New Year’s Eve

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I can’t believe the year is almost over. It flew by. I have not been good about posting consistently, I will try to do better this year as I like looking back at the work I am doing. Right now, I am really enjoying the iPad Pro and using #Procreate for drawing and painting. It certainly doesn’t replace the paper or canvas but it offers me a sketch opportunity at a moments notice.

This year I think I am going to focus as much as I can on the joy of drawing and painting and less about a particular goal. I think that the joy will be enough.

Enjoying Mixed Materials

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In some ways I feel like I need to settle down and choose a singular medium. This must come from some rigid thought process held over from college. I don’t know. I am having a lot of fun mixing up materials. However, even when mixing things up, I should probably have some discipline!

I am starting to realize that it is okay to just keep “practicing” and let the mind flow along with the creations. Maybe I need to stop thinking I need to get to something more serious.

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Is there Wisdom in Some Silence?

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Before the presidential election the civility among the people was bad enough, after the election it has not improved. Now the people seem even more polarized. And, of course there is a lot of unknown which can be frightening for everyone. It’s so uncomfortable. Why is it so difficult for folks to be civil? Why can’t we maintain some silence…express your opinion, but silence the mean stuff. You can have a differing opinion of course, but do we really have to be so mean-spirited in the expression of that opinion. Do we have to demean and bully the other side? My thoughts about people that voted for the person that I didn’t vote for may be somewhat judgmental…I think this is a natural reaction. We can’t help but impose some internal judgements on others that might believe something that we don’t. However, I would never in my wildest dreams want to hurt another person’s feelings by letting them know this. It seems better to have a constructive conflict free conversation about the concerns and issues from both sides. Why is this so difficult?

I am going to try and be as civil as I possibly can, for as long as I can. I hope that the people in my world will do the same.

The End of Inktober

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I am so sad to see #inktober end. Such a fun month of drawing and seeing what everyone else is doing with their ink! I wasn’t able to get a drawing in every day, but I did pretty good. And, I feel like I did a lot of exploring…not only with different ink techniques, but also subject matter. I like following the prompts…it resulted in drawings that I would never have done otherwise. The turkey vulture is a prime example…I would never think to draw one of these!

I like the art challenges, they are fun to do.

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Four More Days!

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I can’t believe that #inktober2016 is almost over. While I haven’t been able to keep up everyday, I have done pretty well. This year has been fun to use the actual prompts…makes me think about drawing something I wouldn’t normally do.

Still loving the puffy fish on the iPad pro with the Apple Pencil. A lot fun and great way to learn the features of the Procreate app.

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Inktober Continues

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Surprisingly I have kept up pretty well with #inktober2016. I have only missed a couple of days. Yesterday was my wedding anniversary, so I gave myself a break! Not all days have been good days, but the challenge has motivated me to get something drawn in my book pretty much everyday!

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I am trying to follow the daily prompts this year, but on occasion if I can’t do that I still work on a sketch in ink. I am really enjoying my Dad’s drawings, he is being a real sport and I love to see him participate! I look forward to his drawings everyday.

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Day 3 & 4

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Trying to keep up during the work week is tough! I figure even if I can’t do a long detailed drawing, I can do a super quick one. Also trying to stick with the prompts, day three was collecting, and I am for sure collecting faces! Day 4 was hungry, so what better than a hungry bear! Quick, quick, quick!

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Day Two Inktober

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The prompt for today was noisy. Cicada in dry brush, brush pen and micron pen with some green ink that didn’t scan well. Hoping to keep up with each day, that will be the challenge!

I am also working on a face in ink wash and some colored ink, but didn’t finish that today.

Inktober 2016

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#Inktober makes October way better. I have been down in the dumps lately which has made drawing a struggle. Inktober is a good push for me to get back into the swing of looking forward to a drawing. Here is day one! Not too terribly happy with the drawing, but I did it and that is what matters. I don’t usually do ink wash but though I would give that a try…I will consider ink washes for the next few sketches as well. #inktober2016 has some prompts as well…so I decided to use todays prompt to choose the subject matter. Today’s prompt was FAST.

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In Memoriam

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This has been a sad month. We lost our very spectacular dog Big on September 2nd. He did in fact have a long (12 years), adventurous and a really spoiled life. However, the pain of the loss still weighs heavy, I imagine that will last for awhile. He was a committed companion, always on watch for his family. When you have a dog you get used to all the things that go along with having a dog…saving leftovers, night walks, morning walks, morning cuddles, sharing the sofa during tv shows, making plans for travel that include finding spots that will take dogs and of course one of the most wonderful things… knowing you are coming home to someone who always has time for you. He will be missed in a Big way. I will be forever grateful to my parents who were with him at the very end, they are the kindest people I know. I only wish that I had been with him as well.

We will probably adopt another dog in the future, but Big will always have an especially special place in my heart. I don’t know why but somehow I felt even more connected to him than our other dogs…and I loved our other dogs very much!

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Sadly our friend (and vet) also lost their long time companion, Springer Spaniel Samantha. She also had a long and wonderful life. I know her family will miss her as well. I did this portrait for them as a memoriam.

Dogs are really fabulous, I just wished that they would live longer.