very least! I've never completed one. Not even this year when I've drawn more than ever. How could that be? Well, I think I have eleven sketchbooks started. I just always seem to find something about them that I don't like.

Well, I don't want to overdo it here. I tend to get carried away and then set myself up for failure. Best of luck to my online friends. Hope we all succeed in our goals!

Been keeping busy this Christmas season...

2009-12-26T10:05:00.008-06:00

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas (if you celebrate it). The new year is approaching and it's time to start thinking about our resolutions. How about you? Do you make resolutions or are you one of the ones who makes resolutions not to make any more resolutions? Me, I think resolutions are good, like goals are good. And I'm going to put a lot of thought into mine this year. I have a week left to get a good list going, which I'll post on the first.

You may have noticed that I've not been around much lately. I've been very busy and haven't had time to surf through the blogosphere. When I have surfed, I haven't really had much time to comment. Some of it is because of the expected hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, but mostly, I've been submersing myself in the drawing tutorials online (linked at right). I really think it's a great program for the money (very cheap) and highly recommend it. It focuses mostly on figure drawing, a class I've always wanted to take and can never seem to find in my area.

This giraffe was sketched from a morguefile photo. I was getting a little frustrated with my figure drawings and wanted something easy. It is done in black prismacolor.

These are sketches copied from Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life. It's a book that Matt (from the tutorials) suggested. I'm not sure I really like the book, but have to admit it is helping me see the human figure more in terms of volume. So, I guess I would still recommend it. What I don't like about the book is how little it does in the way of explaining. It's more about showing, but I don't always understand.

This last sketchbook page has a couple of quick gesture studies, in continuous line and a sketch from one of the online poses available on Matt's site. I was having trouble with her legs, so I brought out her musculature a bit more than she had in order to help me understand the volume. I'm guessing that it took about fifteen minutes, but you know how time goes when you are sketching; so, I couldn't swear to that!

I really struggled with writing this post. I suppose that it's obvious, with the awkwardness of the phrases and the dullness of the content. I think it's time to pick up a good book to read. That always helps. Although, if I read a good Steinbeck novel and then write, wow! That is funny! I once wrote a letter after reading Of Mice and Men. When I read my copy of it (the letter) now, I laugh. I am so easily influenced! I would be one of those people who come back from Britain, and suddenly have a British accent. Oh whoa, I went off on a tangent there. Sorry.

Christmas Card idea...

2009-12-07T22:01:00.004-06:00

Tonight, as the family watched Christmas with the Kranks-again-I was doodling ideas for Christmas cards in my sketchbook. Unfortunately, no one understood this one. They thought it was cute, but didn't understand what was going on. So, I'm looking for advice on how to exaggerate the action here. And in case you're wondering, one snowman is alive and is poking the other one to see if he is too.

moleskine sketchbook, blue col-erase prismacolor pencil.

The Final

2009-12-02T17:52:00.008-06:00

This is the piece I did for the art exchange. It is simpler than the first attempt, but after days of languishing, being indecisive, I felt like I really needed to get something done. Part of my problem is that I try to do things that are beyond my current skill set, and then I get frustrated! So, I opted for simple and I like the results.

Okay, I have a question for my readers, who I know are, for the most part, artists themselves. I know we all suffer from sudden art supply buying frenzies; but, when you buy those supplies, does all of your work come screeching to a halt, while you wait for the supplies to come in? I will be drawing like mad, every minute I can spare, things going great; but once I order supplies, I fall into limbo while I wait. And wait. And....why can't it all be here already!!??

First Attempt for Art Exchange

2009-11-29T12:48:00.006-06:00

Here is my first attempt at the art exchange. Don't ask me what I was thinking when I chose this particular image to work from (morguefile.com, btw). The sketch wasn't terrible, but the colors that I chose were dark and gloomy. It wasn't at all what I had imagined! Having made this disaster, I was a bit frozen for a few days. I doodled with my ball point pen and played with the watercolors...doing thumbnails, etc. Just doodling my way past the block. (The sketches below are small ones, the smallest a little over an inch squared. They were all on the same scan, so you get an idea of the size of the other two.)

This was a scary moment for me. My confidence was shot! I didn't think I could do it and wished that I had not agreed to the exchange. Then, one morning I woke up, said I HAVE to get this done, and I did it. It surprised me how easy it was. I'll post that picture once I know the recipient has received my picture.

My Sketch(non)crawl 25

2009-11-23T12:56:00.021-06:00

I had intended on going out on Saturday to have my own Sketchcrawl 25. I just didn't feel like the one hour drive to Houston, or the two hour drive to College Station to participate.

The weatherman had said we would have a wonderful day with cool temps and sunshine. My favorite weather! But, I woke up to rain, gray skies, and wind. So I wimped out, stayed home and sketched the cat. I suppose a more dedicated person would have braved the weather. I could have gone to a mall or something.

