Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Paintings in progress 2
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Paintings in progress
My fabulous nephew and niece are getting some illustrative portraits for Christmas. (I have two other fabulous nephews whose portraits aren't photographed yet.)
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Snowflakes
I've been crocheting up a veritable storm of snowflakes for the past month or so. Today I finally get my fishing line and turn them into ornaments! All gorgeous patterns are from Snowcatcher.
More snowy goodness to come...
Monday, December 01, 2014
homemade advent wreath
I was always entranced by the stories of families hiking together in the woods to source everything for their Advent wreath, and then making it together. My husband pointed out that we couldn't do that legally around where we live, so we did the next best thing, with branches from our Christmas tree and seed pods, acorns, and lovely silver twigs from our yard.
Throw in some wire, florist's tape (to hide the wire), and a couple of cinnamon sticks and you are in business.
Did I mention it smells great?
Thursday, October 09, 2014
21 days: jury duty selection sketches
This day's assignment was to draw what you see, for two hours. I didn't quite make it to two hours, but what better place to people watch/stealth draw than jury duty selection?
I was passed over for one trial and the other two settled. Other than
having my crochet kit confiscated because blunt kindergarten scissors
are a clearly danger to the justice system, it was pretty uneventful.
The girl on the right twisted into so many contortions that I could have filled a whole page if I thought she wouldn't catch on, but I chickened out.
Quite a few people were asleep. Asleep works quite well for sketching if you like your subjects not to move so much.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
21 days: faces
I know it said #draw21days, but nobody said they had to be 21 consecutive days, did they? I had a lot of fun with this one, as faces are one of my all-time favorite things to draw.
Getting back into the swing of things. At last.
Tuesday, September 09, 2014
21 days: Cardboard doodles
My family and I have found an incredibly fun hobby thanks to this day's assignment: cardboard doodles! The process goes something like this: get thin cardboard (we used cereal boxes). Draw on it in pencil. Cut it out. Get the markers and pens out and go crazy.
My original sloths...and then they take to the trees. Because of course they do!
This dude takes requests.
My girls are so into this - so far we've had the cast of several Disney movies, flowers, and a certain girl has been making tons of germs to decorate a reminder for Paul's students to wash their hands before their lessons. And her sister's created an adorable sink for them to go with!
My original sloths...and then they take to the trees. Because of course they do!
This dude takes requests.
My girls are so into this - so far we've had the cast of several Disney movies, flowers, and a certain girl has been making tons of germs to decorate a reminder for Paul's students to wash their hands before their lessons. And her sister's created an adorable sink for them to go with!
Thursday, September 04, 2014
21 days: the eyes have it
This drawing challenge is called "the windows of the soul". If you will recall, that's why Yoko Ono wore dark wraparound specs, so that nobody could see into her windows. But I digress.
The assignment was to draw one eye as realistically as possible, and to draw the other as design. I decided to grab a mirror and put them both in the same face.
Wednesday, September 03, 2014
21 days: owlish by design
This assignment was to use reference material to draw just the most basic elements of an owl and create a design or almost a logo from them. So in my world, Pigwidgeon, Errol, and Hedwig all get designer makeovers.
Of course this is not my first foray into owlishness. Remember this one?
21 days: the dinosaurs take their show on the road
This day's assignment was to draw dinosaurs. So I did! My kind of dinosaurs.
Tutu wearing dinosaurs...
Dinosaurs that get festive with balloons....
Tap-dancing dinosaurs...
Blue-suede-shoe wearing dinosaurs.
Those kinds of dinosaurs.
Tuesday, September 02, 2014
21 days: Reality is boring
This day's assignment started with this example at right of a very proper businessman in the rain. I've decided he's British. (Not that you can tell from the pic, just trust me, he is.) In any case, notice was made that all of his limbs were very close to his body, and if he'd been a silhouette, he'd make kind of a staid one.
The challenge was titled "Reality is Boring" and encouraged you to rearrange Mister Businessman so that he made a more interesting shape. Artistic license was encouraged. Poor Mister Businessman... I see a bit of a trip in your future.
Now that this assignment is done, I want to draw it all over looking more like this:
Monday, September 01, 2014
21 days: Tell a visual story
Day 13's assignment is to create a visual narrative within one rectangle - no words, no speech bubbles. It should come as no surprise that this was drawn during a nice round of family D&D, but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for dragons ever since I read my first Anne McCaffrey book.
Closeup!
And day 12's assignment: iconography. Anguish, hope, curiosity, mystery.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
21 days: monster-making!
I loved this assignment so much that I actually took time and scanned this one in.
For some more monstrous goodness, check out some of my favorite monsters:
- MeMakeMonster.com (my talented friend Steve's project)
- Making Fiends
- and of course, the awesome monsters of Sesame Street and the Muppet show.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
21 days: SuperDoodle
Today's challenge was to fill an entire 8.5x11 paper with doodles. My kind of assignment!
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
21 days: shadows and headphones
I made good time on the weekend, but all this getting ready for school stuff is showing me how much I need to make drawing and painting a non-negotiable priority. I finished these on lunch break, timing myself with an episode of the Muppet Show.
For this exercise in shading and light sources, I did in fact go into the downstairs bathroom with my book light and the door closed, so that I could double-check the way the light actually appears. Did I look dumb? Who cares.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
21 days: a girl and her dragon
A certain someone was very upset with me for drawing this, and will be even madder when she knows I've posted it. But this assignment is about drawing something you're passionate about. I'm passionate about storytelling, about fantasy, and about letting your imagination run wild so that you can pretend to inhabit that story. The inspiration for this drawing is from something else I'm passionate about: my daughter.
While all my kids say it doesn't look like her (and they're correct, though they do share some awesome hair), I told them that it's inspired by her, her love of dragons, and the fact that she does in fact have a staff she likes to walk with that looks just like this one.
You know that Shakespeare quote, "Though she be but little, she is fierce!" - that's my Angela.
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