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.

fill the pages

With word(s) and paint!

Acrylic in the journal.

catching that turn in the head

Standing over him, a perspective I can rarely get.

Pen and w/c pencil in the journal.

trying architecture

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

Pencil on 90# paper.

Bear dresses up for the holiday

Red velvet ribbon for Christmas. Merry Happy!

Pencil on 90# paper.

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.

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.

stacked bears

Pencil on 90# paper.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

sideways bear

He's so obliging about any pose.

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

from a lower angle

Drawing the bear above me. Pencil in the journal.

grocery bag Lizzie

Charcoal pencil on a piece of brown paper bag.

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.

crosslegged sketcher

Pen on 140# w/c paper.

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.

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.

clown doll again

Quick pencil drawing, then I painted him in.

On Strathmore drawing paper.