ISO Perfection

A mandarin orange, one of two that I picked up yesterday at the Fresh Market. Either that, or a lumpy orange circle. You choose.

I'm busy searching for the perfect sketchbook for an outing and thought I'd go ahead and give the Handbook Journal (that so many of you love) a try. Not what I'm looking for, unfortunately. The paper just doesn't stand up to the abuse I offer, although I love the 5 1/2" square size. Hmmmm... just the size to use if I decide to bind my own ....

I really like all that nice space out to the side of the orange (or lumpy circle, whichever you chose.) It looks like a nice place to jot down all those complex physics equations that rattle around in my brain. Or grocery lists. Or describe the weather. Whatever -- Funny thing is, this book makes me want to use it to sketch people -- it feels friendly, and not precious, precious. Just not right for my outing, I don't think.

For a beautiful INSPIRATIONAL sketchbook video, go visit Cathy Johnson's web site and find her youtube videos of her April/May sketchbook -- these are really wonderful, and I'm so thankful that Kate shared them with us!

Green Vase

I'm enjoying getting back into the habit of drawing something daily. It isn't the chore now that it was the first day or two, and I actually feel some inspiration returning. For me I think the trick has been to do a drawing every day, but not post it until the next afternoon when I get home from work. In the past when doing daily drawing / posting, I've always drawn, scanned, and posted in the same day. For some reason, doing it this way has taken the pressure off. Go figure.

I'm also drawing just whatever the heck is in front of me, without getting too worked up about subject matter. Like this green urn or vase or whatever you would want to call it -- let's call it a vessel for the sake of artistic sounding conversation. It's a really old piece ... I mean, kind of an old piece that I snagged from my Mom when I was a kid and she was going to throw it away. I've kept it all these many years ... I mean for the past few years, and just love it for some reason.

I drew this while listening to part of the debate last night. I don't normally talk politics, but... Okay ... this time.... I thought one of the candidates sounded good and presented well, even if not accurate on all points, while the other started off a little bit slow but then blew me away with her straightforward talking, attitude and intelligence. I'll let you guess who I liked best.
:-D

Silly political thing I heard said today (on a podcast, so it was probably really said a day or two ago and I'm listening to it late..) from a respected person talking about the economic situation:
"Why doesn't McCain or Obama do something about this?"
Uh ... because neither has been elected president yet? You think? Why, indeed... (Is there an emoticon I could use for eye rolling? Imagine. I'm rolling my eyes.)

Ornamental Peppers

A little sketch of a little pot of ornamental peppers for Maggie's birthday. They look just like Christmas tree light bulbs...
:-D

Duh

Well, the scanner is up and working. I can't tell you guys what was wrong with it ... let's just say it was fine and it had operator issues. (If I told the truth, the computer police would come to my house and take all my electronics away. Sheesh. Some days I wonder if I deserve a computer...)
:-D Anyway -- here's the quick sketch of the geraniums hanging on the back deck Sunday -- what a beautiful day!

I now drive out into the country to a little town (Loudon, TN) about three times a week. There are all these great old metal towers along the way. I'd been calling them water towers, but now I'm not sure that they're not some kind of silo. I may have to drive a little closer to one to see what it says, or maybe somebody out there could enlighten me. I love the way the light hits them in the evening. Good light can make something ugly into something spectacular.

Yard Foolery

Sitting in the back yard sketching flowers. My version of yard work (at least this weekend.) Yep. And there's nothing anybody can do about it.

Meanwhile, D is busy raking and bagging leaves. HIS version of yard work.

Life is good.

"Spring has returned. The earth is like a child that knows poems."
Rainer Maria Rilke

Foolin or Fibbin?

Was I foolin' or was I fibbin' on Sunday when I promised a peek of my early birthday present from Diahn?
Neither -- I was just forgettin'... which is just proof of how far I am on this side of FABULOUS!

She got me this totally GREAT Maruman watercolor accordion book and a Maruman sketch accordion book, recommended by Laura (we suspect that she funds her travel habit with secret commissions from art supply stores -- but Diahn is right when she says that if Laura recommends something it's usually good!) I also got a piece of Masa paper to experiment with (evil scientist laugh!) and an amazing little travel palette that she made from an Altoid tin. Absolutely BRILLIANT -- she experimented and found that Fimo didn't work well with gouache -- so she made the dividers USING HOT GLUE. She is a GENIUS.

Now I just have to figure out WHICH eight colors to put in here ...

So, yesterday and today, I just couldn't stop working in the watercolor book, painting flowers from the yard. Page 1 & 2 -- an azalea and a weeping cherry...

Pages 3, 4, & 5 -- Virginia Bluebells and a Bleeding Heart...

Page 6 - Celandine poppies ... nearly gone ...

Oh yeah -- I'm having a blast and will be ordering more of these sketchbooks! Thanks, Diahn!

Likes Fish for Lunch

Do you know what you call someone who says they are a vegetarian, but who, then again, isn't REALLY a vegetarian, because they actually eat fish, too? A Pescetarian. Or pescAtarian if you're British -- or are from Oxford -- or something like that.

Amazing the things you learn when you get on the web and type phrases like "who eats fish" into those little search boxes.

I actually already knew the the American Bald Eagle eats fish, because the above eagle sketch is based on a photo I took while in a fishing competition with this particular bird. I was doing a search because I was wondering if those giant pink birds* I like so much also eat fish; unfortunately, I kept coming up with pages about flamenco dancers and Brazilian soccer teams...

(*just kidding -- I know it's spelled "flamingo". Sheesh.)

(Gouache in my Moleskine, and I can't get the color in the scan to read right. Pooh.)

Likes Fish for Breakfast

With many thanks to the great blue heron who flew up into the branches of a large sycamore tree outside the window at work where we were having our daily morning meeting. He sat in the early morning sun, stretching and preening and watching the creek below, and we had a nice diversion from our routine.

I sketched him on my meeting notes (which I can't show, because it's, well, work stuff, too, you know...) and then found a reference photo on Wet Canvas which matched so exactly that I checked the name and date of the poster to be sure that it wasn't somebody from the meeting. Odd, but true. (It wasn't, of course - it was by a wonderful photographer, Dave Slaughter - you can go to Wet Canvas and check out his work.)

I'm finding gouache in the Moleskine to be an interesting experience. Kind of like watercolor, but not. I keep wanting to treat them like oils, but not. They are their own thing. I'm liking them!

Wait A Minute

Did I hear somebody say "FISH?"

Well, I want to say -- Happy Birthday to Janey tomorrow!

(Gouache and white acrylic ink in Moleskine)