You Can Draw!

Journaling:

Signed up for a Fun Ed class at the community college today. "You Can Draw!" No experience required. It may turn out to be a "draw a big circle, then draw two little circles, then draw two dots...voilà, it's a frog!" kind of thing. But that's OK. It will get me out of the house to meet new people who want to be creative.

Next is "Sketching Historic Downtown" for six weeks. Woot! I'm hoping this will be Urban Sketchers for Dummies. Too cool.

After that is "Intro to Watercolor" for four weeks finishing up on June 17. I'm gonna be a busy girl this spring.


Under the sketch:
This is a sketch of the photo on the art classes flyer. This seems an odd way to set up a palette.

In the box:
After yesterday's overworked fiasco, I threw the Pigma Micron 005 back in the artbox and got out the magic that is the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.

Today's drawing: 5 minutes in ink, 5 minutes in paint.

That's the ticket.

Is Your Daddy Home?

Journaling:

3:35 this afternoon brought the sound of three basketballs in the neighbor's driveway. The boys are home from school - Eli, who is about 5, his older brother and their cousin. Then the familiar bam, bam, bam on the front door. The older boys have given Eli the flat basketball again and he needs some air.

Hubby is Eli's go-to guy for air and Hubby loves the honor. Hubby makes a big deal of getting out the air tank, airing up the ball, having Eli test it to be sure it's just right, and checking out Eli's basketball moves. Eli loves all the attention. I'm not sure he doesn't let the air out so he can come over and get Hubby.

So, the knock on the door and there stands little Eli with his mushy ball. He looks up at me with big eyes and asks, "Is your daddy home?"

I stood there feeling rather decrepit with my gray hair and bi-focals, realizing I'm old enough to be his grandmother. Yet in Eli's eyes I'm young enough to be Hubby's daughter.

Bless you my child. You just made my day.

This little guy really made my day. I walked around the house the rest of the afternoon chuckling to myself and repeating, "Is your daddy home? Is your daddy home?" Hubby's gonna love *this.*

Nana's Prayer Lily

Journaling:

I've been at Nana's house eleven days now and have largely forgotten what my husband and kitties look like. That's a Good Thing actually. I needed an extended break from my everyday life.

Nana has worked me like a dawg these two weeks and fed me only junk food and take-out. I'm craving green things and salad. Can't wait to get home to my own cooking.

We finished all her home improvement projects and she is very happy about that. We still need to work on the garage but that will have to wait for warmer weather.

Haven't drawn much since I've been here and was having withdrawal symptoms so I drew what was in front of me - Nana's Prayer Lily on the kitchen table.

I'll be heading home tomorrow if it doesn't snow again.

I did make it home on Thursday, and arrived to find a pile of bills, screaming hungry cats, and an overflowing litter box. Sigh. I remember now why I volunteered to help Nana with all her projects.

The Lodge Room

Journaling:

Nana's Guest Room - Decorated like an Adirondack lodge, with ducks, fish, sticks, twigs, and bark...and a TV with remote. Discovered the "Arts" channel. I'm in love. Can go to sleep to the sweet sounds of Bach, Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky.

Woke up dog tired and decided going back to bed sounded like a good idea. Slept all day and finally started feeling human again around 10:00 p.m.

Monkey Touch the Monolith

Summary of the past four days:
Tuesday: Move, tote, lift; move, tote, lift; move, tote, lift; cull, cull, cull; toss, toss, toss; box, box; tote, tote, tote.

Wednesday: Shovel, shovel, shovel (snow); hammer, hammer, glue, glue, screw, screw, screw (building bookcase, not sex); errand, errand, errand, errand, errand; sort, sort, sort, wipe, wipe, scrub.

Thursday: Move, move, move; wait, wait, wait; shop, shop, shop, buy; putty, putty, putty; sand, sand, sand; kerchunk, kerchunk, kerchunk (new pneumatic nail gun installing trim); caulk, caulk, caulk, caulk, caulk, caulk, caulk, caulk, caulk (Nana is addicted to caulk), caulk, caulk, caulk (see me watching all this), caulk, caulk, caulk.

Friday: Scrub, scrub, caulk, caulk, caulk; shovel, shovel, shovel; confer, confer; queen on king, three on four; errand, errand; caulk, caulk, caulk (there are 12-step programs for this...); paint, paint, paint, swoon, paint, paint, paint, paint, Tales of the ER until 2:00 am.

