Rebecca Revisited & Lessons learned

So - I have done about four of these of Rebecca -- I'm just trying to learn how to use the paints - I guess what I am doing is some kind of wet in damp - I think doing the light micron pen sketch first helped me to not overwork the watercolor -- but it's so very hard to -step away from the painting and STOP -

Then there's the paper thing -- this one is in the moleskine watercolor sketch book and so far I think I like this paper better than any thing else I currently have its softer-

But the best part is this was real quick and not muddy-- now to learn how to do quick little landscapes with out overworking -

LESSONS LEARNED - Less is more and- Simplicity is very very difficult - at least for me

Messing around with Daniel Smith

Got my Daniel Smiths in but then was unable to play with them until Sunday. This scan does not do them justice they are very bright and clear. I didn't get much done with thm yet except this color chart -no mixes just the straight from the tube colors with water - then lifted a stripe down the middle.

My sister Jan but it might look more like somebody else- Sorry Jan it was just a quick sketch

first sketches in watercolor moleskine

I used to hate to start a new sketch book because I wanted everything to be really great and then if one sketch went badly I wouldn't work in it anymore. So now my new way is to put something really bad in it right away and then things only get better and you can't wreck it because its all ready messed up.

So this brand new moleskine watercolor (my first) got really messed up - I got things upside down and sideways - So now I wont be afraid to mess it up because it was messed up from the start -- but I do like the apple and the blueberries the peach and the kiwi.

These are done with inktense and watercolor pencils - I ordered 20 tubes of Daniel Smith water colors they are on their way -- wooo hoooo they shipped out today--I can't wait to try them out on the paper in this book.

A Learning Experiece & my favorite poem

Another page for Mandy's Journal this one was not assigned -- just do whatever you want to do.... I wanted to include this poem somehow -- I just LOVE this poem - at first I thought about illustrating all the little images -- stars, birds, grain, etc. - but I realized that would get way to busy and the images would be too small.. so I went to a local cemetery during my lunch to find angel statues - its a huge cemetery but I only found one angel she was at the grave of a very young woman who died around 1917 --I sketched the angel with colored pencils but when I went to write the poem -- the wax in the colored pencils severely inhibited my ability to write the poem

Lesson learned don't plan on using ink over color pencil - Here is a photo of the angel

Ten minute experiment

I set the timer for ten minutes and first sketched this spent hibiscus with water color pencils - then I gave myself another ten minutes and used my Pitt Brush Pens-

I was able to get a lot more depth with the Pitt Brush Pens - I used the grays for a value sketch and then went in with the colors over that -the pitts sketch was under 10 minutes and I felt like I wanted more time to go back in and develop the darks with the watercolor pencils

- I think so much is about learning to use your tools--

My Style ?

Another page for Mandy's journal project I was supposed to talk about my style -- I don't think I have one. These pictures show two extremes of me --the Hammered Dulcimer Player Me and the Old Lady Biker Me.

My daughter and I laugh hysterically when I put on my biker helmet -- and my sister can't look at me when I put it on because they both think it is not me at all - I just think its silly and fun-- All the little boys that see it have to tell me how much they really like my helmet - I believe them.

I learned to ride a motorcycle when I was 52 -(I am 59 now and in the photo above)-I really love the way it makes me feel when I ride - it reminds me of when we had a horse (her name was Cowgirl) and I would go galloping through the fields bareback (Cowgirl was bareback I wore clothing)

http://www.1001journals.com/journals/3107/

Mandy's original post was Message #54272 New Dutchie introducing herself.

My first real Journal pages

This page was done as part of an assignment for Mandy's journal project. Mandy recruited participants from around the world in the making of a journal that is part of the 1001 journal project. I volunteered to make some pages to be a part of her journal. Her journal will consists of Art Journal pages from 15 different contributors. She has sent out pages with written assignments for us to do. Some focus on technique, some on soul searching, some on observation. Contributing journalers then send their finished pages back to Mandy and include an assignment for her to do when the package is returned to her. My completed journal pages are on their way back to Mandy in the Netherlands.

This is one of the seven pages I was assigned. It is a map of my day -

I am not really a "journaler" or "collager" I am more of an "eater" and "drawer" ... but I really enjoyed the assignments and it was a fun and different experience I can't wait to see the whole journal. Some of the journal pages are -- well more personal than I am on my blog but ... they will be up for all to see when Mandy puts them up in her journal.

http://www.1001journals.com/journals/3107/

Mandy's original post was
Message #54272 New Dutchie introducing herself.

Water color questions is it me or the paints?

this is a small-- 4" x 7". Sort of quick-- under one hour no hair dryer. Watercolor on canson water color paper the smooth side. Painted with very cheap ($11.00 for 24 larger tubes) reeves brand watercolors from hobby lobby- I'm not sure if its me, just the way watercolors are, or the paints. To me it looks muddy and sort of gritty not sparkling bright colors like I see in so many posts - I'm sure that my inexperience with any fluid art mediums is a large factor but I also wonder if better quality paints make any difference and if so what brands are you all using --- Thanks comments and suggestions greatly appreciated

Moleskine Storyboard Notebook

One of my purchases during my recent bout of BEAS disease *(Buys Excessive Art Supplies) was a Moleskine Storyboard Notebook there are 82 boxes 2.1875" x 2.75" or for you metric types 5.5 cm x 7 cm. I have labeled each of the first 82 boxes with EDM challenges 1-82. I have completed six of the challenge boxes with little drawings. Actually the bag is not yet done and the lamp is overdone -- never-the-less --I plan to complete the remaining 76 boxes -

But.... there are 152 smaller boxes- four per page - on the last 38 pages. They are 1.1875" x 1.435" or 3.7 cm x 3.9 cm - What were they thinking? those are really very tiny boxes - I don't know if I can work that small - what can I do with the last ONE HUNDRED FIFTY TWO tiny boxes??? --bug drawings?? any suggestions will be appreciated.