Anyway, Ollie was a great model for me and remained relatively still as he too moped around the house. These are small sketches scattered about two pages of my sketchbook. The originals are in pencil; color added in Corel Painter that evening. I did them over several hours of watching television. Putting down the sketchbook, picking it back up to sketch some more.

It seems like everyone is doing cats lately! Alex just made a post of a kitten that looked very similar to Ollie. Kate Johnson posted one of her cat going to the vet. Wendy has one up. Her cat has a GPS collar! And of course, Janey can always be relied on for cat sketches.

PS Hats off to those who compose their posts like this all the time! This was a booger!

PSS HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAN!

Blog Award

2009-11-17T14:10:00.007-06:00

Alex has very kindly given me an award! Thank you so much Alex!

The rules are:
I need to pass this award on to five people, post on their blog to let them know I left this award, and then I need to answer a list of questions in ONE word.
So here we go:

1. Where is your cell phone?…river
2. Your hair?… wavy
3. Your mother?… AgathaChristie-ish
4. Your father?… McGyver-ish
5. Your favorite food?… sushi
6. Your dream last night?… colorful
7. Your favorite drink?…coffee
8. Your dream/goal?… illustration
9. What room are you in?… studio
10. Your hobby?… sketching
11. Your fear?… crowds
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?…ahead
13. Where were you last night?… here
14. Something that you aren’t?… serious
15. Muffins?… banananut
16. Wish list item?… laptop
17. Where did you grow up?… Texas
18. Last thing you did?… watercolored
19. What are you wearing?… Sweater
20. Your TV?… downstairs
21. Your Pets?… cat
22. Friends?… Awesome
23. Your life?… interesting
24. Your mood?… relaxed
25. Missing Someone?… sister
26. Vehicle?… Corolla
27. Something you're not wearing?… tutu
28. Your favorite store?… art
29. Your favorite colour?… Green
30. When was the last time you laughed?… today
31. Last time you cried?…month
32. Your best friend?… spouse
33. One place that I go to over and over?… HEB
34. Facebook?… nope
35. Favorite place to eat?… Home

I leave this award to:
1. Barbara Weeks
2. Ellen
3. Krista Meister
4. Martine
5. Phyllis

Portrait of a Friend

2009-11-14T10:37:00.009-06:00

It isn't often that I come out and say that I really really like something I've done. But, for this one, I'm jumping up and down, patting myself on the back, chanting well done, well done! I don't think I've ever done a more true portrait. Most of the time I can see things that have gone wrong-- the eyes, or the mouth usually. But dang it, it's in my sketchbook! I wish that I had done it on a single sheet so that I could mail it to this friend! This man, I'll call him Mr. D, and I had some great conversations! A terrific person, Mr. D! One of those people who are always able to make you laugh!

I have so much to do right now and I'm feeling the pressure. I'm beginning to think about homemade Christmas cards and gifts, I have a portrait to do for my husband's grandmother (she doesn't read this), and I'm participating in the art exchange. The person I'm to send to is a fantastic artist! What to do, what to do! I'm near panic stage since I'm supposed to mail out by Tuesday and I haven't even a clue on what I'll do yet!

Mr. D is done in Prismacolor pencils, in my Moleskine sketchbook. I plan to add some lettering to the left of the page, but since I'd blur it out anyway, thought I'd go ahead and post it.

Oh yes, you noticed the banner! Well, this is temporary. I just couldn't look at my last banner another day. It's been on my to-do list for a long time, so finally I just took a portion of an experimental doodle that I did the day I received my copy of Corel Painter X, added some text, and voila! Temporary banner! I never deleted this little experiment because I loved the colors so much!

It wasn't like I did absolutely nothing...

2009-11-10T16:28:00.006-06:00

Okay, so I did do something while I was gone. I found this tin at a garage sale. It is about seven inches by three inches. Almost an inch in height. It cost me three dollars! I know, a lot for a used tin, right? But, the woman was attached to this tin. She got it in London! When she found out that I intended to use it for a wc travel kit, she almost didn't sell it to me. I had to promise I would only paint the inside lid white. It is funny to me that she would sell it in a garage sale if she loved it so much! Anyway, I put my wc paints in plastic lids and then used double-sided sticky tape to make them stay in place. The inside lid is painted with white enamel paint. I'm not sure what I'll take in it, I just threw in some supplies to show how well it could work. Right now it is loaded with Kate Johnson's muted primaries, and then my favorite complimentary pair, orange and blue. Things may change, not sure.

And these are random doodles from my sketchbook. It would appear that I watch a lot of television, which isn't really the case, except for maybe lately.

You might recognize Ron Paul above. The woman in the black dress was from a movie, but she didn't turn out looking like herself, not even the same nationality! The mannequin sketch was from memory. And I really don't remember who the other people are supposed to be!

A few sketches from The Mummy. I never hit pause for these, so they were done in bits and pieces, not getting a great likeness. The houses on the right were done from imagination. I was practicing a technique, so basically I was just looking for some kind of roof-scape. Even though it is more of a symbolic type drawing, I like the way it turned out.