Note there is no "draw, draw, draw" in any of that. No artwork happening during those days.

What does this have to do with the monkey you might be asking? Nothing, but it catches me up to where the monkey comes in.

Nana was painting away this afternoon, all glaze-eyed, zoning away in a happy place in her head, and she said, "I *love* to paint."

That's when I had an epiphany.

I would have said the same thing five years ago, but wouldn't now. Painting has lost its appeal for me. I used to love all the prep work, imagining what the finished product would look like, creaming on beautiful paint, and watching the ragged transform into the sublime. Everything looks better with a fresh coat of paint.

I realized over the past ten years I have completely painted the insides (walls, ceilings, doors, trim and cabinets) of my house, my mother's house, my mother-in-law's house, and Prissy Sister's house. I've also painted my neighbor's entire kitchen (including cabinets), and Nana's nursery. Now I'm here painting Nana's two new closet shelving units and a new set of pantry doors. I think I'm done painting for a while.

An epiphany is really not the same as a Monkey-Touch-The-Monolith moment, but M-T-T-M was the only thing my tired brain could muster up to draw to preserve and illustrate the thought.

Old Man

Journaling:

I was studying on how to draw people's noses today and found this photo of an old man with an amazing face. Every craggy line told a story. He had the most amazing nose too. It had a personality all its own. Had to draw.

I liked the ink drawing just as it was. Debated on whether or not to paint it. Decided to scan it in case I tanked with the paintbrush. At least I would have something postable for my efforts.

I think I took a couple of decades off his age with the paint. He looks older and craggier in the ink drawing. Couldn't quite figure out how to fix that. Oh well, I think it turned out pretty well as long as it isn't compared too closely to the actual photo.

Process Notes:
One of these days I'll learn to draw a square to frame the subject *before* I start the sketch, and maybe I'll figure out how to draw it *straight*. Sheesh! Drew this guy right into the valley. But hey, it's a sketchbook, not fine art. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

That red thing below his moustache is not his lower lip, it's his tongue sticking out.

(Click either image to embiggen)

Hunger Strike

Journaling:

The cats have gone on a hunger strike. They refuse to eat their formerly favorite stinky flavor "Rotting Fish Heads in Garbage Can (Classic Pate')." My philosophy with finicky cats is to wait 'em out. Eventually they will eat it and be happy.

But Chelsea was very vocal about her displeasure with the menu. She would sit at my feet and YOWL all day and night. "Momma GET UP! and put something else in the food bowl! DO IT NOW! YOWL! YOWL! YOWL!" She worked herself up into a lather about it yesterday and that's not good for an antique cat.

OK! OK! I caved and went to Wally World today. Got the nasty cheap stuff, different flavors of the usual stuff, and some really expensive stuff.

So far this evening they have eaten the "Dead Shrimp in Fetid Backwater" and "Putrid Cow in Hot August Sun with Barley and Garden Greens." I'm guessing the Garden Greens are added to keep their breath smelling nice. Um, righhhttt....

Cheezburger the Porch Cat will get the remaining cans of "Rotting Fish Heads" as a treat. He normally only gets dry kibble.

-------------------
Process notes: Drawn with a Pigma Brush Pen. Couldn't seem to control it and everything turned out wonky.

January Doodles

Journaling:

My drawing mojo went to Tijuana for the weekend. Couldn't draw a straight line with a ruler.

Decided just to doodle but the doodles were even looking awful. Since they couldn't look any worse I slopped some paint on them. Hey! They don't look so terrible anymore. Amazing what a little paint can do.

Went back through all the less-than-stellar doodles in my square Hand*book and added paint. I was feeling the need to be creative even though I couldn't draw. Some came out kinda cute. Others not so much.

Sudden thought:The dude with the monocle looks just like Captain Peacock from the British sitcom "Are You Being Served?" That's kinda neat. Didn't intent it to be that way, it just happened.

Here's a larger version of the doodles on the page above:

Falling Down

This is my entry for "use THIS reference photo" #9; a scene from the movie "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas and a bald-headed guy.

The guy on the left is supposed to be Michael Douglas. I'll wait for you to get through laughing.

drums fingers on desk...

