Having a Mandala Moment

My beloved sketching partner Miz Dee is in the hospital having surgery. (I'm sure that's a HIPAA violation of some sort.) She's a gazillion miles away so a quick visit is not an option. I sit in the deafening silence of Not Knowing, waiting for an email from one of her kids to let me know how she's doing.

My brain is not functioning. All I can seem to do is doodle mandalas on every available surface.

This one was done with fountain pens. I started with the basic shape of a wisteria seed pod...and I looked up the proper spelling of "mandala."


This one is a mixture of fountain pens and regular ol' gel writing pens. Again with the wisteria pods.


This one is fountain pens and metallic gel markers. I may not be able to claim this as a mandala because it isn't round. But it started out being round. Does that still count???


I actually broke out the Sharpie collection on this next one. That includes the regular size, the ultra fine, and highlighters. I forgot highlighters don't scan. That strange peachy color is actually a vivid, neon orange.

My soul is vibrating in unison with the wisteria seed pods.

Watercolor Doodles

Watercolor doodles on 3" x 5" index cards. I kept running across references to index cards both in journaling and in arty stuff, so I broke out my old pack just for fun.

I was surprised at how well the watercolor worked on these cards. They must have sizing on them. The card stock performed better than the paper in my daily journal. Humm....may play with these some more.

Art Supplies & Pencil Ponderings

Journaling:

Momma got Blicked! It's always a happy day when the postman delivers a box of art supplies.

Sharpened up the pencils to take them for a test drive. Discovered the Derwents were too big to fit in my electric pencil sharpener. Pfft! Bought the Derwents on a recommendation by Roz Stendahl. Wanted a pencil that would lay down a very black line and scan well. These are "pigmented" (with carbon maybe?), not graphite, so the shine doesn't confuse the scanner.

Got the Design Ebonys because they are the pencil Rick Tulka uses to do his Le Select Cafe drawings. I've long admired his clean black lines and hoped it would be the miracle pencil I was searching for.

Did a little test with the four blackest drawing pencils I now own using the Big White Marble from drawing class as the subject.

The Derwent was the winner hands down in the qualities I wanted. It has the blackest black of lines and a matte finish that plays well with the scanner. It is waxier and somewhat stickier to draw with over the graphites, and has a rougher, looser line. It also has a very soft lead and is a booger to keep sharp.

Don't think this would be a good pencil for fine detail work but would be great fun for guerilla sketching. Add a bit of water and it makes a dandy wash for shading and shadows. Woot! Great fun!

Had an epiphany doing this little test. *This* is the kind of sketch the drawing class teacher wanted us to do...general shapes with shading for contour, not the details of the cut glass. OH! Of course! These were easy - whipped them out in a few minutes. I should have done something similar in class. Doh! I have a new perspective going into Class #3.

Decided to put down the pencils and check up on the arty bloggers. First one I hit was Karen Blados who had posted a macro photo of a housefly. Ewwww! Had to draw.

(From photo by Karen Blados, used by permission)

This is just the head of course. Didn't have the gumption to draw the whole body or his sticky tongue lolling onto Miz Karen's sofa. Ewwww!

Now you know why I seldom leave comments on blogs. My ADD kicks in and I'm off on a new tangent. Never did leave a comment. Must go back and do that.

I used Rick Tulka's favored Sanford Design Ebony for the fly. There's no way on God's Green Earth Tulka managed the black lines I see on his drawings with just this pencil. Or maybe I should say there's no way on God's Green Earth that I can get the lines I see on his drawings with just this pencil. Frustration, disappointment. There must be something I'm missing. Must ponder on that.

While pondering I was staring at my happy little manikin sitting on my desk. He suddenly struck me as wonderful and needing to be drawn. Picked up the black Derwent.
Manny's been in this pose for quite some time. I don't remember why I posed him like this, but I remember it's supposed to be a vaudeville high kick with a cane and top hat. (Hear the music "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere, It's up to you New York, New York!")

That thing curving around his upper arm is a paperclip for the cane. Never could figure out a top hat for him.

One more doodle and I'm off to bed....



