Foolishly

Wasn't there an EDM challenge (once upon a time) to draw a musical instrument? There was never any expectation that you could PLAY the instrument, right?

And for a fun time -- go here and type in your favorite Dr. Seuss tongue twister.

(I used the one about the beach beasts -- do you know it?

Upon an island hard to reach
The east beast sits upon his beach
Upon the west beach sits the west beast
Each beach beast thinks he's the best beast.


... and so on.) Of course, you can type in anything you like. Amazing.

Salad on the Square

On the first Friday of every month a group of downtown Knoxville galleries and merchants participate in "First Friday", with new shows opening up at the galleries, free food (of sorts), and usually some free out-door entertainment. You would have thought that Diahn and I were prisoners on parole when we figured out that we were going to get to leave family obligations behind for a few hours and go to First Friday together last night. Really, it was kind of sad. Two grown women getting all excited about a few hours out in the heat. Pitiful, actually.

Still, we had the BEST time! We wandered and saw some great art, including the most fun exhibit of all at the UT Downtown Gallery -- Shoebox Sculpture -- some small and very interesting / entertaining / thought provoking pieces of work. I'm sure we are both secretly digging up old pieces of small junk and cigar boxes and considering how they could be glued, welded, or otherwise attached together...

When we decided to REALLY eat (not just M&M's and squishy squares of cantaloupe) we settled on Trio Cafe because (1) they had available outdoor seating, (2) they weren't Thai -and-something else fusion food, (3) neither of us had ever eaten there before, and (4) they had salad, which we could draw for this week's EDM challenge.

I have to point out that the salad bowls really were oddly shaped -- round with a slanted rim (kind of like these, only smaller, white plastic, and with much more slant) so that if you turned your bowl JUST SO ... with the high side in the back ... only you could see your salad. You could hide behind the high rim if you wanted, so nobody could see if you dripped salad dressing down your chin or if a long piece of frisee didn't quite make it into your mouth in the one bite you thought you could pull off. (Well, nobody except the well dressed business man sitting at the table BESIDE you, looking on in horrified disgust. Oh well.) At any rate, the salads looked deliciously cool and refreshing in all that heat, so I sketched as fast as I could, and then tucked in before the whole thing wilted.

(How often have I said how much I admire those of you with the discipline and self control to draw your food before you eat it?)

Afterwards we wandered out into the square to philosophize and listen to a little music from a street musician and draw a few people until it finally (all too quickly!) got too dark to see the details. It was a good night. A very good night, indeed.

EDM Challenge One Million and Six - Sky

Okay, it isn't really challenge 1,000,006, but it feels like I'm that far behind. I'd decided that I needed to get back into the habit of doing the Everyday Matters weekly challenges, and when Karen announced that this week's subject was "sky" it suited me fine!

This is from a photo taken during our most recent trip to Florida -- the cloud was forming and rising in the otherwise clear blue sky, and I took several photos of it with the idea that it might work into a painting. I'd already picked up a 24 x 12" canvas to try this on, thinking it would also be good practice with acrylic. I guess that means this meets two challenges for me -- the EDM "sky" challenge and my own personal "acrylic" challenge!

The bottom part isn't nearly finished, and I'm actually not sure the cloud part is done. Acrylics dry so darned fast that they're hard to blend, so I went and picked up some retarding medium today. Anybody know how well this stuff works, or have any suggestions for smoother blending? There are NO good acrylic books out there, at least not that I can find!

On a side note -- The show last night went great -- it was a lot of fun to see friends' work framed and hanging, and it was especially nice to meet several VERY talented artists from east Tennessee's Tri-Cities area. Scott, the manager from our local Jerry's Artarama, was at the show and Jerry's very kindly donated some FREE samples of art supplies AND a great door prize. (Hmmm.... I just realized I probably picked up a little free bottle of acrylic retarder at the show, yet I still went to Jerry's and bought a big bottle , stopping at the same time to say hi to Scott -- I guess that means that his marketing plan worked like a charm!)

Smirking Buddha

Object #5 -- a Buddha statue / votive candle holder (sans candle). Maybe it was the way I was sitting crooked in the chair, but I ended up giving him a very un-Buddah-like smirk, which I have only just noticed, several days later. Maybe he's in transition to being the happy buddha. Who knows?

