WATERCOLOR CUCUMBER

Having a green thumb is NOT one of my talents...thank heavens for good friends who plant too much!  I chose this cuke to draw because it had a lot of interest in the coloring.  Obviously it had been shielded from the sun by its' leaves, so there was more white than green.  My big challenge was to give it a subtle light shine at the top of the picture.  I actually used a bit of grey ink wash for that.  It was fun, undemanding, (it didn't move once!) and the cats were completely uninterested in eating it.  A plus for a still life...

INK DRAWING OF EAR

I know it is a bit odd, but I was sitting in the Dr.'s office with nothing to do but wait, wait, wait!  I bring pens with me everywhere, and took the opportunity to draw the nearest thing available, a man's ear!  He was snoozing (thank goodness!  How embarrassing to get caught drawing someone's ear!) and sat very still, so I was able to capture the true essence of his ear...do all men lack earlobes??? No wonder so few of them wear earrings!

INK AND WASH: SWEET BABY FACE!

I have been doing a bit of scrapbooking this week, catching up with my children's baby pictures and trying to remember all of the sweet and wonderful things that they did and said.  To save them a bit of embarrassment, I have NOT drawn my own babies, as they are now too old to be happy about having their faces on the web.  I saw a sweet face and drew it with thoughts of my own lovely children in mind.  I used a light grey pen with washes, and a dark ink pen for the details.  Hope you like it...the look of complete trust and love is not often seen!

TASTE OF JACKSON ART SHOW

Just a quick update on an event coming up...

The Taste of Jackson

is July 28, 2012 at the

 Jackson, TN Fair Grounds,

 beginning at noon, going until 6 p.m. 

 Several local wineries will be featured, along with 10 of the top artists in the area.  That includes my hubby, who is a sculptor, and myself.  Also included is my dear friend, Seedybeader, who does the most intricate bead weaving you will ever see.  Some of the features at our booth will include some of hubby's latest ventures...a treasure walking cane.  The cane has a hidden compartment with raw diamonds, silver and gold inside!  He will also be bringing some of the beautiful woolly mammoth ivory jewelry that he carves, and a couple of his granite carvings.  I will be selling some original ink drawings, and some art prints from my original paintings.  Wish us luck!

INK AND WATERCOLOR STRAWBERRY

As always, I find the drawings that have the most wrong with them are the ones I learn from...darn it!  This is one of the last strawberries of the season, and it was a bit squishy, not as full of bright contrast and life as it might have been earlier in it's life...rather like me, I guess!  I got the shape right, chose not to get too detailed in the leaves, and completely forgot to think ahead, and leave some white paper for the highlights!  The only way to rescue that lovely shiny fresh look is to dig out my white gel pen.  Since this was only a study, however, and I am getting ready for an art show at the end of the week, I let it go...let it go...(I try so hard not to let the little things bother me these days!)  My art is very connected to my psychological emotions, so if I suffer from silly things, like hurt feelings, or a squabble with my mother-in-law, my art suffers along with me.  Sorry, everyone!

MUSHROOM SKETCH: PANTHER AMANTHA

Despite the drought conditions across most of the U.S., my little piece of Tennessee has been getting quite a bit of rain this week.  Because of that, fungi have been popping up all over the woods.  This mushroom is a wonderfully perfect specimen of fungi-tude, and I was in heaven getting to draw it.  Don't know why I am so excited by such a normal growth, but I have always had a fascination with the varieties of mushrooms.  I went hiking in Glacier National Park, and the family groaned at my count of all the different types I found along the walk...(16 on a 2 mile trail!)  I used ink, and kept it delicate with a minimum of detail.

HOT PEPPERS DRAWING

Hot Peppers!  I chose the wrong type of media for this particular drawing.  For one thing, it doesn't show the beautiful green color of the peppers.  For another, it is too heavy handed to make a good sketch.  I am certainly having my creativity issues this week!  Review:  2 out of the 3 peppers are floating in mid-air.  That would be wonderful and creative and amusing, IF I had meant for it to happen.  I will experiment with that....however, today it is simply a mistake.  I did this drawing from memory while sitting in the emergency room.  NOT condusive to good art work!  I am also sure that most hot peppers don't have creases that remind you of plumbers' (dare I say 'derriere') cracks!  I think that I must have been looking at that nice doctor walking down the hall....

WE ALL HAVE OUR OFF DAYS...DRAWING

I am really off my game this week!  My mom broke her foot, and I spent a few days in a panic, trying to make things better, and traveling about to doctors and hospitals. I lost a bit of focus and momentum, anyway.  I didn't have much ambition today...artists have a high percentage of depression, according to the media - and I certainly cannot contest that!  I dug out a few puny carrots and a radish to draw, not even considering an actual composition.  It really shows, and I will try to do better next time...I promise!  On the positive side, I did learn a lot about laying in shadows.  Out of everything on this drawing, I am pleased with the interest that the shadows brought to the sad little grouping!  Every drawing should be a learning experience, and a happy one!

