Reviving An Old Practice And More Poppies

 

With warmer weather and some flowers, I revived an old practice of doing a quick watercolor and ink sketch on top of my morning journaling. Here are a couple more.

Another sketch -- poppies.  My Tuesday Painters group went to Fennville to sketch the Poppy Field this week.  What a beautiful site and a loving tribute to the son of the people who own the field.  His grave is in the cemetery next to the field.  Here is my sketch and an image of the field.

Now I'm off to a gathering of Art Tribe members to talk about our upcoming exhibit at the Gallery Uptown in July.  More on that in another post.

My Sketch Makes It To A Soap Package

I was thrilled when Original Fizz wanted one of my sketches for it's gardener's soap. Lorna Gallop is the one who saw my sketch posted on wetcanvas and asked to use it.

Lorna  makes soap.  Her company is Original Fizz and all of its products are handmade  She says “All our Soap Cakes and Bars are made by hand from start to finish using the traditional Cold Process method of soap making. All packaging is designed and hand cut by us to give you a unique gift for any occasion.

My little wheelbarrow now adorns her Gardener’s Soap Package.  It looks quite nice I think.  She makes Handmade Soap Cakes, Beeswax Hand & Foot Balms.  She also does Wedding Favours, Children's Party Favours. And Bath Bomb Workshops for children & Adults. I haven't seen it in real life yet, the company is in England.  Some of my friends may be getting soap for Christmas.

The Challenge and more on Etsy

I’m a day behind on the pen and ink challenge but I plan to catch up tomorrow.  Today has been a play date with my grandson.

I’ve also posted more of my daily sketches on my Etsy site.  This is one of them,,,

More of the pen and ink coming when I catch up…

An October Pen and Ink Challenge

This is day 3 of an October pen and ink challenge, one pen and ink drawing every day.  Here’s a link to the challenge if you’re interested in participating. This is my day 3 and the most complex one I’ve done to date.

This one is from a photo by a photographer friend, Ed Post.  He and I are participating in an exhibit in December – the artist paints the photographers photo.  This one isn’t going to be the painting I don’t think, there is another more complex one that I really like and plan to see what I can do to simplify it.

My usual practice is to do a careful pencil drawing first to work out what stays, what goes and where the values are.  When I finish that drawing I’ll post it, meanwhile here is 2 of the challenge

Day 1 was a flower and I lost it somewhere in cyberspace.

The Tree That Was

The last time I was out sketching was in 2007 and this is one of my sketches done at that time.

We went back to that same site today.  Two things have changed – the tree and my ability to zero in on a subject.  Neither has changed for the better.  The tree has died and instead of zeroing in on the tree which is what I had intended to paint, I tried to put way too much in.  The result is only so/so but it does remind me that I need to focus on my subject.

I also need to do more brushwork.  For the past several years I have been doing very careful drawings and then pouring paint so very little brushwork has been going on in this studio.  It shows.

I don’t plan to quit doing the poured pieces, I love doing them; however, I do want to be able to paint with a brush again too.  The answer – practice.  I really do enjoy being outside, feeling the warm sun, listening to nature, it’s calming.  I’ll keep doing both.

West Virginia Retreat

I’m just back from a week spent with 6 wonderful women that I graduated from high school with.  We’ve all taken different paths in life yet the bond remains strong 53 years later.  In this first photo 6 of us are headed off on a hike while our hostess takes her afternoon nap.

She and her husband bought this lovely spot in West Virginia as a place for their large family to gather because they are scattered around the country.  Fortunately for us, it’s large enough for us to gather too. 

Our week was spent just relaxing, enjoying conversation, cards and our surroundings….

 

I took along sketching supplies and some wine glasses and glass paint so everyone could paint their own glass.  Everyone had fun doing the glasses and I did a bunch of zentangles and a few sketches.  The sketches haven’t been scanned yet.

It was a great week, I feel blessed to have these women in my life.

Zentangles & why didn't I think of that

An article in the Nov/Dec issue of Cloth Paper Scissors caught my attention.  It grabbed me because it showed illustrations of something I often did in my sketchbooks and journals while I was waiting for my son in the doctors office or at a practice of one sort or another.  When I didn't see anything that I felt like sketching, I doodled.  That was 20 years ago.  Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts were smart enough to carry it further, they offer kits and publish patterns in their newsletter.  The kits include tiles that are 3 1/2" square.  I haven't purchased one but I did cut some bristol board into 3 1/2" squares to give their method and some patterns a try, it's addictive and I agree with them, done in this format it's a work of art.  It's also very meditative.  Here are a few of my zentangles....

And here's a link to the website: http://www.zentangle.com/index.php

They gave it a lot more thought too, I was just passing time; this is what their website says about it:

"Zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating new art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity. Zentangle provides artistic satisfaction and an increased sense of personal well being. Zentangle is enjoyed by a wide range of skills and ages and is used in many fields of interest.

We believe that life is an art form and that Zentangle is an elegant metaphor for deliberate artistry in life. Explore our web site and learn how you can use this wonderful and uplifting discovery. "

I like that.  I especially like that anyone can do it and the slow and deliberate part is good for me... I tend to rush too much. 

Another from the workshop and a work in process

This was my first portrait at the workshop.  I wasn't thrilled with the result but felt satisfied with parts of it.  The gentleman did have those bags under his eyes and before this workshop I probably would not have gone that dark with them.   I like drawing people, I also like sketching people.  The problem has always been painting them, whenever I do everything ends up extremely tight and the life of the piece is lost.  The only time that doesn't happen is when I'm padding a wash to a sketch.  I have a better idea how to go about doing this now that I've watched Charles work and worked on a couple myself; however, I have a long way to go.

Meanwhile a house in pen and ink.  This is something else I enjoy doing and I have an order for this one so better get to finishing it...

I have to walk by again to have a closer look at the porch.  I should be able to finish it in a couple days, then the buyer will decide if she wants a color wash on it.  Some houses are easier for me than others, because I love the house... this is one of those.

Pen and Ink and Pencil Work

This week I've been working on drawings, getting ready for next week when I'll be away at a painting retreat.  I'm posting two, the first is pen and ink which probably won't become a painting next week but may one day become a print.  The second one will probably become a painting because I've had a request for some full sheet size boats.  It's pencil in my sketch book which is where I usually do the initial drawing for my paintings.  The sketch is square; however, I'll add more of the surroundings to make it a full sheet.

The first piece was for the Wet Canvas Weekend Drawing Event.  Here are a couple more from that event that are not likely to be anything more than these sketches but they were fun.

I'm also working on a few more of the flea market series and should have those ready to post next week when I return from my retreat.

Oops... I gave them away before I took my photos.

My artwork this past week was for gifts and I forgot to take photos before I gave them away...  they were wall hangings.  I used fabric that I had painted and added a quote that seemed to me to be appropriate for the person I was giving them to along with quilting, beading and some embrodiery.  They turned out quite nice if I do say so myself.  I also did some pen and ink miniatures and I did scan those.  They're from photos that were included in a Wet Canvas Weekend Drawing Event.... two from Connie in the Netherlands and two from Beth in North Carolina.  The two from Beth were photos taken especially for me when she was in Barbados... she knows I love old boats.  Here are the drawings... all miniatures, 2 1/2 x 2 1/2...