Oct31Art

We went to the hockey game tonight, game tied at the end of regulation, and at the end of overtime, we finally lost in the shoot out.  Team still learning how to work together at this stage in the season.  Lots of talent, just a bit disjointed now.

Oct30Art

Halloween is tomorrow, we've lived in this house since September or 1998 we have never had any children come to our door for trick or treat.  For the first few years I bought candy and was ready just in case.  These days I don't bother.  We have a hockey game tomorrow so we won't even be home.

Oct29Art

I love this spooky tree, this year I drew him using my yama-guri (chestnut brown)  iroshizuku ink from http://www.gouletpens.com/Pilot_Iroshizuku_Yama_guri_50ml_Ink_p/pn69219.htm  It is a very dark brown, it will run a little if you get to it before it dries.  Alone it is such a dark brown it looks black. The orange is Translucent Orange one of my favorite colors made by Schmincke.

Oct28Art

I used my Pentel Pocket Brush pen to draw this black cat.  I like the pen but it is difficult to control especially for fine lines so I used my fountain pen for the whiskers.  The ink is a rich dark black, doesn't bleed thru even on copier paper, and is immediately waterproof so you can paint over it immediately.

Oct27Art

When I was a little girl watching the Wizard of Oz on tv was an annual ritual, and every year it gave me nightmares, because of the dog hating witches.  Every year my mother didn't want me to watch, and every year my Daddy said this year she's a big girl she won't be scared.  I so wanted to be brave for my Daddy, but it was a very, very long time before I could watch that movie and NOT have bad dreams.

Oct26Art

The Low Country Harley shop held a ride today to benefit Breast Cancer Research, Ron and I both rode our motorcycles today.  It was for a good cause and it was a lot of fun.  I got to meet Rob, a friend of Ron's from work.  Ron rode in honor of his friend Jackie, and I rode in honor of my friend Carol… interestingly enough Jackie and Ron have been friends since high school, and so have Carol and I…

Oct25Art

First home game of the season tonight, Ron and I are looking forward to Hockey season starting.  Later tonight I'll add the score, but I wanted to get this posted before we left for dinner and hockey.

Oct24Art

Watched a couple of the next Sketchbook Skool videos this morning, tonight I watched videos that came with the James Richards book.  I only just today came across the link to those videos in the back of the book.  I wish I could blame this pitiful excuse for a tree on someone, but the results are all my own doing.  I used water soluble markers, and then tried to blend the colors with a waterbrush.  Lesson learned… use watercolor next time.

Oct23Art

More practice doing people, no faces, no hair, and darn few arms and legs… but I think it works and it says 'people' in a group.

Oct22Art

This week's challenge color is Orange, while it was extremely tempting at this time of year to draw a pumpkin, I resisted and chose some orange poppies instead.  Really cool weather today, gave me thoughts of chili so after work Ron and I went to Publix to get some ground chuck and onions, tomorrow we'll have chili and rice for dinner.

Oct21Art

Colored pencils are not my cup of tea, but I'm trying to learn how to use them.  I only have one green pencil, and it isn't really a good green for an olive, but I soldiered on as best I could with it.  Ron is usually very supportive of my efforts but looking at this from across the room (before I put the title on it), he said 'What is that?'… after I looked all hurt because he didn't know it was olives he said it just needed a bit more work LOL.  I think I need more colors, what say you artist blogging buddies?

Oct20Art

Next homework assignment, draw something using a combination of reality and imagination.  Oh an add your thought about it…. Mostly my thoughts were about not having a single idea, none,  Mattias draws pigs, and bikers and funny looking people and incredible detailed city scapes… but I got nothing, nada.

Oct19Art

Sketchbook Skool homework was to draw our memory of the first day of school. I don't remember my first day of school, but I do fondly remember Miss Quarles my Kindergarten teacher.  She was a wonderful teacher and my favorite memory of her was during nap time when she would play classical music and walk around the room and stroke our heads while we had our heads on our desks.  I also remember her feet and how puffy they were coming out of her shoes (which seemed way too small for her).  So here's my shot at drawing that class in 1956.

Oct18Art

We took the Harley Trike to Georgetown this morning, lovely cool Fall morning.  Lots of ragweed (aka Golden rod) along with Black eyed Susans growing wild on the sides of the road in the Francis Marion National Forrest.  I did get some great pictures while at the show, and not just of boats, but some of the lovely homes in the area, as well as a very rare Lemon Dalmatian.  The boat building 'Goat Island' challenge was in full swing by the time we got there and the crowds were much bigger than last year.  We did get there in time for a t-shirt and actually bought a nautical light fixture for our porch. Could not ask for a more perfect day.

Oct17Art

Dinner at chili's tonight, they were really busy, something going on at the coliseum tonight.  Watched a couple of the Mattias videos this morning, I have one of his books and have been a fan for ages… so I'm really looking forward to his klass.  Headed to Georgetown, SC tomorrow for the wooden boat show, hoping to get some sketches or at the very least some photos to sketch from.

Oct16Art

No opportunity to visit a park this week to do the Melanie Reim homework, but I have been working on drawing faces and people.  This is a sort of self portrait, I must have a cup of coffee every morning… after my coffee I think about breakfast, but nothing happens until I have that first cup of joe.

Oct15Art

This week's challenge color is PINK, I thought about a lotus flower, I thought about the pink sands of Bermuda, another pink flamingo and one of my lovely pink azaleas.  As you can see a pink rose won the competition for something pink.