BUTTERFLY IN SEPIA INK

I have a butterfly bush next to the window of my tea room, and spend a lot of hours sipping tea and sketching butterflies and moths.  This butterfly had such a graceful stance, and even though it isn't one of my better drawings, I was especially pleased with it's ballet leg positions, and proboscus.  I thought it interesting that the eyes were patterned...is that normal??!

BABY BIRD SKETCH IN INK

How exciting to find baby birds in a small tree next to the house this week!   I am pretty sure it is robin babies.  This one was all wild-hair pretty, and full of curiosity...I peeked into the nest, took a few pictures, and then left really fast, because the mama was getting very vocal in the next tree.  I guessed at the position of the legs with the drawing, and used sepia pens and a few grey ink pens for darker areas.  Baby birds make me feel a bit better about life in general...how do you people in the city get your connection to Mother Earth?

HICKORY NUT: SEPIA PENS

Sometimes, you feel like a nut...I was bored this evening, and the only thing I could find of interest to sketch was this hickory nut.  I am sure that there were other things lying about, but I was being lazy and just wanted clean, simple lines and a chance to use my new sepia pens. I like them, but was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a lighter color, rather than just nib sizes.  Guess I will have to do a bit of experimenting with a sepia ink and lots of watercolor paper!

SLEEPING TIGER CUB: INK AND COLOR PENCIL

Like everyone, I take a gazillion photos when I go to the zoo.  Fortunately, I have been able to visit a real variety of zoos, from the famous San Diego Zoo, to the tiny zoo in Minot, North Dakota.  Digging through old photos this week, trying to avoid going out in the 107 degree heat, I came across a really bad photo (done with an instamatic camera through several inches of plexiglass) of this sweet-faced cub.  This is my interpretation..I had to guess at the bit of color I added.  I used grey brush pens and yellow and orange color pencils.  

AN APPLE IN INK

I was drawing this apple while watching scary movies last night.  (Freddie VS Jason) and thinking about some of the wonderful contemporary artists that I have seen lately in the magazine High Fructose.  If I were more contemporary, would I draw this apple a different way?  Like some horror flick, would I have the apple bursting open with a hand reaching out? or create a face beneath the skin?  It reminded me that I have to think a bit more out of the box, become less predictable, quit 'practicing' and start doing!

BALL POINT PEN DRAWING: A SILLY THING

I was just doodling this morning, bored, bored, bored!!! I invented this little scenario, having not used a ball point pen in quite a few years.  They do give an interesting line...the cheap pens always skipped and plugged up, and wouldn't work, even though you could still see it had plenty of ink!!!  Ah, nostalgia!  I used a felt tip pen to draw this ball point....

TEA POT DRAWING

It is just too hot to do any outdoor drawing, so I am doing some still life pieces indoors.  This is a tiny tea pot, probably a creamer from an old silver tea set.  I just love getting out there and treasure hunting at the flea markets!  When we lived in Albuquerque, they had the most wonderful flea market, selling roasted chili peppers and beads from Africa.  In L.A., they had the Rose Bowl Flea Market,  miles and miles of cool treasures.  I would love to go to the Paris Flea Markets...anyway, there is always something interesting to draw, and gain inspiration from!   

CREATIVE DOODLE EXERCISE

Wierd looking, huh?  Sometimes I get stuck, and can't think of anything to do.  Doodling helps me to get back into some creative thinking.  This is a bowl of soup from a magazine, and I started doing some silly drawing on top of it, eventually making it into a strange sunflower.  What I like about this kind of doodling is you don't have to start with a plain white paper (when your creativity is already low) and you can come up with some wonderful ideas that could eventually become a great and significant piece of art!  What do some of YOU do to break through the 'art blocks' ?

ART DEMOS: FISH AND BIRDS

This weekend was the 'Meet the Artist' and demonstration for my art show in Missouri. I had so much fun meeting the variety of people who were interested not only in my art, but in nature itself!  They shared their own experiences with nature, and I discovered that many people find our world as mysterious and unpredictable as I do.  The Missouri Conservation Department provided several 'mounts' of creatures, some of which I used in my demonstrations.  I was especially delighted to talk with children about them, and allow them to touch a 'bird' for the first time! The fish was one of my demos, from a mount of a crappie.  The unfinished bird is from a mount of a merlin hawk.