This was a Christmas gift from my friend Renee -- actually my husband ended up with it when we did a white elephant Christmas. We had the best time, and I was really glad we ended up with this! So -- it also gets to count as EDM challenge #98 (?) -- "draw a gift you received."

Meanwhile -- I think I'm going to have to try a re-draw, but will do it in a different medium!

(The technical bit -- watercolor and ink in Moleskine)

Tassle and Candy

Object 3: An "elephant tassle" that I got this weekend on clearance while in Florida visiting my wonderful daughter. (It was on sale for $3.95 after tax -- I just love it.)
Object 4: (?) Strawberry candies scattered on the table.
(The technical bit -- done with 005 Micron and colored 01 Staedtler pens in Moleskine.)

Happy Holidays!

Saturday -- the last watercolor class of the year. I went in with nothing in mind, saw a poinsettia on a table, and, remembering that this week's Everyday Matters challenge was to do a holiday card, vowed to paint the entire thing in one sitting. Well, I didn't quite make it, and now the feeling is gone ... so here's what's left. What to do with that upper right corner, and exactly what was I thinking on the upper left??? If this gets finished it will be next year's Christmas card*.

Of course, we all know what the month of December means, don't we? This is probably the last serious post of the year. Christmas is irresistibly fun, in my book!

*This sketch from last December is what I used for a card this year, in a limited quantity. I ordered them through Qoop (via Flickr) -- and they really turned out nicely.

EDM Apple

This is probably showing up larger than life! It is actually about 2 1/2" x 2 1/2". I was playing around with colored pencils on Colorfix paper (a sanded pastel paper) after seeing Maggie Stiefvater's amazing work in this medium. The whole drawing took 5 minutes or less -- the paper just pulled the color right out of the pencil! It was really like learning colored pencil all over again -- the paper made it a brand new medium! I think I'll grid off this whole sheet and work on all those EDM challenges that I'm behind on...

Note -- I got the paper in a pack from Jerry's Artarama. A full sheet runs about $7 or $8 -- BUT they had warm or cool color sampler packs in quarter sheets for $13!! It was a fun way to try something new. It wouldn't work at all for a sketchbook or journal -- the paper is thick and sanded, but it is a fun surface for colored pencil. I may have to grid off several sheets and do a sheet of veggies ... a sheet of fruits ... a sheet of flowers ... a sheet of leaves ... the list could go on and on! ;-)

And an extra big Happy Blog Birthday to Lin who has drawn every single day for a year. I bow at your feet, oh dedicated one! You are a joy and an inspiration! :-D

EDM Wings

A quick little study for a watercolor painting I'm considering. Fits right in with the Everyday Matters Challenge this week for "draw something with wings." All this painting and less drawing is beginning to take it's toll -- I had a tough time sketching a portrait (also as a study for the painting) because my drawing skills have gotten so rusty. Which clinches it for me -- it's important to draw SOMETHING everyday!

(technical stuff: Graphite & Cretacolor AquaMonoliths on Fabriano Studio paper with a litle water added)

Patrick Sullivans

A quick change from all the watercolor to a small colored pencil sketch of Patrick Sullivan's Saloon in Knoxville's Old City. Inspired by Janey's suggestion to use a 5"x7" Itoya Art Profolio, slipping loose sheets into the pockets. Also inspired by recent comments on the EDM list about a "bonus round" of travel drawings and drawings from your home town. Seems like we also had a challenge to re-do a previous challenge using a different medium? Anyway, this Knoxville landmark is one of my favorites.

EDM Challenge - Self Portrait

The most difficult Everyday Matters weekly challenge seems to be the one that has had the highest participation! I guess we don't have any excuse for not doing a self portrait -- we can't say we don't have our subject with us and handy ... so here goes!
This was my first attempt -- something about it looked right, but something else looked off. For one thing, it might be me some years ago (I reserve the right to leave out any wrinkles and sags!), but there was something else ... After a brief family consultation, I realized that I had drawn my little sister. We DO look alike ...
I did several more highly unsuccessful attempts; then, this morning I decided to try one last time. This is really more like it:
This challenge really WAS a challenge!

Doggie Sketch

We've had our dog Winnie for many years. By my reckoning, she is somewhere between 17 and 18 years old. About a year and a half ago, she became ill, with some bizarre lab results from blood work; the vet, suspecting cancer, suggested that we euthanize her, but we decided against it, since she didn't seem to be in any pain. She surprised us all when she continued to keep on keeping on ... although she does it slowly and spends most of her time resting. Every morning I go out to check on her, never knowing what to expect.

