First Full Day of School and Life Drawing

I got my camera back from my daughter today after life drawing class, so have a couple of cute pix to share from yesterday.

First school bus ride of the kindergarten year.

Miss M (kindergartner) and Miss P (4th grader) waiting for the bus.

I did go to the yoga class yesterday evening even though I'd pretty much talked myself out of it and am so glad that I did. Then I came home and watched a good Tigers' game and some spectacular tennis before calling it a night.

This morning my friend, Nancy, came over around 9 and we went to life drawing class. It's been some time since we've been and I think it shows. I will share them even though I don't think they are very good.

What are you up to today? Does it involve the creative process? Will you share?

The hubster and I are going to Mason for a bit and he is ready to go, so I will sign off for now.

xoxo

Can It Be June?

Another crazy, busy day yesterday. It began with a bit of fun when Nancy arrived and we went into Jackson to the life drawing class. I'm not sure my sketches from that event are worth showing, but this venue is a place for me to see/show my progress, so here they are.

Afterward, we went to Panera for lunch, mostly so that we could play a bit with Nancy's new iPad using their wireless. Suffice it to say that I will not be eating there again when I want a bit of internet with my lunch. It was extremely slow and we were kicked off after just 30 minutes. We really didn't get anything accomplished because of the "watching the grass grow" speed. Frustrating!

After I got home, I called the vet so I could take little Ellabear in for a complete check. They had an opening 45 minutes later. You know I don't have a cat carrier, so I fashioned one out of a box, taping the top shut to keep her in. I played classical music on the car radio all the way there (about 20 minutes) in the hopes of soothing her, but I don't think it worked. I felt so Cruella DeVille!

I was early as I always am for everything, so we had to kick our heels in the waiting room for about 15 minutes. I took her out of the box and held and petted her while we waited. Once we were taken into an examining room, they weighed her - 2 pounds, 6 ounces - and guessed she was about 8 weeks old. They did a leukemia test - negative, gave her a DRCP vaccine, did a deworming treatment, checked for fleas - negative,  and cleaned the mites out of her ears. Shazam! It cost more than my regular annual physical exam. I had no idea that being a good person was going to be so financially painful. Of course, I also received a schedule for future shots, spaying, etc.

Did you know that if you have a kitten that can be described as a calico there is a 99.999% chance she is a female? Neither did I. 

After I got home I spent some time in the art room and then later in the evening I jogged for the obligatory hour on the treadmill. By the way, the Tigers lost the first three in the four game series against Boston. The first three games I watched. For last night's game, part of the time I was working on the treadmill. Is there a connection? Should I be jogging while they play? Does that somehow translate into better playing on their part? I'm just saying.....

There is one bad thing about jogging after 8 pm. I couldn't get into sleep mode. I downloaded some new novels from the library onto my iPad, worked some crossword puzzles, and drank lots of water. I finally went to bed around midnight, but didn't get to sleep until almost 3 am. And I was up at 6 am. Methinks it is going to be a slow day around here today. But first I have my conditioning class at 9:30 and will jog for half an hour afterward.

The hubster is having some fasting blood work done this morning and then I think he will stop and get a litter box, some litter, and some more kitty food. The daughter recently bought new furniture for her living room and is not willing to take Ella home until the front claws are removed. I guess I have a roomie until that time. I will be letting her stay in the house instead of just on the screened porch beginning today. I'm pretty sure that at some time in the not too distant past, I swore I was never going to have another indoor pet - or any pet for that matter. But what am I to do? There was never a chance of ignoring the needs of this little cutie.

I think they were made for each other.

And so the saga of life continues. How is your saga playing out? Are you finding time for yourself and your creativity? I am just on my way to read any new posts on the 200+ blogs to which I subscribe and I am so looking forward to seeing what you are working on these days. Thank you so much for giving me the incentive to continue on this road of artistic self discovery.

xoxo

Life Drawing

I am so enjoying the life drawing sessions, and I think I am improving. I decided Kathleen Walker's advice in her comment from last week was spot on - I have my own feet and hands to practice on and they are available at any time, so I am still focusing on the whole at these sessions. I do find that my chronic tendonitis in my right arm can be a serious problem when sketching, especially when I am trying to be loose and sketch from the shoulder rather than from the wrist. I am in quite a deal of pain today as I have been for a couple of weeks now. This is such a strange condition to me. It will flare up and give me moderate to severe pain for weeks and then be gone for months at a time. I am trying to be patient and wait for it to subside. I'm afraid today I may have to resort to ice and Aleve.

The hubster installed a storm door with screen to the front entrance of the house and I am loving the light and breeze that is now available on the east side of the main part of the house. We've been talking about a storm door there for years. That entrance is surrounded by stone, so some framing in had to be done.

We (that is the royal we) also have a hanging basket on each side of the front porch that are lovely and begging to be painted.

Or maybe the wishing well in the front yard

I am planning to go to my conditioning class this morning and hope my right arm doesn't give me too much trouble. I may do half an hour on the treadmill when I return home if it isn't already too hot. I think we are expecting 90º today.

