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.