Sketches and Drawings

19 Polychrome update

2011-11-28T15:34:00.001-08:00

19 Polychrome update, a photo by luv2draw on Flickr.

I added a few details but kept it loose.

100 Paintings Project

2011-11-21T13:22:00.001-08:00

100 Paintings Project, a set on Flickr.

I added a few more paintings for this project.

19 Polychrome View, Denali, Alaska

2011-10-30T19:36:00.003-07:00

19 Polychromos View, Denali, Alaska, a photo by luv2draw on Flickr.

Fun to play with color! Half sheet, watercolor

18 Cowboy

2011-10-30T19:36:00.001-07:00

18 Cowboy, a photo by luv2draw on Flickr.

I hope to practice portraits using what I learned in the Reid workshop this past spring. People aren't easy to paint. Half sheet, watercolor.

17

2011-10-30T19:34:00.001-07:00

17, a photo by luv2draw on Flickr.

This is another in my 100 Paintings project. Half sheet, watercolor, from a Joel photo.

Some sketchbook pages

2011-10-24T21:46:00.001-07:00

The plumeria has blossomed and grown so well this summer. I've loved drawing and painting it.

A doodle.

Faces

A porch sketch

100 Paintings Project

2011-09-19T10:42:00.001-07:00

100 Paintings Project, a set on Flickr.

I've started a project to paint 100 pictures. I've set no deadline, but I do want to work steadily on this, and I invite others to set their own number goals and projects and to join me. For me, I can use any media, any subject, just paint, paint, paint and produce work, with the hope of gradual improvement in my painting skills. Who's joining me?

Drawing Lab 9: wrong-handed portraits

2011-08-24T08:28:00.001-07:00

Snickers, a tree, and an iguana

2011-08-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

More Drawing Lab 100 faces

2011-08-23T21:42:00.001-07:00

Sketches in DC and some EDM challenges

2011-04-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

I tagged along on D's trip to Washington DC and sketched every day there. Challenge 296: something orange, is Alexander Calder's Cheval Rouge. (Yes, I know rouge means red, but it was orangey.) Challenge 305 is Calder's "Tom's." (Who was Tom?) And challenge 87 is the remains of my lunch. Also, a relaxing plane doodle, and maybe the first time I have painted on a plane.

Drawing labs

2011-04-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

More of the 100 Faces, plus some lab 18 oneliners and lab 19 Picasso dogs.

More drawing lab

2011-02-01T13:23:00.001-08:00

I'm continuing the Drawing Lab fun. Lab 13 was eyedropper faces. Lab 16 is 100 faces, which will take some time.

Cookie making mess

2011-01-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

In the middle of baking many batches of cookies, some to send overseas, others to keep, I had to make a sketch of the mess.

Drawing labs 11 and 12

2011-01-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

I've been trying some more of the drawing ideas in Carla Sonheim's book. Here are 11 and 12.

Drawing Labs 1 & 2

2010-08-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

I've been enjoying Carla Sonheim's book, Drawing Lab, and trying to get family members to do the projects, too, with only mild success. But I'M having fun.

Irises, tulips and Dr. Seuss flowers

2010-05-10T16:18:00.000-07:00

I love irises. I went to draw them at the Missouri Botanical Garden. It was so relaxing to sketch flowers. I want to find out the name of these poofy ones. They look like something Dr. Seuss would have drawn.

Coffeehouse sketches

2010-05-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

We have a bunch of gifted musicians and songwriters at church, and they give coffeehouse concerts regularly. I made these sketches at the one in April. What a wonderful evening, to listen to great music and draw!

Challenge 250--something I got for free

2010-02-23T14:54:00.001-08:00

I had a coupon for a free cup of tea from Border's, so I used it and also drew some of my fellow beverage drinkers.

challenge 245--something "October"

2009-10-25T13:50:00.001-07:00

The fall colors this year are incredible. While I sat across the street and painted this, my elementary-school-age neighbor saw me and came out with her art supplies and painted with me. It was fun.

I should probably refine this a little, but I might not. I didn't draw anything first--just went at it right away with paint.