These are sketched randomly from commercials, and I think we were watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Also, a visitor fell asleep on our couch! He should have known better!

Trying to Get My Groove Back...

2009-11-09T18:21:00.006-06:00

Okay, well, the last of the company left yesterday and I'm left with no more excuses. I have no one to blame for my procrastinating all the way until bedtime, and telling myself that tomorrow, tomorrow I will get going again! So, today, I stuck a movie in my computer, hoping something would catch my eye and make me want to hit pause. I actually forgot to hit pause though and at the end of the movie, I had to rewind. The lighting in this movie is really dark! I guess I never really noticed that until I tried to find pictures of the characters with enough light as to be recognizable. I felt out-of-practice. Like I hadn't held a pencil since first grade.

Guest Blogger: My Favorite Niece Is Back

2009-10-25T13:38:00.004-05:00

I was in the car and I drew this

A quick update to let you know...

2009-10-22T19:43:00.003-05:00

My apologies to those missing my comments! I am way behind in all things blogging. Not only did I have fourteen guests staying this weekend last, I have ten to eleven staying this coming. But, that is not the frustrating part, I do enjoy entertaining! The frustration comes from having to completely return my computer back to factory condition-TWICE-because of a computer virus. Have you heard of that Windows Police Pro? Yep...knocked me out completely! Needless to say, I haven't done much surfing the last two weeks or so. Not much drawing either! This is all I have to share with you, and if you notice the dates you'll see they're a good week apart. I think I nearly have things back in order now. I think! If I've missed you, please know I'll be coming back very soon! I should be back to myself by Monday or so.

I've never been a "cat person", but recently I was adopted by a scrawny black cat. I couldn't help but feed him, he looked like he was starving. He wasn't used to people and it took me a week before he'd let me touch him. Now he's the bravest cat I've ever seen. He doesn't hide when strangers visit like my mother's cat. I've named him Edgar Allen Poe, Eddie for short. I'm sure there will be more on Eddie here in the future. Stay tuned!

Afraid to paint, at the moment

2009-10-12T10:13:00.003-05:00

I'm currently taking Mark Mitchell's free color course. The problem is, I haven't gotten to the meat of the course yet (which thanks to Vicky, I know is coming) and now I notice a fear of painting anything because I might learn something in tomorrow's lesson which might keep me from screwing this up today! It's irrational, I know. That's why I'm going to actually finish this portrait today! It took me about 5 minutes to sketch this. About ten minutes to get up the nerve to put the background color in. Then I stopped. I figured that I had shown enough bravery for one day. LOL The photo is from morguefile again. Free use section, here.

And this is a lesson on negative painting by Sterling Edwards on the Jerry's Artarama site. Only, I didn't follow directions. I'm a rebel (family can stop laughing now) and did it the way I wanted to do it. (Mostly because I was too lazy to do it the right way!)

Sketching Movies

2009-10-09T13:20:00.005-05:00

Okay, so last night when I wasn't feeling well, I sat in front of my computer watching movies...and sketching. This is my desk area. It is actually quite large, with the left side of this extending about eight feet, and that is where my slanted desk top is and all of my art supplies. (It's good that I left it out since it is always piled high with paper and books and pencils and just about everything else that will fit without falling off!) You'll notice that my mouse is on the right side, even though I'm left-handed. That's because everyone else in my family was right-handed and so I learned to deal with it. Besides, it's nice being able to write with my left while scrolling with my right. I had to turn off the little buttons on the wacom tablet that are on the left because when I use the pen (I use left-handed), my hand hits the buttons and causes crazy things to happen unexpectedly. Woe is me, right? Anyway, I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the umpteenth time. This is the train scene when Harry and Ron are eating all that candy.

Feeling Green...

2009-10-08T15:29:00.007-05:00

Whew. I'm not feeling well today. It didn't keep me away from the paints though. Practice, practice, practice. I really never liked these sketches (both done yesterday), and adding paint today didn't make them any better. But, I don't care right now; I feel yuck.

On a happier note, I was treated to a Texas Art Supply trip yesterday. Boy-oh-boy, did I have fun! I had heard they had kolinsky sable brushes on clearance, which they did, but I didn't get one because they didn't look very good. I've been told they should have a nice point on them and these did not, so I passed. BUT! I did get a 9"x12" pad of Arches Hot Pressed paper, a bottle of W&N masking fluid, and, drumroll please, a 24 color, full pan set of Yarka professional watercolors! And I do love them. They have a very nice color saturation that I often have to fight for in my other set. I can't wait to play with them some more, when I'm feeling a little better.
The first thing I did was, well what is this called, a color chart? I wanted to see how all the colors looked on paper and with each other. My favorite colors, which I did not have before, are the Golden (ochre), and the violet.

