First post in 2011

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!

Moleskine collaboration with Dan, Page 2

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!

Sketchbook Miscellany

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

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!

Self-Portraits 8 and 9

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!

Oy vey!

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.

And Time Flies!

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!

Feeling lazy...Need some sunshine!

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!

Here Come the Excuses!

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...

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.

And the day just kept getting better!

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!

First Attempt for Art Exchange

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.

Homeless Guy

This photo, www.morguefile.com/archive/display/559261, was uploaded by bboomerindenial. The further I got with this sketch, the more I wished I had started with pencil. Pen is unforgiving and if you mess up, you either make it work, or you trash it. I'm glad I didn't trash it even though I wanted to a few times. Even with all the mistakes I still see a resemblance, so I am satisfied.

I really need to work on my writing skills. I used to be all right but now I am rusty and don't like it at all!