Watercolor Day 4 and A Junco

I don't usually blog on the weekend, but since I am trying to participate in a couple of challenges, I will do so. I tried to do a watercolor of my special bear that was a gift from a young teacher to whom I was a mentor years ago. I don't know if I should have tried salt or something else to try to get the idea of fur, but for what it is worth, here she is.

And I tried my hand at drawing a junco that was in the yard. Unfortunately, the pen I grabbed had blue ink, so he tends to have a bit of a blue cast when he should be pretty much black (perhaps a bit of gray) and white.

The hubster has just finished his breakfast and is getting in the shower. Afterward we are going into town where we will shop and I will get a flu shot. He has already gotten one.

xoxo

Another Bird, Another Watercolor

I am pleased to report that so far I am on track with the 30 paintings in 30 days and I am hoping to keep up with it and see my watercolors get a bit better with time. For today's (actually it was painted yesterday and so is my Day 3 painting) I attempted a teapot. I am pretty happy with it except for the blog in the middle of the shadow, but I am working really hard at putting the paint down and leaving it. I usually muck around with it so much that it gets really awful. There must be a point somewhere in between those two extremes where I could make it look better, but I haven't found that place yet.

I also attempted a Great Horned Owl in my Dutch nature journal. I am mostly disappointed with how the black ink from the pupils of his eyes got into the yellow. The eyes are meant to be much more yellow and should stand out much more than these do.

I put on my workout clothes as soon as I got up today so I won't be tempted to skip the treadmill. Yesterday I played with the incline enough that I racked up a whopping 400 calories in an hour. I may try that again today. I have therapy later today and afterward, if it is not already too late, I plan to stop and get a flu shot. I've never had one before and haven't gotten the flu, but I feel as though I've been playing with fate.

I ran across another challenge that I think I need to try - but I have several days that I have to catch up on. It is the 31 days of color with Maggie Latham. The first three days are about pouring colors and I am excited to start. The first thing I need to do is get my full sheet of watercolor cut up into 5 x 5 squares and get some of them taped off into 3 x 3 spaces. I'll try to get that done this afternoon so I have the weekend to get caught up.

I plan to sketch something else in the nature journal - I may try a pine cone. Jane LaFazio has a great tutorial on sketching one that I think I will try. And I will decide what I am going to do in my watercolor journal for Day 4. What about you? What are you planning to do today? Does it include time for some art? Are you willing to share it? I am afraid some of you who read this blog and don't leave comments are doing some wonderful art and I am not seeing it because I haven't run across you yet. If you have art to share, won't you leave a link in a comment so I can find you?

xoxo

More Birds and A Watercolor Pear

We had a lot of fun with the girls yesterday, but Miss Z has a cold and wasn't quite herself. This can be a double-edged situation. On the one hand, you feel sorry for her coughing and obvious discomfort, but on the other you really enjoy all the cuddling. She is such a sweetie.


I did find time while she was napping to do a couple more bird sketches in my nature journal. They are in ink and I will try to add some color today.

I was also able to do a small watercolor in my January journal as day two of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. I didn't overwork this one quite as much (maybe I should always do my watercolors with demanding babies in the house), but I still have a long way to go before I feel that I am becoming capable with the medium.

My physical therapy is going quite well and my hand/wrist is becoming much more like its old self. I still have the nerve pain and numbness up my hand and into my index finger, but it is beginning to settle down. I have another session on Friday.

As for the sugar challenge, I only ingested 15g yesterday and hope to stay under the suggested 20g. I am a big fan of salads with very little dressing and homemade soups, both of which have very little sugar; the biggest culprit in my diet is bread.

Today I am going to try to get my birds colored and do today's watercolor for the challenge. I think I'll also try to sketch the Great Horned Owl who is living in the wood duck house. What about you? What are you doing today? Have you checked out the 30 Paintings in 30 days challenge? Do share.....

xoxo

Birds Updated and WC1

I had fun using Caran d'Ache Neocolor IIs to add color to the birds from yesterday. I think they will do for now and I think I may have to do a Great Horned Owl next. It appears we have one living in the wood duck house in the north yard. Last year it was a Screech Owl who claimed this house as his abode.

I also spent a bit of time making my first mark in my new watercolor journal. I'm afraid I overworked it as I am wont to do, but I am going to keep going and do a watercolor in this little book each day this month and then look back to see if I've made progress. I'm thinking of adding a bit of black ink to the cup to better delineate it.

