HO-LEE-COW!

Brush Pen - Day 4

Turned off the computer and closed the journal for the weekend. I needed the break.

I spend far too much time hunkered over this flickering blue box. Need to live in meatspace more often.

Poached Egg Gone Bad

Finally got around to prying out the yucky pan paints from the travel palette and replacing them with good tube paints. The less used and high intensity (a little dab will do ya) colors got a tiny blob in the mixing wells in the lid.

Now I can have just one palette on the desk when I paint instead of three. Yay!

When I squished all the fresh paint into the wells I just had to paint something, anything. Didn't want to think about it, just wanted to cream paint on paper. That's how I ended up with the Poached Egg Gone Bad masterpiece above. I guess it could also be titled Toasty Cheese Danish, or simply Breakfast.

It's painted on a scrap piece of paper with a partial Escoffier recipe on the back, so a food title would be appropriate.

Lisbon, Portugal

Brush Pen - Day 3. Still trying for a looser look. Decided not to paint the shadows and leave it clean. It looks funny without them I think.

This would be my entry for The Virtual Paintout challenge for this month...if I had the 'nads to post it.

Not Jay Leno

Brush Pen - Day 2

Thought I'd try something entirely different today...people.

Hubby guessed this was Jay Leno. Errr...that would be a No.

This sketch still isn't what I would call "loose", but it isn't as tight as usual. I'll keep on trying.

Not Paying Bills

After looking at the sketches from the sketchcrawl on Saturday, I have come to the conclusion my sketches are much too tight. There's a time and place for that but I need to loosen up a little.

Dragged out the brush pens which by their very nature do not allow for precision. I'm going to draw with them for a week and try to let my hair down a little.

The Great Southern Arkansas Mule Ride

Saturday was the 24th World Wide SketchCrawl and I crawled all by my lonesome at The Great Southern Arkansas Mule Ride in Magnolia, Arkansas.

The day was wet and nasty but my intrepid Hubby agreed to be chauffeur and guardian angel. We caught up with the Mule Ride at McNeil, Arkansas where they stopped for lunch. When we got out of the car the thick smell of wet mules was overwhelming...and we were a block or two away.

We walked through the grounds and looked at all the animals and wagons. They were decked out in blue and yellow, the school colors of Southern Arkansas University. I took a few photos, then my camera died. I wasn't going to be able to draw from photos this time. I was under the gun to git-er-done. I had about 30 minutes before the Mule Ride pulled out.

I decided to draw Emma, an 8-year-old mare. Her momma was a Belgian draft horse and her daddy was a very ambitious jack with a can-do attitude. She was lead for the 4-mule team pulling a wagon from Dexter, Missouri.

When I draw I tune out the rest of the world, so Hubby was off to the side telling me to move when necessary so I wouldn't get trampled by the mule traffic. Apparently I was an interesting sight standing there in the rain and mule poo with my little black sketchbook. People must have been staring because I could hear Hubby saying over and over, "Camera batteries died, so she's drawing."

One woman circled around me all aghast as if Hubby had just declared me to be a child molester. With an incredulous look she spouted, "You're drawing?!?!?" She walked away shaking her head in disbelief. Dang. I'm not THAT weird am I?

I started drawing the wagon Emma was pulling just as they started getting ready to leave on the return trip. I was scribbling fast and I missed a few critical pieces of the undercarriage. There's no axle attached to the wheel. Oh well.



By this time Hubby declared he was hungry enough to the the south end of a northbound mule, so I figured I had better feed him before he produced a fork.
We drove back to Magnolia to eat at The Flying Burger. They have a meat case where you can pick your own fresh burger, steak, or seafood. Hubby ordered a 1/2 pound burger and I ordered a shrimp Po-Boy. Got a quick sketch in while we waited on our food.



After lunch we bought batteries for the camera and visited with friends. Caught up with the Mule Ride again to watch the mule jumping and mule driving demonstrations. Mules jump flat-footed, unlike horses who can take a running start. I did not know that.