Oct14Art

People in motion,  I drew this fellow from a photo.  I think I need to practice people a whole lot more before I attempt them live and in person.  I did pick up some post-it notes today, so I'll be using them to do faces and maybe little tiny people.

Oct13Art

Meeting ran late tonight, I did manage some people sketches in my little 3 x 5 sketchbook that I keep in my pocketbook.  I still need to get some post-it notes, maybe tomorrow.  Time to feed dogs and go to bed.

Oct12Art

Ok here's the reason there's a bike on this page.. I was going to draw a person on a bike, and then I realized I can't draw a person on a bike, if I can't draw a bike.  So first the bike, which turned out ok, with wonky wheels, so maybe a person on a bike coming soon.

Oct11Art

Today was Ron's birthday, I refrained from telling anyone that might sing or embarrass him… it was tough but I hate that too, so he refrains on my birthday too.  Picked up our season tickets and went to a pre-season game against the Greenville SC team, we left at the end of the 2nd period while our team was ahead 4 to 0… the practice rink bleacher seats were killing my back.

Oct10Art

I'd never heard of Melanie Reim before this klass in sketchbook skool, but I LOVED her drawings, and sketchbooks.  Check out her blog here http://sketchbookseduction.blogspot.com She does small faces on post-it notes, and has a sketchbook full of her post-it note faces.  I don't have any post-it, so I just drew some little squares… probably shouldn't have added color.  Post-it faces, and post-it people coming soon.

Oct09Art

Still working on the James Richards book Chapter 3, more people.  I know I'm supposed to be drawing food and recipes for Sketchbook school, but I'm not much of a cook (Ron does most of the cooking) and I don't need to learn how to draw food, I need to learn how to draw people.

Oct08Art

I tried on a couple of different occasions today to start a sketch of Gracie sleeping, her radar was working today and every time I got out the sketchbook and the pens… away she'd go.  So I just did a cartoon version of Gracie, giving me her best gotcha look.

Oct07Art

I'm doing a 10-week color challenge on Ipernity http://www.ipernity.com/group/janet_briens_photo_projects/doc?with=24488699
week 1 the color is red.  Most of the participants are photographers, but they are allowing me to join in with my journal pages.  In need of motivation as well as instruction I'm also doing Sketchbook Skool Semester on 'Storytelling', have an idea for a recipe, but haven't done it yet.  I've signed up for Liz Steel's 12 week online course on sketching starting in November http://www.sketchingnow.com … am I NUTS or what?

Oct06Art

At the workshop this weekend, James said… draw the people first then block in the big shapes.  He called them 'flipper' people, flippers for legs and arms.  I need to work on my flipper people among other things I need to work on LOL.  Sometimes, attending workshops can freeze me up so I'm feeling dissatisfied with what I'm doing… but I don't have time to freeze up now, because I'm enrolled in Sketchbook Skool and need to get to work.  Here's a picture of me this weekend, and a group shot from the workshop. I'm in the middle in the hat.

Oct05Art

Home to Charleston, cars gassed up for the work week next week.  Bags unpacked laundry mostly done. Finally found my camera that I thought I lost, deep down in a pocket of my back pack, so I had it the whole time.  So what does a saxophone have to do with anything?  Well absolutely nothing at all.

Oct04Art

The James Richard's workshop was really wonderful, I learned some things and had fun.  The mind was willing, but the body not so much… the workshop wore me out, my M/S saps my energy and Urban Sketchers seems to think walking several blocks to the next location is no big deal (and for everyone else it wasn't).  I had to skip the afternoon sketchcrawl, and headed to the motel for a nap while waiting for my husband to join me.  There were plenty of artists in the city today, a trumpet player, a parade, a woman weaving roses, someone doing origami dragon flies, a man playing a saxophone… and a group of people drawing in books.  The weather was fine and bright, couldn't ask for a nicer day.

This was the first 'warm up' sketch James had us do, after talking us thru his hand outs.

 This was the sketch I did of the City Market, tried to add people and simplify the busy complicated scene… the pencil lines were added by James, he thought I needed more people.  He did say, when you draw a wonky looking person, draw several more around that one and the crowd will mask the wonkiness… hum.

Walked to the next square, here I sat next to Darror, she was very nice and pretty much sat still weaving roses.  We enjoyed the trumpet player and chatted a bit, she gave me one of the roses she was weaving. 

Didn't scan well but I can't find my camera so it'll have to do.

  

This was my final sketch in Johnson Square, so I managed 3, the weaver, the trumpet player and this tree covered in some sort of growth… not moss, thicker and greener than moss. 

Oct03Art

Put my dry roasted pecans on the journal page to eat them and to draw them… when I picked them off I discovered the little grease spots let behind… oops.  Maybe not a good idea to put food on the page.  Headed down to Savannah after dinner tonight, Ron has to work tomorrow morning and will join me Saturday afternoon.  Looking forward to the James Richard's workshop and the sketchcrawl afterwards.

Oct02Art

Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Boris and Natasha every Saturday morning as a kid we watched cartoons.  I loved fairy tales, my mother used to read fairy tales to us so we knew the actual tales these fractured tales were about and enjoyed them even more because of it.  

Oct01Art

I stayed with my artist friend Priscilla while she and I attended the Sterling Edwards workshop in Hendersonville NC.  Her husband Phil was a very gracious host, and not only treated me on a couple of evenings to his 'Uncle Wiggly' adventures, he used one of his laser woodworking machines to make me a name tag.