Art Blog Award - Double

Way, way back on the fourth of February, I was given an award by James Parker. You will find that he publishes several blogs. I was so busy and put the award aside to work on later. I apologize to Mr. Parker and thank him for his passing the award to me. Thank you!

The award asks you to list seven things you love and pass the award on to seven artists. How can I pick seven loves or seven artists?

Loves:

1. My Family
   
2. Making Art
3. Travel
4. The High Desert
5. Chocolate
6. Wine
7. Coffee

Guess the list could go on, and other than number one and two, they can change depending on my mood. Gene would say eating is number one, but I just think I haven't found many foods I don't like. Ah well.

You all know I don't do memes and pass things on, so if any one of you would like to add this to your blog and give out some awards, please do. I pass it on to all of you that comment on my blog and all the blogs I follow. That is definitely more than seven! Awards to all of you!


Hold on, hold on! I was just given this award again, by Jeanne Grant. She is a member of our Scavenger Hunts and has been the most dedicated sketcher. She is becoming an expert in sketching with colored pencil. She has posted something in every Scavenger Hunt, no matter what. She has been great in encouraging me to keep sketching. Thank you Jeanne!!! You deserve your award!

Scavenger Hunts 118 & 119

Scavenger Hunt 118 ended on February 6. I sketched these on February 4, but didn't get them posted here. Shame on me. (I did get them posted on the Scavenger Hunt.)

Number 6, fruit - I painted these that day so just went ahead and sketched them before eating the grapes.

Number 7 , “gizmo" or "thing-a-ma-jig" - this wooden thing was given to us by my late brother, Powder. You pull the string and the twig turns and rewinds the string the other direction, pull it again and it rewinds again. Hmmm. Number 8, machine - this old churn is to make butter. It is metal with a wooden lid and handle. Lovely perspective, eh? These sketches were done with a Micron 005 in my sketchbook. Probably about an hour for all.

Scavenger Hunt 119 started on February 6 (Larry's Birthday) and ends on Valentine's Day. I am the host but have not sketched yet. This is the list I came up with:

• ladder or step stool
• clock
• lock
• tree branch
• something blue
• something red
• sports team logo
• sole of shoe
• stove
• camera
• piece of pottery or stoneware
• brush
• tape measure
• thermometer
• teapot
• mirror (challenge face in mirror)
• game
• kitchen sink
• fence
• door or gate
• mop, floor or dish
• kitchen appliance
• snack
• decorative pillow or cushion
• file cabinet or storage
• piece of jewelry

Challenges:

- When you do the mirror, add a face in the mirror
- Make a valentine to show us
- Do one of the items in 3-D (clay, play dough, origami, etc. This challenge repeated from Hunt) Recipe for play dough courtesy of Wabbit, Julie:

UNCOOKED PLAY DOH:

3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup salt
3/4 to 1 cup water with preferred color food coloring
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients. Knead until smooth consistency. Keep it covered and in refrigerator when not using it.

There was also another tip to mix in UNSWEETENED koolaid to make it smell great. Don't know if it's enough to get good color, though.

If you feel like sketching with some buddies for fun, come on over to the Hunts. There are a few rules there, not many. We sketch only from life, that is why we use simple everyday objects that most people have around. The sketchers are from all over the world, so we get to see interesting items. Otherwise you can sketch these items anyway. It is nice to have a list and not have to wonder what to sketch.

Small Seascape - Video

I finally managed to get the seascape video to load. It only took about fifteen minutes today. I had tried four times and left the connection to YouTube working for over an hour each time and it would stop with about eight minutes left. There isn't a great deal of information that is not in the printed version posted below on February 4, but you can hear my voice. You can't cram much info into a five minute video. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Happy Birhday, Larry!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LARRY!

Today February 6, is Larry's birthday. We are going to play a little golf which he loves to do. He is left handed, but learned to play in Bolivia with right handed clubs. The pro thought it wouldn't matter as he would be leading with his strong left hand. It has proven to be true, he can sure hit a ball a long ways. We will then have dinner with Joanna and Jennie in Austin.

My Dad called Larry the caboose.
This is Larry a few years ago. We lived in Luuubbbbock at the time. Isn't he cute?

Larry now, or a few months ago.

Somehow it happened more times than naught, that we haven't celebrated his birthday on his birthday. Someone has been working, traveling, sick or whatever. This year is a little different. Amazing!

Hope the day is great and you have a great year, Larry. Happy Birthday!

Small seascape and fishing guy home!

I painted a small seascape with pastels day before yesterday (I think). I worked on it and trying to put up a video on YouTube that is seems ages ago. Until I can get that to work I will put up a little WIP (work in progress) and tell you about the "wipe off " and more. Regina had some trouble painting on the weekend, too, and decided it was in the stars. Then Carol Marine had some difficulties as well, so it most definitely is or was the stars over Texas.


