Dec31Art

Happy New Year to all my artistic friends...
This turned about ok... I wasn't sure it would.  First I put some wet colors, yellow, transparent orange, alizarin crimson on the page and allowed that to dry.  Got out my circle templates and my 'drawing gum' mask and painted the star bursts, big circles and small with some over lapping each other... then just added some dots (may have gotten too many of those)... allowed the masking to dry.  Mixed up a puddle of Mineral Violet, Prussian Blue, French Ultramarine Blue, and  Marine blue... using a flat 2" brush... added a mix of those colors over it all...  this did not get as dark as I'd hoped for.. maybe too much water... anyway... let that dry and finally removed the mask... voila... FIREWORKS!

Dec30Art

Still fighting my 'not flu' bug... decided to draw one of my Christmas presents... my Pier One canister that holds my brushes now.  I liked the rainbow of colored stripes on it.  

Took this photo of my actual brush canister along with my drawing of it...  at the base is my earrings and bracelets... which should be put in my jewelry box, but end up here on my desk more often than not.

Dec29Art

I DO NOT have the flu!  I got a flu shot in October, so I can't possibly have the flu... so this sore throat, achy feeling all over, head hurting... well it must just be a cold.  It can't be the flu right?
This is my new Hake Brush, I'm going to a workshop in May with Birgit O'Connor this is one of her favorite brushes... so I had to give it a try.  I have smaller hake brushes that I like very much so I'm sure I'll like this one too.  The best thing about brushes like this is how inexpensive they are.  A surprise to find an art supply bargain these days.

Dec28Art

Dilbert is one of my favorite cartoons, right up there with Peanuts and Cathy.  I have this stuffed Dogbert doll, that sits on the platform with my computer... he is actually surrounded by 'stuff'... but I just drew him and the logo on the computer... artistic license I think they call that LOL

Dec27Art

I had really expected the news today to be that former President Bush had passed away in Houston Texas.... and then find out General Norman Schwarzkopf died today at the age of 78.  Prayers for the General's family and friends, and I will continue to keep President Bush and Barbara in my prayers too.

Dec26Art

Frog strangling rain this morning, around 1pm this afternoon the wind started to blow, it is still blowing really hard out there, and getting much colder.
The final Rural sketchers challenge was to do a self portrait.... this was as close as I care to get to a drawing of myself. It's been a fun year of weekly sketches.

Dec25Art

I HATE it when I misspell BIG important words... like Christmas.  Oh well the thought was there... hope everyone had fun today.
We went to see 'Hitchcock' at the theater today, it was pretty good.  I thought Anthony Hopkins did a great job as 'Hitch'... looked just like him.

Dec24Art

Put our Christmas turkey in the oven this morning, and enjoyed it for lunch AND dinner.  We have enough turkey left over for turkey sandwiches well into January.
Got a lovely card and a tiny accordion sketchbook from Rita today... what a delightful surprise for Christmas... now how to fill the pages?  One by one... or a single picture spanning the whole sheet?  I will need to think on it....
Merry Christmas everyone... remember the angels said the good tidings of great joy were for ALL people.

Dec23Art

Found some blue ink at Michael's,  Rita's snowflake stamps done with blue ink looked so cool I had to give that a try too.  I like the way they turned out.
Kind of a cloudy, gray day today.. and COLD this morning... I actually had to use my heated seats in my car.  I love that little luxury in my car... don't get to use it much, but it surely is nice when it's cold out.

Dec22Art

Ron and I went on a shopping spree today.  First we bought a sailboat, a little Hobie Cat that we can do some day sailing on this Spring and Summer, we go pick it up tomorrow morning.  After lunch we went to the Charleston Collections store and he bought me a bracelet and earrings that I'd had my eye on.  Then to Pier One for some ceramic containers for my paint brushes... I got everything I wanted LOL

My paints from Daniel Smith arrived and I filled in the Green Gold slot on my color wheel...

Dec21Art

Well so far so good, and since it is already Saturday in Australia... I guess the Mayan's just ended their calendar and never got around to doing the next one.  So we'll all enjoy our time here a little bit longer.  I had to draw my favorite cookie that kinda reminds me of what the Mayan calendar disk looked like to me.

