Sketch-Computer, Photos-Wildflowers, Baseball

Since I am hosting the Scavenger Hunt #39, I thought I should do a quick sketch late last night.


My #1, computer is in my Canson Sketch 5.5 x 8.5. You can see that the pages have perforations to tear them out. Nice paper, not as heavy as my other sketchbooks. Interesting. Used my ZIG Millennium, blue, a favorite pen. The computer is open to my page of the Apple Demo. :) Quickly about 15 minutes. The crooked lines seem to show up more in the photo .. why is that do you suppose?


We were in Austin for the baseball game yesterday afternoon and evening. Horns lost 7 - 6 in a weird game. Left everyone with their mouths open. Read here on Joanna's notes and the sterile official page with photos.

Gene rode his bike and took wildflower photos for me. Nice, huh?

The little red ones are new to me.

These white ones, Bull Nettles, look like poppies but have stickers -- awful stickers. Pretty to look at. Gene has finally cleared our yard of them, it seems. Hard to do, tough roots. Photos of white flowers are hard to take as they bleach out to nothing, this is a very nice photo of whites. Thanks, Gene.

WIP - Stuffed, Pastel Painting, Finished?

I did end up repainting the stuffed animals. It is now on Art Spectrum paper that is mounted on illustration board.


The size is 14 x 18 inches and done with a variety of soft pastels. The paper was a light gray so I did an under painting with dark pastels spread with water. Again, I started with a sketch done with a pastel pencil. I then start color all over the paper to get a feel for value and how the composition is affected.


I finished up with the color.


I checked the values by turning the photo to black and white. It is pretty dark, in general, I may lighten the background on the right and bottom. Otherwise I think it is finished. Any critique is welcome.

Scavenger Hunt 38 ends, 39 Begins

I did my last sketch for Scavenger hunt #38.



My number 12, a piece of unusual furniture. These little tables and stool are from Peru. The larger round ones hang on a rack folded and you open and use like TV trays. The smaller one could be a stool as well. They are all wooden, the small square one has a leather top. Pretty cool. The sketch is in my generic sketchbook with a ZIG Millenium pen that is either damaged or about out of ink. Sad, need to look for a new one!

I'm the host for Scavenger Hunt #39, May 4 - May 12.

Come on over and sketch with us. There is a list of 26 items provided by the host. You can sketch all or part of them in your style with no pressure. Everyone comments on the sketches and talks about their inspiration and skills. If you finish, you finish and if you don't, you don't.

I started the Hunts last summer. I have a hard time sketching even though I enjoy it and need the practice. I really procrastinate and normally only sketch when I am bored in the car or Sue is around. Ha. These Hunts are a way to keep me sketching almost daily and it is more fun to sketch without thinking of what to do. The encouraging comments in the forum help as well.

Posting sketches is hard at first. Usually sketches are private and just studies and practice. I try, in my sketching, to draw with a pen or pencils that don't erase well. I'm trying to "see" better and get strokes down correctly to help my painting skills. I think this is all helping .. really.

My list for this Hunt:

A box or box shaped something
A stack of books, 2 or more
A stack of bowls, cereal bowls, dessert 2 or more
A glass bottle
Backpack or purse, bag
Dish washing detergent/soap
Computer
Table lamp
Bed pillows
Piece of clothing
Basket
Outside water faucet or tap
Trash bin or can
Your front door
A toy with wheels
Something that plays music
Aluminum foil or other shiny metal
A snack
A root vegetable, potato, carrot, etc.
A food can with label
A serving dish
A foot
A hair dryer or brush
A broom
A stepstool or ladder
A rolling pin or measuring cup

Challenge, without pre-planning, sketch a figure you saw yesterday doing something ... friend, mailman, spouse, etc. In other words, don't decide today what you will sketch tomorrow, just glance back a day. This will be sort of like blind contour drawing. Ha.