Emma's wagon was in the mule driving demonstration. They can turn the wagon on a dime. It was pretty cool.

I was hoping I could convince Hubby to stick around for the steak dinner and live music but alas, he had had all the sketchcrawling he could stand for the day. We headed home for tacos and a Georgia O'Keeffe movie.

Crabby

Zombie Repellent

That's good information to have in the event you are attacked by a mob of zombies. It is unknown if the jar has to be open for full effectiveness.

Oh yeah, there's a story behind this. True story. Trust me. Can't post it on the interwebs though.

I have a pretty fertile imagination but I couldn't have come up with this even after ingesting party drugs.

Hand Surgery

1) Cut V-shaped bit of skin and fatty tissue.

2) Turn and flip V-flap over end of exposed bone. Fatty bits give protection and padding to end of bone.

3) Sew long end of flap under fingernail. Pull second section edges together and sew closed, forming a 'Y'.

This was BIL's surgery (as I understand it) to reconstruct his missing fingertip. I chuckled at the part about taking fatty bits as a cushion because BIL has no fatty bits anywhere on his body.

Initial bandages have to stay on for two weeks. Full recovery in ten weeks or so.

The only problem will be trying to keep BIL out of his toolbox for that long. It may kill his soul.

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Hubby took my granny ride to work today so I had to drive his truck to run errands. I was terrified. It was like driving an 18-wheeler and I felt like I was taking up both lanes.

Momma was not happy.

Bad Table Saw

I'm OK with saws when I control the saw and the workpiece is fixed (circular saws, jig saws, chop saws). I get the heebie-jeebies when the saw is fixed and I control the workpiece (table saws, band saws.) Band saws look like a fine way to take off a whole arm, not just a few fingers.

Process notes:
I seem to be in a color rut lately. I'm using the same 3-4 colors over and over again. Palette Police: "FREEZE! Put your hands up and step away from the New Gamboge. Do it now!"

I was 'finished' with this page and decided it could really use some green. There wasn't anywhere logical to add some green, so I just added some green. :)

A Slow Rainy Weekend

At the Vet's Office

I never really noticed before this visit how austere the vet clinic waiting room is. There's nothing on the wall except the vet licenses for the three docs. But there are lots and lots and lots of plants. It's like a jungle in there.

I guess this is one example of really "seeing" something when you draw it.

A Visit to Sissy's House

Monday, Sept 7, 2009

Arrived about 5:00 pm and got the grand tour of the brand new "old farmhouse." I hadn't seen it since they moved in and gotten it decorated. Love, love, love the deep wraparound porch. Perfect for sitting out in the porch swing in the evening.

These huge morning glories came up as volunteers. Probably were in the flowerbeds of the old dairy farm homeplace.


Everywhere I looked there were huge clumps of surprise lilies. Lots and lots and lots of surprise lilies.

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Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009

Sissy's Brand New Old-Timey Stove

Went to bed at 9:30 last night so by 4:00 am I was done sleeping. Piddled around and ate breakfast before Sissy got up. We were both shocked.

Worked on Sissy's project which entailed tromping around in the swamp. Saw a critter hole with what I think were snake eggs.

Sissy sprayed me down with baby powder Off before we went. I ended up with that sickeningly sweet musty old lady smell because of it. Must remember to avoid powder products forever. I hate that smell.

Sissy made cabbage rolls for supper at my request. They were just like Mom's only better. Crashed at 9:30 pm again.

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Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009


Up before the rest of the household again. Opened all the windows and started drawing in the early morning quiet.

Went shopping with Sissy and scored six very expensive shirts for Hubby for under $100. Woot! Also found the Merrell clogs I've been wanting, but they were NOT on sale. :( Very expensive for our tight budget.

Lunch at Jason's Deli then the long three-hour drive home.

Hubby wanted smothered hamburger steak for supper. First time in 27 years he has requested this. Luckily I vaguely remembered how Mom made it. It came out OK I guess.