Dec20Art

This wild eyed nutcracker is kinda scary looking to me... well when I tried to draw him, I couldn't get him on the page... so now looks even scarier.
According to the Mayans, tomorrow is the end of the world... gotta think of something spectacular for my last entry... any suggestions?

Dec19Art

Only 5 more shopping days till Christmas... I'm done, mailed the last 4 today.  
The traffic around here get worse every day, could tourists be coming here for Christmas?  Maybe it's just all the people out shopping that usually are home in the evenings.

Dec18Art

Almost done with the rural sketchers 2012 weekly sketches... I have missed a couple I think, but managed to do most of them.  It was a fun project for the year.

Senator Tim Scott

Yesterday Dec 17th, Gov Haley chose my Congressman Tim Scott to fill the vacancy in the Senate due to Jim DeMint's move to head the Heritage Foundation.  I couldn't be prouder of Tim if he was my own son, and I know his Mother is very proud indeed.  Tim Scott will do a great job for SC and for the Nation in his new role as a Senator.

Dec17Art

My first grand baby is 16 today,  she is the epitome of the mother's curse... you know when your mother said, 'Some day I hope you have a child just like you'... well my Mom said that to me and my daughter if VERY much like me opinionated, smart, with a sharp wit ... well Ashton is just like her Mom... and this Granny loves them both... may the legacy of strong willed creative women in the family continue... Ashton will carry that tradition forward I have no doubt.  Happy birthday dear girl... and please, DO NOT TEXT and drive.

Dec16Art

I've gained eight pounds... YIKES and Beau is looking a little phat too LOL... The whole family will be going on a diet after Christmas... no way I'm missing out on any of the good stuff over Christmas.

Another triad color wheel, interesting how French ultra Marine granulation qualities effect the mixtures it is in... while New Gamboge and Alizarin Crimson mix some nice transparent oranges.

Dec15Art

Someone today, did a random act of kindness, in the parking lot at Wal*Mart...  I know this because after lunch my husband and I went to Wal*Mart he got a couple of pairs of jeans, I got a nightshirt with scottie dogs on it.  We went home and discovered that I had lost a ring off my key chain and didn't have my key to the house... and Ron didn't have his keys with him... so we went back to Wal*Mart, we walked through the store, looking for the dropped keys, but did not find them.  Went to the customer service counter and some kind soul found them in the parking lot and turned them in.... God bless you whoever you are...

Dec14Art

Twenty families, will have a very different Christmas this year, I can't even imagine losing my child, but losing a little child 2 weeks before Christmas is just too much to bear.
I wonder sometimes if the 24 hour news coverage of these things... fuels some twisted people into bigger more spectacular carnage.

The hardest part of doing this primary triad color wheel was dividing a circle into twelve equal parts.  I erased my lines on the back of this so many times I couldn't paint on it... and still I erased the lines on this side a couple of times.. it isn't exactly equal but it is close enough.

Dec13Art

The only color in this box that got almost no use, was the cadmium yellow...  I know a lot of people love it and use it a lot, it has never been one of my favorites, so no need to let it take up space in my bijou box. I swapped in Hansa Yellow Medium... funny it looks orange in the scan,  but is a bright lemony yellow color in person.
This is the palette I'll use in this journal, and I'll see what doesn't get used and needs swapping out color wise next journal. I'm also using my 'free' fountain pen that came with my large bottle of Noodler's  Lexington Gray ink.  The more I use this pen and ink the better I like it, so I'm dropping the micron pens for now, and just using this pen.

Dec12Art

Unique date today, 12-12-12... nobody alive today will see the next such date 01-01-01 in 2101... This is the last page in this Hand*book watercolor journal.  I'll start another one tomorrow (I got them on sale at Cheap Joe's this Fall).
I didn't do many two page spreads in this book, but I did enjoy the landscape format after I got used to it.... I'm going to try to do more two page spreads in the next one. That could even be one of my New Year's resolutions LOL.