This was sketched on site, yesterday, at the William Clayton Library. It's not a regular library, it's a genealogical research center. My mother had some things to look up before heading to the art supply which was nearby. I made so many mistakes in painting it, that I didn't even bother to finish. It is dim in my room right now (because it's gray outside), so I mistook the purple for green and then I mistook the green for purple. So, I have a row of purple somethings near the fence which did not exist, and the closer plant has dark, dark green on the underside of the purple leaves. And since I didn't like it so much, I went ahead and tried out my new masking fluid on the fence. This stuff will definitely come in handy!!

And this was from inside the library, where the walls were white and everything seemed to lack color. So I put some extra in. ;)

I haven't tried the hot press paper yet, thought I'd wait until I felt a little better. The masking fluid is interesting, and the bottle is so big that I probably have enough to last the rest of my life. And the travel set, I love it. It's a little large, but they didn't carry the half pans so...you know, I had to get them!

Coffee on the patio.

2009-10-03T11:36:00.006-05:00

I have to laugh at this one, even though I like the way it turned out. You see, because I was deep in conversation which required analyzing on my part, I wasn't concentrating when I did this sketch. I never went into "the zone" and I felt separate from the sketch. Does that make sense? Anyway, a lot of mistakes that I didn't even notice until I started applying the watercolor. Like on the second chair (the one behind), I forgot to draw the seat! And, I had already gone too far with the concrete, so I drew it in too far to the left. (Although, had I been thinking, I don't think that light color gray would have affected the chair if I had painted right over the top of it.) I also forgot to put the shadows on the concrete from the chairs and trees, and I forgot to draw what was seen through the glass table top. I know, I know. I shouldn't actually be telling you where to find the mistakes! I did my best to make up for them. What do I like about this? The composition. And the pot to the pencil cactus; it turned out well. I liked the shadows I had started across the chairs. They would make more sense if there were shadows continued on the concrete.

Thank you all for the comments on the last post. I've had a lot of good suggestions and even one email with words of encouragement. Sorry for not commenting very much lately, things came up and I haven't been around. I do hope to get to you soon!

Malloy & Sons

2009-09-28T18:01:00.004-05:00

I really liked this sketch. And then I tried to paint it. I like the way it looks when its small, but goodness gracious does it look terrible in person and up close! That's okay. I'm not crushed! It's just a step toward my masterpiece, right?

Anyway, I've been thinking. I'm not working right now and I need to start some cash flow. There's monetizing, which yes I know is next to nothing, but it's something. I've also been thinking about putting together a pamphlet on basic perspective for artists. Do you think it would sell? I'm not ready for prints of my work. I think I still have a ways to go before that. But, one thing I do know is perspective. So what do you think? Do you hate ads? Personally, they only bother me if they are the flashing, obtrusive kind.

I almost forgot, this is the Malloy & Sons Funeral Home in Galveston, TX. Colored from photo that I took.

Green Is My Favorite Color

2009-09-26T08:54:00.004-05:00

I bet, in looking through my work, that you would never have guessed that green is my favorite color! I know, I use it for everything. When I go shopping, my husband has to remind me to buy things in other colors! My purse and several pairs of shoes are green. I have green shirts of every shade, and even green pants. When I showed up for the sketchcrawl, Cecilia was wearing a green shirt and carrying a green purse, just like me. You would think that we had called each other and set it up in advance! We had a good laugh about that one!

This first sketch is from morguefile again. I love that site! It is great for reference photos (in the free photos section)for when I'm not out and about. I wish I hadn't sketched in the creases of her jacket in ink, though. I guess we do learn from experience! It is sketched in my micron 03 pen in a regular drawing (dry media) sketchbook. And actually, I think I like the way this one takes watercolor.

This one is quite messy. It was done very small and for some reason I failed to switch to a smaller brush! It just didn't occur to me. Then I painted her face too red and had to lift some of the color out. Another learning experience! This is from a personal photo, though I won't go into who it's supposed to be because I don't want to offend the parent with this poor sketch! It is sketched in pencil and done on 140lb w/c cold-pressed paper which I made into a pamphlet-style sketchbook. I'm having a terrible time finding a sketchbook that takes w/c in a way that I like! Any suggestions are welcome!

The only thing I did yesterday...

2009-09-25T11:11:00.004-05:00

I didn't get a lot done yesterday, unless you count reading, looking at blogs, and watching videos. Which wasn't too bad, I suppose, when you consider that I was reading another Charles Reid book. And inspecting the work of others, trying to figure out their techniques. As for the videos, well, total waste of time!

This is a modified (almost blind) contour drawing of a pine cone done with my micron 03, to which I then added watercolor. It is actually quite small, only about 2"X 2". Well, I'm off to get something done for today!

A Day for Experimentation

2009-09-23T17:54:00.005-05:00

I did a lot of playing today. First I did some warm up sketches in pencil, then I moved on to doing a sketch directly in ink, in my moleskine sketchbook, which I then added watercolor to. (because I apparently love banging my head against the wall!) Then, I attempted a watercolor portrait on actual watercolor paper. There are a lot of things I wish I could fix, but because I was practicing techniques I won't complain!

