Saturday, December 31, 2011

new piece for the door

Back in the early 90s I made hangings for the front door in big, 6-squares-to-the-inch cross-stitch. Bold colors and simple shapes, easily visible from the street but with some interesting elements for closer viewing.

Many have faded from years of seasonal use. Embroidery thread is not light fast over 20 years.

I declare it's time for a new set of door pieces. This is the new one just finished for the winter snow season.

11x14, acrylic on canvas board.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

fill the pages

With word(s) and paint!

Acrylic in the journal.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

catching that turn in the head

Standing over him, a perspective I can rarely get.

Pen and w/c pencil in the journal.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

trying architecture

I rarely draw buildings, but here's an attempt at a local house.

Pencil on 90# paper.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Bear dresses up for the holiday

Red velvet ribbon for Christmas. Merry Happy!

Pencil on 90# paper.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

sometimes it just works.

I drew a lot of Chaucers on a page; this one turned out so cute! I have to admit, it just happened, I'm now sure how.

Ink in a waterbrush, on 90# paper.

Friday, December 23, 2011

the model creates his own setup

Chaucer liked that spot and stayed there long enough for me to do a quick sketch, PLUS photo! Now that's accommodating.
Yes, I do have 2 monitors, 2 keyboards, 2 speakers, and the real and sketched cats attached to one laptop.

Charcoal pencil on Strathmore drawing paper.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

stacked bears

Pencil on 90# paper.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Poor Lizzie--revealed

Lizzie is embarrassed that I'm revealing that she has no hair on the back of her head. I guess she has a cross-wise mohawk.

And she has a twist of string for dangling from high places. Embarrassing, indeed.

Monday, December 19, 2011

daily things

A bit wonky, pencil on 90# paper. I use these everyday--the best salt shaker for flow and the best peppergrinder of 4 that we have.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

the knitted results

The self-striping yarn makes such an easy patterning for quick knits. Five hats going to cold heads!

his poor neck

I make Bear take all sorts of dangerous and virtigo-causing postures for my drawing practice.

Pencil on 90# paper.

Friday, December 16, 2011

knitting gifts

This is my fifth hat knitted in the last 7 days, for donation to the College donation collection, given to people with cold heads and no hats.

My quick, basic pattern is to cast 55 stitches of a bulky yarn on size 11 needles. Knit 3, purl 2 around and around until the tube measures 6-7 inches tall. Then decrease quickly (essentially forming a flattish disk that forms the top of the hat/bowl) until there are 6 stitches left. Pull a tail of yarn through those 6 to tighten the top and you're done!

I try on the hat as I'm decreasing at the top to make sure it's fitting right. I can make a hat in about 3 hours, depending on what else I'm doing while I knit (talk, watch TV, stir a pot).

Pencil, in the journal.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

the yelling player

A pose the model in life drawing could never hold, so you know I drew this from a photo (in the newspaper). He has black paint on his cheeks; those aren't shadows.

Pencil on 90# paper.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

sideways bear

He's so obliging about any pose.

Pencil in the journal, across the gutter, fixed a bit with Gimp.

Monday, December 12, 2011

from a lower angle

Drawing the bear above me. Pencil in the journal.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

grocery bag Lizzie

Charcoal pencil on a piece of brown paper bag.

Friday, December 09, 2011

contortionist cat

With his trademark back-up-turned front leg. He was beside me on the sofa and I had to catch it fast.

Ballpoint pen and colored pencil for the yellow background. In the journal.

Thursday, December 08, 2011

crosslegged sketcher

Pen on 140# w/c paper.

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Booboo becomes a model

I found this bear from my daughter's left-behind animal collection. Perfect to add to my model repertoire! We called him BooBoo.

W/c on Strathmore drawing paper.

Monday, December 05, 2011

they're always close by for drawing

Back to scanning finally, with better-working software! I'm far beyond this journal volume with the see-through paper that doesn't help the scan quality.

Pencil.

Sunday, December 04, 2011

clown doll again

Quick pencil drawing, then I painted him in.

On Strathmore drawing paper.