Sketching at the zoo--challenge 183--something dangerous

2009-10-25T13:45:00.001-07:00

I took an afternoon to sketch the animals at the St. Louis zoo. It was a gorgeous fall day and I had the most relaxing time. This counts for challenge 183: draw something dangerous. As I drew the lions, I wondered if they were sizing me up for a possible dinner.

Plein air painting, Babler

2009-10-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

Last month I went out painting with the watercolor society. It was a wonderful morning of painting.

challenge 231--a junk drawer

2009-09-01T14:08:00.001-07:00

Isn't it comforting to know that most people have a junk drawer and that it isn't just me?

challenge 234

2009-09-01T14:06:00.003-07:00

This is something that belongs to someone else, which is what challenge 234 is. But what is it and whose is it? Anyone know?

challenge 226--draw a screw

2009-09-01T14:06:00.001-07:00

challenge 105--scissors

2009-09-01T14:05:00.001-07:00

challenge 16--a favorite tool

2009-09-01T14:04:00.001-07:00

A few cruise sketches

2009-09-01T14:00:00.001-07:00

Alaska, part 4

2009-07-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

A rough sketch of mountains and more grizzlies

Fireweed, a beautiful wildflower that grows everywhere in Alaska, color not yet added.

In Denali, at the Eielson visitor center, we hiked UP a nearby hill (1000 ft in 1 mile.) The wind was incredibly strong. We took shelter on the lee side to rest, and I painted this while huddled and fighting the wind. It was invigorating. It was also an advantage not to be a photo realist.

Sketches of Mt McKinley from the Eielson visitor center.

Alaska, part 3

2009-07-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

After the cruise ended, dh and I ventured inland and went to Fairbanks and Denali.

A sketch in Denali at Polychrome, color not added yet.

I stopped taking photos of the animals and just sketched them and found that very rewarding.

On the way to Fairbanks we stopped at this lake to take pictures and sketch. I may add color to it.

Back in Juneau, I saw the Mendenhall Glacier. Will add color later.

Alaska, part 2

2009-07-30T23:46:00.001-07:00

A tugboat in the Skagway marina

An island in the inside passage

Another tugboat

Sketch of Haines, color not added yet

Leaving Ketchikan

Alaska sketches, part 1

2009-07-30T23:37:00.001-07:00

My mother-in-law took her children and their spouses on an Alaskan cruise in celebration of her 80th birthday. We had a great time. I was able to sketch a lot, and am posting most of my sketches, good and bad. (Ok, maybe not the airport sketches...)

A lady saw me sketching this totem and exclaimed, "Oh, I wish I could draw!", and that prompted me to rip out a blank page in my sketchbook, which I never do with my hardbound ones, hand it to her with a pencil, and say, "Anyone can draw." So she drew with me and did a good job on her own. Maybe she'll get herself a sketchbook and keep drawing.

A quick sketch of Ketchikan. I love boats and marinas.

Yes, the paper buckled. I don't mind.

The shoreline looked like this, leaving Vancouver.

Typical inside passage shoreline

More shoreline

Challenge 228--something that makes me laugh

2009-07-02T18:32:00.001-07:00

I started collecting quotes from work when I started my part-time job last August. Some are from me and some are from the fun people I work with. Sometimes I will recall one of these quotes and the events related to it, and I often laugh out loud at the memory. Ok, maybe I'm easily entertained, but I do have some great people to work with. And so, to them, L, L, J and M, this post is for you.

And this poem is for them, too. A friend shared it with me years ago. I do not recall the author.

God, Hurrah! Part 3

Lord, we are glad for those who laugh

Who can be heard in a crowd having fun

Who have words of joy when visited

Who will smile or wink across the room at a meeting.

Lord, we are glad for those who laugh

Who will find a joke to tell to break the gloom

Who will turn to the comic strips though the headlines are grim

Who will carry hope in their eyes through the tears.

Lord, we are glad for those who laugh

Who say it is alright when it looks bad

Who are not afraid in the dark

Who know for sure God lives!

