drawing crumples

Always a challenge, especially to my patience.

Disposable brush pen (from jetpens.com) on Strathmore drawing paper. I put a filler gray in the background with Gimp.

Conte pastel pencils

This was as much of him as I could fit on the scanner.

Dusty, but colorful. On 140# w/c paper.

essential equipment

We've gotten nearly 60 inches of snow so far this winter. I am getting good use out of my inexpensive Totes waterproof boots!

Pencil on 70# paper.

just before the fall

Waiting for software updates to finish, there's only the tipping router to draw.

Pencil on thin paper.

same old bear in the usual chair

Quick sketch of what I have painted. Because I can never practice quick sketching enough.

Water-soluble pen in the journal.

the perfect creativity . . .

. . . is to play seriously and work playfully:

A master in the art of living 

draws no sharp distinction 

between his work and his play; 

his labor and his leisure; 

his mind and his body; 

his education and his recreation. 

He hardly knows which is which. 

He simply pursues his vision of excellence 

through whatever he is doing, and 

leaves others to determine 

whether he is working or playing. 

To himself, he always appears to be 

doing both.

 
— Lawrence Pearsall Jacks

that one paw

Chaucer is the only cat I've seen who regularly sleeps with one of his front legs twisted back and under him, with only his paw out to be seen. Contortionist shoulders!

I did this with a somewhat dry gray marker, then painted him in.

I actually knit these!

I haven't done a pair of socks in years, not happy with the standard variety of heel structures and having to pick up stitches, etc.

Then I found Cat Bordhi's Houdini socks, a design she refined and improved in her book "Personal Footprints for the Insouciant Knitter"

Wow, easy to make socks from the toe up that fit my feet perfectly! I finished them in 3 days while attending talks at Arisia, the Boston sci-fi/fantasy convention. Simple construction and no heel flaps, which I personally consider ugly, even if they're hidden in shoes.

I did a simple k3, p3 ribbing for the legs. I have skinny feet and bony ankles, so a 42 stitch round on size 2s is big enough, with ankle ribbing for good fit.

Thank you, Cat Bordhi!

watery acrylic

Trying a quick standing sketch with 3 liquid acrylics dotted into a plastic lid for a palette, holding the sketchbook, no water.

Captured the moment, if not the tree.

90# paper. Colors were Hansa Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna.

dancing with fluid

I'm trying to like painting with oils, but I miss the sponteneity and accidents of watercolor sketching, so had to do a quick blue rooster.

With a water soluble pen, so that the piece participates. I like painting in a dance with the medium.

In a "multi-media book," forgot what brand, about 90# paper.

my 2 best models

Chaucer doesn't want to miss a posing session.

making a new sketchbook

Sometime back I ordered samples of the paper sold by Legion Paper. Lovely larger-than 8.5x11 inch samples perfect for all kinds of drawing and painting.

I pulled out some of the lighter pieces, 250 gsm or 90#, and make a sketchbook of 7 signatures, 2 papers per signature. I left the labels on the paper so I can identify the ones I like best.

I simply folded the papers in half, only one was not folded with the grain. The pages are roughly 6x8. Super easy and fast!

The cover is done with layers of acrylics, collaged tissue papers, and light molding paste.

out in the cold

The shed where we normally put the teak bench and chair have been filled up with other stuff. So these are weathering the winter with the snow piles.

Gray marker and w/c in the journal.

sculpture

A forbidden picture, capturing a piece in a local museum. Names deleted to protect the guilty (me).

Interesting rope hair. The title relates to childbirth. Very unusual piece.

Did you notice, today's date is the last all "ones" day until November.

copying blocks

I saw a painting like this in a catalog, so decided to do a colorful page in my journal, capturing the same feel.

The original was a large oil, in a variation of these colors and block placement.

Acrylic in the journal.

the jumble

Soft pencil plus fast sketch equals a smeary mess. Just like the scene this captures!

Pencil in the Cachet sketchbook.

losing my edges

I went back to read the section on edges in Richard's Schmid's book Alla Prima. Finally the lightbulb clicked on--that losing edges is the way to make an item blend with its background, instead of being a cut-out on top.

So I'm practicing. It's difficult to not put down what I see (edges), or to go back and blur them, after working so long to be accurate.

3B pencil in the journal.

doodling during the movie

Watching Coraline at home, keeping my hands busy.

Pencil in a Cachet sketchbook.

resolution--more painting

It's not a new resolution, just a recurring intention.

So I painted the bear, then added something to give it a bit of story. The goal is to push paint around and see what happens.

Acrylic on 140# Arches.

copying Master drawings

An article in the paper had this picture, a Dutch artist from the 1600s named Visscher.

4B Wolff's carbon pencil in the journal. The writing showing through on the scan and adds unplanned texture, especially to his face and beard.

Oh, well, I was never trying to compete, just learn.

wavy lines and woozy vision?

If this image is slightly blurry and wavy looking, you may have partied too hard last night.

Happy New Year! Happy 1/1/11!

Soft pencil, blended, on Strathmore drawing paper.