Happy Halloween!

The witch may always wear black, but she has a colorful cat.

Rather pumpkin colored!

Pen and Cretacolor aquastix, in the journal.

survey says . . .

As usual, we are being deluged with election mailings. This is a survey card that I turned into a colorful piece and avoided filling out.

Ink and acrylic on card.

New England foliage season

On my walk today I picked up a maple leaf to paste into the journal. This paper is 6 3/4 inches x 8 3/4 inches, so you can see how big this leaf is. The very top of it got cut off in the seam of the book.

The scan, of course, doesn't do the color justice. It glows in the sun!

after a walk

Ankle deep and still falling.

and without my hat

Not witchy at all, but without my hat. In a handmirror.

Pencil in a Hand Book sketchbook.

witch closeup

Sketching another witch, with hard charcoal on a scrap of 300# paper. Blue sky and gold moon added in acrylic.

getting ready for Halloween

I usually hang a cross-stitched pumpkin on my door for October, one made long ago. But this year I decided to paint something witchy.

I took a photo since this won't fit on the scanner. The shine kills the golden background, but this will do.

18x24, acrylic on 300# paper. I'll do a simple string hanger and put it on the front door.

an artist at figure drawing

I can't scan the big drawings I do from life drawing sessions. I work on 18x24 paper and avoid NSFW posts anyway.

But in this case I had time to draw one of the other artists working. Scans poorly of course, from a section of the big paper.

Pencil on Strathmore drawing paper.

packing tape dispenser

When will someone improve these things so that the tape flows on more smoothly and doesn't get hungup so much?

Pencil in the Bateman sketchbook.

graffiti tag

If I were a graffiti artist, this would be the icon I'd paint on walls.

In all orientations, colors, sometimes with decorated nails.

Pencil on paper, pasted in the journal.

scribble energy

A tiny black mineral carving, scribbled out in pencil. I like the feeling of scribble and the feeling it projects in the drawing.

On thin sketchpaper.

stripes for accent

After I do a basic practice drawing of something/someone familiar, I invent the colors and patterns. This is not a real shirt but I like the look here.

Pen and w/c in the Bateman sketchbook.

red jasper and red oxide

One of my birthday presents was a red jasper Buddha for my collection.

This sketch is on thin paper, pen painted with thinned acrylic, transparent red oxide. Perfect match for the color!

David Levine mousepad

I don't think I've ever actually bought a mouse pad, certainly not for decades. but this one called me.

A co-worker put it on our computer podium (shared by all staff over 90 operating hours each week) and I had to have one for home.

Drawings by David Levine, high resolution b/w on a bright orange, 8.5 inch circle--I love everything about it! (Not as bright as the Daniel Smith orange, but similar.)

Sold by the New York Times shop online. Expensive with shipping, but it offers an outstanding visual welcome every time I sit down at the computer.

drawing floats my boat

An interpretation of a photo in the paper.

Pen and pastel in the Paperblanks journal.

features and faces

It takes me endless practice to get the eyes, nose and mouth to look right.

Pencil in the Bateman sketchbook.

drawing on acrylic grounds

I love painting acrylic backgrounds, but am drawn (ha!) to draw on them instead of doing a foreground painting or collaging.

Two things work, a Sharpie or a grease pencil. But those media are like using ink on any other paper--every line must stay, no changing or removing.

This one worked out. Stabilo grease pencil in the Robert Bateman sketchbook.

drawing a snuggly model

This drawing is oriented like I drew it, looking down at the cat snuggled up against my leg. I had to keep lifting my right arm to look down at him.

So I didn't rotate the image to make it seem more logical.

Ballpoint pen in the Paperblanks journal.



The next one (same cat, different time) is rotated. Fountain pen in the Paperblanks.

Yes to Carrots

I love this hand lotion. It comes in a tube and doesn't leave your skin needing more and more.

As a random filler in the journal, I pasted in the logo from the box, then painted a carrot. The Daniel Smith orange matches the color exactly!

filling the bags

Filling lots of tote bags with food and art supplies to take to Jan's cottage. I had to stop and draw the colorful mix.

Prismacolor ArtStix in the journal.

the chef in the kitchen

Tracy cooked me a wonderful dinner for my birthday. The highlight was the yummy, crispy corn fritters from a Cooks Illustrated recipe. My new favorite taste treat.

Fibertip in a Cachet sketchbook. I took out their metal spiral and made a thinner travel sketchbook with my own plastic coils. Split (none needed in the center) to lighten the weight.

Durer's rhinoceros

Continuing the animal theme, I copied the rhinoceros that Durer drew in 1515. For a long time people thought he had drawn a real animal, but he had embellished this one with imagined characteristics.

Pencil in the Hand Book Journal.

bunnies, sheep, goats, and more

Last Saturday we went to the Topsfield Fair, celebrating its 192nd year this season as the oldest agricultural fair in the country.

I didn't draw as much as I would have liked, but managed several quick sketches of animals in the hours that we roamed the barns, exhibits and endless food options. The chocolate-covered pineapple on a stick was super!

This was Star, a calm, pretty cow.

Fibertip on Cachet sketchpaper.

the backwards leg

The bump-out on the left is the leg that Chaucer has turned (twisted) backwards, paw up. He does this regularly, with one front leg or the other. I've never seen another cat do this when sleeping.

2B Tombow pencil lead in a mechanical pencil, in a Paperblanks journal.

Happy Birthday to me!

Packages! Plans! Cards (yes, actual snail mail!) emails and facebook too! I'm feeling the love!

Thank you to everyone for helping me age creatively!