playing

I slid small stamp pads around, then did a thin acrylic glaze.

In the journal.

playing with glue

Bits and pieces, in the journal, which cover up the lines nicely!

Acrylic paint, a bit of Sharpie, and lots of gel medium.

grab the cat

Chaucer is an indoor cat who runs back from an open door, but he loves to look outside. Especially if the neighbor cat is out there on our patio.

I ran for my journal to draw him standing on his back legs, stretched out tall, tail swishing. Of course that pose was over by the time I got back. So I did a quick sketch of the sitting pose and added cabinetry.

Life drawing is all around me.

Fountain pen on lined journal paper.

Leftover Sienna

The piece that came after yesterday's.

W/c on the Fabriano notecard stock.

Sienna heiroglyph

Titling art pieces, I hear, is a real problem for many artists. Sometimes the theme is distinct.

Other times it would be much easier to just say, "Another One, #___" But then someone would have to keep track of the numbers.

W/c on a Fabriano Medievalis note card, approx. 90# weight.

painting on . . .

. . . strange paper. Like a super heavy paper towel with a lot of laid texture. Click image to see the texture. The paper feels like and is as white as pure cotton.

It's very rough and highly absorbent (not a bit of sizing). I have to force it to accept marks from a pencil, but it slurps up all liquid superfast.

Just getting a finished sketch down is a win. I have a journal volume with this paper but I've cut out the book block to use the nice cover for something else.

I'm using the paper one page at a time when I'm in the mood for a battle.

Soluble graphite and w/c pencils, mostly dipped in water before each mark, and w/c.

third book cover

Instead of doing the suggested fabric cover for the third book in my online class, I made this.

I took previously painted 140# paper, a slash and slosh watercolor experiment, and coated it with soft gel medium.

Inside I coated the paper, then glued on a liner of muslin, using gel medium.

The paper has a feeling of canvas. Flexible but much firmer than a simple fabric cover.

This scan does not show about 3 more inches on the (here) bottom edge. The cover will be put on the book so that the right edge here is either the bottom or the top of the book. Haven't decided yet.

Bookbinding book 2

This is called the "Long Tall Skinny" book in Julie's bookmaking class. In mine the pages are 4.5 inches wide and 10 inches tall.

We collaged the pages with random or (in my case) a themed set of pieces. I had a lot of maps in my collage pile, so used colored, tans, and black/white map pieces.

Then other pages were covered in papers with blues, greens, and browns. I also used mulberry papers, commercial scrapbook papers, and pages from old books.

For the cover, I painted masa paper with layers of acrylic and glazes.

Airing a leg pit

Well, it can't be an arm pit on a cat, right?

Chaucer has 2 standard awake positions. One where his front legs are curled in, and one where the right leg is reaching out.

He can stay like this a long time.

Pencil in the Epica journal

glueing paintings on book covers

I painted masa paper with several layers of acrylic paint, gel medium, and glazing medium. Then did the taped spine and glued the paintings on the bookboard.

The bookblock is drying, next step is final assembly.

Second project in the bookmaking class taught online by Julie Prichard.

imagining flowers

No particular kind, just ink and w/c on Canson drawing paper.

Just to fill a page.

luminous blues

Acrylic on 140# paper.

Visiting Venice in Las Vegas

I take a lot of pictures when we go on trips, but then tend to just store them away as life's home tasks kick back in.

This is one shot of the door handles at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas in August. We're going in; the outdoor scene behind me is reflected.

We weren't staying there, but it was my favorite hotel on the Strip. I love those indoor gondolas, the mini-bridges and the cool evening feeling, when outside it was all blazing desert sun.

green orange daubs

Finger painting with acrylic.

easy bookbinding

I'm taking a wonderful online book/journal making class from Julie Pritchard and these were from our first project.

You can still join this class. She posts videos that will be up for a year, and offers great feedback and answers in a community of students worldwide.

I'm learning new things that work for all sorts of applications.

drape and folds

I can tell my patience with drawing is growing when I take the time to do fabric.

It's so irregular and unstructured, compared to cats and chairs, that I lose interest. Not this time.

4B pencil in the journal. (Writing shows through a bit.)

green and peach

Layering graphite with w/c, testing out subtle colors.

Doodling while I watch John Oliver, the British comedian, most often seen on The Daily Show. Always good!

In the Epica journal.

windowful of cat

Whenever Chaucer hears me slide this window up, he comes running. It's one of the few I can leave open and rain won't come in.

He loves to watch the woods for squirrels and birds. And he doesn't move much so I can draw him not sleeping, for once.

9B pencil and w/c in the Epica journal.

doodling yet again

Liquid ink pen on Canson drawing paper.

stamping

I used to do a lot of stamping years ago. I've moved away of using manufactured images, but this is a square stamp pad, an aqua one (much buried in other layers here), and w/c added.

Pure color in abstract forms always calls me.

On Canson drawing paper.

splotching

There are so many amazing artists in the blogosphere. Thanks to Lynne Hoppe for this idea of painting on muslin.

This is a first attempt just to do the washing, ironing, and splotching part.

I was going to do more, and may yet, but I like this just as it is.

W/c on muslin.

perspective challenge

I had an interval of huge patience and attempted the angles of this library view.

Smudgy pencil and much erasing, some ruled lines and freehand ones. I quit before attempting the ceiling tiles and floor tile lines.

The sides of the stairways are glass, topped by the stainless steel tubing. I left out the additional handrails that attach to the glass. The net-look area in the distant right is the security screen pulled down over the cafe counters.

Pencil doesn't scan well, but my patience surge was over long before I could contemplate inking these lines. On Canson drawing paper.