I still haven't added color to the Rudy's crowd, but I've been looking at how others have handled similar situations and I think I'm learning. So, maybe tomorrow, heh?

The drawing were all done from morguefile photos, except the top guy on the pencil sketch page who was from imagination. Reference #s :159360, 159379, 575912, 184629

It's A Stormy Day

2009-09-22T10:54:00.004-05:00

I don't mind that it's storming on my birthday even though it means that the trip to the zoo will be postponed for a couple of weeks and the mall will be postponed until tomorrow, maybe the next day. You may be thinking, "but you'll be inside at the mall", but let me tell you this isn't just rain! This is a you-might-have-to-disconnect-the-computers, and put-the-car-in-the-garage-to-protect-from-hail-damage type of storm! It's dark outside at 11am. Yesterday we had a funnel cloud and the weather guy said more of the same today. No worries though, I LOVE storms, as long as they don't hurt anyone!

So yesterday I spent my day practicing drawing with a pen. I have become dependent on my pencil, and its eraser! The first two drawings are from morguefile, reference numbers 209473 and 618871. The girl saluting was done with my Lamy Safari, non-waterproof ink, which I then added water too. She was backlit by the sun. The second was with my Pigma Micron 01 in sepia. I randomly placed the figures from the photo. Sketching with a pen is so unforgiving! And I don't really like my line work in ink. I'll keep practicing though.

Okay, on to today's confession. I tried, I really tried, to paint loosely. I just blobbed on the paint at first. But, I didn't get that loose look, I just got a mess which I then felt I needed to clean up. There must be more to this loose look than I realized! I really disliked the outcome and kept adding to it in hopes of saving it. I'm really disappointed with the ink line that I added. I don't think that helped at all! And unfortunately, this little experience has me petrified to add color to the sketch of people at Rudy's. Because I really like that sketch and don't want it to be destroyed. Even though I have it immortalized on the internet...oh, okay, it's just a sketch and I can do more of them. I'll never learn if I don't do!!

More people at Rudy's

2009-09-21T11:21:00.003-05:00

I don't normally eat out a restaurants because there aren't many that serve organic food (yes, I'm a little uptight about that). So, when I do, I am overwhelmed by the number of people there are to sketch! Don't get me wrong, I will eat out at one if we are meeting people, etc., I just don't go as a general rule. When we were on vacation, we took a grill and a cooler full of food, and for the most part cooked all of our own meals!

For my birthday, my parents are going to take me to the zoo, and my husband is going to take me to the food court at the mall to sketch. They know me too well as these are the best presents they could possibly give me. More opportunities to sketch is all that I want! I don't need clothes or gadgets.

I am going to add watercolor to this sketch, so I wanted to have a record of the before, just in case disaster strikes! The lady at the far left is my sketchcrawl partner, Cecelia, added from photo.

Sketchcrawl 24...Bryan, College Station TX

2009-09-20T13:11:00.004-05:00

Well, I had a fabulous time, but I must admit I was a little disappointed that there were only two of us at my first sketchcrawl. It might have something to do with the home football game for the Texas Aggies. I met Cecelia and we had a wonderful day sketching. And luckily the weather cooperated. The first sketch was done on Main Street in Downtown Bryan. It is the Queen's Theater. Who could resist drawing a building with a giant crown on top. And something I hadn't noticed until I started drawing was that the facade was slightly scalloped. I've emphasized it in my sketch, but when looking at the building, which is badly in need of restoration, it appears flat. It only became apparent when I noticed the shadow at the top wasn't straight across!

This second sketch was done at Rudy's Bar-B-Q in College Station. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to complete it on site because we had a couple of errands which came up unexpectedly. I took a picture of the area for color reference, though the girl had left already.

It was great to meet a fellow blogger/sketcher and I do look forward to the next. I hope this isn't something that is losing its popularity!

Sorry, I'm not very chatty at the moment, I am still recovering from yesterday. In total, I think I spent about seven hours in the car. And I had to get up at 5:30! I might have to attend one closer to home next time.

A Little Practice before Sketchcrawl 24!

2009-09-17T16:56:00.002-05:00

I am so excited about Saturday! This is my first Sketchcrawl to attend and I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas! In preparation, I went and purchased new brushes and a watercolor sketchbook today. (Let's hear it for 40% off coupons from Hobby Lobby!) I've also been reading a few books about process and doing some practicing. Lots of it actually. I want to be loose and comfortable. This sketch is very small, only 3X5, from a photo I took at one of our pit stops in Georgia. Okay, I have to go...more practice to do!

PS It's amazing what actually reading a book on watercolor and doing some of the exercises will do for you (as opposed to checking it out from the library, looking through the pictures, then setting it down on a table where it stays until it's due!) Important things can be learned...like how to lay a wash!

A Reflection/Confession of My Own

2009-09-13T22:27:00.006-05:00

This isn't me, but it's the expression I often have on my face after I've painted one of my sketches. From a photo on morgefile.com, posted by anamaizing, here.