Doodles and sketches

2009-06-02T12:51:00.001-07:00

Okay, it's probably a little morbid that I drew this picture, but no one involved should ever forget this event. How about this: doing drugs leads to one of 3 things: recovery, jail, or death.

Take your pick.

I taught a short drawing and cartooning class to kids this spring and one of the creativity exercises I have them do is to draw something out of a page of 20 circles. I realized it had been a while since I did that one myself, so I had some fun with it. I should do things like this more frequently.

Some doodles with a new marker.

217--an umbrella

2009-06-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

Here is the deck umbrella in all its weathered condition.

Challenges 212, 213, and 215

2009-06-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

212 is the mirror image I drew of myself in 213, the microwave, and my thumb, 215, as it held my sketchbook.

challenges 182, 199, 206, 209 210

2009-02-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

210 Draw some underwear. These are my thin and life-saving long underwear that I needed for several winters when we moved from Texas to St Louis. I still wear them on winter days when it's really cold.

209 is draw a shadow. On our way to Minnesota last summer I saw this amazing shadow on a barn in northern Missouri. It would be interesting to sit and sketch it as the sun moved, kind of like a sundial.

206 is "we call it.." We call cats cats and kitties and kittens. In Britain they are mogs or moggies.

199 Draw a toe. It seemed odd not to include all of them.

182 Draw a truck. This old firetruck was sitting in a barnyard in Vermont.

challenges 197, 201 and 202

2009-01-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

Challenge 202 is draw a cookie. I drew a spritz and a Russian teaball, two of the family favorites for Christmas.

201-draw a stapler.

197-draw a remote. We have so many in our house now, and I cannot keep up with the new ones and which buttons have to be pushed in order to use which electronic item. Too much technology for my likes.

the yard sculptures

2008-09-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

We made these from old fence wood. I've always wanted fun yard art. Now I have some.

What have you done with YOUR old fence wood?

19, 180 and 185

2008-09-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

Challenge 19 is draw something you've made. We recently replaced part of our fence and the old wood inspired me to design and then make, with dh's help, 2 yard sculptures: a giraffe and a cow. Not all family members are enamored with them, but at least they are tastefully displayed in the backyard.

Challenge 180 is paint something in my favorite color. So I doodled some cows with all the different blues on my watercolor palette. I had just been out sketching cows, so they were fresh on my brain.

And challenge 185 is draw a cat, of which we have 2, and I draw them all the time, but Gilbert decided he'd stretch out in the cool grass and pose for me.

Challenges 178 and 179

2008-07-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

178 was draw something red, so I did some raspberries that we picked from Nye farms in Georgia, Vermont. They were delicious. Ballpoint pen and watercolor.

179 is draw an onion. Ballpoint and watercolor.

Challenge 176--something summer

2008-07-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

Summer means flipflops. I started drawing mine and after doing all the colors of the left one, I decided to simplify and left the colors off the right one. Then I did a pair with no colors, just a blue. Ballpoint and colored pencil on a summer afternoon on the porch.

Challenge 69--favorite beverage

2008-07-15T20:55:00.001-07:00

I was drawing my hand after the advice in Drawing From Within, which encourages the artist to draw pages of hands for the rest of one's life, and I realized I was also drawing my favorite summer beverage!

Challenge 166 - draw a fish

2008-07-15T20:53:00.001-07:00

166 fish
Originally uploaded by luv2draw

While on a sketchcrawl with some family members, we stopped at a fish hatchery and I drew this perch, which was a pale and sorry specimen of a perch compared to what we normally catch on the lake. Maybe perch in captivity lose their colors.

Plein air sketching in Minnesota

2008-06-30T14:27:00.001-07:00

While in Minnesota I took a walk to a favorite marsh and painted it. Last time I was here it was frozen solid. There was a family of wood ducks in the middle and they would not venture very close to where I was. They are so skittish but can actually die of fright in captivity. Poor things.

This is an ink drawing of the same marsh but from a different angle. I wanted to see if I could describe all the different foliage and textures with just line. It was exhausting and invigorating at the same time.

