Red Tape

EDM #214 - A Favorite Hobby

Here is a sketch representing ONE of my favorite hobbies-sketching. Watercoloring line sketches makes them come to life.   

EDM #214

Idea, Encouragement and EDM #233

I am no expert on anything.  But I am a great dabbler.  I see people struggle with the whole sketching thing, so I thought I might offer you a simple idea that has helped me improve. 

I keep a 'Whatever" sketchbook.  It doesn't follow a theme; it is for on the spot sketching; it is for practice; it is for overcoming the fear of the blank page.  I have a little book  (approx 4 X 6-handy to carry) that I picked up at a thrift store,  entitled The Essays of Emerson.  So it is a book full of text pages.  I draw directly ON those pages.  There is already something there (the text), so I can't worry about messing up a blank page.  It is only for me, for practice, for 'whatever'.   Here are some excerpts--none glorious, so have no expectations--so you can get the gist, if this idea interests you.

I was behind this older fellow at a concert and took the opportunity to 'try' to capture him.  I needed to work on people, and this was a chance.  It was hard, on a lot of levels, for me.

 

This is a dogwood bloom out of my front yard. It was the first and only sketch I watercolored in the book, so far.  Mostly I just do line drawings.  Paper not conducive to wet mediums, really.

Alas...a quickie practice of an Sbux drink and I am calling it EDM #233-My Favorite Drink.

Nothing fancy or new here, but I can see improvements in my own sketches from using this idea.  Just thought it might help those of you struggling with that perfection/blank page thing.

.....happy sketching!

 

In Remembrance

We can NEVER forget

 

  

September 11 will forever be a day of remembrance to us now.  On that day in 2001, it was a day of fear and confusion-seldom experienced in this country.  BUT....Remember September 12?  We were all Americans, joined together with a purpose.  Let's be the people we were that day.

 

Gasp

Journal prompt:  Something that made you gasp.

 

Materials:  paint, photo by Terry Berg, sumi ink, papers, rubberstamp

......until later

Vintage Paper-Vintage Words

Continuing pages in my Magenta 10 X 10 art journal....

  

Materials used:  acrylic paint, magazine image and other papers including vintage wallpaper, gesso, rubberstamps and ink

.....till later

EDM #232 - Oxford Shirt

Sketch for EDM #232-the last thing you bought.

 Nothing beats a classic oxford!

.....keep sketching.....

Who Needs Cesar Millan?

Lily and Ivy.....dogs of the Westie persuasion....have their own minds.  They needed a 'little' help learning to greet people at the door. (Well, they are 2 and 4 years old....maybe they needed a LOT of help!)  I was able to convince my little neighbor, Grace , to take on the job.  She comes over, everyday, for a couple rounds of answering the door.  The girls must get on the steps and wait until they are released.  Doing this daily, is really helping!  Thank you Grace...you are the best (and cutest) employee I have ever hired!

   Lily pretends she is bored and can't be bothered with mundane activities, but Ivy is in love with Grace and wants to tickle her legs every time she gets near her.   Woof!

EDM #234 - Not Mine

Challenge #234 Everyday Matters-draw something that belongs to someone else.

Gotta tell you...I have NO idea how to draw 'hairy suede'!!!  Tips?

Learned Something More Re: Spray Inks

I wanted to be able to spray more intricate stencils (like portraits) with spray inks, but not having much success with the messy  Adirondack sprayers.  **Light bulb moment**  Ranger has some tiny spray bottles called Mini Misters, that put out a very fine spray.  I decided to use some Distress Ink reinkers and mix up some colors in these small misters, to see if they would spray more 'controllably'.  I think they do!  Still not perfect....but betta!  Here are a couple stencils I tried, using them.

You have seen my Mz. Liberty before.  I did the background in Fire Red.  Foreground was Broken China (a rather aqua blue).  Even though the red was dry, the blue sort of 'reactivated' it, and made a more 'purple-y' outline of the stencil detail. Of course, the background needs to be a lighter value than the top detail, for it to show up well.  *Because the colors are not permanent, you need to consider how a couple colors will mix to produce another color.

I did the background in Tattered Rose (muted pink).  The pattern that seems to appear on the pink layer was from rolling the paper towel over it while wet.   Then oversprayed detail in Shabby Shutter (green).  Got adventurous, and did her blouse in Broken China (blue).  I am pretty happy, even though there are spots that weren't as sharp as spray paint would be.  I think these Mini Misters are a good alternative for detail. 

Here is how I mixed them:  2 dropperfuls of reinkers to a Mini Mister, then fill to 3/4 full with water and shake.  Option:  Add a little scoop of Pearl Ex to the Mister, for glitz.  You can't  tell here, but the blue shirt on the woman above, had gold Pearl Ex mixed in.  Looks great in person!

I am planning on 'rebottling' my Adirondack inks into some of these Mini Misters, as well.  Better spraying mechanism.  Then I will have lots of colors to play with, and nothing going to waste.