I'm up early today as my son is bring Miss Z and Miss K out to spend the day while he works a day shift. I believe they will be arriving within the hour. It will be a very busy day and I think I will have to fit in my art late this afternoon or early this evening. I have therapy at 3 this afternoon and am looking forward to it. Meanwhile, I am still very bothered by the tendinitis in my upper right arm. I need to figure out some kind of treatment that will offer relief. I've tried heating and stretching (not so successful) and icing and wrapping (offers a bit of relief), but still am experiencing quite a bit of pain. I guess I need to do a bit of research.

So what are you doing today? I've been really enjoying the art I've seen on your blogs and have enjoyed your stories about your travels and your daily outings. I look forward to checking up on you today.

By the way, I've reinstated that awful word verification for leaving comments as I've been getting a ton of cheesy spam comments. I dislike the word verification thing, but am sick of the borderline porn comments I've had to delete daily.

xoxo

A New Year, A New Intention

And so we begin the new year. So far it feels so like the old I have to remind myself to think of it as a chance for a fresh start. I think it is time to recommit to making art every day and posting to my blog Monday thru Friday. As I look back I see so much improvement from my first attempts at drawing to where I am today, but my progress seems to have slowed much over the past year. I need to push myself and try to get out of my comfort zone. That being said, the art I am sharing today is pen sketches of two of my most frequent visitors this time of year - the chickadee and the cardinal. Sketching birds is definitely not out of my comfort zone - but maybe the fact that I did them in ink is a bit out there.

This is in the Dutch book I began using as a nature journal earlier this year. I'm afraid I've neglected it lately and am happy to once again be working in it. I think I will get out the oil pastels and add a bit of color to these today.

The hubster and I did manage to stay up to watch the ball drop at midnight and shared a bit of bubbly as a token celebration. He is on the treadmill right now and I will be following that example when he is done. So far I've put in an hour both yesterday and Sunday and am hoping to make this a daily thing. I am so looking forward to our trip in February - walking on the beach is so much more rewarding and pleasant than walking the treadmill.

So, what are you up to today? Is there some kind of family celebration going on where you are? Are you worn out from last night's festivities? Are you going to find time for some art today? If so, do share.....

xoxo

Another Busy Weekend

I drove to Ann Arbor with Nancy on Saturday for a "Single Sheet Sewing" class at Hollander's. It was a really nice class; Cindy Hollander is a good and patient teacher; Kerrytown was packed and the farmers' market was stupendous. We both left with a lovely book before the official end time of the class.

I love the paper selections and the kits the Hollander's provide for their classes.

I got home around 5 pm to find Zoë and the kitty separated by the sliding glass door. It seems that Zoë is a bit overzealous in her playing with the wee thing. I had a lovely, busy evening with Miss Z and found myself in bed and on the verge of sleep by 8:30, and didn't awaken until 6:30 Saturday morning. I guess I needed it.

Dana and the girls came out to visit the kitty Friday evening and she took a photo of the wee ones with me. She thinks this should become my new profile picture.

Last evening I decided to do a bit of art in my nature journal and came up with these two.

And finally, I spent a bit of time doing what I think of as gesture sketching. In the first one I captured (or tried to) my two older grandgirls a couple of years ago trying to decipher a greeting card at the younger one's First Communion party.

And the other is a cow's head.

I also finally got the niches cut in my altered book, only to find that there still isn't enough depth for the latest finds. Rats!! Next time I will plan better.

I have been banging my head against the wall all morning trying to get my internet access to work long enough to post this. Instead of the usually 20 to 30 minutes that I expect it to take, this morning's post has taken a whopping 2 hours. I have been to my hour long conditioning class and jogged on the treadmill for 30 minutes to work off the frustration of the first hour attempt. Hopefully that has kept my blood pressure from going totally wonky.

I hope your day is not as frustrating as mine has been so far and that mine continues to improve. I will make time for family - I am headed into town to recycle, visit, and shop. And then later this evening I am planning to go watch Miss P play softball. Meanwhile, I think I deserve a big green salad with tomatoes, mushrooms, and crabmeat to fuel this system of mine.

Stay well and keep creating!!

xoxo

Sketches in my Nature Journal

When I am jogging on the treadmill, I am mentally sketching the tree just outside. I've been intending to sketch it in my nature journal for some time now and have finally done so. I used my Caran d' Ache Neocolor II crayons. I really like their creaminess and how nicely they blend together.

And then the facing page was crying for a treatment, too, so I tried to draw and color a fall leaf similar to the one I won a long time ago from Karen Blados. I'm afraid mine does not compare to hers, but it was nice to have such a good likeness from which to model mine.