I checked out a book from the library by Charles Reid, Pulling Your Paintings Together. The whole first section was on contour drawing, which I love to do. It has inspired me and I'm on a sketching binge. That's a good thing, but I got it to learn how to paint. I just, haven't gotten to that part yet because I'm having so much fun sketching! So, after about ten or so faces, I decided to paint one. I went a little crazy with the colors, but I liked it! Yes, I said that. I like it.

I've been doing some thinking. It's been pointed out to me that I am incredibly hard on myself. (I can see your eyes rolling! I know, I know, it's about time I got the message!) But, I've been trying to figure out why and I think I have it down to this: I like to sketch and sometimes I think I get a little too attached to my sketches. I'm just learning to paint and hardly know anything at all about color. This makes for a bad combination, because if I like my sketch too much, I'm disappointed if the painted version isn't something I'd hang on my wall. This definitely has to stop, because 1) I'm sure you're tired of my moaning, 2) Fear of messing up my sketch makes it harder to do, and 3) Fear of messing up my sketch means not practicing very often and therefore, not improving!

Besides, I really want to know how to paint!

EDM #56 Self-portrait

2009-09-12T17:06:00.004-05:00

My forty-second birthday is in ten days. I thought it would be nice to get a self-portrait in before everything starts heading south. (I heard that starts the day after your forty-second b-day!) This one is from a photo since every time I do one in a mirror I have that growl look. The eyes look a bit off, I think I've made my pupils too big.

And this is the one that I royally screwed up a while back. I went back and added payne's gray to the background to tone down the color a bit, and then painted my husband. I did a lot of guessing on the shadows and it probably isn't consistent. I like it okay...At least I feel like I can bring this one out of the closet now.

Wow...productive month for me. This post will tie me with my biggest month, and it is only the twelfth. (And I haven't typed the word "twelfth" in so long that it looks strange to me. hmm.)

Soapy water helps...

2009-09-11T19:05:00.003-05:00

I hate doing this...posting something so bad. It feels like I'm showing you my underclothes or something. But I have to, I have a point to make! Kathy Johnson suggested adding soap to my water when using watercolor on the Moleskine sketchbook (thank you Kathy). I wanted to let you know, yes, there is a big improvement! The water doesn't bead up and skip areas. Though, it dries very fast, is still unforgiving, and you can't scrub away mistakes! I think it will be good for adding small amounts of color to the page.

And this is for Dan, I'm still waiting to see yours!!

3-D Doodling

2009-09-09T13:35:00.003-05:00

Last night, while watching my favorite television show NCIS, I played with my kneadable eraser. I've never had an interest in sculpting, but this was fun. A sort of three-dimensional doodling, don't you think? Maybe sculpting would be fun afterall!

Grandma, painted

2009-09-08T08:57:00.004-05:00

Okay, I did it. And I am happy with the results. I knew it was just a trial run so I was able to relax and experiment. I see things I think need touching up, like the jacket, and maybe some shadows. Anyone with advice on how to improve it? This one is on actual watercolor paper. Amazing the difference using the right paper makes!

Now on to paint the domino players. I am going to try the adding-soap-to-the-rinse-water trick, to see what happens. Experiments! I feel like I need a white lab coat and some coke-bottle glasses (oh wait, already have those!)...maybe a beaker or two!

Grandma and Dominoes

2009-09-07T14:49:00.008-05:00

When my husband's grandma saw that I sketched, she asked me to do her portrait, like one of her friends had had done. She (grandma, not her friend) had just broken her hand several days before and wasn't able to fix her hair, so she just told me to put it into a bun. This didn't quite capture her, so I'll use it as a practice run for the watercolor and I'll try it again. She's 88 years old and looks fabulous for her age!

This was the family, sitting around the kitchen table playing dominoes this afternoon. They were a little bent out of shape because I didn't want to play, but how could I when I had this perfect opportunity to sketch?? I started off too large and then tried to squeeze everyone in. So, no, they were actually able to see each others dominoes! I probably wouldn't have survived anyway; this is a very competitive group! It was difficult to capture much of a likeness (not much there) because they moved, but so subtly that it was difficult to notice.

On the way to Galveston...

2009-09-03T17:15:00.005-05:00

Wow... I really wish I had better scanning skills because I really like this one! I know, surprise! It has a lot to do with this crazy building that I've always loved. I pass it on our trips to Galveston. If you get curious, go to Google maps, type in Seabrook TX, then look for where the 146, 2nd st, and Anders Ave intersect. Then do a street view! It has statues on the shelf, outside. And tiny square glass windows, randomly placed. And, yes, those are plants at the top. Have a look! I'm not sure what it is used for, but wouldn't it be fun to have a studio there!!

Wells Fargo, redone

2009-09-03T11:20:00.003-05:00

Okay, although I admire the digital artwork of many artists and I do respect it as an artform, I felt as if my last post was cheating in a way. I hated that while my posted picture didn't look so bad, the actual sketchbook page looked terrible. So, on the advice of several commenters (and thank you for that!), I went back over it with watercolor pencils. What a difference! You may, or may not, like it as much as the last one, but I am happy because if someone were to open my sketchbook, I wouldn't be embarrassed! I do believe I'll be using these pencils for the rest of this moleskine.

