EDM #34 Draw a Leaf

I'm trying real hard to draw every day but find it a goal I am not always attaining. Yesterday Jessica of Cre8it suggested going small. We don't need to paint a big picture to reach the goal of some art everyday. Her example was a leaf.

I've been wanting to draw a leaf and had even brought some in the house but let them sit until they dried out and crumbled on my work table. But since I am working on the goal of drawing every day and being encouraged by Jessica and her sister Cassie I picked up a leaf at the store where we collect our mail. I sat down last night and first did an almost blind contour (I glanced at my paper just a few times). I surprised myself in how closely I matched the leaf's outline but this is a simpler shape than people or buildings or pets so I'll temper my elation at that. Then I picked out some colored pencils and working very lightly, I gradually filled in my leaf. I was really happy with how it turned out and that I spent some time drawing.

The leaf has a bit of extra drawing overlapping the leaf because I am working on a spread that is taking me much more than a week to do but it's coming along nicely and I'll share it when it's done.

The picture of the actual leaf was taken this morning and the lighting is different plus the leaf is now dried out with the shadows and shape changing a bit because of it. It will be a good picture to draw from later and will make a different one than my current drawing.

Many thanks to Cassie, Jessica and Nina (for the weekly spread idea).

My Work Space

I've been hearing a lot of talk about messy studios and the need to clean them up lately. I thought I'd post some pictures of my area messy as it is right now.

I'll get it cleaned up but in general I am happy with my space. It doubles as my bedroom or I'd be able to get more shelving in here for more storage for more art supplies. I guess that's where I am stuck right now - where to put the excess away. As you can see, even the closet is full! I could add another shelf or two to the bead wall and probably will after I make another trip to California and then to IKEA. In the meantime I have to realize more than space, it's me who is
keeping my space unorganized.

If anyone wants to share what their space looks like, messy or not, I'd be happy to drop in and see. Some people pay for magazines that show studio spaces but we see some by blog hopping to others who want post. Leave me a link to your blog if you do post your space.

Tagged!

Lynn of Cordelia's Place has tagged me to share six random things about myself. I've played this one several times on my other blog but not here so I will join in and tell you:

1. I just had my 55th birthday on November 15th. My body feels it a bit, I see it when I look in the mirror (yeah, I need to draw what I see there sometime, I know) but I am doing more art now than ever before so being 55 is a good thing.


2. I don't like getting messy so I am finding I turn to colored pencils and watercolor pencils a lot. I love collage but it's so messy I tend to avoid it.


3. I'd love to learn to do watercolor with the real stuff versus my coloring with pencils. It's such a beautiful medium but I am afraid I won't do it well and that it will get too messy. Hmmm, maybe I have a teeny problem here to work on!


4. I read the blogs trying to keep up with all the interesting ones and those who just want "someone" to drop in. I enjoy this but it does keep me from getting my own artwork done. Being a procrastinator does not help here at all. It's easier to keep surfing than start a picture.


5. The only TV I watch is some news. I'd rather read or do art than watch TV. I only have one because my husband wants it.


6. I have tried lots of crafts and enjoy most such as: knitting, tatting, bobbin lace-making, card crafting, embroidery, crocheting, needlepoint and bookmaking. I've tried most things to come along usually because I need something or want something so I make it whatever it takes. I call myself a "necessary artist" as if I need something I tend to make it versus buy it mostly because at one time, I couldn't afford to do otherwise. Necessity really is the mother of invention!

Now I am to list the rules and pass on the tag to others who might want to play along.

The rules:1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

I will tag:

1. Indigo of Desperately Seeking Perspective


2. Lisa of Lisa Reed....How I See It


3. Sema of Motivart


4. David of tactil blog


5. David of DAVID-WASTING-PAPER


6. Stephen of Stephen Hall Art Blog

I included some men in my list as they don't seem to get tagged too often - maybe because these web games might seem silly to me but the ones I tagged seem to have a sense of humor and friendliness so I'm giving it a try.

Red and Black

Maybe it was in the air on the eleventh but I just came over from Margaret Ann's blog where she did a great sketch on the eleventh on a Trader Joe's grocery sack. She made it in red and black.

On the eleventh, I finished a trio of pages in my journal about fairies. It started as a challenge from my granddaughter to "draw a fairy". It ended with this last page when my daughter sent me a photo of the two youngest being fairies for the day (this is breakfast and they wore their wings till bedtime even having to pick the right jammies to fit their fairy "personality"). I used red and black which is a very unusual color combo for me so when I saw Margaret Ann's drawing I thought I'd show my same color - same day drawing.

Creativity

I was over at another blog and saw this video. The video didn't work for me so I will just put the link here. It's funny and informative. I hope you'll check it out especially if you are a teacher. It's not a new one but it was to me so it might be to you also.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Enjoy and learn what you already know!

Cars!

I was just over at Margaret Ann's blog where she sketched out her latest car trouble - an accident.

I just had car trouble too - so you aren't alone in this car troubles time Margaret but I'm glad ours was less dramatic (traumatic?). I didn't sketch our old Ford Escort but after the tow truck came we found only one of us would fit in his truck cab so I got to ride in our car while it was chained on top of the flatbed! What fun - and I have a phobia with moving vehicles which didn't help at all.

So what's a girl to do finding herself in what feels like a precarious situation worrying she'll flip out with her phobia? Draw the situation! At the risk of getting carsick (which is far better than a panic attack) I pulled out my pad and pen and drew this sketch. It's not good I know. How can it be when I was bouncing and shaking so much I could hardly keep the pen to the paper? (Besides my less than stellar drawing skills). Anyhow, this is the view from the driver's seat (yeah, I sat there just in case the car got loose and fell of the truck - well, it helped me feel a tad of control) of my car looking into the cab of the tow truck. It helped. I made it home with having a panic attack and only started getting car sick as we hit the dirt road leading to home.

I wish my husband would get rid of this 15 year old car but he likes it for the dirt roads to save our new one for trips to California. (Now, if John McCain would have brought some of the pork home to Arizona, maybe we wouldn't have so many lousy dirt roads! Other states were getting extra money for roads while he so righteously refused it for us but that's a whole different topic).

Hope you get your car fixed again real soon Margaret Ann.