WATERCOLOR APPLE POSTCARD

I am on another diet, nothing new in my life....but this one seems to be liveable, including lots of fruit and veggies as opposed to 'complex carbs'.  That means lots of interesting things to draw!  It always amazes me that as many times that I have drawn or painted an apple, each one is different.  This one has funny green freckles, and a hint of color on it's mostly golden skin.  I have been getting more interested in doing some watercolor pieces lately, and thought this one would be fun to do some wet in wet technique.  I love how the color bleeds into the water and leaves funny, blurry 'flowers' of negative space!  If you notice some pencil strokes in there, I did use a bit of colored pencil to accent certain areas.  I am not good enough at watercolor to know how to do it without 'help'.  Though, I rather like the mixed media.  Wonder what else I can add to the mix.....!

DRAWING OF KESTREL IN INK

Hubby's favorite bird is the Kestrel.  I love the markings that are so distinctive on this tiny hawk, and the large dark eyes.  I used a variety of pens to draw this piece, and have got an urge to paint this beautiful face on a large canvas.  I was able to see some Kestral young at the animal rescue place last month, but I need to find a way to really study the grown bird.  They love to sit on electrical wires hovering over the cotton fields in our area, but they are hard to see close up.  I will have to look for an aviary somewhere nearby...possibly Memphis.  I wonder if the iris is visible, or their eye is all black...it is details like that, that give credibility to my art.  I don't want to get any details wrong!  So much pressure!

FIELD SPARROW INK SKETCH

You know you are becoming a 'real' artist when you feel the need to pack more art supplies than clothes for a short vacation!  Hubby and I took off for a few days at the casino (we're not much on gambling, but the paddleboat rides down the Mississippi River are great, and the hotel was $29 a night in the hopes that we would gamble away our life savings!!!) anyway...I spent more time making sure that I had the right art pens, and a few watercolors than deciding what to bring to wear.  This is a field sparrow.  He perched outside my window several times in the hopes of catching a bug.  I relocated him to a bit of field grass to put him into perspective, and slightly changed his leg positions for some interest and movement.  I think his beak is slightly too big, but none of us are perfect...  Maybe he inherited his nose from his mum!

LEAF JOURNAL DRAWINGS 2

Returning again to the leaf journal, I did a combination of things for the elm leaf.  I did a rubbing, watercolored it, and added line work to bring out all of its interesting features.  I think that it is the most interesting of all of the leaves, and I remember working on it at the picnic table in front of the cabin, enjoying the cool breeze and a cup of hot tea!

The pin oak was fun, as I simply lay the leaf onto the paper and used a toothbrush to flick several colors of paint across it, making it a stencil.  The painting got rather out of hand, as all of us were enjoying the process to the point of flinging the paint on each other...rather a bonding moment! 

The dogwood leaves were painted with thickened watercolor, and then pressed onto the paper.  It is a real challenge getting just the right amount of paint, so that it highlighted the veins and outlines of the leaves.  You can paint your interpretation of a leaf in a painting, but the real thing is amazing to see!

And finally, the post oak.  We scrounged a can of spray paint from the owner of the cabins, and chose leaves with a lot of chewed out holes and character for this stencil option.  The real challenge? getting the leaf to stay in one place when we directed the spray at it!  I am so pleased that I kept this old journal.  Memories came flooding back, of good times and wonderful women.  The experience has helped to make me the artist I am today.

LEAF JOURNAL DRAWINGS

 I was cleaning out in my studio this week, and ran across some old leaf journal projects that I did on a women's retreat several years ago.  Looking at them brought back some wonderful memories.  We were trying to connect with nature, and find a place for ourselves in this world.  Leaves seemed to be the perfect solution, as it was fall in the Ozarks when we got together.  We stayed in a cabin by a lake, and listened to the wind in the trees, the loons on the lake, and the geese heading south.  For the top leaf, a sweet gum, I simply drew the leaf, trying to get to know it a bit.

 The second leaf, a sycamore, was an experiment in getting the feel of the leaf.  I did a rubbing of the leaf using good old Missouri dirt as my medium.  I used my fingers and a stick to work the dirt into the thin vellum paper.  I was able to feel each vein, and get to really know how it grew to such a large size.

This shingle oak leaf was covered in funny growths and distortions, making me think of the end of it's life.  I used watercolor to render it, and used a toothbrush to spray a bit of the mottling onto the leaf and background.  I am amazed at what character comes out with each leaf on this earth!

BOTANICAL ARTS CLASS RECAP: THANK YOU!

