Clothes peg?? Clothes pin??

I've always enjoyed trying to figure out the English language.  It must be super hard for English as a second language to learn.  A simple example today.  Our Scavenger Hunt list was prepared by EP in British Columbia, Canada.  One of the items is clothespeg.  Ah, clothes pin, I thought.  Just think of the problems if you are just learning.

Spelling is so difficult.  In Spanish the vowels always have the same sound.  In English an "a" can have multiple sounds, long short, etc.  Then it can be combined with an e and have many more sounds.   On top of that we have so many meanings that are sort of weird:

• a driveway is to park your cars, a parkway is for driving
• you should read a book now but I read one yesterday

Here is a list to think about http://funnytab.net/ponder 
I like the first one.

Maybe this is better about plurals https://guyaneseonline.net/2013/04/01/english-is-a-crazy-language-funny/

• mouse and mice

And just in English to English

• apartment and flat
• trunk (of a car) and boot
• sweater and jumper
• elevator and lift

and so on...

So here we go for Scavenger Hunt 567  http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21497740

Number 7, clothespeg with Micron 01 - I was watching TV and sketching.  Not good for concentration on the lines.  I tried to cover my mistakes with hatching since the sketch is in the coffee table book. 

Here are a couple of photos of the Smithville gingerbread men at night.  My photos are about as good as my sketches, right?

Work Horse

It is rainy and gloomy.  It is not very cold, about 60 degrees F, but seems very wintery.   We've been watching a PBS mystery.  I got out the watercolor sketchbook for a sketch of a work horse for the Southwest/Western Forum on wetcanvas.  I was going to do it in watercolor but didn't want to have to think while I watched TV.  Would have been good practice I am sure.

About 9 x 12  from Kay's photos on the December Challenge on the SW/W forum. http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1457727   Prismacolor 005 fine line marker/pen.    I love horses or have I said that before?

Yesterday I sketched at the doctor's office.  Check up for Gene in San Marcos.

For Scavenger Hunt 567  http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21497740

Number 5, quiet - empty but for us, waiting room

Sketching Marathon

Did the title grab your attention?  Bloggers are supposed to write titles to posts to grab your attention.  No marathon here,  but it feels like sketches take so long when I sketch with watercolor.  It feels like it takes forever and ever  .. no forever is enough.

The plein air bunch, four of us if you call that a bunch, went to Smithville yesterday.  Some of you may have seen the movie, Hope Floats, with Sandra Bullock.  It was filmed in Smithville years ago.  (You can put Smithville in the search box upper left and see more posts, sketches and paintings from Smithville) 

These are for Hunt 567.  http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21497740

Number 2, rooflines - laid out in pencil and added watercolor.  I forgot the big wreath on the first building on our left.  The ginger bread man was painted like a dog so I left it more like a snowman.  What is up with that?  Maybe the kiddos painted the big ginger bread men that are up and down the street.

Number 3, utility pole - these were down the alley and the number of lines reminds me of South America.  Too many for those poles!

Number 4, smells delicious - the bakery- small travel sketchbook, Prismacolor 05

Oops, almost forgot this:

The day before I sketched Number 1, fists, in the big sketchbook with Prismacolor 03.  We have sketched many hands over the years in the Scavenger Hunts.  Not as hard now as in the beginning.

Our day in Smithville was nice.  We had coffee at the Old World Bakery.  I was disappointed that the latte machine was not working but had regular coffee and a scone.  Joan and I also had lunch there.  I had a chicken salad sandwich.  I know, but they didn't have tuna.  They put cranberries and something in the chicken, then put lettuce, tomatoes and onions on the sandwich so it disguises the chicken and makes it taste good and is edible.  (I "never" knowingly order chicken!)

 Polly sketching across the alley from me.  You can see another gingerbread man, a bit better design.

The scene I was sketching an a pretty day, a bit cool at first.  I sat in the shade, I just can't take the sun and didn't take my Tilley hat.

The alley, hopefully you can see all the lines.  A man stopped and asked me if I just couldn't get it right, I had been there most of the day!

Another artist friend, Jo Watts, stopped by and said hello.  She does beautiful pottery, painted silk and boots, painting and much more.  http://www.jowattsclaysmith.com/

Update Watercolor Plein Air

I worked on the watercolor plein air from November 29 just a bit.  https://jocastilloartblog.blogspot.com/2018/11/plein-air-at-ranch-watercolor.html  It is not my habit to work on a painting more than once.  I added some more "woods" and darkened the forefront to bring it forward.  Seems better to me.  I did not add anymore ink.

After

Before

This is on Strathmore watercolor journal 100 lb paper, Briston vellum surface.  The paper is better than the Canson that I mentioned before.  The paper is for sketching with dry media, pen and ink, marker and collage.    Doesn't mention watercolor but works pretty well.

Now done for sure.....

The Last of Hunt 566 and an Old Sketch

These Hunts just fly by.  The big sketchbook has room for plenty more sketches so decided to add half a page sketch.  The tool was the usual Prismacolor Fine Line Marker/Pen 03.

For Scavenger Hunt 566 http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1457483

 Number 8, safety item and Number 9, animal - this is a little hedgehog.  I'm pretty sure I've sketched him before.  We have no live animals as you know.

One of the challenges of the Hunt was to place three items together.  I could have done that by adding one more item.  You can see, though, that I didn't sketch them side by side.  Dang, as Bag Blog would say.

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I received an interesting e-mail a couple of days ago with an image of a drawing I did in 1994.  I gave it to our friend, Xochitl.  She was unpacking recently after a move and ran across the framed drawing.  She took a snapshot and sent it to me.  I had forgotten about it and it is nice to have a copy from fun times.

I'm pretty sure the drawing was from memory and not a photo.  The horse reminds me of my horse, Nieto.  The cowboy looks a tiny bit like my dad.  And the scene like the Field ranch or Pie Place in New Mexico where I got to be a cowgirl.   I would guess I laid the scene out in pencil and then drew with a fountain pen and India ink.  Thanks, Xochilt, for the good memory.