It was in the 90s yesterday, but we were supposed to have a cold front go through and the weather persons promised a cool, breezy day today.  It is a gorgeous morning, but not breezy yet. The outside thermometer reads about 64º, but the indoor temperature reads 78º, despite the fact the windows were open all night. I hope it is cooler in here before I decide to do my hour on the treadmill.

Once I've finished my commitment to the treadmill, I am determined to clean up my art room. It is knee deep and the hubster commented yesterday that he fully expects to find that I am lost somewhere in here and can't find my way out. It is so messy, I hardly know where to begin. 

Once I have my room more organized, I am planning to finally cut the niches in my altered book that I started some time ago. I've been paralyzed at the point of actually having to use a scalpel to cut the openings. I am just a tad nervous when wielding sharp implements. I will show you my progress tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I hope you are having a great day and that your muse is at the ready to provide inspiration when you need it.

xoxo

Pastels, Nature Journal and Mr. Turtle

I'd started a small watercolor of a sailboat moored in a bay in Lake Superior from a photo I took while in Marquette earlier this month. I decided I wanted to use the watercolor as an under painting and finish with pastels. Boy are pastels messy - the colors turned out muddy and I only have a starter set of 30 colors, which severely limits my color choices, but I don't hate it, especially if I look at it from across the room.

I added a digital mat in an attempt to make it prettier.

I also did a quick sketch in my nature journal using Caran d' Ache Neocolor II crayons.

Yesterday morning just as I was pulling out of the driveway to go to my conditioning class, I saw what looked like a large piece of tire like you see on the highway on the edge of our lawn. Then it moved and I realized it was a snapping turtle, so I pulled back into the driveway and ran for my camera. I kept my distance, but did get a shot. He does rather resemble a tire.

Quite the contrast to the wee painted turtle the girls found the day before.

I have Miss Z coming later today and she will be staying the night, so if I am going to get some treadmill time, it will have to be sooner rather than later. I only did a 30 minute jog yesterday because I'd also done my one hour conditioning class. The class doesn't meet today, so I will try for a 60 minute jog.

We have family coming on Sunday for our annual Memorial Day get together, so I suppose I'd best get the house cleaned. Of course, it is only Tuesday and it is not going anywhere. Maybe later in the week. 

I hope you are finding time to do some art and look forward to seeing what you are up to.

xoxo

The Girls of Summer and A Bit of Art

I was overrun by girls this weekend - it was great fun, but I am really tired this morning. Miss 4 came to our house around noon on Friday and spent the night. We took her up to the mall so Papa could pick up a couple of things from his booth to take to the Holt Farmers' Market, and then walked to the local ice cream shop. It is really nice to have just one of the girls at a time. Miss 4's Mom picked her up around 11:30 on Saturday morning. Miss Z arrived around 6 pm and spent the night. She has become a very busy and determined girl, but what a lovely, if willful, child. I think I want to try a portrait of her in pastel. Miss 9 and little sis, Miss 4, arrived around noon on Sunday and were with us until about 8 pm. Miss Z was picked up around 3 pm. The weather has been so nice that the big girls spent much of their time out in the yard and actually found a small painted turtle in the creek. They gently put it into a bucket of creek water and brought it into the house to show us. They tried to find it some food until I persuaded them to release it back into the creek in case its family was missing it.


I did find time to do a bit of quick sketching. While reading the blogs to which I subscribe, I saw someone's "virtual paintout" art from Jerusalem, Israel. I decided to get the little yellow man and find a street scene that I could draw.

I also did a couple of quick pen sketches during a lull in the activities.

And did a watercolor pencil sketch in my nature journal.

The hubster just left for his yearly physical and I am planning to go to my conditioning class at 9:30. I hope to jog for an hour on the treadmill after class. And then the day is my own. I am beginning on a watercolor under painting of a sailboat in a harbor, which I am planning to finish in pastels. I hope to have something to share with you tomorrow.

It is very warm here this morning, but is quite overcast. We were expecting thunderstorms overnight, but didn't get them. Perhaps they will arrive today. We really need the rain.

I hope you are doing well and that your muse is alive and well and that you find time for yourself today.

xoxo

Life and Family

I've been away up north in the UP visiting family for the past 10 days or so and although I've been reading your blogs, I haven't been commenting much. I took my iPad with me, but stayed with family and didn't really take the time.