Another photo sketchcrawl...Italy

2008-06-30T14:23:00.001-07:00

More sketches from photos, taken in Italy in 2003. It's really fun to go thru the trip album and sketch. I hope it's good practice for future travel sketching.

sketchcrawl from photos

2008-06-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

I've gone back through some photo albums of memorable trips we've taken and sketched various things, kind of like doing a sketchcrawl via photos. It also does not aggravate members of the group who do not want to stop and sketch. So here are some sketches from Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks.

Ink, watercolor, colored pencil.

challenges 173 and 174

2008-06-08T20:58:00.002-07:00

173 was to draw something from memory. I drew the dirt road by the meadow in Vermont where we would vacation. When we were kids, we'd ride the trailer the tractor pulled with the garbage cans and help dump them in the various sites in the woods. One site was for biodegradables and another was for glass and cans. Those sites have been cleaned up now that the property is part of the land trust. But for kids, it was a fun job.

174 is draw a bridge. This is Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy. I drew it from the window of the Uffizi Museum, then later painted it. I should redo the painting sometime.

1

challenge 165

2008-06-08T20:55:00.000-07:00

Draw the front of your house. I ran out of room in the landscape format book I use for these challenges, but I captured the essence. It's humbling how askew parts can get if one is not careful. Oh well.

challenge 59

2008-06-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

Challenge 59 is draw a sign of spring. I love irises and went on a walk to places in the neighborhood where others have them in their gardens.

Challenges 154 and 164

2008-05-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

Challenge 154 was draw a lemon. This is what my elementary science classes did one day, and what a fellow teacher asked when she saw the set-up. Ink and colored pencil.

And here is my camera for challenge 164, draw your camera. It has a whopping 5 megapixels, which was a lot back when I got it, but now is hardly anything. Still, it serves my purposes. Drawn with a 2B pencil.

More Seattle sketchcrawl

2008-03-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

I rode the monorail back to the downtown area and went to the market. I sketched some of the fish at the Pike Place Fish Market.

At the end of the market I sketched some of the homeless guys milling about, as well as others who were just enjoying the fresh air.

I met dh at Tully's for a delicious hot tea and to check email. I added color with my small watercolor set and my waterbrush. When I got home, I realized I hadn't sketched the Space Needle, so I made a quick sketch from a photo I had taken.

Seattle sketchcrawl

2008-03-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

While in Seattle I decided to have my own personal sketchcrawl. I started at the Space Needle, and made this sketch with one of those Magic pencils that has a multi-colored lead--it was the only thing I could dig out of my bag at the time.

I walked down to the Olympic Sculpture Park and enjoyed all the sculptures. It was COLD and windy, but if I was out of the wind, the sun felt great. I sat at this man-made beach and sketched. Added color later, but made color notes.

A passing freighter.

For some reason this slowly turning sculpture held my interest. I watched it for a while from the eye benches, and sketched the different shapes. I want one for my yard!!

I had to sketch Calder's Eagle. Calder is one of my favorite artists. Added watercolor pencil color to it later in a warm place, but the color is not quite right.

Even more Seattle

2008-03-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

Sketches from the plane going back to St. Louis

Waiting in Seattle...

And on the plane to Seattle. Sorry about the reverse order.

more Seattle

2008-03-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

More waterfront sketches...

These cranes in the distance look like large orange giraffes.

It was cold, so I retreated to the hotel lobby and sketched some there.

Seattle

2008-03-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

Dh had a meeting in Seattle and I went with him for a few days. I sketched in the airport,...

... at the waterfront...

challenges 159, 152, 128,147 and 158

2008-03-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

Challenge 128: draw the view looking through a doorway into another room. Ok, not the greatest view, but a view all the same.

Challenge 147: draw or paint something made of wood. This is a wooden cowbell from Africa, and I was told Ethiopia, but I have no real proof of that. It makes a pleasant woodblock sound, and I can imagine that it would be very pleasing to hear a group of cows moving and wearing cowbells like this. My grandparents had it in their stuff and it caught my eye/ear.

Challenge 152: draw a nut. Here are 2 cashews, one in a very AA Milne style and the other a badly-scanned, even when tweaked, pencil drawing.

Challenge 158: Popcorn, a staple in our house.