MO CONSERVATION ED. CENTER

The Botanicals Art Class went beautifully.  I had some really enthusiastic students who were excited to get indoor and outdoor drawing of various wildflowers.  Some of the students were so motivated that they tried out drawing some of the more intricate flowers, like horse mint and passionflowers.  As usual, I learned something from the teaching experience.  By having to explain how to 'see' what you are drawing, I learned how to see all over again!  I was amazed at the variety of styles in drawing, as well.  You would think that if you were all drawing the same thing, it would come out the same.  Nope!  One of the students only saw the outlines, and nothing inside that.  One of the students saw the flower in a Victorian style, with heavy shadows and contrast.  One of the students was technically perfect in every detail.  The diversity was delightful and reminded me that each of us is different in how we see the world...our worlds.  Each persons' universe is unique.  What an exciting experience this was for me!  Thank you, thank you, for the chance to learn once again!

BOTANICAL DRAWING OUTDOORS

BOTANICAL DRAWING INDOOR IDENTIFICATION

OLD MAN WITH DOG: CONTOUR LINE DRAWING

I am still trying to break out of my rut with a few more contour line drawings.  Most of them don't come out too good, but I rather liked this one.  It really showed the loving devotion of owner to dog, and dog to owner without becoming too bogged down in detail. 

PIGGY PULLTOY: NEW PAINTING IDEA

I am so excited!  I found the cutest old pull toy at the flea market this week.  Cookie Pig is going to be perfect for a still life oil painting...I love the antique children's toys the best, as they always invoke a nostalgia, a happy feeling for most people.  The colors are bright and cheerful, and I can add other fun things in with it, a tall toy or maybe a jump rope...any suggestions, anyone?  What else do you think I should add to the painting?  I want to add something alive, as well.  Like the old Masters' Dutch paintings that added butterflies and bugs, I would like to add creatures as well.  Maybe a tiny chipmonk?  Or a bumblebee? 

ROCKABILLY FESTIVAL ART SHOW OPPORTUNITY

Just a quick thanks to the folks in Selmer, TN who gave hubby and I an opportunity to put some artwork in to the new Lattha Building through Arts in McNairy for the Rockabilly Festival.  It was a last minute entry opportunity, and we are thankful for the efforts made to get hold of us.  Hubby put in a hand carved gun stock, and I added a tufted titmouse drawing.  There are opportunities all around us, if we are just open to them!

TATTERED BUTTERFLY DRAWING IN INKS

This rather tattered butterfly, distorted by life and heavy winds, was difficult to render.  I am always saddened by the shortness of life for some of the most beautiful of God's creatures.  I used two different types of ink on this drawing, a fine tip Sharpee to render the fur, and ink brushes to get some strong, dark shades. Nature is not always kind to it's population, and I am thinking that destruction of the more fragile in it's world is inevitable. I am going to call this drawing "Ethan's Butterfly" in honor of my grandson, who was in this world much too short of a time, and who was one of God's most beautiful of creatures.

GRAPES OF INSIGNIFICANCE: DRAWING IN INK

This drawing is an insignificant little piece, but a major experiment in my drawing process.  Just a few grapes left in the fridge, I wanted to draw the value, not the line.  I dug out my ink brushes and started too dark (I was out of the lighter grey ink) and tried to look at values and contrast in the grapes.  It is so easy to just draw the outline of something, forgetting that the most important part of a rendering is the light and darknesses.  It won't leap off the page, make an impression, become something more than an object, if it doesn't have contrast.  If all the values are the same, it kind of fades into the background, becomes a part of the wall. Or maybe I am just spouting nonsense....who knows?

BOTANICAL DRAWING CLASS JUNE 14,2012

I will be teaching a Botanical Art class, June 14, 2012  at the Missouri Conservation Education Center in Cape Girardeau, MO.  The class will include a brief history of botanical art, what uses it can have, and on location drawing instruction.  We will discuss applications for nature art journals, garden journals and identification purposes.  I am really looking forward to the opportunity to share my love of drawing and nature!

GUITAR PLAYER: CONTOUR LINE DRAWINGS

I haven't been happy with my work lately, whether it is the chaos surrounding me, or the fact that the work hasn't felt fresh and new.  Whatever the problem, I always go back to the basics when I am not happy, and for me, that is contour line drawing.  It goes back to the essence of the subject.  You are drawing on impressions and emotion rather than drawing what you 'see'.  I drew these two blind contour line pieces last night, and looking at them today, I feel a bit more excitement to be an artist.  They are filled with movement and interest.  I saw a contour line drawing at the Rockabilly Festival this week in Selmer, TN.  It left an image in my head that excited my imagination.  The artist did a large contour image...16x20, of a man's face whose beard was twisted and turned into a bunch of grapes.  The image was drawn in black ink, and then the grape beard was colored like stained glass in purples.  Altogether a fun piece, and worth exploring.  What do you, as artists or craftsmen, do when you are feeling stale and unfullfilled?  The creative process is a tricky one.  It always needs to be worked on and re-invented!