just in time for Halloween

I was glad my dentist was running late, so I could draw this unusual scarecrow in his office. It stands about 3 feet tall and reminds me of the birds in the old Heckle and Jeckle cartoons.

With a 9B Cretacolor Monolith pencil in the journal. Happy Halloween!

Colorbox Cats Eye stamps

The rest of the alphabet, this time to play with mixing stamp pads, gel medium, and watercolor paint.

The small cats eye stamps that come in a stack (6 colors) are so convenient to daub on paper or . . . even stamps! I stroked gel medium over the dried letters, which lifted some color, but added to the grunge look.

Then a splotch of watercolor paint, which makes interesting patterns over gel medium. It all works for learning how the different media work together.

In the journal.

stamping letters

I bought some letters for stamping BIG messages.

Stamp pad ink, then acrylics brayered on and monoprinted on (from waxed paper), then a line with a dip pen in india ink: "With 26 letters, you can write everything."

Of course, I only used 13 here. In the journal.

shells for a sea movie

I was watching The Perfect Storm (George Clooney as the captain of the swordfishing boat) and amid all the crashing waves and boat scenes, I had to pull out some shells to draw.

4B on drawing paper.

green and gold collage

One of the collage techniques I learned online is to use torn strips of masking tape. Great for simple, paintable layering.

The gold strips were from another paper. I'm liking collage without imagery, just for texture.

In the journal, where all the lines are covered up.

at life drawing class

Artists across the room, waiting for the starting time.

charcoal pencil on newsprint.

lines and colors

Random acrylic swaths of color, Then roaming doodle lines to make a shape for focus.

I intensified the hues of various areas with added w/c pencil, undampened. I love the glow of this palette.

The journal lines do nothing for this composition . . .

keep filling a page

I had painted on the opposite page and this one was all besmudged and spattered. So I covered it with graphite cats and filler watercolor.

Looking forward to getting out of the lined journal.

complex layers

The base of this was an opening seedpod on a dark gray background. I added lots of colors by doing a form of monoprinting--putting paint on waxed paper, then using a brayer to roll the back of the painted paper onto the piece, or vice versa.

Random monoprinting transfers paint in erratic blobs and patterns. Great fun! The unexpected results make every roll an experiment.

Acrylics in the journal.

graphite painting

Scribbling tonal shapes with a Derwent 8B watersoluble pencil, then it became a landscape when I swished on water and imagination.

In the Reflexion sketchbook.

moon over Nevada

As we left Red Rock Canyon, the moon was rising. We took picture after picture of the changing peach clouds.

art journaling

There's much discussion among the members of my online art journaling class, that we love creating the backgrounds and learning new painting techniques, but we don't really know anything worthy to write on the pages.

I don't either, so I made this pretty unreadable.

first it's a bear, then it's a dog

One of the fun things about acrylic paint is what's left on the palette after several sessions.

First I saw a bear--looking to the right, with a red eye and a teal nose.

Then I saw a green ear and a dark blue stocking cap--on a dog.

If only I could plan an abstract as well.

still in Red Rock Canyon

More of the desert colors and textures from a simple drive through the hills.

Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

20 minutes outside Las Vegas is a circular drive through Red Rock Canyon. In August I took this photo of the vista from the wayside stopping point that is at the highest point.



This is the path back from another viewing stop on the drive, where a stream occasionally flows through the canyon.

I love the subtle, ever changing desert colors much more than the repetitive shouting electric colors of the Strip.

catch that curl

A small mountain of cat.

Pencil on Strathmore drawing paper.

playing in the mud

Everything works for collage in some way.

Acrylic paint, ink and graphite in the journal.

watercolor flow

Drawn super fast and poorly, but I liked how the colors flowed and blended on the slick journal paper, like on hot press.

Pilot Varsity fountain pen ink (water soluble) and w/c.

cramped but sketching

Reading in bed, I couldn't miss the opportunity to sketch the cat so still beside me. Drawing in a tight curl late at night is sometimes the only opportunity to catch a subject.

2B on 90# paper I had on the bedstand.

beet juice

Cooking a beet (sliced, 1 min, 20 seconds, in the microwave with a bit of water) produced such gorgeous liquid, I had to use it as paint.

Sploshed on hot with minimal redirection. I like the subtle tones that appeared, perhaps because of the paper expanding and rippling.

Now I'll ponder further development. On 140# w/c paper.

among the Isles of Shoals

One of the tiny islands off the NH coast, with its lighthouse and keeper's cottage.

Something to draw from life, if the boat weren't moving past, changing the view. Sometimes a photo is necessary.

more Yarka sauce

With purchased scrapbook ephemera because I like the ones with writing.

In the journal.

scraps and glue

I guess this is called a nonobjective collage. The object is to add color and interest to the journal.

Dark areas are from the Yarka sauce crayon. Not that different from pastel or charcoal, but I love the name!

a break for drawing

When cleaning house or doing chores, it's best to take a sketching break at regular intervals to keep one's sanity.

2B pencil in a Moleskine-clone mini sketchbook.