Some sketches and a lesson

Keeping up with my everyday sketching pretty much…. This is one of many bags I use to carry sketching materials when I’m out and about.

I did miss two days.  One because when I woke up at 5:30 it was colder than usual and the shower water was warm but not as hot as usual, our boiler motor had died..  The same day dear husband was ill, our grandson was here and I was responsible for a major downtown event that was taking place that evening.  Sketching was the last thing on my mind when I finally had a chance to relax in our warm house (boiler repair done) at 11 that night. The next day I slept late and caught up with all the little things that didn’t get done the day before.

But back to it on Sunday morning during the sermon….

And after church we headed north to ski.  I took along my sketchbook and kept up the rest of the week….

Benford’s Wood Stove

On Chrystina’s lazy Susan

I haven’t scanned yesterdays and todays yet.

The lesson learned…. It doesn’t have anything to do with art, well, maybe the art of skiing.  We were north skiing and it was great skiing in spite of the cold.  No lift lines and a bit of powder over hardpack.  We skied hard all day.  The lesson… when one is a few weeks short of 75 and has skied hard all day, one should not make the last run a black diamond run.  Tired legs, hardpack, a tumble and a binding that didn’t release caused a slight injury, no break but I am hobbling and will be for awhile. Hopefully not too long; we do want to get up there and ski again this winter.

The daily sketches & thoughts on ways to practice

This one is from a favorite website’s weekend drawing event.  Over on wetcanvas.com there is a group that gathers on weekends to do two hour paintings. A member of the group posts 16 photos, the participants have half an hour to pick one and then two hours to work on it before posting the results. It’s a good learning tool and you will find all levels of artists from beginner to seasoned professional.  If you’re interested here’s a link to the site.  The weekend drawing event is in the forums and is titled All Media Art Events.

To be fair, not everyone takes the two hours, I spent less than an hour on this sketch. Some take longer but post at the two hour mark and then go back to finish.  And some who aren’t confident in their work yet, do the painting but don’t post.  Looking at how others treated the subject they worked on helps them to see where they are and often, that they are better than they think they are. 

I am remembering one of the artists we lost to cancer, Connie was prolific, she really worked at it and her skill level improved dramatically.  When she started there was no question, she was a rank beginner.  I have a couple of pieces she did when the group did an exchange and frankly, the first one is horrid.  However,the second one done in a later exchange is worth framing.  It was fun watching her participate and progress in her skill levels.

This is another way to practice, carry a sketchbook with you always.  No need to share what you sketch but whenever you have down time draw.  I’m one of those who everyone thinks is distracted or not paying attention because I’m doodling or sketching but it happens I hear better when my hands are busy. This one was done in church.

And this one was done when I was a few minutes early, done in less than five minutes because the others I was meeting arrived before I got any further.

Back to doing daily sketch

But not from the list, I’m just doing my own thing and doing it at various times during the day.  It suits me and so far so good.

Here are the sketches done since the 1st…

One of the gourds from a fall arrangement….

A row of clementines, my grandson lined them up….

An apple done with graphite from the set I got from a friend for Christmas…                                                         .

I’m a hat person and all of the women on Downtan Abbey wear such wonderful hats, had to sketch them….                      

When Ed and I go to dinner, just the two of us, I always sketch while we chat before dinner arrives. This time it was at the Theater Bar….

I put some Christmas away, this is now the centerpiece on our kitchen table….

Sometimes I have to quit before color is added, this time I was waiting at Panera and time ran out.

And that brings me to today, we finished the pound of coffee a friend of Ed’s had given us for Christmas…. it was delicious…

And I’m feeling pretty good about getting one done every day.  Perhaps releasing the pressure of getting a good one done every morning helped.  I know a lot of folks start a good exercise program at the Y every January but by the end of February it’s just the old faithfuls again.  Hopefully I will keep up at least almost every day.