Just before I left to go north, I went to the ophthalmologist because I'd been experiencing some fuzziness in my only sighted eye. He found that I am in the early stages of age-related macular degeneration. The doctor thinks the vision problems that I presented with are another iteration of my "aura without migraine" history. I was so shocked at the diagnosis that I didn't ask questions. I have since done much research and found that you don't usually go blind from this condition, but you do become legally blind. This means no driving, difficulty reading, inability to recognize faces, and problems seeing the world in color. The "good" news I found in the literature is that for most people who are diagnosed, their other eye takes on much of the sight and can be really helpful. However, I am only sighted in the affected eye. The other eye suffers from a combination of amblyopia (lazy eye) and farsightedness and is not correctable. I am determined not to let this diagnosis reduce the quality of my life until there is a noticeable difference in my vision.

I drove to St. Ignace to spend two nights with my Mom, who also suffers from macular degeneration (she is 87 and is coping quite well). We played a lot of cribbage, watched the Tigers baseball games, and visited my sister Mags who has MS and is wasting away (I am blown away by her positive attitude and feel I have much to learn from her) and my sister, Molly.


I then drove to Marquette to visit my sister, Anne, who used to live just two hours away and is now about 7 hours north. We had a great visit. I love her condo and the community where she lives. One of the days I was with her, we drove to Michigamee to visit my blog friend, Joan, of The Retirement Chronicles. What a great visit that was. We clicked right away. I can't wait to go visit her again.


I have just a little bit of art to share with you and then I have to jump on my horse and get to my daughter's house to get her third grader to school and bring Miss 4 out here. I am getting my hair cut and my first pedicure of the season this morning, so Papa will take Miss 4 to afternoon preschool later.

I will be visiting you later today and hope to really catch up with you. Until then, I hope you are doing well and that you are finding time for yourself and your creativity.

xoxo

This and That

In the past couple of days I've been doing a bit of sketching in between bursts at the watercolor/soft pastel beach scene and haven't taken the time to post them, so today is a bit of a miscellany. First up, a large flower trillium, which I sketched from a picture in my "Wild Flowers of North America" book.

This is in my Rhodia journal that I love, but the pages are a creamy color and as you can see the back of the page shows through.

I also did a quick sketch of a turkey that is actually a composite of several photos online and life. It is amazing the number of turkeys you see in the fields these days.

I should probably add some color.

I've added another "nature" drawing in my Dutch book - this time Pears hanging in a tree. I do seem to be going through a pear phase, both in my art and in my diet. I love pears!

And, last but not at all least, I've worked a bit more on the latest self portrait and am declaring it done. As a matter of fact, I think I will now use this sketch as my avatar as the one I am currently using is more than 5 years old.

This morning I have my life drawing class and will try to do freer sketching. I have some Conte sketching crayons now and am looking forward to trying them. I may take some colored pencils, too. I have a few errands to run and need to stop in to see Miss 4 to see if she has something I can use as part of the niche treasure for my altered book. I'd really like to try my hand at collage in the front of that book once the niche is done. I haven't done that kind of art in a while and remember really enjoying it.

I hope you are having a wonderful and productive (or lazy, as it suits) day and that you are finding time for yourself and your creative side.

xoxo

A Bit of Art and A Boatload of Frustration

I have a bit of art to share with you this morning and then I will clue in to what is happening in my little world. Maybe you will have something to say to help me get over it or maybe you even know the answer to life's little dilemmas.


First the bit of art - I am still playing in the Dutch book and I am using a book I found on sale for $3.99 at Schuler Books some time ago, "A Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers in North America" for reference.

When I was showing this one to Miss M the other evening, she was caressing some of my brushes - she loves the softness of them. She just happened to have a fan brush and wanted to see how to use it. So I spritzed a bit of watercolor that was in the palette and let her have a go at it. That is what the green and red strokes at the bottom are.

I am also working in my Rhodia notebook that I was given a couple of years to review - actually I was given two and gave one of them away on this blog in 2010. I sketched half a face in a doorway and am quite pleased with how it turned out (well maybe not the nose so much).

And the last bit of art in progress - four small sketches (about 4.5 x 6 inches each) on watercolor paper. I haven't decided if I will use Neocolor IIs, oil pastels, soft pastels, watercolor.........to add some color to them, but will keep you posted.

Trying to do little girl faces to be recognizable is very difficult. I worked on Miss M's face for hours and finally gave up at 4:30 am and went to bed. You can see it is much darker than the rest of her. Fiddlestix! If you click on it you will be able to see the four sketches more clearly.

And I also tried my hand at a landscape with a cabin in it from a photo I got through a national park website.