Realized if I keep drawing with pencils I should be drawing in a sketchbook, not on loose pieces of copy paper. The sketchbooks I own are too rough for drawing in pencil (in my opinion) and I don't want pencil drawings smudging around in my daily journal anyway.

Must see Dick Blick about a sketchbook with slick paper.

Yay! More art supplies!

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:

Sunday Doodle

Doodling with Crayola Paint Brush Pens in square Hand*book while watching Vikings vs. Saints.

Picked up these Crayola Paint Brush Pens on a whim. I didn't have a lot of expectations for them since they are a children's paint product. They are FABULOUS. The paint flows evenly, doesn't blob or drip, and, best of all, you don't have to squeeze them to get the paint out. They are a dream to draw with. The only drawback is they only come in five colors: yellow, red, blue, green and purple.


Dear Crayola,
Love your Paint Brush Pens. Would you make them in more colors for us big kids please? I would like black, gray, tan, olive green, and cerulean blue. If you could make a black one with waterproof, archival, lightfast, permanent pigmented ink I would buy a dozen tomorrow and love you forever.

Hugs,
Speck

Car Repair and Purple Hair

Worked with Hubby today to fix the ceiling handle in my car. It's been broken and dangling over the front passenger's head for months. Hubby went to the wrecking yard to search for a replacement but they didn't have any.

We decided to create blanks to just cover up the holes in the headliner. We started with a piece of old oak threshold cut two inches long. We grinded and sanded all the contours off until we ended up with this:


That got spray painted flat black and a hex nut was glued to the back as a spaced to account for the thickness of the car's headliner. Bought some super strong button magnets to attach the blank to the metal showing in the hole.

Worked like a charm and they look like original equipment. We were out only $3.00 for the button magnets.

Stopped by Walgreems to pick up some razor blades and found these really cool Staedtler Metallic Gel Pens. They are a dream to write with. The ink is juicy yet fast-drying, acid-free, permanent and waterproof.

Also got some Crayola paintbrush pens. Tried them out and drew this doodle.
Showed it to Hubby. He said, "Looks just like you except for the blond hair."

I said, "Her hair is purple."

It's amazing how people see things.

Up the side: Yes, my hair was up in a ponytail like this but I hope it isn't purple or that I look this haggard.

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!

Brush Pen Doodles

Late-night doodles, drawn while watching a marathon of Barrett-Jackson car auction on TV, drawing whatever is in front of me, then whatever poops out of my brain.

Showed the first one to Hubby:

"Do you recognize it?"

"No, should I?"

"It's the coaster you sit your Pepsi can on every day."

"Oh."

(eye roll)

Daddy's Chair - Where he reigns supreme over the household. (snort) The hump in the seat is one of those cotton hull neck pillows.

The fringed wool blanket on the table is for Smudge the Cat. She likes to sit in Hubby's lap because he is warm and she is old and gets chilly. He won't get up if she's in his lap even if he has to pee. So the blanket was the solution. It was that or Depends.


Smudge on her blanket and other brain poop:

Her Very Own Personal Summer

Don't mess with Momma when she's havin' a hot flash.

More Craptabulous Doodles

Craptastic Doodles

Journaling:

Decided I hate the paper in my square Hand*book journal. Also detest PITT brush pens. Both are now living by my TV watching spot where the only things to sketch are Hubby, cat or TV. Will sketch them over and over until ink and paper are used up.

First sketch of Hubby. Looks nothing like him but bears an amazing resemblance to old college philosophy professor...

Hubby got up to get ready for work so I drew his abandoned newspaper and specs.

Looked up the professor in old college yearbook because Hubby didn't remember him. Got lost in a trip down memory lane.

Sorority girls all dressed in high collar white blouses with little ribbon bow at neck, tweed blazers and long plaid skirts. Hairdos for girls = Farrah Fawcett; for guys = David Cassidy. Glad those styles are gone.

Found a pic of two girls in a skit and drew one. She actually came out recognizable.

Scanned and printed the craptastic doodles and pasted them in my journal. The journal page came out pretty nice considering the meager topic.

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.