I started with a white Pastelbord and a very light sketch.



I put on some hard pastel, Nupastel, and then brushed it with water for an under painting.



I then worked around the canvas developing the rocks the most first so the water could splash over them.



I developed the water and waves.



Adding shadows would give the waves more volume.



This was the first finish. I thought the waves still lacked volume and everything was in diagonal rows. So I wiped it off. First I brushed the pastel with a paint brush, then wiped the board with a towel. I brushed it with water again to give me a new under painting.



These are the pastels I used on the first painting. I added a very light blue and pink that look white if you don't see them next to each other for the second painting.



I started putting on the rocks and water again and went through the steps above.

Seascape
Soft Pastel, 5 x 7 inches

This is the final finish.

The other story is fishing guy, Tom, made it home and posted today about his trip to Texas. You can see a photo of the three of us and see some other great photos on his post today. After he posted that, I had a comment from Robert V. Sobczak, a blogger friend of fishing guy. His blog is interesting and he has a great groundhog story, worth a look for a smile.

I have sketches to post and another painting from today but it is almost midnight. Hopefully I will get to that in the morning. Buenos noches.

Windmill, Acrylic Painting

The other day, I was going to try out a square canvas, wrapped on the sides so you don't have to frame it. When I opened it, I saw that it was watercolor canvas. I decided I would try it out for watercolor, which I rarely do. I don't like watching paint dry! I put on a wash for the sky and wiped in/out some clouds. Added the hills and grass just in a general wash, thinking I would develop it some more. Well, when I added the next layer the first layer came up onto the brush. I was definitely not using the right technique for the canvas. Next step was to use the watercolor start as a sketch for an acrylic painting. More successful in my minds eye.

Windmill
Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 12 inches

A couple of snapshots to show the sides. It can be hung as is or you can add a frame if you want. It would look good on an adobe wall or wooden panels, don't you think? The name is not interesting, any ideas out there?

I will be sending it along with the saguaro painting, Reaching for the Sky, to Peppers Gallery in Magdalena, New Mexico, early next week. You can stop in and see them in person and say hi to Marky or Wendy. Peppers Gallery is full of original art, pottery, Navajo blankets, and jewelry. More than fifty local artists represented there.



These photos are inside Peppers which is an old adobe house. Perfect for the area and the contents.

Hunt 118 Sketches Woven, toes

This evening I did a few sketches for Scavenger Hunt 118. As most of you know, the Scavenger Hunts are on wetcanvas.com. One artist makes a list of twenty-six items. The items are everyday things that you can find in or around your home. We sketch from real life in any media and the Hunt lasts nine days. You can sketch as many or few as you want and post them, no critiques. You can sketch them in any order, but we number them so we have an idea of where we are in the Hunt. You can comment or not on the other sketches. You know me, I love chatting so I try to comment on all the drawings. Some artists take time and make finished drawings, others sketch quickly. It is interesting to see the different techniques and ideas that the artists come up with. Right now one artist is taking sculpting so we can sculpt our items this Hunt. Always a challenge or two are thrown in such as using your hand that is not your normal drawing hand, blind contour drawings, upside down or any thing that will make us think and keep sketching. We usually give the amount of time and media used. Ocasionally photos are posted of our items. Artists from around the world take part so we see some unusual items.

I usually sketch in ink with the idea of seeing my item better and not having to correct my lines. I think this will help my painting. I'm not sure, but I do sketch quicker and when I put my mind to it, I sketch to my satisfaction. If I don't think or am not interested in what I am sketching I just plow in and then I have poor perspective and form. These Hunts have kept me sketching almost daily. I started on Hunt number 3 and this is number 118.

This is number 2, woven - a little weaving from Chimayo, New Mexico. The main color is turquoise, with red, white and black. Number 3 and 4, knees and toes. These were done in a new Canson Field Sketchbook, 7 x 10 inches, with just a regular Pilot ball point pen. About thirty minutes total.

Number 5, map - a Texas road map. Same equipment about 5 - 10 minutes. You can see I started to lay it flat, but I always sketch the same angle, so I stood it up on edge. A little different, but left the first lines.

I also painted on an ocean scene today with pastels. I'm not pleased with it. I was painting while using my Flip video camera. I think I was more concerned with the time and video than with my painting and will probably just wipe it off and start over. That is not always a bad idea as I had the practice, warm up today and can go from there. I haven't done many seascapes and this is the first in pastel.

Maybe I will get it done tomorrow. I will try to use the Flip again so I can post a short video. It takes about an hour to upload a 5 minute video and it takes me longer than that to edit the video down to that length and put a voice over with what I did. So don't hold your breath while I attempt to learn new things. I used to say, "Grandma is slow but she is old." Well, now that is me.