Jenny's Halloween Costume

Here is Jenny, dressed as a flower, in today's Halloween Parade at school. She and her friend looked very cute, and I was pleased at the ways the headbands turned out.

If You Have Time

Jenny (the eight-year-old) has been working on her blog again. She's been checking often to see if there are any comments--so if you have an extra minute, she sure would love to get some feedback at

The Big World of Jenny

Once in a Blue Moon

Shiva Oil Sticks

This is an experiment using Shiva Oil Sticks. After it was dry, I sealed it with a coat of beeswax.

I originally got these sticks to use on fabric. They dry in 24 hours, and can be heat set on fabric. Very cool--not sure I'll use them for my girls. I'm still loving the Golden Open Acrylics...

Read the Directions, Dummy!

There is a reason that the directions for RIT dye tell you to wear gloves before trying to dye a Halloween costume green. It's called GREEN. HANDS.

The Big Draw Day 23 and more...

Yes, I'm behind a day because I haven't done my sketching yet...Here's last night's sketch.

The picture above my sketch is a picture of one of the headbands I made for Jenny and her friend for Halloween--they're going to be flowers.

The Big Draw Day 22

Did these last night while watching political stuff on TV. Feel much better about them, and had fun (which is, after all, the whole point!)

The Big Draw --The Frustrating Sketches

Here are the sketches from the days I was so frustrated. Funner, happier sketches to follow shortly!

Softly

Swaying softly, she sings with the wind...

The Big Draw: Days 20 and 21

I am frustrated. For the last two days I have been totally frustrated with my sketches. Absolutely completely frustrated. I hate the way they look, but "just keep going" doesn't seem to be working. I don't even want to scan and post them--I dislike them that much.

Argh.

She Has No Story...

...yet...

The Big Draw Day 19

Sitting at the kitchen table this morning, eating my Cheerios, decided to draw this crumpled up grocery store receipt. Hard to get the shadows and folds just right, so this was a good exercise in "just keep going," which is my art philosophy.

The Big Draw Day 18

Spent the bulk of the day at the Springville Apple Festival, working at the school booster's booth. Sketched this while watching a movie with the kids. Katie uses bobby pins when she puts her hair in a ponytail. Seems very old-fashioned and sweet...

Illustration Friday Late

She knew in her heart--it's never too late to dream...

The Big Draw Day 17

I've been waiting to post any new sketches, wanting to scan and post my backlog, but I'm giving up. Here's today's sketch, done this morning at breakfast of a new brush.

Yesterday's Big Score

I love to go to the secondhand stores--yesterday while I was in town I found this cool frame. I never would have spotted it hanging on the wall, but it fell with an incredibly loud crash! when I came in the door. It's very heavy, all wood (which cracked a little bit when it fell, but that's okay, I can fix that)--I don't like the picture and have no idea what I'll use the frame for (a beautiful idea board for my studio?), but it was a real find.

Whew!

what a busy weekend! It seemed like I was hardly home at all--Katie had a volleyball tourney during the day Friday (they won two out of three), then Joel had football Friday night (comeback win, Joel caught passes for two two-point-conversions in the fourth quarter), then Saturday was the annual 8th grade yard sale up at the school, then Sunday the girls had a piano recital (and decided at 10 a.m. that they had nothing to wear).

I did lots of sketching on little scraps of paper. I'll try and dig through my purse later and scan some of them.

Illustration Friday: Strings

This one is titled "Neither Strings Nor Wings."

Prepping Canvases

I spent part of yesterday in the back room of the studio, working at the wonderful big work table I made, prepping canvases.

Today I'll start painting on them.

Some Winged Flygirls

Here they are. I made the wings transparent/translucent, as someone suggested, and think it worked out very well. Thanks to all you who put in your two cents worth!

The Big Draw: Days Seven and Eight

Putting up last night's and this morning's all at once--the strange-looking little guy is a figurine from a Happy Meal. He's one of the Munchkins from the "Lollipop Guild" in the Wizard of Oz. You'll have to excuse the odd look on his face, as I was watching the debate at the time...

The Big Draw Day Six

A little bunny figurine...

The Big Draw Day 5

Gorgeous day here--I experimented last night taking long exposures (15-30 seconds) after the sun went down--will post those as soon as I have a spare moment!

The Big Draw Day 4

Not happy with this--tried to rush. And remember, drawing is seeing, and seeing takes time...

Yummy vegetable soup tonight for dinner--had it simmering on the stove all afternoon--and it rained today, for the first time since May--!!! Big smiley face.

The Big Draw: Day Three

Busy day today, as Katie has an away volleyball game at one o'clock and then Joel has an away football game at 5:15. Jenny's spending the night at a friend's house, so she's taken care of. Joel doesn't usually want me to go to his games (he says I make him nervous, although I SWEAR: I AM THE QUIETEST PARENT IN THE STANDS. He says it doesn't matter that I'm quiet, it's just that he knows I'm watching him. Well, duh. Get over it, Joel.)

I've been grumping a little bit around here about the fact that I have to make FIFTY sandwiches for the JV kids to eat--I don't mind making the sandwiches, not at all, but there are five away games and fifty kids--I just think the work and expense could be spread out a little bit. I think what tipped me over the edge is when I saw the Varsity team arrive in a charter bus, while JV moms are making sandwiches to feed the JV kids after their game. I shouldn't complain about any of this, but it's been on my mind. Sports in America has gone astray, sadly enough. It's like the 'everybody gets a trophy' phenomenon... But, back to art.

So this sketch is from a character in one of Hieronymous Bosch's paintings. I love the kind of Frankenstein-y quality of some of his subjects, all the more fascinating because Bosch lived from 1450 to 1516.

I may watercolor over this, or use colored pencils (inspired by my fellow sketchers!). I may even try to create some weird critters myself, we'll see.

The Big Draw--Day 2

The back side of a Frosted Mini Wheat. For your viewing pleasure.

This took FOREVER.

The Big Draw, Day One

Ran down to the studio to post this while the kids are eating breakfast...

The Big Draw Starts Today!

“Do not fail to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is, it will do you the world of good.” Cennino Cennini

Today is the official beginning of a month-long project designed to get people drawing more! You can read more about it at Bad Faery's place, or at Elizabeth's blog. I encourage you to join in, even if you're one of those people (as I used to be) who thinks they aren't artistic and can't draw... This is a great way to loosen up--the drawings don't have to be a huge deal, maybe even just drawing a sketch of your coffee cup in the morning.