Getting the most out of "An Illustrated Life"

For Christmas I received a copy of Danny Gregory's An Illustrated Life it was a wonderful surprise ( from me to me)- -
It is a beautiful and fascinating book but I don't want to miss a thing - I followed Winna Jill's advice to getting the most out of every page

If the shoe fits AKA - EDM # 1

this shoe won't fit anyone - it is very small and the front half is solid -- no place for toes - A gift from my niece It is made of some kind pottery - I enjoyed sketching it - my sketch is larger than the shoe-

then a really quick sketch and a few blobs of water color I liked the water color so much I put color on the first version too.

JUL BOK

Water color and micron pen in moleskine watercolor sketch book 8 1/2" x 5"

My husband was born in Sweden and came to the US with his family when he was 13 years old--- that was many many many many many years ago. We have a big Christmas eve meal that includes many traditional Swedish dishes. We decorate the house and tree with a lot of Swedish Christmas decorations. My favorite decorations are the straw goats they are called Jul Bok - In Sweden there are trolls called tomten who bring gifts on Christmas eve in a sled pulled by goats - so these straw goats are kind of like reindeer - sort of --

I'm not sure how many of these we have this one is about 12" tall I have one that is close to three feet tall - Our tree has lots of straw ornaments, red hearts, paper Dala horses and sometimes Swedish flags.

Here is Boogie and the Jul Bokken waiting for Santa

A Sketch of some Hammers

So back to practicing water colors and sketching - a pair of hammers that I seldom use but they were interesting to sketch -water color on a very strange paper I have no idea where I got it but it is not really like paper more like plastic 4 1/2" x 8" fairly quick 45 minutes maybe - I am learning but I still need to work on my quick draw - drawing skills

I buy lots of hammers it must have something to do with BEAS disease some related syndrome but hard to diagnose - maybe I think I'll play better if I have better hammers but mostly I think I'll play better when I practice more - mmm do ya think practice would work?

my first public performance

I don't "Play Out" as they say in the hammered dulcimer world - it means I only play in my studio and I never play for any kind of an audience - I have severe performance anxiety - I choke- big time -and my playing is an absolute train wreck if I think any one can see or hear me play - but at night if I am not making art I am making music-

I am mostly self taught and I just love the sound of this instrument - my Hammered Dulcimer is a Chromatic Grand built by David Lindsey of Bennington Oklahoma - I bought this one about 6 years ago when I lived in Illinois-- David had a booth at the Gebhard Woods Dulcimer Festival in Morris Illinois - and I had to have one of his dulcimers- they have the EXACT sound I was looking for (it is bright, brassy and loud- like me- without much sustain- also like me -) my first dulcimer was a Dusty Strings ( not enough notes) so then I got a Master Works (too much sustain and too soft a voice) and then I got my Grand it is absolutely just right

Thanks to the extreme kindness and supportive remarks that my EDM friends make regarding my attempts at art - I have the nerve to post my first public performance on the hammered dulcimer - It took about 10 takes to relax enough so I could get through this short version of Carol of the Bells - just knowing I had the camera on made me nervous

anyway thanks to everyone for the kind comments and support you have shown me both on my blog and my FLICKR I am wishing you all the very best in the coming New Year

December Virtual Sketch Date

Pastel on Brenda Mattson paper 11"x15" for Virtual sketch date

this paper has very little tooth I don't think I like the paper -I am, however, satisfied with the drawing -

This is not what I would call a sketch it took about 3 hours - I did make an attempt with watercolors but that went straight into the trash - I am thinking more and more about - not learning to sketch in ink or watercolors but just play around with my standards pencils and pastels - I am so much more relaxed when I do -

Different Strokes - Her Boots - (maybe final version)

This is the version I submitted to Karin's Different strokes from Different Folks - I'm having fun with the crayons but I think maybe this background is boring -I found a box of 64 crayola brand crayons - Kajsa gave them to me when she was cleaning her craft area out - and I discovered them while I was reorganizing my studio -- I enjoyed kind of scribbling with them -

I'm trying to blog less create more

this was a demo/lesson on the Painting & Drawing channel that I watched on you tube last night -- the lessons change weekly so it may not still be there - I watched the video and then went straight to my studio to practice - It turned out ok but I don't like the sky - scan is not quite true to color but close enough -

This is the new challenge on Karin Jurick's Different Strokes from Different Folks I did this real quick in crayon & I like it way more than my water color for the last challenge -- but I'm posting the good and the bad so that was bad this one is pretty good - I'm considering if I want to do more or leave it as is -

Different strokes from Different Folks

Karin Jurick has an interesting weekly challenge at her blog Different Strokes from Different Folks- (see all the entries for this week here )

the reference for this week's challenge was the photo below - my version is 5" x 8" on 90 lb watercolor paper it is done in watercolor, - this is my second time to participate it is a fun challenge.