A New Repurposed Book and Flowers

It is another beautiful morning and we are hitting the road in a couple of hours. I must say sleeping in a queen bed with three little girls didn't work out very well. I started out crosswise along the foot of the bed and when they finally went to sleep I moved to the couch. We will have a king sized bed at the condo so hopefully it will work out better.


Yesterday I finished another repurposed book and I really love this one. What do you think?

I also spent a bit of time out in the yard taking pix and couldn't resist this one. I have one almost like this framed and hanging in my art room, but I am still drawn to these.

I also took a picture of a plant I don't recognize and the hubster couldn't tell me what it is either. Do you know?

I think I'd better get a move on. The girls are still sleeping and I need a shower and haven't packed yet. We are planning to leave around 10. I'll tell you all about it on Monday and hope to have lots of pix to share.

xoxo

Healthy Breakfast and a Few Quick Sketches

I generally have frozen blueberries (thawed in the microwave) with Shredded Wheat & Bran cereal with a bit of All Bran and a sliced banana on top with Light Vanilla Soy milk for breakfast, but now that fruit is in season, I've mixed it up a bit.

I usually call my breakfast - cereal with fruit. I think I may have to call this one  - fruit with cereal. It was yummy!!

Last evening I made a few quick sketches in my sketchbook. I was mostly trying to remember to use my fountain pens on a regular basis so they don't dry out. I find sketching with a pen frustrating, but think it is good for me as it doesn't allow me to get too fussy - no erasing.

The treadmill is calling my name - LOUDLY!! I have a friend coming over around 9 to bring some knobs for the oak towel racks the hubster is making for her, and three of my girl tribe are coming later this afternoon to spend the night and then go up north with us tomorrow. The newest member of the tribe will ride up with her Mom and Dad. It is sure to be a busy, fun, exhausting weekend - hopefully the weather will cooperate.

I still have seven slots open in my "Intro to Repurposed Books" workshop which is being held in Haslett on August 13. Click on the Workshops/Classes tab at the top of this page to learn more.

I hope you have a fun, productive day.

xoxo

Pen and Ink and WC WIP and Another Perspective Practice

I've been trying to add dimension and work on the perspective in my work in progress and like some of it but am still not happy with the perspective of the windows. The scribblings on the lower left represents some greenery growing from on top of the wall and spilling down. I need to add something there and am thinking of trying a fountain pen with green india ink and then adding just a touch of water. Is there anyone who has worked with india ink and watercolor before? Do you think this is workable? And another thing - the side of the building that is directly ahead with nothing on it is crumbling badly in the reference picture. Should I try to age it up? Or is it true that less is more?

In between working on this and running errands connected to my upcoming workshop, I started another small, quick sketch for more practice in perspective drawing. I've been wondering if I should try the "upside down" drawing method and if I'd get better results.

Some of the windows were open and perpendicular to the side of the building adding to the difficulty.

I've signed up for another swap with the Watercolour Pencil Buddies Yahoo! group for July and am excited to get started. This month's theme is purple and don't you know that is my favorite color. I am hoping to have a ball working on it.

Meanwhile I'd best get some work done today as the girl tribe (except for Miss Newborn) is staying overnight tomorrow and we are taking them up north for the weekend - guaranteed to be barrels of fun, but hard on the body. I'm not sure when I started to feel my 59 years, but I am these days. Most of the time I feel about 35, but running, chasing, playing on the floor and just generally keeping up with Miss 8, Miss 7 and Miss 3 is definitely reminding me just how old I truly am.

I hope you are having a wonderful day and that you are finding time to play and spend time with the ones you love.

xoxo

Sketch and More Photos

When we eat at the table on the screened portion of the deck, I have a lovely view of part of the hubster's workshop, and a portion of the garden between the house and said workshop. There is a bluebird house in the garden which appears to actually be housing bluebirds. Each time I look at it, I think it would make a good sketch, but haven't yet been so enthused as to leave my food and go get my sketching materials.


I took my coffee out there this morning and decided to sketch it. I think it is okay even though the flowers appear to be in front of the siding on the side of the house - I guess that is artistic license - or a mistake?? At any rate, here is what I've depicted:

I haven't decided whether to add color or leave it as is.

I also have a few more photos from the Battle Creek trip that I thought were good candidates for sketching at a later date. You may use these if you wish, and if you do I'd love to see what you end up with.

This needs to be tweaked in Photoshop to fix the perspective. That is Dee on the left with her camera.

It was a big weekend in Battle Creek while we were there - a hot air balloon festival, the Blue Angels flying show, and apparently an antique auto show. These vehicles were parked right outside our room and I couldn't resist taking pix.

Intro to Repurposed Books class update - I still have 8 openings in my class which is being held in Haslett on August 13. If you are interested, you can find more information under the Workshops/Classes tab at the top of the page.

It is another beautiful day here in southern Michigan. The hubster is working at the Maple Street Mall in Mason this afternoon and I am running errands in Jackson. I have a heavy sketching paper to take to the printer to be cut to size for my class and need to pick up a few grocery items. 

The girls are due home some time today from their vacation in Myrtle Beach and I hope to see them. They are staying overnight on Thursday and we are going up to Leelanau for the weekend. It is sure to be a great time.

I hope you are having a great day and have set aside some time to make art.

xoxo

Workshop, WC WIP, and a Sketchcrawl

I am excited to announce that registration is now open for my Intro to Repurposing Books class. The information can be found under the Workshops/Classes tab at the top of this page. The class is in the lovely town of Haslett, which is just north of East Lansing. Actually it is hard to tell where East Lansing ends and Haslett begins. Class size is limited to 10, but if you can't take it now but are interested in taking this class at a later date, let me know and I will offer it again.


As you know if you are a regular reader I met up with my friend Dee in Battle Creek on Friday and we spent some time out of doors sketching. I had a great time. I'm not sure my art turned out all that great, but what good practice for getting out there and sketching. Here are a few of my feeble noble attempts.

We stayed up way too late (I think it was 3 am when the lights were turned out), so when I got home on Saturday, I took a nap and then while the art muse was still with me, I started a watercolor and ink sketch.

I intended for it to be as lovely as this postcard I received in the mail from Ursula, which I won in a drawing on her blog:

I am so pleased with this and hope to be able to sketch like this some day.

However, I am still having issues with perspective and I am trying to put too much into it. I wish I'd done the windows as she did in the postcard above.

In progress

I began by cutting a large sheet of Arches 140# wc paper to get this 11" x 14" and got it thoroughly wet. The initial problem began when I added color. I was thinking of very pale yellows with some ocher, reds, blues. I added the blue immediately after the yellow and voila! green. I added the color with the paper in landscape mode, but without intending to I ended up with much too linear color. So I turned the paper and began my buildings in that perspective.

I am quite happy with the roof lines and the lamp and some of the windows are fine, but some are quite wonky (in case you don't know wonky is a very technical art term :-) ). I am going to keep working and try to get the windows into a more pleasing perspective.

I will also be working on another repurposed book to take as a sample to my workshop. Now I am rummaging around in my closet of stash to find lovely gifts to give to the workshop participants. Can you believe it is July already??!!

Happy 4th to all of you who celebrate. May you have a lovely, festive day and may the mosquitoes magically not be present at all.

xoxo