This is one of the windows in my house, with floor length sheers that blow in the breeze when the window is open.
I just got back last night from spending some time visiting with my family. It was a nice time, although I didn’t spend any time drawing. I did however, get out onto the lake and I also got to see Katie and Cody frolicking together in the water.
On Friday, I had my second acrylic painting class. I feel very awkward with acrylic I must say. The last time I painted in anything other than watercolor was when I used to take folk painting classes when I was eleven and twelve. Someone gave me some paints and brushes, so I thought I’d at least take a class to see if it was something I’d like to invest more time and expense in learning how to do properly.
There are a few “demanding” students that really suck away a lot of the teacher’s time, and I was sort of upset that he spent not even five minutes with me at the first class. I was a little bit more vocal this time though, so I got to spend more time with the instructor. I brought along one of my old sketchbooks because I am using a past drawing as a reference for my painting and he spent some time looking though it. He gave me some pointers on my portrait drawings, which was very helpful. He was also impressed with my pen and ink work. Yay!
One interesting thing was that the instructor had the idea that colored pencil was something only useful for “preliminary color studies” and he also said that “it’s something that we might as well contend with,” although he did admit that I’m pretty good with it. I took another art class last year and the teacher also had a negative view of colored pencil. I know that colored pencil is relatively new on the scene, but I had no idea that so many people have a prejudice against it. There are so many artists that I admire like Katherine Tyrrell and Nicole Caulfield that work in colored pencil. Has anyone else encountered a similar negative view of colored pencil?
I am trying something new, starting today. Lately, I have been feeling overwhelmed, and easily distracted. My sketchbook, a place supposed to be a well of inspiration, has become filled with disjointed, half finished sketches. I have become sloppy and have lost my concentration. I can’t seem to decide what or how to draw things anymore, so in an attempt to make things a bit easier, I am limiting myself. I am setting aside one unused sketchbook to draw in with nothing but black pen. It is also a bit of a test for myself to see if I can work on one thing without becoming bored.
Someone gave me a bound sketchbook some years ago, but I never started it because I prefer spiral bound sketchbooks that can lay flat. I didn’t want it to go to waste though, and I remember reading an interview with R Crumb where he said that his early sketchbooks were just black and white drawings. I don’t think I have much in common with R Crumb mind you, but I do admire his sheer determination to spend many hours practicing. I also have been toying with the idea of keeping a theme sketchbook, and I want to practice my pen and ink skills and do a little experimentation with new techniques. My drawings have become too fussy lately, and I want to try to loosen up and use less detail.
The dog here is Cody, the brother of Katie. They don’t live in the same house, but they are good friends and they have a great time playing when they do see each other from time to time.
On another note, for a few more hours (until 6 pm BST, June 1) you can download an ebook of The Beany #4 by Michael Nobbs for just $1. The ebook version normally sells for $9.95 so this is a significant savings. I got mine earlier today and it is nice to read while sipping a cup of tea (naturally). It is a good lesson in being kind to yourself, and taking time to remember the important things in life.
I hope everyone is having a nice long weekend. I am having having a very relaxing couple of days myself, by taking a little bit of a break from drawing actually. I have been taking some scenic drives in the country and watching lots of movies. Also, my laptop is having a bit of an overheating problem, so I haven’t been turning it on very much either. I have liked it quite a bit.
I put off posting earlier this week, not because I had nothing to say, but because I had so much other stuff going on. On Friday I had my first acrylic painting class (which I will write a separate post on). I have also been doing lots of other painting and drawing. Partly because I had a backlog of projects that I had to finish, and partly because I just felt inspired to work. I was looking through my calendar the other day, and I realized that we are almost at the halfway mark in the year. I didn’t have any hard and fast goals this year, but I did have a lot in the back of my mind that I wanted to do, and still want to do. I came across this post from Jeanette Jobson that really made me realize how much time I waste on a daily basis. Instead of making me feel bad though, I felt very inspired to pick up the pace.
I did this more than a week ago for May’s VPO and even though I do like how it came out, I kept telling myself that I was going to start over and do another version that I liked better. I have so many things that I want to paint and draw these days that I have been taken up with something else instead though. It seems like I would be better served just leaving things as is sometimes, instead of trying to make them perfect.
I did this the same size as last month (5 x 7) in the spirit of making my VPO pieces consistent. I looked around for quite awhile before coming up with this scene. I made some other sketches, one of which you can see here, but I really liked the swamp feel as seen in this view.
I was so wiped out yesterday after work for some reason. I felt a little unstable, actually, but when I woke up this morning, everything seemed so much better in the world even though nothing had actually changed.
Here are some links that I have come across in the past few weeks that I have found interesting. They are good for when you feel feel too drained to draw or paint, and would just like to look at some pretty things. Interview with Nigel Peake (he does detailed ink drawings), James Jean (he has lots of nice moleskines under the link “Sketch”), Andy English (wood engraver), Yellena James (I have one of her t-shirts), Ea’s Artlog (makes me consider using markers more in my sketchbooks), Up There (a short documentary about old fashioned sign painters — very nostalgic).
I had a lot of plans for this weekend — lots of things to do, projects to finish, etc. Somehow nothing I had planned seemed to work out, and I ended up wasting most of yesterday playing Bejeweled. Today it is raining and kind of chilly. I’m also a little bummed out because my scanner isn’t quite right and I’m going to need a new one. It is not an unexpected expense because I’ve had it for five years now and I was expecting it to go soon, but it is a hassle I don’t want to deal with this weekend. So I’m lowering my expectations and I’ll be happy if I can finish the last few pages of my moleskine before tomorrow. I’ve been working on it since 2005 so it is high time I finish it anyway.
I have this little bowl, a cheap Christmas Tree Shops special, gifted to me by one of my sisters. It’s has a misshapen appearance with the oddest curves and bumps and uneven glazing. I have had numerous opportunities to get rid of this bowl (and I almost did a few months ago when cleaning out my room) but I always keep it around because I love to make sketches of it. I also have an unfinished wooden egg that I first put in the bowl because I didn’t know what to do with it. After a number of years however, the bowl has become its permanent home. Does anybody else have any objects like this, that you are attached to but probably should throw out?
Drawn in 2006,
This past January,
Last night.
I decided to make some practice baby sketches from some photos on flickr before undertaking the drawing that I want to make. I thought it would be easier to draw some random stranger’s baby before I make an attempt at a baby I actually know. It worked well for this practice sketch. I think it felt a little easier because I wasn’t emotionally connected to the outcome of the drawing.
I’m not really huge into crafts and it kind of annoys me when crafters/artisans call themselves artists, but every now and then when I’m in a non art mode, I like to make these little magnets. It is fun to pick out the pictures when browsing through old issues of House Beautiful, and I like to give them as gifts in an Altoids tin. Whenever I visit one of my sisters, they have them all arranged in the coolest mosaic-like designs on their refrigerators.