Challenge 159: a favorite kitchen utensil. This pizza cutter is terrific and still very sharp, but the handle is coming off and it's probably not safe to use it. I've replaced it with a plastic Cutco cutter, but this one served us so faithfully for years that I can't toss it yet.

challenges 26, 153, 139

2008-01-13T18:12:00.000-08:00

Challenge 26: Draw anything I want. I drew Snickers and Gilbert napping on my bed.

Pigma pen and watercolor

Challenge 139: draw something with a handle. This is my French horn case-- just a doodle with my Lamy Safari pen.

Challenge 153: Draw something wrapped in plastic. This baggie of shells and a stone from a beach in Puerto Rico is still sitting on my desk.

Pigma Micron pen and watercolor

challenges 6, 7 and 17

2008-01-01T22:16:00.001-08:00

Challenge 6 is draw a childhood toy. This is a fox puppet that my grandmother had. We kids loved it but were always a little wary of it because it's teeth were fake but sharp, and its eyes make it look fierce. Now it's mine, and I believe it made the same kind of impression on my own kids.

Colored pencil.

Challenge 7: draw a jar from the kitchen.

Watercolor

Challenge 17: draw a musical instrument. This is no problem in my house, as we have several. I tried to capture the shadows. I should also try to capture the color sometime. It's a beautiful cello.

Micron pen

fall leaves

2007-12-30T21:55:00.001-08:00

I collected some pretty leaves and decided to try out different media with them. I'm counting this as challenge 62: draw a previous challenge in a different medium than you normally use.

I drew this sweet gum leaf in colored pencil.

Then I painted it in watercolor.

I used watercolor, Caran D'Ache water soluble crayons and colored pencil with this leaf.

Watercolor with this leaf.

These were done in my Raffine sketchbook, which has nice stiff paper for most things, but I really don't care for how I can't rework watercolor well on it. Seems like the first wash has to be the only wash. I suppose that would be good training for making the first wash count, though.

challenge 151

2007-12-30T21:52:00.000-08:00

Challenge 151 is to draw anything we want but with a holiday twist. There's no "twist" here, just some ornaments from the tree. This year most of our ornaments are in the upper half of the tree, having been knocked down by the kittens and rehung higher.

challenge 149--draw a broom

2007-12-30T21:50:00.001-08:00

This is Gilbert the kitten's favorite. He loves to come and watch me sweep the floor. It's cute except when he lays down in the dirt pile.

challenge 145

2007-12-30T21:46:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a while since I posted to this blog. I guess I have been busy with other stuff. Here is challenge 145, draw or paint a tree in autumn. I went out to the Shaw Nature Reserve when colors were at a glorious peak, and this tree, although truly lopsided, was so colorful, I had to try and capture the color. It was just amazing.

challenge 141--something with bristles

2007-10-21T18:57:00.001-07:00

challenge 140--an envelope

2007-10-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

We didn't receive much written mail from our son when he was deployed because email was easier, but I did save this envelope from one of the letters because of the humorous return address. I deleted our address for privacy's sake.

challenge 138--something soft

2007-10-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Here is our other new kitten, Snickers, who has the softest fur. Today she rested on the swing with me, perhaps feeling resigned to having to wear a harness outside so we can catch her when she runs off. This is on a pre-painted page, and it does not capture her true colors. The proportions are off a bit, too. I also sketched her as she stalked various fierce insects in the yard.

challenge 136--something living

2007-10-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Here is Gilbert, one of our new kittens, lounging on the deck.

challenge 133--a peach

2007-10-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

I did 3 different versions of a peach in my Raffine sketchbook. I don't like the way watercolor behaves on that paper. Too hard to rework things.

challenge 34--a fall leaf

2007-10-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

Part of an ash tree leaf. They turn a wonderful yellow. Too bad some tree virus is threatening all the ash trees.

Boston Sketchcrawl part 3, and challenges 119 and 124

2007-08-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

More people from sketching in Boston, some on the day of my sketchcrawl and some from another day. Challenge 119 is draw people doing something, so here are people hanging out in a park, and challenge 124 is draw something yellow, so here is the guilded dome of the Massachusetts State House in Boston.