Hard to believe I've filled up 18 sketchbooks with daily drawings... starting this one on lucky 13 :-)

For this value chart I mixed a single color in as strong as I could... that mix went into the left square, then for each square to the right I added 3 squirts from my small water spray bottle, and painted the square.  The paper was dry and I used a synthetic 1" brush (DaVinci 20) clean and damp to start, and no water added to the brush only to the paint.  I was hoping doing this would give consistent results... however, it did not work 'that' well, because the starting puddles were not of a consistent size... thus the addition of the water which stayed the same didn't give the same result value wise. .. but all in all it was a fun chart to do and if I did it again I think I could solve some of the issues.

Dec11Art

Poinsettias are everywhere these days... so beautiful.  Had a power outage today for about an hour, no reason for it I could tell... but the whole neighborhood was out.  Funny how everyone comes outside to see if other people are having the same problem... so we stood in the yard and chatted for a bit until it came back on.

Dec10Art

Dinner party tonight was a harbor Cruise... we sat with a friend who didn't like boats much... I have never been seasick, and love boats... It was an excellent dinner... I ate way too much.

Dec09Art

I drew this Santa a couple of years ago, I like his frazzled.. tired look... so I drew him again. We worked on the leaves in the yard again this afternoon, if you start around 3pm, you only have a couple of hours before it gets too dark.. two hours is about all my poor back can handle in any case.  Stubbed my toe so hard I'm afraid I broke it... going to be a challenge to wear shoes to work tomorrow.

Dec08Art

Teddy Bear toss at the hockey game is set for tonight... it is a fun and the bears go to local needy children.

Dec07Art

Pearl Harbor day, my older brother's birthday today... and a Christmas Party to attend... so a quick tree and I'm off to the party.

Finished 2 rows .... 5 to go

Dec06Art

Winna sent me the idea for the cartoon for the rural sketchers week 49 challenge... it worked out pretty cute if I do say so myself.
Lots of drama going on in SC politics today, my favorite Senator Jim DeMint will be resigning to head the Heritage Foundation, and my favorite Congressman Tim Scott may be appointed to fill his seat until the election in 2014... Ron and I think Tim would do a GREAT job, our other pick would be Trey Gowdy... it will be interesting to see who Governor Halley chooses.

Thought I'd scan the beginning of this chart... it may take a bit of time to finish this... it is a slow process but worth the trouble.  I am wetting the square and adding the color on the left to the bottom left corner of the square and the color on the top to the top right of the square then if needed I tilt the paper to encourage the colors to blend.  I want to see how the pigments react with the water and with each other when they blend on the paper instead of the palette.  For these colors the best runners were the Hansa Yellow and the Quin. Burnt Orange(the orange REALLY took off when I touched it to the water).

Dec05Art

Today is my baby girl's birthday... she's 40 something, but who's counting?  Well you could count the candles if you're curious LOL.  I can remember the day she was born like it was yesterday, even the spaghetti I had for lunch (do not eat spaghetti before giving birth... trust me in this).

Dec04Art

Went to the swearing in of Samuel Rivers to the SC State house this morning.  By chance I ended up in line with his Mom and Dad, I'd never met them before... so had a nice chat with them.  They are so proud of their son, as well they should be.
Made for a long day today... so a quick sketch of my polar bear earrings... well one of them anyway.

Dec03Art

Country fried pork chop night at Cracker Barrel.... yummy, plus I got some great soft Teddy Bears for the Teddy Bear toss night Saturday night, and the Toys for Tots drive by the Marines... good price on big soft bears.  They will probably be the only presents I buy this Christmas.  I cop out and give my grand kids money.

Dec02Art

The bear stamp from yesterday, bled thru to today's page... but my little elf didn't care...
Ron worked bagging leaves in the front yard, I worked on cleaning the bird cages and folding laundry.  I think I got the easy jobs.  Up early tomorrow and Tuesday for trips to Columbia for work.

Dec01Art

Got a package of paint from Daniel Smith today, I got something he calls 'Pearlescent Shimmer'... the scan doesn't show this paint at all, neither does DS website... however, in person this paint has a really cool looking sparkle, that 'gray' smudge appears white and sparkly in person.  It'll be a great addition to snow scenes, or add a nice sparkle to water or white birds...
Our hockey team won again tonight, beating the number one team in our division... so they have the talent, unfortunately, they didn't start playing as a 'team' soon enough this season.