Something Dangerous / Boogies enemy

One of the bad things about Oklahoma --- Scorpions live here !!!

These things are just plain creepy we have them around our house and our little nine pound Shih Tzu has been stung twice by them - He now knows not to mess with them and growls when he sees one

Watercolor on a 140 lb cold press Strathmore Watercolor postcard

Inspired by Starrbaby Sorra

My apologies to the artist I got her painting upsidedown and sideways but I am not as uninhibited as she and my washes are only an approximation of her clear bright colors and sweeping gestural strokes -

I loved this post http://wistex1129.blogspot.com/2008/08/sorras-watercolor.html by Starr and was inspired to try my hand at a quick sketch - While cleaning the house today everytime I made a trip into my studio I added a little more - I still have two more bathrooms to do but this work is done!

Watercolor & watercolor pencil on canson paper. Thank you Starr & Sorra-

EDM #61 a grouping of 2 or more similar objects

These are old (antique?) brushes from an estate sale, they were given to me several years ago by my sister Jean-- this is the first I have used them -- they were wonderful models they stayed put and never moved unless I told them to. This is watercolor pencil and ink in my moleskine -

PS -- I have found that lightly rubbing a white eraser over the moleskine sketch book page removes the sizing and prevents the washes from beading up on the page. This is easier for me than mixing washes with a little soap.

Thank you Geoffrey Williams !

Gunnar & I drove to Dallas on Saturday ( to deliver a case of Old Style Beer from Chicago) to our daughter & son-in-law. We went out to dinner at a fun Cajun restaurant called RAZOOS just as we were finishing our meal a man walked up with a large piece of paper in his hand he said

"This isn't for money I'm not selling anything but I'm an artist & I like to challenge myself by sketching -- I made this sketch of you folks and would like you to have it"

How fun was that!!??!! I love the sketch talk about flattering I just lost 20 lbs and my old lady wattle--

left to right my daughter Kajsa, son-in-law Brendan, husband Gunnar, then me.

BLOGITIS

In addition to my case of BEAS disease - I seem to be suffering from Blogitis - I think it is quite evident from this self portrait -( no I did not get punched in the face I just look like this - sorta)

Trees @ 70 MPH

On our recent drive to Chicago I was experimenting with my Pitt Pens landscape set - I won these but had never used them - all the EDM'ers seem to like them so I thought I would give them a whirl -

I would search the speeding landscape for a particular tree - fix it in my mind --- and then sketch it - QUICK - a good way to force visual memory -

I also decided I liked the pens and bought three other sets along with 4-5 new sketchbooks - watercolor brushes- full sheets of several different papers-and many other things that I can't remember - Shopping at Dick Blicks was HEAVEN!!!

P.S. I have a very bad case of BEAS Disease*

*(Buys Excessive Art Supplies)

Gram's Barn for Ashley & Lars

This is the pastel I have been working on it is about 17" x 11" on Wallis paper. It is a gift for my son Lars and his wife Ashley.

Lars and Ashley were married in a lovely outdoor ceremony on April 12th 2008, not 100 yards away from this magnificent old Kentucky horse barn. The barn belongs to Ashley's "Gram" and it is well over 100 years old. It was recently painted a very vibrant bright red. I hope in the years to come when they look at this painting they will remember the beautiful spring day when they began their life together-and know how much we love them both.

A Little sketch & Thanks ALAN

This is a small sketch I did in my accordion folded sketch book -- it is a scrub oak tree that has a great silhouette-- it is on the way down to my rocky beach. This is the kind of sketching I want to be able to do - and slowly I think I will get better at it - I think I am trying all sorts of sketching methods, materials and mediums and at some point will find a way that suits me and my style and will enable me to make the quick sketches I am aiming for.

Also thanks to Alan on the 3rd stone - I received my ATC in the mail today safe sound and extremely well packaged - http://alanonthe3rdstone.blogspot.com/ It is a wonderful piece and I am honored to have it -

Tomorrow I'm off to Chicagoland YAHOO!!!!

I hope she didn't copyright this

I sent 13 copies of The Creative License to various family members. My sister Jan, a confirmed non-artist, just sent me this scan of one of her first sketches after reading the book.

My response was:

OH MY GOD !!!! Jan your sketch took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes - REALLY !!! it is so wonderful - I can't believe it - WOW !!!

Jan responded to my compliment:

Aw, shucks, I was hoping for a positive reaction but this is TOO much! Especially coming from you. Anyway, it is my favorite sketch so far. As you see, I’m not sure how to draw trees, etc.; but I thought the dark windows and lack of brush was a nice metaphor for the emptiness the Goodrich was without you …

The sketch is of a cottage where we vacationed with my sister for about the last 15 years - This year was the first year we did not go - I missed her too.

Thank you Jan & Mike from Gunnar

Thank you for the enlightened gift of the perfect Buddhist Tees for Gunnar
(metallic water colors do not scan well Buddha is a perfect gold & robe is jade green)

Goat Skull #2 the sketch

The thing is - this blog is about learning to SKETCH and I keep drawing -
This Goat skull is woo hoo ... a sketch ( in ink I might add) - while not loose and lovely - it is a sketch - and it took under 10 minutes maybe only 5 --

The other thing I am trying to learn here is to draw from life (or death if I am drawing skulls - I do have another and some great catfish bones too!)

Most of my artwork is done from photos - flat two dimensional images that translate directly into flat two dimensional art works -- But to take a real life 3 dimensional view and put it onto paper -keep it alive and 3D -- now that is much more difficult for me - ( along with learning when to stop)