Sunday Sketches

This has been an incredibly busy week.  I have not had time for any artwork until yesterday afternoon.  This was the first week of being on days which is always rough in the beginning.  By the time you get used to getting up early, you go back to afternoons.  We've also been searching for a new apartment.  It's one of those situations where we really can't afford to stay where we are but really can't afford to move right now either.  I've been feeling pretty much like the girl in my sketch.  It seems as though it is getting harder rather than easier as more time goes by since Jeff's passing.  I think once the stress of knowing where we will end up living is over, things will get better.  Thank you to all of my blogging friends for all of your kind words.  I'm usually a very easy going person and I hate dumping all of this on my unsuspecting readers but sometimes it helps to get things out.

For more wonderful Sunday Sketches hop over to Blue Chair Diary hosted by the lovely Sophia.

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Sunday Sketches

Lucy

Very rough sketch of Lucy.  Having a bit of a rough patch and just don't have the energy to do a full blown drawing.  For more Sunday Sketches visit the lovely Sophia's blog here.

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Sunday Sketches

Good morning!  Happy Sunday to you all!  Here's my submission for Sunday Sketches this week.  I drew this at work the other day so I still haven't gotten to use my new pencils. Hopefully I'll get to try them out tonight.  I'm very curious to see if there is a big difference between those and the ones I have used for the past two years.  To see more wonderful Sunday Sketches hop on over to Sophia's blog here.

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Let Your Inner Child Out

 

I wasn't in the mood for serious drawing yesterday yet I wanted to sketch.  So I just went with the first thing that popped into my head and sketched this young girl tending to her flower as she looks off at the swing she is longing to play on.  My puppy looks like a cross between dog and squirrel, but that's all right.  I had so much fun coloring her in with my Prismacolor markers.  I felt like a kid again, just coloring away.  :)

Off to Hobby Lobby to see what kind of deals I can get.  I have some birthday money I haven't used yet so I think I'll treat myself to some new art supplies.  Hoping to find a good watercolor instruction book so I can actually participate in Paint Party Friday!  Have a good one!

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A Painted Lady

Ok, so she's not really painted with the typical mediums you would think of such as oil, pastel, acrylic, watercolor or colored pencil.  She was brought into Adobe Illustrator and given a bit of color.  I didn't go too crazy with detail as I wasn't looking for a photorealism look and I didn't want to spend hours and hours on it as it was more for fun than anything.  I thought the background was fitting for the era she belongs in also.

Hope you like her. :)

Thank you for all of your kind words yesterday.  Artwork definitely helps with the healing.

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Sunday Sketches

I don't have much of a sketch this week as I have not been feeling too good the last two days.  I'm also still trying to cope with losing my boyfriend as today is exactly one month since he passed.  I did try to color her with my watercolor pencils but it was not a good thing.  The paper I used was too thin and buckled so I started over and decided to just leave her alone for now.  I'm thinking of bringing her into Illustrator and playing with adding some color but that will have to wait for another day. 

Hope you all are having a good weekend.  Be sure to check out all of the lovely Sunday Sketches hosted by Sophia of Blue Chair Diary.

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TGIF!

So happy it's Friday!  I don't have a normal weekend like most people but I do get Saturdays off so I'm super excited that it's finally Friday!  I drew this little guy last night.  I took my time with this one and I'm really happy with the results.  I normally get so worked up with a new design that I work straight through from start to finish and I think by the end sometimes I'm not focused enough to try to get all of the details right.  This time I did my graphing before I left for work.  I sketched in the main areas at work and waited until I got home to do the actual shading and everything.  I'm planning to frame and hang some of my favorite pieces in my bedroom/studio soon.  Still planning to take some photos once I'm finished.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

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Learning to Walk Before You Can Crawl

Meet Kevin.  I did not think Kevin up on my own.  He was a fun little exercise I found on drawspace. And while he may look cute, he doesn't look much like the example but that's ok.  He's my little piggy and I don't think he needs to be an exact replica.

