Weekly Journal Spread

I was able to work my way through a second week of Nina's idea of doing one spread gradually throughout the week. This works well for me as I am a veeerrry slow worker and can't get a whole drawing done at once usually. This spread really took a lot of my time this week but I love how it turned out. I made one super error in it but don't think it will show much on a casual perusal. Any artist worth their salt would eventually see it after studying it but I think I'll leave it at that. If you are a person who loves puzzles you'll enjoy my little unofficial challenge.

My aim this week was to try out Andrea's medium of just plain, cheap blue ink from any standard ink pen that people use all the time in their ordinary writing. I started with the pencil and although it didn't come out as nice as her work, I still liked it well enough to continue on to the ink bottle. This led me to the idea of making a page around the idea of writing a letter so I added the paper. (Because I am not typically a single color person but one who wants to see all colors at once, I made the paper in the complementary color and then heaved a sigh of relief!) Well, you can't use ink with a pencil so I had to add a pen and I admit to cheating a bit here-- the pen fit perfectly into my scheme so I traced it rather than drew it. I know, I'm trying to learn to draw but it was just too perfect to pass up. Blue Ink came next and then I was stumped. Folk art being one of my loves, I decided to add some to the big empty corner. I got the values off some from what I wanted but its okay; I figure I gained a little more experience.

At this point I figured I was done with the major parts of the page but wasn't satisfied and then I did something I almost never do -- I started to play! I added the figures sitting on the pencil and the spider and that led to the other figures. These represent my grandkids and they will love seeing themselves on the page. Then I added my little muse Beady Guy who is telling all of you to give this technique a try whether it's using the blue ink or building a page one piece at a time. Come on and have some fun!

I apologize for the long run-on paragraph. Blogger isn't accepting my double enters for space between paragraphs so I am resorting to different colors. Hopefull that makes it easy enough for you to read.

Nina's Challenge

Nina Johansson decided to fill a two page spread of her journal with drawings she does daily for each week. She asked if anyone wanted to join her in doing this. I thought it might be a good way to get myself to do a bit more drawing. As you can see I did a "bit" more but didn't quite get an object drawn each day. Still, I did better than I have been doing.

The word "pear" and the flowers were done in ink and watercolor pencils while the other pictures were drawn in pencil and then colored in with Prismacolor pencils. I used fluorescent colors for my canary as he really is that color but the colors didn't come out at all with a scan and even with this photo look washed out.

These are probably the most realistic drawings I have ever done. It was challenging to say the least and I am not sure I will do the same kind of colorwork every week but we'll see how it all goes. Maybe I'll even learn to do better on my layout so my kitty won't get speared through her head with a branch again!!

Thank you Nina for a great idea.

EDM #192

When I saw the challenge for this week I just had to hurry up and do this picture. My brother could not float for anything but my little sister could not sink. Her rear end would always keep her afloat as if it were a bobber!

This is my version (I am seriously an amateur but couldn't let that stop me) of "something that floats". This is our old family pool where we spent our summers - only one travelling vacation in all my years at home. This challenge was a good trip down memory lane. I hope to learn to draw better but I think the idea gets across.

I used pencil to sketch this in, then inked what I needed to and finally used watercolor pencils and a waterbrush to paint it.

Hope you enjoyed the fun of this as I did. I am not trying to make fun of my sister; what is - is.

Inchy for the Week

The theme for this week's inchy is rain or water. I chose to use dewdrops on a flower. The flower is drawn with Prismacolor pencils on a dark gray/blue background. If you'd like to try one just use a 1 inch format and in any medium depict something about water or rain. Then post a link at the Inchybyinch blog so everyone can see what you've done. It's easy, fits every style of art and it's fun. C'mon and try one!

An Autumn Inchy

I have left this blog with just EDM challenges so far but I am pretty happy with my newest inchy. I am part of a group who makes one most weeks from the Inchybyinch blog.

This week's inchy's theme was autumn. I figure I wait all year for this season to come so I can have my candycorn. That makes it the perfect subject for me then to try to convey on that 1 inch square. I used prismacolor pencils on Strathmore art paper. I probably goofed up on the shadows but overall, I am happy with this tiny piece. Have you got candycorn??

EDM#52 - Draw a Dog

I've drawn my cat and I've drawn one of my dogs. Sarah is a german shorthair pointer. A beautiful, very fit dog as she runs around on 40 acres chasing rabbits and lizards. We live in the desert so sometimes she gets into a bit of cactus. She has made some trails around the property so she gets less than at first but cactus nor a 4 1/2 foot fence stops her from going after the animals. She even went after a coyote once which scared me as coyotes are not out there to play with but it ran away from her so I breathe a bit easier now.

I sketched Sarah while she lay sleeping on the living room floor while we were watching the Sunday news shows. She's a wonderful dog but a little too energetic and strong for us. Thank goodness she is a timid dog.

EDM #185

I wasn't going to go out of order but I guess if I'm going to just enjoy myself it's going to happen. Pandora was just sitting there when I decided once again I just needed to draw something. I still need to figure out getting the whole of what I am drawing on the page. It's okay to run off the edge if you mean to but I didn't and usually don't. It just happens and that's something I need to learn to control.

After I drew her I checked the EDM messages and found out it was a current challenge. Hey, I'm up that! It may not be the best drawing in the world but it is my Pandora and I'm pretty happy with her.