Boston Sketchcrawl, part 2

2007-08-24T11:51:00.001-07:00

I also sketched the Park Street church steeple. After lunch I headed for the Public Gardens and the Swan Pond, where I did a little painting. I hiked over to the Charles River and made a little sketch there. I also sketched people here and there. Then it was time for Starbucks.

The chain in the one picture is going to count for challenge 132--draw a chain.

Boston Sketchcrawl

2007-08-24T11:46:00.001-07:00

While in Boston with DH, I did a lot of sketching, and had my own little sketchcrawl. It was so invigorating to be out and drawing. I had such fun.

I started off in Boston Commons, ventured over to the Frog Pond, then the Granary Burial Ground. I used my Lamy Safari pen with black ink, some pocket watercolors and waterbrush. For the frogs I used a water soluble sketching pencil, 4B, and also the waterbrush.

Fish after Klee

2007-08-24T11:34:00.001-07:00

More doodles, this time of fish, inspired by artist Paul Klee. He liked to "take a line for a walk." Me too. I started coloring them but haven't finished.

Challenge 119--Rocks

2007-08-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

I painted these a few summers ago on the shores of Lake Champlain, Vermont. We have spent many summers there, and the colors of the rocks never cease to amaze me. Some people think the beaches there are too hard on the feet, being all rocks for the most part, but that's why we have water shoes!!

Challenge 125--Draw a bird

2007-08-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

I saw a couple of these birds, tufted titmice, the week of the challenge. I used a bird book to identify and draw it.

Doodles

2007-08-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

I got the books Key to Drawing with Imagination by Bert Dodson and did some doodles. How could I NOT buy a book on doodling???

challenge 121--draw some coins

2007-07-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

This was fun, but eye-opening about my lack of ability to draw a perfect circle.

I have had major problems posting, but today things seem to be working.

Challenges 107 and 120 and Every Day in May

2007-06-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I am glad it's June, because the Every Day in May project started to get wearisome. However, I, like many others who did the every day in May project, learned something about my art-making and how I spend my time. I think I will definitely be spending more time drawing and painting, especially since it is now summer and since I learned that I can always find some time in the day to do something creative.

On May 24 I sketched my daughters and was forbidden to post what I did. haha I skipped May 25 and 26, drew my daughters again on the 27 and was once again forbidden to post it. On May 28 I drew 2 challenges, 107 and 120. Challenge 107 was to draw how/where I get my news. Challenge 120 was to draw a flashlight. I did 2. One is the sturdy, always working flashlight I keep in the kitchen, but the other is a very cute one with a swivel head and a clip for attaching to clothing, etc. It is only about 3-4 inches tall. I think DH got it at Home Depot for a stocking stuffer at Christmas for me. I love it. It's great for traveling, camping, etc.

I drew on the 29th and 30th, and went to a life drawing session on the 31st, none of which I will post. And that ends the Every Day in May adventure.

May 21-23

2007-05-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

I painted in class on the 21st, at home on the 22nd, and on the 23rd I sketched some kids taking finals at school. Maybe I'll post the painting sometime.

May 20 and challenge 24--draw some fruit

2007-05-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

It is strawberry season and we are enjoying this year's harvest.

Colored pencil on prepainted page.

May 18, 19, and challenge 35

2007-05-24T12:38:00.001-07:00

I did not draw on the 18th. I did challenge 35 on the 19th--draw a bike or part of one. This is one of many that hang upside down in the garage.

May 17

2007-05-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

I drew faces from a publication for practice.

May 16 and challenge 91--an apple

2007-05-24T12:35:00.001-07:00

Challenge 60--a car

2007-05-24T12:32:00.001-07:00

Just some doodles of vehicles. Thought it could count as the 60th challenge. All are imaginary. It reminds me of that Richard Scarry book, Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.

More Every Day in May--May 15

2007-05-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

I made a grid and did some sketches from a few photos we took in Italy. I want to do this again, but with better photos. Still, it was fun. Once I draw from a photo, I have a better idea of whether a painting could come of the photo--or not!!

