Artful Journal Update and Watercolor WIP

I tried to get some interesting photos of barns and Fall color as the hubster drove yesterday for our lunch meeting with my sister and her husband, but was unable to get anything worth showing. We talked about walking around Shipshewana after lunch and taking pix, but it was pouring rain by then and we just headed for home.  We had a lovely lunch and a good visit before transferring a 4-drawer file cabinet and some lovely garden rocks from their vehicle to ours. But the ride home was less than lovely. It poured all the way and there were more large trucks on the road than I've seen since the dreadful semi parade of the far north.


Nevertheless, we made it home by 5:30 or so and the hubster made chili for dinner. We ate in the living room while watching the game shows. I won a ton of money, including the bonus round on Wheel of Fortune and didn't do too badly on Jeopardy either.


I then spent a bit of time working on the watercolor that is in progress. I added the water to it and am puzzled by the spots in it. I haven't had something like this happen before. Could it be pigment that wasn't well mixed? Is it something from the brush? Is it dirt? I did brush off the paper before I began.
I am planning to put more color into the water so am hoping it will not be noticeable when all is said and done. Have you ever had anything like this happen to you?

I also decided it was time to sketch the pear in my Artful Journal and thought it would be fun to draw it as a letter in the word pear. I rather like how the word turned out - I used an alphabet I found in The Speedball Textbook as a model and I don't think the spacing of the letters is too bad. However, when it came time to put in the striped dish towel/tablecloth, I was at a loss. I found a red Pitt brush pen and began to put in the stripes. At about stripe number three the brush failed, so I switched to a Sharpie marker. Unfortunately, the color closest to red was a mauvy purple and I am not so sure I like how it turned out at all. I can't remove the color so I will accept it as a creative accident and share it anyway. I thought about adding shadows to the letters too, but really wanted the pear to be the star of this page, so left the letters flat.

Except for the "striped cloth" I am really pleased with how this turned out.

Imagine my surprise when I'd photographed the "pear" page and was preparing to upload it to the Artful Journaling blog, I was distracted by the arrival of an email from Laure Ferlita with the next assignment for this class. Would you believe the next assignment is "word art"? Does this situation fit the definition of serendipitous? I have no idea what I am going to do for the word art assignment, but may have to do something with Zentangle doodles. 

The Tigers are playing the Yankees this evening in the first game of the playoffs on the way to the World Series. We are playing there and I am looking forward to seeing Curtis Granderson, but have to hope he doesn't have his usual spectacular game against us. With Verlander on the mound, I am hoping we can beat the Yankees soundly. I do like a close game much better than a runaway, and hope I will not be disappointed with this one.

Tomorrow I have my son's Miss 8 and she is staying overnight. I am planning to make time to do some art and maybe a bit of cooking. I haven't made any monkey muffins in a long time. I have some hot Italian sausage and some chicken thighs thawing in the refrigerator and am planning to make some gumbo today. It is a perfect day for it - gray and wet.

I hope you are having a fine day and that the sun is shining where you are. If your weather is like mine, try to get lost in art, cooking, a hot cup of tea and a good book and really enjoy yourself. A day like this is a great one for losing yourself in some kind of project. I just hope the rain doesn't prematurely knock the leaves off the trees. I am anxious for Mother Nature's Fall show.

xoxo