Lessons relearned?

2009-09-01T21:46:00.003-05:00

This sketch taught me many things. One, I'm not as intelligent as I liked to believe. I knew, absolutely knew that watercolor is difficult on the Moleskine Sketchbook. Two, when you know you are not feeling patient, don't start putting in the bricks. Three, don't take on a building with a complicated awning in fountain pen, when you haven't used one in quite a while, and you didn't check to see that it was full.Very unhappy overall, though I've managed to hide some of the yuckiness for you, with the magical powers of Corel Painter. I'll call it mixed media and turn the page. Tomorrow is another day. Think I'll go back to people! At least if they move I'll have something to blame! ;)

The Dentist

2009-08-27T16:56:00.003-05:00

Usually I'm not so thrilled to be going to the Dentist's office, but this time it wasn't for me and I knew I'd have lots of time to sketch! (I know, I shouldn't delight in the bad fortunes of others!) Anyway, I took my hand-book sketch journal and tried it out. I'm not sure I like the size I chose, but I do like the paper! (I'd get a larger size next time.) So, I did three sketches while I was there...one at the Starbucks, pre-appointment, one in the office, and one facing the office. I added color to the one facing the office. And later I doodled a little girl and painted her for my niece.

GAH!

2009-08-17T13:20:00.004-05:00

Whoa! Things went from bad to worse when I added watercolor to my sketch! I've heard about the wax repelling the watercolor in the moleskine sketchbook, but I had had a more successful attempt earlier on a smaller sketch, so I thought I could pull it off. To hide some of the awfulness, I then added some watercolor pencil. That only helped a little, so I then went over it with the ink. I'm not really happy with it, but I blame it on the paper instead of myself this time. Anyway, the pencil sketch was dull and needed some life. This is an improvement from that.

I forgot to paint the rearview mirror. It is bland anyway...only shades of gray since all I could see was the ceiling. I really really wanted it to have my husbands face in it, but he wouldn't let me move it. He said, "Besides, you would be cheating because that isn't what you see!"

I hit the road...

2009-08-14T21:36:00.008-05:00

I just returned from a quick vacation to North Carolina to see my husband's family. It was last minute and I had planned to post from the road. There were all of these grand ideas floating around in my head: I would draw for hours every day and have tons of sketches to post at night. I took the laptop, the camera, all the cords...everything I would need to post without a scanner. ...But we can all see how far I got with that!

We went by car and hit seven states (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina). 2600 miles, round trip. Since I get car sick easily, I didn't last long on sketching from the car. Though it was a nice thought. When we got to our hotels, I was exhausted and my husband needed to use the computer to figure out more of the trip. So I didn't fiddle with my blog, or even look at others.

We finally arrived and went to visit Grandma O. After much talking and catching up she said she had a CD she wanted us to hear. About 10 minutes into the CD, Grandma was snoring in her chair and a few minutes later my husband was too. I was afraid Grandma would wake up to me staring at her, so I attempted a sketch of my husband. It was done on the back of an envelope, very quickly. The sketches of him are a bit wonky because he moves a lot-even in his sleep!

I do wish I had known I would be traveling a little sooner. There are so many of you that I would have tried to meet up with and I'm bummed that I was so close and didn't have time! I had a fantastic time though and have more sketches to post and a lot to color.

And if anyone has any tips on how to get a better scan from a moleskine sketchbook, I'm open to suggestions!

Sketching while video-ing

2009-07-31T23:11:00.007-05:00

I was sucked into the YouTube zone tonight, watching video after video...one topic leading to the next. Before long, I was watching a video called the Bird Flu Hoax.(produced last year, not about the current flu pandemic) No idea how I got there, but I was there and I watched. Sort of. Mostly what I found was a video of a person remaining fairly still as he talked. To me that meant a perfect model! This is Dr. Ott.

I tried adding a little color in Corel Painter X. It's okay, but what I really wanted to do was add watercolor to it. I was just too lazy to get everything out. Maybe tomorrow I'll give that a shot.

It's on printer paper again. I don't know why I spend so much on sketchbooks, I always end up back on the cheap stuff!

HEB parking lot

2009-07-27T22:30:00.005-05:00

I'm really really embarrassed about this one. Well, the painting part...

Today we stopped by HEB, and while my husband went in for a few items, I stayed in the car to sketch. He is always very fast so it was a race against time. I only had time to sketch in the main part of the building, which I could only see bits of, the outlines of some trees, and two of the cars, one of which left before I finished. The sketch I liked. But, it was on regular printer paper and I tried to add watercolor. What a disaster! Oh well, I am glad to have made the experiment without worrying too much about the preciousness of a sketch! ...which is actually a huge step in itself, for me.