The guy on the right is supposed to be bald-headed. I went in the weeds with the shading on his head and it kinda looked like he had on a watch cap. I just shrugged, drew a little more and made him one.

I like how bald-headed guy turned out, especially his eye, nose and hands. Michael Douglas not so much. He looks a little cartoony and nothing I did seemed to improve the effect. I finally had to put the pen down and call it done before I ruined it completely.

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen
PITT brush pen - light gray

Purple Iris

Dug out a seldom used sketchbook and found an abandoned sketch of purple iris I had started using colored pencils. There were vague pencil outlines of petals and leaves and such, but only one petal had been colored.

I remember starting it but giving up on it early on because it was going to be too detailed for my patience quota. My intent was to do a piece of "fine art" and fine art just ain't my style it seems. Anyway, I thought I would play with it a little for practice with my new brush pen and waterbrush.

I inked the lines and started slopping paint without much thought. I had no idea what the shapes were supposed to be. It was drawn from a photo of the iris in my garden last year but the photo has long been deleted. So, I just happily flung paint and let it be whatever it wanted to be.

Pigma Brush Pen - Lion Statue

Journaling:

Taking the new Pigma Brush Pen and Niji Waterbrush (medium, 12 mm tip) out for a test drive today.

I like the Pigma brush pen much better than the PITT brush pens. It has a more flexible tip so it didn't feel like I was drawing with a Sharpie. The flexibility make it easier to achieve varying line widths and the pen itself felt good in my hand. This may become my go-to pen for daily drawing.

The Niji waterbrush took a little getting used to. It flowed out a lot of water without squeezing at all. I had to do a bit of dabbing so it wouldn't soak through the paper. This journal paper only takes light washes, not swimming pools of liquid. On the other hand, it made doing the wash a dream. I've always struggled with the paper drying out using a regular brush and cup o' water.

I think I like it enough to use it for daily drawing and painting in my journal. Won't have to worry about the cat drinking the brush water anymore or having to change it before it becomes a science experiment.

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

Journaling:

Dick Blick order arrived today with the long-awaited Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. It is everything I've hoped for in a pen and more. I've waited almost two years to be able to lay down lines like these. Now I can. My soul is singing.

Also in the order:
-Niji waterbrush - medium, 12mm
-Sakura Pigma brush pen - black
-Winsor & Newton watercolors - 5ml tubes of Perm Sap Green, Cerulean Blue & Payne's Gray
-P.P.B.P. ink refills - 2 pak
-Kneaded eraser - 2" x 2"

Momma's always happy when she gets Blicked!

Weary Man Doodle

Finally worked up my courage to order a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and Dick Blick has the dreaded "Out of Stock" on them. Not even an "available on" date. Phooey.

However I realized I had a cheapo version that I hadn't even broken the seal on yet. I bought two sets of Elmer's Paintastics Brush Pens about a year ago to repurpose as clear waterbrushes. I converted one which I used last night to paint doodles; I used seven others with the paints that came in them just to try them out; and I had saved back the purple and black ones to use as waterbrushes in the future.

I snapped open the black one and started doodling on a scrap of copy paper. Smeared some water across the lines to see how waterproof the paint was once it dried. Not at all. The paints are kid-friendly with easy water clean-up. What was I thinking??? Anyway it gave a cool shading effect.

I'm getting to the point I enjoy doodling with brush pens more than drawing real things from real life. Uh oh. I need to get out of this house. Cabin fever is rotting my brain.

Cleaned out my office supplies and art pen collection today. Ended up with a fistful of art pens that were dead or dying. Some I hadn't even used. Dang! Others that were still good but unused are going to work with Hubby tomorrow. There's no use in letting them dry up in the drawer.

Unused art and office supplies make the Baby Jesus cry.

Brush Pen Doodles

Brush pen doodles done while watching TV.

First it was the Dallas Cowboys vs. Monster Truckfest, then Tommy Lee Jones vs. The Volcano That Ate Los Angeles. Hubby had the remote, could you tell???

He was flipping back and forth between shows at a seizure inducing rate.






Tommy Lee Jones always make me think of giant fried eggs.

--------------------------
Process notes:
Used a waterbrush to paint these. I'm too cheap to buy an actual waterbrush, so I modified an Elmer's Paint Pen. Worked like a charm...a really cheap charm!