May 11-13

2007-05-15T12:40:00.001-07:00

On May 11 I sketched E and his friend C. On May 12 and 13 I tried doing some upside down portaits from magazine photos. They sometimes look a bit skewed, so I did a portrait right side up for one of them and I think I like that better.

May 10 and challenge 118

2007-05-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

At a school concert, I sketched the back row of trumpet players, focusing on their hair for challenge 118--draw hair. The photo is blurry but our scanner is STILL not working.

Challenges 109 and 113

2007-05-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

Challenge 109--draw a clock. This is my cow clock that some students gave me. I love cows.

Challenge 113--draw a fence. I see this fence when I look out my bedroom window. It is the line between the farm and the neighborhood. The "farm" only keeps a few horses and several peacocks. I think the goats are gone. They used to come through the fence and nibble the grass in yards. And the peacocks sometimes walk through the yards and fly up to our roofs. It is a funny thing to see.

These challenges were done in April and just now posted. I'm not good about posting...

May 6-8, and 9

2007-05-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

I didn't paint or draw on the 6th, but I did attend the opening reception of the St. Louis Watercolor Society's spring juried show, and 2 of my pictures were accepted. Yay!!

On May 7 I painted in class. Not posted.

May 8--I missed. And that's ok.

On May 9 I finished a grid I started on May 3. It is glimpses of my art space.

May 4 and challenge 116

2007-05-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

Challenge 116 was to draw something green. This plumeria plant is one of those sticks tourists can buy and bring home and grow. Ours has yet to bloom, and I thought it was dead until a tiny new leaf emerged, so maybe there is hope for this plant.

May 3 and 5

2007-05-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

A few sketches done before the musical started each day. I know, pathetic, but I should also count playing my horn each night as something artistic.

May 2--challenge 61

2007-05-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

Challenge 61 is to draw a grouping of 2 or more similar objects. This is a pile of shoes by the door. Can you tell we have kids?

May 1

2007-05-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

I've been participating in the Every Day in May group, http://www.frenchtoastgirl.com/weblog/blogger.shtml, sponsored by this blogger, so I've been drawing or painting or doing something artistic every day--well, almost--this month. On May 1 I sketched A. It was a rushed week, too, b/c I was playing in the pit orchestra for a school musical, and the first week in May was filled with dress rehearsals and 3 performances.

challenge 104--salt and pepper shakers

2007-04-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

challenge 103--exercise equipment

2007-04-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

Well, what can I say? I don't really exercise. But I have recently done some Pilates and maybe I'll start doing that. Maybe.

challenge 5--my bed

2007-04-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is my bed. The complexity of the quilt wore me out, so I didn't put it all in. I was looking at Saul Steinberg's work when I did this, so perhaps he influenced me a bit.

Challenge 100--landscape

2007-04-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

In my painting class we taped brushes to long sticks and painted with our papers on the floor or on a box, depending on how long the sticks were. It made us have less control and more looseness in our pictures. It was a lot of fun. This is a beach in Maui, with the big island in the distance. I'm counting it for challenge 100.

Homemade painting board for tripod

2007-02-13T13:55:00.000-08:00

A couple of EDM friends asked for photos of a board made for me for painting by our family handyman. It is a piece of masonite, 12 x 16 inches, with a smaller piece of wood, 5 x 5 inches, glued onto the back of it. In the center of the smaller piece of wood a hole was drilled and an inset that fits the screw on a camera tripod was inserted and glued in. I believe it is a standard size, maybe a quarter inch inset, and my handyman seems to recall that he took the tripod to Home Depot to find the right size. To use it, I screw it onto the tripod like I would attach a camera to a tripod.

Here are some other views of the setup. Sometimes I use masking tape to hold the paper down and sometimes I use clamps. Home Depot has several kinds, even smaller and cuter ones nowadays.
The entire board and screw cost a couple of dollars. And I already had a tripod.

ER visit

2007-02-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

How crazy it is to have grabbed my sketchbook for the inevitable wait in the ER? I'm glad I had it, though.

challenge 102

2007-01-28T19:43:00.000-08:00

Challenge 102 was to draw an electric plug.