One of the things I have recently come to realize is that I learned to draw before I knew how to sketch.  Kind of like learning to walk before you know how to crawl.  I love my Lee Hammond books and have learned some really great techniques from her; however, I discovered that I don't really know how to sketch.  Sketching is much looser and freeing than actual drawing.  Sketching can look very realistic like drawing but typically takes less time and is more of a rough image.  I love that I can draw but don't always have the time to dedicate to one piece.  So I am trying to learn how to sketch.  Big difference for me is that whenever I start a drawing I always graph, I am really bad with proportion so it is a must for me.  Trying to sketch something just by eyeballing it seems so much harder to me for some reason.  Or maybe it's not harder but that I'm not letting go enough to just do it without thinking so much.  Either way I am going to keep trying as I know practice makes perfect.

Speaking of not having time, I have been picking up extra hours at work and when I'm not at work I've been busy working on setting up my new studio space in my bedroom.  I've gotten the closet cleaned out, the furniture rearranged, my desk and computer set up as well as my bookcase with my books and supplies.  Now I just need to go through the hundreds of other craft items in the spare room to make room for my son. lol.  I'm so exhausted that I haven't had time to draw/sketch or do much of anything else.  The good news is that I'll be way organized once I'm done going through it all.  I hope to have some pics of my space once I'm finally finished.

Hope you are all having a good week so far.  ;)

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A Few Disastrous Pieces

Well, I can tell I'm definitely rusty with my sketching.  I have done three sketches, one animal, one portrait and one still life and really don't like any of them.  This one was the only one worth posting.  I haven't even finished the portrait as I really didn't like how it was turning out.  I think part of it was due to the paper.  It was slightly rougher than what I had been drawing on and it's much harder for me to blend on rough paper. 

This image was taken from one of my Lee Hammond books.  I really love the life like quality of her work but they are very time consuming and sometimes I would just like to sketch quickly.  I have a book on sketching but I can't seem to  grasp it for some reason.  I think I need a more beginner style book than the one that I have.  I'm going to check out the library tomorrow to see if I can find something with basic quick sketching techniques.  I would really love to take some art classes at our local college. I think it would be great to have some input on what I might be doing wrong.

Well, that's about it for now.  Not a great comeback post like I had hoped it would be but it's something.  I know that with practice I'll get back on track in no time.  Hope you all have a good weekend.

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It Has Been a While

It's hard for me to believe that so much time has gone by since I last updated this blog.  A lot has happened in the past several months, with the most devastating being the passing of my boyfriend.  He suffered from a chronic illness for many years and succumbed to complications caused by the illness on February 13.  I miss him everyday and it's hard for me to try to work on my creativity as he was such an inspiration to me.  He always encouraged me, no matter what medium I chose to work in and helped give me the confidence to believe in myself as an artist.  I miss him dearly but I know he is finally pain free and no longer suffering.

Now it's time for me to heal.  I think I just need to take some me time and get back into my drawing as it always helps bring me a sense of peace.  If you know of any challenges or classes hosted by other blog owners, please feel free to leave comments for me as I would love to have something that will help keep my mind off of things and the creativity flowing.

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Flamingo Sophisticate

'Flamingo Sophisticate'

Pencil on Sketch Paper

Have you ever seen a pink flamingo look this good?  Me neither!  Sketched this at work today.  We had a full crew and a relatively slow day.  (A slow day for us is somewhere around 250 calls in 8 hours.  A busy day would be over 400.)  Anyway, I picked this one so I wouldn't have to pay too much attention to detail but I really like this one.  Might have to frame him or her, not sure what sex this birdy is but it looks male to me.  lol  

This was the first sketch in my new sketchbook from Hobby Lobby.  I think it's their brand, Master's Touch 60 lb paper.  It's fairly smooth but it is a little thinner than the paper I typically sketch in.  I have one that I bought a few years ago that is very textured which was great for when I first started drawing but I find I don't care much for it now that I've been doing it a while.  I have a Canson Field sketchbook that I do most of my sketches in but it's kind of heavy to transfer back and forth to work all the time, which is why I bought this one.