I am hoping to get my Miss P portrait onto watercolor paper this weekend and begin to add color. I think I will first try with colored pencil and then maybe try one in watercolor.

What do you have planned for this weekend? If you are in the US and celebrating Memorial Day, will you have family over? or will you be traveling to spend time with family and/or loved ones? Whatever you have planned I hope you have a great time and can also find time for yourself and your creativity.

xoxo

Life Drawing and Life In General

 Before I start today's post, I'd like to thank all of you for your wonderful comments and for all the positive energy you are sending my way. It made my day!


I drove into Jackson for my Life Drawing class this morning only to find that I had no cash on me, so I will owe double next time. I'm not sure what I was thinking (or not thinking) this morning. It felt good to be sketching again. I did a bit of drawing at Mom's, but not much.


Here is my first two 5 minute warm ups

And then I stayed for two 20 minute poses. I really have a hard time with hands and feet and am always tempted to just print the word "hand" or "foot" in their stead.

I always feel that I have to draw the entire figure, but wish I'd remember to just focus on some portion of it - like a hand or foot. Maybe I could see some improvement if I would do more of that.

I have a watercolor that I started a long, long time ago that has been calling to me. I think it needs shadows. Whenever I look at it I think it is too one dimensional and is mostly mid tones. I will be working on it a bit today and will show you my progress as I go. Comments and suggestions are certainly welcome.

I finally unpacked this morning before I headed to town for the life drawing class, but have quite a bit of house work to get this place ready for the annual Memorial Day party that we host here. I hope you are healthy and happy and that you are finding time for yourself on this fine May day.

xoxo

Feeling Better and Life Drawing

I am feeling much more like myself today and it is a good thing. I am picking up Miss 8 1/2 and Miss 3 (who will be 4 on Sunday) after school today and they are spending the night with me. We will surely find time to do some art and I will happily share it with you tomorrow.


Meanwhile, I went to Ella Sharp this morning to attend the life drawing class and spent a couple of hours. From there I went to the grocery store to buy a few things and filled the car up with gas. I am now home and ready to finish the chicken soup I began last evening.


But first I will share with you the sketches I attempted today at the life drawing class:

I really need to learn how to do foreshortening in order to draw figures in perspective.

Does any one know of a tutorial on foreshortening that they would be willing to recommend? I am really enjoying the camaraderie of the drawing class, but would like to have a hint about how to improve.

I hope you are enjoying this lovely, cool weather. I am about to join the hubster on the front stoop for a spell before adding some veggies to my chicken soup.

xoxo

My First Life Drawing Session

My dear friend, Nancy, found out that there was a life drawing class in Jackson yesterday and she and I attended. First of all let me say I was blown away by her charcoal sketches. She is even better than I thought she was - and that is saying a lot. I am hoping she will share hers with you on her blog.


I have never been to a life drawing class and didn't quite know what to expect. We were warmly welcomed by the Jackson Civic Art Association members that were present and made to feel right at home. The model was the daughter of the association treasurer and was a very pleasant and good one. She held her poses quite steadily.  I began really tight - I was nervous, but by the last post (there were 5 in all) I was fine. There were no 1 minute poses as warm ups. All the poses were for 20 minutes. For what it is worth, I will show you my sketches in the order in which they were produced. I apologize for the quality of the photos, but if you click on them I think you will be able to see/critique them better.

I can see that I need to really work on my skills. I don't seem able to get the figure correctly. I am quite pleased with parts of these, but the body seems to be bunched and hunched forward. I will continue to work on this. I am planning to attend the next session which is scheduled for August 25 at Ella Sharp Museum (the same place as this session).

I am having some serious issues with my internet access and have been for some time now. This morning I called and they diagnosed some kind of equipment problem on my end. They will be sending a technician some time in the very near future and were kind enough to waive the fee. I will post when I can and hope to get a bit of painting done this weekend to share with you on Monday.

Tomorrow I am teaching my Intro to Repurposing Books class from 9 to 4 at Small But Mighty Arts in Haslett and am looking forward to it. I will be scheduling a repeat for some time in September when most of us have simpler lives and more time to engage in this kind of activity. I will also offer a more advanced class with an open decorative binding some time in the Fall. Stay tuned.....

Meanwhile, I did start a watercolor yesterday following along with a lesson I purchased from Annette Raff. If you don't know this artist, I highly recommend you check her out. Right now she is having a wonderful deal on her lessons in pdf format. They are only $2.20 each - a steal to be sure!

I am having some issues, but will show you what I have so far:

My biggest problem so far is that I didn't read about a beaded wash on dry before putting the first layer on the church and I have made a mess. I will try later to lift a bit of color to see if I can improve it a bit before continuing. I think I must have "charged" color overtop previous color instead of beading. Last evening I watched the video about this process and get it now. I haven't thought about that phrase "RTFM" in a long time, but think it is appropriate here.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I am planning to have lots to share with you on Monday.

xoxo