Another attempt to sketch in public

2009-07-20T21:55:00.006-05:00

These two men were sitting outside a Starbucks enjoying their conversation...until they noticed a strange woman sitting in her car, staring at them. First the guy in the goatee noticed me. Then he said something to the other guy, who then turned to look at me. I pretended to be doing something else of course. Unfortunately they felt too uncomfortable to stick around.
So, it's a sketch in public, still from the protection of my car, and it's not my husband. How's that? I do wish I had been closer though; I would have liked more details. But mostly I am curious what they could possibly have thought about me!

And here is my husband, who I am sure you must recognize by now. He has been a fantastic sport lately, letting me sketch him. He didn't used to let me because he hates to be still. It drives him crazy in fact. But, today it wasn't necessary to ask him to be still. I just caught him while deep in thought. He was almost perfectly still. You'll see a faint line where him arm moved down, which I chose to not erase.

Not so perfect, but it's something

2009-07-12T12:53:00.006-05:00

I didn't participate in the 23rd Sketchcrawl yesterday. I wanted to, but things came up unexpectedly. So I ended up spending quite a bit of time trying to post to the new EDM Superblog2. Thus far I've been unsuccessful. While taking a break away from that frustration, I went to my backyard and sketched. This is fountain pen on notebook paper. And I wasn't trying to be so perfect. You'll notice the car on the right...I started to draw the part that showed on the left of the tree, then got interrupted before starting the part on the right. I wasn't really back into it when I drew that side, and it shows. Oh, and the wheelbarrow ended up floating somehow, so I put a box looking thing under it. Things like this happen to me a lot because I rarely look down at my paper until I add shading or texture.

By the way, I pretty much ruined the drawing of my husband at Starbucks. Maybe I'll try to fix it later.

A New Month, A Fresh Start!

2009-07-01T20:57:00.004-05:00

July is going to be a better month for sketching. I refuse to have another embarrassing month with only one post! Here's to a new leaf!

This sketch is of my husband at Starbuck's. I was really frustrated because nothing was coming out right. I'm posting it as is, because I did it in my watercolor sketchbook (homemade) and will probably be destroying it tomorrow when I add color! (Inner critic has found an amplifier...He's screaming at me!)

Anyway, I was wound up on my last post and said so much had happened that I would have to tell you in bits. Well, I've had time to calm down and now I think maybe I was just overreacting. It hardly seems worth telling anymore. Except the part about my uncle coming and staying with us for two weeks. He is one of the most interesting people I've ever met! He's traveled the world and has so many stories. Plus, he's an artist. How cool is that!

I'm alive!

2009-06-24T13:59:00.005-05:00

Whoa! So much has happened since my last post--though not much in the way of sketching--that, to tell it all, I will have to break it up into digestible chunks!

Thank you Dan for the kick in the pants to get going again! I had a good laugh when you said you checked to see if I posted, and then you didn't feel so bad for not posting either! Funny thing is, I do the same, only now instead of saying, "well, I'm still a post ahead of him", it's "well, I'm only one or two behind. I can still catch up!" And Wendy, thank you for the nice email and the encouragement to continue! And thank you to everyone who has left comments!

Things have been a little hectic around here. And maybe the weather is adversely affecting my attitude. I'll get into that next time. For now, here is a sketch I did in ink and colored pencil. It is from a photo on morgue.file. (the ones that are free use) Unfortunately, I forgot to get the information about it, since I never intended to post this one. (But, right now I'm desperate for material!)

The next picture is me, drawn by my very talented six year old niece. Don't you just love the expression in the eyes? Oh, and she didn't leave anything out, including the sparkle in my teeth, and the scar from the wasp sting between my eyes!!! (I do have eyebrows though :))

update: found the photo used as reference! http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/75878

A few sketches...in public? or not?

2009-05-21T21:01:00.010-05:00

Okay, so I didn't draw EVERY day. I did draw some though; and, in public-sort of.

Tuesday afternoon my husband and I decided we needed to get away for an afternoon in Galveston. So, that afternoon we went to the grocery store to load up on goodies to take in the cooler. I stayed in the car and sketched. (I was covered in paint anyway...too embarrassed to go in.)

Does it count as drawing in public if you're in the car in a parking lot where no one can look over your shoulder?

Wednesday we headed off to Galveston Island. We had a wonderfully relaxing day. We walked, we went to the Strand, we sat around listening to the waves. It took me awhile to decide what I would draw. Looking out at the water didn't seem challenging enough with the straight line of the horizon, unless I concentrated on the water, which actually seemed too much for me. I went with drawing my husband, which many would say I could do anytime (my mom did say that), but really I can't because he's never still! This sketch(ten minutes, maybe?)was torture for him.
By the time I got out the sketchbook, we had both had enough rays, so we were sitting with our backs to the sun. That is a white t-shirt on my husband's head. He didn't want his neck or ears to burn. I think I'll use this as EDM challenge #176, Draw something summer.I guess this is done in public, but does it count if the person nearest you is 200 feet away?