Wishing For Spring. ink, watercolor on 140 lb
coldpress. 5" x 7"
I didn't
feel like thinking too much yesterday, so I went back
to the EDM list and took a stab at the latest
challenge. I LOVE my 2 TBSP scoops — a ton of
recipes call for 2TBSP of stuff and it's the perfect
size for making meatballs and chocolate chip cookies.
Mmmmmmmmm, c-o-o-k-i-e-s ... snow day from school ...
must think of way to amuse children ... chocolate
chips, butter, eggs and such on hand ... er ...
sorry, got distracted there for a minute.
Now where was l?
Darned if I know, so we'll move on to the latest
flower. Sometimes I like painting yellow and
sometimes not so much — I can't figure out why
it works sometimes and looks like mud others. This
flower is in the middle somewhere between "I like it"
and "it's a muddy mess".
Black
Eyed Susan. ink, watercolor on 140 lb coldpress.
7" x 5"
Joan Yoshioka (whom I'm very jealous
of because she lives in Hawaii— not to
mention the fact that she draws a mean plastic
bag!) passed on the You Make My Day award. Here
are a couple of people that I visit for my daily
dose of happiness.
Wendee at The Digital Fridge Door
— I
think Wendee's a philosopher at heart, as in
addition to wowing me with her drawings and making
me laugh, she also has the tendency to make me
think.
Karen Sandstrom at Pen in Hand — the other
Karen in Cleveland (yes, I'm sure there are more,
but she's the only other one I've met), I enjoy
seeing sights I recognize through another artist's
eyes. AND, she got me out sketchcrawling. LOVE her
for that.
Angela Fehr — Her
watercolors of flowers are just amazing! Big, bold
and beautiful.
Michelle Abeyta — whimsical,
fun, colorful paintings of animals and hilarious,
rolling-on-the-floor posts.
And Sharon
at the Flat Sound of Wooden Clogs
sent me a
great big virtual hug (originated by
Emila). Here are a few more
inspiring artists that I try not to miss.
Elizabeth Perry at Woolgathering — this inspiring
woman has posted images from her sketchbook for
1000+ days and counting. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
France Belleville at Wagonized — this lady (who
happens to love Volvos) can work magic with a
simple pencil. I literally drool.
Suzanne Buchanan at An Open [Sketch]book
—
One of the first blogs I started visiting and I
keep going back. There's so much variety in what
she can do — sketch, paint, design —
you name it, she does it and does it
well.
Last night was also my first of eight watercolor classes at an adult education center nearby. After the day I had, I so wasn't looking forward to it — I drove by Caribou on the way and considered stopping, having a coffee and just drawing in my sketchbook for a couple hours instead. The main reason I'm taking this class is to get a better handle on how to work with watercolor. I've enjoyed adding color in my sketchbook enough to start doing these flower paintings, but I think there is more I could be doing.
Anyway, I sucked it up and went to class, but I'm not sure what I think. The instructor did a couple of demonstrations — solid color wash, gradated color wash, scraping, using a rigger brush for line work — and then said okay, go play amongst yourselves. Um. Hmmm. Okay, but I can do that at home for just the cost of a book. Plus, he's going to miss the next two classes to go to some art fair (glad someone's successful enough to score booth space), so we'll be having substitutes. It's only an eight week class for pete's sake! (who is pete by the way? always wondered.)
So I went back to my desk and played. Just kind of plopped down color willy-nilly and I managed to pull a couple of things out of the resulting mess. Can I just say that I can't remember the last time I painted something without it (or a reference photo) right in front of me. AND I have NEVER painted without at least sketching something out first. So I'm pretty happy with what I accomplished. And as for multiple teachers, maybe it will be good — at the very least I'll be exposed to that many more artists and techniques.
And I've had both kids home for several days with President's Day yesterday, so they were less inclined to amuse themselves this afternoon. Tomorrow R goes back to school and I hoping S and I will get back in our drawing groove.
inside a protective plastic envelope.
Glossy postcards are also available for $5.00, perfect for any 4" x 6" frame.
Okay, so I didn't think it would take this long to get the office/studio done, and really, it didn't. Tom got sick and then I got sick and then we started working on it. I started the trim on Monday, painted the walls yesterday and put the furniture back in today. I still need to make the shelves (or should I say Tom does) that I want to put my artwork on, but everything else is good to go.
I LOVE THE COLOR. I don't think I would have been happy with a really bright color — even if that would have been "artsy-fartsier". This color is calm and warm, making the space a cozy little hideaway. I rearranged stuff a bit so that I have room for my big comfy-shmufy chair — my drafting table had to go, but with the way I put the computer back on the desk, I have that big space on the left to draw on. I figure I'll try it for a bit and if I need the table, I can always boot the dog out. His spot is about the only one left if I set the table up.
So I'm happy. Check out the before and afters and let me know what you think.
So I leave you with one slightly awful sketch and two that aren't too bad. I'll see you as soon as I get all the paint scraped off so I can set my computer back up. Later dudes!
Three
for the Price of One. pen & ink, watercolor
140 lb. cold press. 7.5" x
10.5"
In
case you'd like to see some more of the
"process".
The frog is actually NOT from my Uncle Mike of the frog plague. This one is a magnet from my mom's collection that was passed to us when she retired — she had enough to cover about a 1.5 foot x 7 foot section of the wall behind her desk at work. Let me tell you, that's a lot of magnets. She actually had a bunch of frogs, so a few more may be hopping up soon. Don't ask me about the way I wrote the anecdote — Ryan decided this morning that it must be a slime trail from the TOAD because he's too ugly to be a frog. Yummy — just what I wanted to think about over breakfast.
Sunflower.
ink, watercolor, gouache on 140 lb. cold press. 4" x
6"