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!

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.

Those kinds of dinosaurs.

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.

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.

This lesson was supposed to be about refinement: to draw a subject many times in many different styles, or to draw the same image again and again with modifications until you've arrived at a happy place with it. You could choose from the following topics: Bigfoot, your boss, a shark, a skull, a pelican, an evil space villain, or a horse. No contest here.

We're continuing our tradition of reading a Harry Potter book each summer, out loud, as a family. You can guess which book we're on now! I made this sign after the kids went to bed and taped it up in the appropriate spot....



Only to find an addition when I got up early the next morning (Angela's handiwork).

The text reads: CAUTION! Moaning Myrtle may appear while using the shower, bath, toilet or sink. Do not mind the constant crying if she enters your home. Sincerely - Ministry of Magic.


I love my children and their amazing creativity SO MUCH. Wonder where they got it from?

(Just me in my mermaid suit, my pet cotton candy blue fox, and my trusty steed, a red cactus.)

So as some of you may have noticed, I get sidetracked. A LOT. I get caught up with work, and my family, and the kids, and other obligations, and then a little voice that says, "hey, you should go paint" basically gets told to shut up because I need more sleep.

I began using a new program which I just love called HabitRPG.com. It helps reinforce good habits, and help you notice when you're slacking (or when you're engaging in bad habits). It's kind of like Chore Wars except that it's much more personal. And way cuter. I've always been a sucker for 8-bit goodness. Especially when it's color coded and easy enough that I can have my kids have their own accounts too.

So what the heck does this have to do with painting? It's taken me two months,(!) but I've finally added "Studio Time" to my list of habits. And "Blog" as well. And added five entries on my to-do list that are all blog topics. Hopefully these habits will start to stick, because then will I not only actually be spending time on doing creative things for myself, I will be documenting and sharing them.

So watch this space.