Lunchtime Meditation

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Hibiscus: blue micron ink pen

Hibiscus: blue micron ink pen

Lately I haven’t had much time at work for lunch, it’s just been so busy. Normally I take about 10 minutes to do a little meditation, but for the last couple of weeks (maybe more) I am taking 10 or 15 minutes to sketch instead. It seems to work just as well at energizing me for the afternoon! Now I need to carve out 10 minutes for actual meditation and 10 or 15 minutes of sketching! That would be super awesome for a lunch break!

Maybe a New Year’s Resolution in the making.

Daisy: micron ink pen

Daisy: micron ink pen

The Kitchen

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Micron blue pen and opaque watercolor

Micron blue pen and opaque watercolor

So, I ditched the shells on the counter idea. I did a quick sketch with a pineapple on the counter–which I liked, but all the proportions were off. The shells just didn’t look right on the counter, so off they went. In the end, I decided to block in the color first, so I put on a wash of a medium blue for the stove, a yellow for the counter and light green for the wall. This made me feel better. I started in with the stove and worked out from that. The pineapple was next to the toaster, but by the time I got over there, I couldn’t squeeze it in!

I have to admit this was somewhat painful for me. I did a lot of complaining while I was drawing. I looked at the clock a lot! I put in 3 hours, I was happy when I finished with this. It’s good to tackle difficult things, I appreciate the assignment. I loved, loved, loved Tommy Kane’s class. The ideas I will take away are:

  • Go ahead and “steal” from your favorite artists
  • Slow down and spend more time with your work
  • It’s okay and often preferable to make mistakes and keep going (often times no one else will know)
  • Finish what you started

Great way to end this semester. I have to say I am so sad that it’s over though. Looking forward to the next semester starting in January.

Drawing Animals!

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Opaque watercolor and graphite

Opaque watercolor and graphite

Loved this week’s #sketchbookskool lesson. This is one that I know I will go back and read through many times. A week was not enough time for me, but I will enjoy going back and doing these exercises again. The first part of the homework was to draw from taxidermy or from figures. I was lucky enough to find some nice little Panda figurines in the hardware store to use as reference. I am looking forward to going to either a natural history museum or to our Portland LL Bean for drawing from taxidermy. Next time I draw these I will make sure that my view point shows the other two feet–he looks a little flat without the other feet! Panda’s are hard to draw! But, they are super cute and I found myself really happy to be looking at these and drawing them. Bonus!

Next part of the homework was to draw live animals. Much harder. Thankfully I have a dog and a very handsome one at that. And, he is pretty slow and loves to sleep. Even with a slow and sleepy dog, they aren’t reliable and they move! I will keep working at it, it was a lot of fun. Really helped with observation skills.

Graphite on paper. Big dog sleeping.

Graphite on paper. Big dog sleeping.

Documenting My Week

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Looking up at the tree tops during our mid-walk rest

Looking up at the tree tops during our mid-walk rest

Here is my #sketchbookskool homework so far. Really enjoying the thought process behind documenting part of each day. I think it will be nice to look back and remember some of these moments. They are quick!

Big dog taking a break

Big dog taking a break

I think that I would like to do more drawings of Big. He goes pretty much everywhere I do, and he is a handsome subject.

little clam found on the beach

little clam found on the beach

Re-discovering Ink

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Ink and water soluble crayon, 5" x 7"

Ink and water soluble crayon, 5″ x 7″

I had forgotten how much I actually liked ink. I think when I was young I may have sketched the drawing in pencil first and then gone over it in ink. Now I seem to have less fear and I can dive right in and put that ink right on the page. The lines now have loosened up for sure. Adding splashes of color with the water soluble crayon adds a spontaneity that I really enjoy. And, If I keep that color thin enough I can sneak in and add just a little over spots where I have drawn and then ink right over that too. I will keep working with this.

I started out with the micron ink pen just thinking of planning a painting, but the second piece I did really turned out well. I think that it’s a good medium for small planning sketches and also finished work. Next experiment is to use the ink drawing for a base for encaustic. We’ll see how that goes.

Planning sketch: ink pen

Planning sketch: ink pen

Learning

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Stippling

Stippling

I am really enjoying taking the Derwent Art Academy free class. Not only am I super excited to get through the lessons in order to get my choice of 18 pencils, I am actually learning from each lesson! They seem so basic in some ways, but unless you go through a course you forget some of the basics that are really the backbone of successful work. The stippling course was not my favorite though. The lesson is good, its the production that is was difficult for me. I have done stippling with ink and I think that with paint i would like it. Pencil stippling is a long and tedious process! Even with such a tiny little drawing I found myself wishing that it was all over! It was all I could do to stick with it. But, it did teach me to slow down and the slowing down helped me really look very carefully at my subject.

Onto something a little more fun. Lobster claw study in color. Maybe I will add some controlled stippling as a tribute to my lesson!

Lobster claw study

Lobster claw study