Figured out late that Chelsea probably has a UTI. Sigh. Trip to the vet early tomorrow morning.

Nostradamus Apocalypse Marathon

Daddy left for the day to work at the farm so Smudge and I piled up in bed to watch a Nostradamus Apocalypse Marathon on The History Channel.

According to various cultural lore and scientists, something big is going to happen on December 21, 2012. That's in 1202 days if anyone is counting.

I drew my weird dream from yesterday, ate more cold pizza, took a nap or two, and had another weird dream.

I rillyrilly should lay off the cold pizza.

The Chalk-Faced Baby Dream

Saturday, Sept. 05, 2009, 1:30 AM

I woke up after having a very weird dream. In the dream I had arrived for a hair appointment. It was in a tiny room, almost like a bathroom. The haircutter was a child of about 9 years old. She was trying to cut the hair of a toddler, about 3 years old.



The toddler was fidgety so I picked her up and put her on my lap. She had a football shaped head with a nasty gash on top closed with a dozen staples.



The toddler immediately leaned forward and started straining. I knew she was pooping her pants.



I stood up with her and her clothes instantly disappeared. Yellow-green poop was running down her legs and puddling on the white tile floor. I had poop all over me too.

I yelled for the haircutter girl (who had also disappeared) to get a mop and clean up the floor. She and two other kids started mopping up with a Swiffer Duster.



The toddler morphed into a little baby with a normal head. I plopped her in the sink in some warm water to wash her. She got the biggest smile on her face. She really liked being held by me and being in the warm water.

But her face was chalk white without any hint of pink. Her eyes, nose, and mouth were all like a living marble statue. There was a small brown smudge on the side of her nose as if it had been chipped off, just like an ancient statue.



I realized she shouldn't be sitting the the water unsupported so I held her under her arms. When I touched her she arched her back and threw her head back. It lolled around and her eyes rolled back too. I realized something wasn't right with this child, maybe she was blind and deaf. That would explain the all-white eyes.

I snapped my fingers above and behind her head. She got a puzzled look and turned her head and unseeing eyes toward the sound. Ah-ha! She's blind but not deaf.



I lifted her from the water and looked around for a towel. The tiny bathroom dissolved and we were now outside on the grounds of a large institution - a boarding school maybe. There were towels hung draped over the wrought-iron fence where the children had left them after swimming.



I pulled a green and blue towel from the fence and laid the baby on it. She wanted to be held and started to cry. I realized the towel wasn't full-sized. A strip had been torn from the long side...all the towels on the fence were narrow like that.

As I tried to figure out how to wrap the baby with this narrow towel, she cried even harder. I tried to soother her by saying, "There, there, Puddin'Tater, I'll pick you up once we get you wrapped and warm."



I arranged and rearranged her and never could figure out how to get her wrapped. She was crying so hard she was screaming.

Then I woke up.

I really shouldn't eat cold pizza as a midnight snack.

Indigo Cat, Okra, and Root Beer

Bonus doodle: Super Princess



My sister told me she likes looking at my artstuff every day because she never knows what she's gonna get. Says she, "You're way over here one day, and completely the opposite direction the next."

Oh, the output of a chaotic mind; how interesting the spew.

Shapes

I bought the pack of six pens thinking I would do value sketches. Obviously I need more practice.

Onward through the fog.

Sutterfield's Shop

There were lots of dangerous medieval machinery thingies that looked like they would be efficient at body part removal. Looked around for something interesting to sketch but everything was grayish brown grease color and unidentifiable (to me at least). Finally zeroed in on the red welder and trotted out to the car to fetch my little pocket sketchbook.

Started sketching and after about five minutes (wait for it) Hubby decided it was time to go. I'm beginning to see a pattern here with Hubby. I think when he sees the sketchbook come out he starts getting a rash. Sigh. Anyway, I madly scribbled bits and pieces trying to fill in the spaces. Added a few finishing touches to the inkwork at home.

I think the stuff I scribbled in a hurry is actually better than the stuff I tried to draw accurately. Hummm.....