I drew Winnie today for the EDM weekly challenge, and realized that I had never drawn her before. In all these years ... isn't that sad.

Note: Winnie is solid black, but I decided to leave just the line work. Had I added color, she would have been a bit of a blob -- one of the artistic challenges one encounters with black furry friends!

Technical notes: drawn in Canson Drawing book with Nexus black pen.

Cell Phone

Do not put your cell phone in the microwave.
The instruction manual clearly tells you NOT to do this.
This means you.
Some days the world feels like a strange place.

Homecoming

Inspired by a recent bout of interior drawings, this week's drawing challenge for the Everyday Matters group is to draw what you see when you first come home. Believe me, I tried several, and found that drawing a room is much harder than it looks! This is the best I could come up with -- the cat sleeping on the back of the sofa in the living room, enjoying the late afternoon light coming in from the opposite window. Other than that, here's an orchid. Not blooming, but an orchid none-the-less.

EDM - Metallic and WC class

I know I've been silent lately, and some of you have asked about my watercolor class. I really have been busy drawing and working on learning about watercolors, but haven't done much of anything worth looking at. I actually felt a bit paralyzed after the first class, and I'm just now getting over it!
A very quick (and sloppy!) value study for a painting that I'm going to be working on (photo from Wet Canvas) -- which I will also use as my submission for the Everyday Matters Challenge to "draw something metallic."

Sidenote -- this type of color value study is not an "assignment" from my watercolor teacher -- I wonder why not? Is it a bad idea, or what one really should do?

Mostly, I've been working on color charts, learning to mix greens (so I can quit using the infamous and fugitive sap green -- even though I love it dearly) and browns (which have been a thorn in my side for some time now!)
And I promise ... I'll be better about posting now that I'm getting "back in the groove!"

China - EDMWC

See -- I was good and went and did the EDM challenge. And see -- this is why I don't do still lifes! Cups and such are all so symmetrical; flowers and sticks are leaves aren't, so you can't tell if its the drawing or the subject that's lopsided. We can just pretend that this drawing is perfect and the cup ITSELF is wonky...

That Old House

The Everyday Matters challenge this week was to draw a local landmark. This old house on Middlebrook Pike probably isn't a landmark to many people, but I drive past it every day on the way home from work. My guess is that it was built sometime shortly after the Civil War, and the road has crept up to its front door as the years have gone by. In the evenings, the sun sets through the trees in the back, and the house is just a burned out blur -- I especially love it in the autumn. There are other landmarks that I have in mind to draw, but this one came first!

By the way -- The other day I picked up a dagger brush that turned out to be great for tree branches and foliage. It may be my new favorite!

EDMWC - Folds

Graphite drawing of a dinner napkin for the Everyday Matters Weekly Challenge. It is so relaxing to work in pencil; studying watercolor has become a lot of work...

The Day After Halloween

And what are we supposed to do with all this leftover candy???

EDM Leaves?

Yes - I've been able to do a little bit of painting and drawing in the past couple of weeks, but not much. Last weekend, DH's parents and family came in, and were here until mid-week. This weekend, MY parents came in to visit. All in all a wonderful two weekends in a row, and as I very much love all parties involved, I've been more than happy to put artwork aside for a bit.

However, I did find time to begin this full size (!) watercolor of autumn leaves, inspired by the Everyday Matters weekly challenge a few weeks back, and based on a photograph I found on Morguefile. This is just the upper left hand corner. I left the largest leaves unpainted, because they will need to be really detailed and I was afraid that even an initial wash would mess me up -- I don't know yet if that was a good decision or not! This has really been fun to work on, as I've only drawn a few of the leaves at a time, then worked on them, then drawn the next few. Rather than being anything close to a precise copy of the photo, this painting has evolved as I work on it. Hopefully it will continue to feel this good!

I should be back on a more regular schedule by Wednesday and hope to begin then to catch up a bit on challenges.

EDMWC - Eye

Everyday Matters weekly challenge from a couple of weeks ago -- draw your eye. Being a bit short on time tonight, I only did the one, and just like in a lot of photos of me, it looks a bit drunk or something! Oh well. It feels good to get a pencil in my hand again this week!