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.

Bumps in my art world

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Well, the 20 minutes a day did NOT work out. Bad choice in terms of timing I guess. I was hoping to keep up with my portraits, but I just couldn’t make it happen.

I have been behind on my art projects. Summer at work is always busy, hoping that the fall will open up a little more time for me. I do have a new project in process, I am thinking of focusing a lot of my art on ocean themes. I love working on the fish, mermaids and beach scenes. It might help me to narrow some subject matters down and try to be disciplined. However, I am going to continue working on faces, because I am really enjoying that.

Still going

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I am still doing a face a day…but some don’t turn out as planned. This was from a few days ago, since then I haven’t been happy with any of the others. I guess I am going through a rough patch. I always feel like outside factors (like stress or feeling overwhelmed at work) shouldn’t influence the drawing–but they seem to!

But, I will keep going!

This one was done with ballpoint pen in my everyday journal. I downloaded the Adobe Draw app which looks like a great way to add color to my sketches. But, it is different than my computer version and will take a little getting used to

Still having fun with #sktchy app!

Imagination

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I am finding the great thing about #sktchy is not just the endless photo resources, but learning how other artists are using their photo resource. So many folks do such a great job of really just being inspired by a photo–you can tell that they used the image, but they really used their imagination to create something entirely different! This is something I want to learn how to do!

This is the first time I felt like I deviated a bit from the original image. The resource photo of the girl was great, and somehow she reminded me of a gypsy girl! And, I felt like she need to be looking out of a window with shutters. So….I am happy with this re-interpretation of the image. It’s not a perfect likeness and I have changed her hair and the surroundings. I am going to try and do more work using my imagination!

Two days of faces

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Trying to keep up with the face a day! Not everything will work out as planned, but I am really trying to keep up. Top face is from Monday–ballpoint pen #sktchy, bottom one is from Tuesday. Tuesday’s face did not turn out at all, it is from #sktchy, but I didn’t post it on the app. The resource face was so nice, and this turned out so wonky, it just didn’t do the resource photo justice. Do over planned.

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Quick Draw

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Keeping it simple is really helping me feel motivated to draw with limited time. Somehow I have convinced myself to just sit down for 15 minutes and that if I make a mistake, it’s okay! And, coloring in photoshop is quicker (and easily changed if needed).

Today’s face from #sktchy. Ballpoint pen, photoshop color.

Keeping it simple

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Trying to keep my lines simple so I can keep up with my face a day (personal challenge). Photoshop is helping me get some quick color in. #sktchy is helping to give me inspiration and some motivation!

I never thought I would be drawing so many faces! Hard to resist adding the pink cheeks.

Boy With Hat

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Yesterday’s face! I can’t get away from the “red cheeks” idea from #sketchbookskool yet. It seems like every face I do is begging for a little cheek color. I imagine I will wander away from that eventually.

I am trying to do the face a day as a warm up to my day. Also working on a few painting projects. My vacation time is coming to a close in a couple of days, so all the sudden I am in an art project frenzy of trying to finish things up!  And, trying to have a little fun on the side with some mermaid doodles.

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Today and Yesterday

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So far I am keeping up with my goal of a face a day. It’s a challenge for sure!

Really good for practice, and even when I don’t feel like face drawing I am forcing myself to be disciplined and do it anyway. I would like to get to the point where I feel like I can really take more liberty and make better characters.

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A Face Everyday

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I am going to try it. Draw a face every day! Sometimes it might just be really simple, but I am going to try it for 30 days. If all goes well I will keep going!

It is a lot of fun to just “try” to draw a face and let go of the concern of whether it actually looks like the person. I am just trying to capture a “character” or an “expression”. Once I convince myself of that, it’s a lot easier (and more fun).

I really like pulling the sketch into photoshop and adding some color. I forgot how much I like using photoshop this way. Thanks #sketchbookskool for always giving me inspiration and new things to try.

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