Try pointalism on one of the objects

WIP - Stuffed, Pastel Painting & Sketch, Spoons

I started a painting today. I have a shelf with stuffed toys that Gene has bought me over the years. Some of them, that is. It is in the corner of my studio and I have been thinking of painting it. Today seemed like a good day to start. It is on Mi Tientes paper and seems to be good for this project as it makes the fur look fluffy. The paper is a dark wine color and I used a variety of pastels. I worked on it for a couple of hours or more. Two snapshots, one just as I started and one when I stopped. So far so good. So, we will have a WIP, work in progress.





I like to start a painting by putting color in a manner to place my objects on the paper. I then develop them all a little at a time and put color in the background as well. It all comes together at once. Very tempting to put on the highlights but those need to be saved for the end. Hope you like following along with the painting.


I sketched for about 10 minutes to wind down. I should have done it to warm up! At any rate, I did it and had a coffee and watched Wheel of Fortune. I used a Pigma Brush pen in Sienna on my generic sketch book. #9 for the Scavenger Hunt. 3 spoons. Wooden, plastic and stainless steel. Difficult with a brush pen. No detail and squishy lines. Difficult to shade without much variation in width of lines. Interesting and probably needs a more patient, light touch. The second time I have tried this pen. About 10 minutes.


We went to Daddy's Grille to take down the painting that was won in the raffle and replace it. It was rainy today and no golf. I took this photo as we got back. Interesting that the rain drops show, that wouldn't have been possible with my last camera of only 3.2 mega pixels. This one has 7.2 mega pixels.

Congratulations, Larry!

Lots of good news, including that son Larry is graduating on Saturday, May 12, at Texas State. It has been a long pull for him, but well worth it, I am sure. Congratulations, Larry!

Larry
Oil Painting, 11 x 14 inches

Some folks have decided to have a day of silence in the blogosphere to honor Virginia Tech. You can read about it and links, etc. on Katherine Tyrrell's blog.

Others have gone toward doing good deeds and supporting the unsung daily heroes. That suits my style better as I believe we can all do a small thing to make the world a better place.

Coincidentally, son Larry, sent a link to this article about the oldest graduate at 95. Wow. I copied it and am mailing to my mother-in-law, Frances, who is 90 now. She needs a smile now and again. She has moved from living alone for more than 40 years to assisted living and is now living and eating with a bunch of folks on their schedule. Ouch!

So, call your Mom, Dad, friends, etc., and put a smile on someone's face.

**Note
It is Papi Jim's birthday today. Yeah! Happy Birthday! He is in Canada, well, after all he is Canadian! Wish we could be there today. Lots of great memories, even Larry's name, Larry James. And, because of him we have Larry and Jennie. Another long story. Hugs, Jim, we miss you.

Sketches, Bumpy, Spurs, Baseball Note

The Longhorns were in Stillwater, Oklahoma, sweeping the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Yeah. They won today 7 - 0, the first shut out at home for the Cowboys since 1998 and the first three in a row losses in the present stadium ever (since 1981). Great game. One player was ejected for the Cowboys. Frustration on their part. Hard loss for them. But super for the Horns!!! Next week will be Missouri here in Austin, numbers 1 and 2 in the conference .. with Horns #1 at the moment. Hook-em! Official page here and Joanna's notes here.

I sketched and listened to the game on the Internet. For the Scavenger Hunt #6, Something bumpy - abalone shell. Second time I have used that. I was going to sketch the driveway, but didn't want to go sit in mosquito land.



#7, 3 ellipses - wooden vase, lit from the back. Not great, wasn't interested. Ha.

#8 something from childhood - my spurs. They are hanging on the wall. These are Blanchard spurs. My dad said they were made from a rasp (used in horse shoeing) and were the second pair Blanchard made. They are not marked with a city like Blanchard did after 1940 so maybe they are the real thing. Hmmm. Very nice at any rate. They were made for my brother, Skinny. My sister and I both wore them and I ended up with them as I am the caboose, baby, in the family.