I hope to get some work play in on these sketches today. I was up so late last evening because my LaCie drive that I just purchased is failing to do Time Machine backups to keep all my data safe. I went to the LaCie site and did some troubleshooting yesterday early afternoon, part of which advised reformatting and then zeroing out the drive which took all day during which time I couldn't use my computer. It didn't finish that process until late last evening, so just before turning in for the night, I set it up as my Time Machine back up drive. GRRRRRRR! I woke up this morning to the same error message I was getting before doing all that troubleshooting. I've sent an email to the LaCie support team to see what they can do.

I was so happy to hear that I could "fix" my pastel drawings with hair spray, but that has eluded me as well. First I bought the only kind of hair spray they had at the dollar store, but it was way too wimpy. The instructions on it actually suggested spraying damp hair before using a blow dryer and then adding more when hair had dried. The last time I was at Meijers, I purchased a can of Extreme Hold hairspray and tried that. No luck - if I run a finger over the artwork, I still lift color. GRRRRR!

I went through the drawer in the filing cabinet in my work room which holds my gesso and other Golden products to see what I had in there that might work instead of buying new fixative. I found I have Krylon Workable Fixatif, Grumbacher Matte Workable Fixative, and Grumbacher Matte Final Fixative. I don't know how old they are, but can't find an expiration date on any of them. If it ever quits raining and/or the humidity decreases a bit, I will take my Mi Teintes journal out and try one of these in the hopes of finally achieving success.

I didn't go to Zumba last evening as my stomach was a bit queasy - maybe all that frustration I've been holding in - and now I feel really out of sorts. I guess I will get on the treadmill in a bit and see if I can chase the blues away.

On a more upbeat note, I got a call from the library to say that a few of the books I'd reserved through MelCat had arrived and when I went over there I found that I actually had 6 books - all about either pastels or watercolor. There is one by Jackie Simmonds that I am absolutely in love with - maybe it will be my next purchase for my art room library.

Thanks for listening to all my complaints (if you actually read this far) and for all your support of my attempts at becoming a better artist. I hope you are having a great day and that you are finding time to be creative in your world.

xoxo

Yard Pix, Sketches, Nature Journal, Pastel Journey

I had a really busy day yesterday, but mostly devoted to one kind of art or another. In the late morning I went out to the north yard and sat on the bridge to try to capture the Adirondack chairs sitting under the trees. I am still having a really hard time with these chairs and think I'd better do more practice with them. At any rate, despite the fact that the wind was just about blowing be away and the wind chill was putting a serious cold in my hands, this is what I accomplished.

Add caption

By the time I got indoors, I needed some serious warming up, so I reheated some turkey vegetable soup I'd made the day before. Yummy!!

I still love my Debbie Mumm dishes.

It was a beautiful day despite the wind, so once I'd warmed up, I put a hoodie back on and headed out with the camera. I've been impatiently awaiting the arrival of the lady slippers, but realize that it really isn't time for them yet. I do have their greenery already.

And while I was walking around the horseradish that the hubster planted smiled and waved just begging to have its picture taken, so I obliged.

And then I couldn't ignore the shade garden full of lilies of the valley, Jacob's ladder, and hostas. And they are lucky enough to have a natural frame of a weathered fence and a pile of bricks.

All this communing with nature, reminded me that I wanted to start a journal with a nature theme and try my hand at some botanical sketching - nothing formal, but I am drawn to things that don't move when you try to sketch them. I had a lovely book written in German with a leaf image on the front that seemed to be a good candidate. I wanted to know its title to see if it would fit with the theme, but every translation software that I tried just gave me back what I entered. Does anyone know what this says?

The title doesn't appear on the front cover and I love the leaf pattern.

Here is the first page of the "Nature Journal". I think it is a spent dandelion, but it wasn't identified by a name just a number. I found it on Wet Canvas.

And, finally, I tried my hand at another pastel in my Merrill Reader, but this time I used Portfolio oil pastels. I am quite pleased with this one and will try my hand at the Mungyo soft pastels on the next one with the hope of doing a better job than on the flowers that were my first entry in this book. I need to get some fixative so I can turn the page and not have these two get two familiar with each other. I think I will just buy some hair spray as Phil suggested.

I do love pears.

Another busy day today. I am on my way to my daughter's house to get Miss P to school and then I have my exercise class. I am hoping to spend some time with art after that, and then I am going to go to the Zumba class again - two left feet notwithstanding.

I hope you have a great day and that I will see you again tomorrow.

xoxo