I also got a Mead Academie (yes, that's the way they spelled it) Sketchbook; however, I don't know the paper weight, it's just called heavyweight but it's thicker than the Hob Lob paper.  I like it because even though it is in a spiral notebook, it also has the perforated tear off sheets.  I thought it would be good to do ink and watercolor or watercolor pencils without using the more expensive watercolor paper if I'm just practicing.  I'll let you know what I think after I actually use it.  Of course, they're all acid/lignin free.

Off to check out everyone's blogs.  Have a great day!

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Sunday Sketches - Through the Trees

So I've finally made a landscaping picture that I absolutely love.  Not sure if you can see it so much in the scan (well, photo that I brought into photoshop and edited) but the background is supposed to be trees off in the distance.  Don't care so much about them as I do the tree in the forefront.

I am one of those that hates drawing trees.  I think my limbs always look bad and leaves, forget about it!  I would do many more buildings and landscape sketches if it weren't for having to draw the trees and bushes.  lol.  Somehow this one worked out very well and I am thrilled with it!  Please also keep in mind that I worked on this at work in between all of the phone calls today.  We were understaffed and somewhat busy, but I am grateful that there were no major catastrophes this weekend and I only received one call.  A new girl didn't know she was on the schedule yesterday and I had to call her in.  No biggie.  :)

Baby bird seems to be doing a little better today.  I had to splint her leg again, the first one fell off so I waited until my wonderful boyfriend was in bed so he didn't freak out ( I handle ers much better than he does, remind me to tell you about the day I cut off part of my fingertip with a rotary cutter.)  I think she may have been in shock yesterday as she was very listless.  Today she is back to her feisty self and biting us when we try to hold her.  Have no fear, it's not because she is in pain, she always bites us when we try to hold her, except for yesterday.  She still can't use her foot and she may never be able to but the fact that she's eating, preening, interacting with the other birds and moving around a little bit makes me think she's going to be ok in the long run.  She's a very strong and brave little bird.

Don't forget to visit all of the wonderful artists participating in Sunday Sketches hosted by the wonderful Sophia over at Blue Chair Diary.

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A Birthday Gift

'Serenity'

Pencil on Sketch Paper

My boyfriend's mother's birthday is on Tuesday and he wanted to send something to her that I made.  I had just drawn this at work and I have to say, this is my favorite sketch so far.  The picture really doesn't do this one justice because of the extreme lights and darks.  This is the first sketch I have done with a water reflection and I think it turned out pretty good.  This was another practice sketch in the book I'm working out of so I didn't just dream it up or get it from a photo, but I'm still very proud of it.  As soon as my bf saw it he immediately declared this to be the gift for Mom.  I happen to agree so I framed it in a 4 x 6 black frame which really brings out the graphite even more.  Loving it!  Going to be hard to part with this one.   lol

I also wanted to tell you about my great finds at Hobby Lobby and Walmart.  At Hobby Lobby I found a 16 piece Oil Pastel Set on clearance for $3.59 which normally runs $9.99!  The end of the box was smooshed so I'm guessing that's why it was marked so low but all of the pastel crayons are intact.  Then, we went to Walmart and I happened to stumble upon a small but nice selection of fine art materials.  I got another set of oil pastels, this one had 25 colors for $4.99, they are slightly smaller than the Hob Lob ones but look to be of similar quality.  I got a pack of three 8x10 cotton canvas boards for $3.96, a pad of acrylic paper for $3.96 and a set of twelve 0.4 oz tubes of water colors for only $6.49.  It was like Christmas for me.  My boyfriend's birthday is Sunday and he received some b-day cash from his parents and let me buy some art materials.  Isn't he the sweetest?

Now, does anyone know what I'm supposed to do with oil pastels?  lol.  I've watched a ton of U-Tube videos and I think I just may like this medium.  Anything I can stick my fingers in to blend is a plus in my books!  

TGIF and hope you all have had a great week!

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Another ACEO Attempt

This little guy was my second attempt at making an ACEO.  I think he turned out pretty good.  It was very hard to get all that detail into such a small space!  I have learned that I should not start out with such intricate designs when trying something new.  Then again, I've always been that way.  The very first quilt I made was for my mom who has relocated to Arizona.  I wanted the quilt to reflect the region so I used Native American Indian signs for the quilting part with a Kokopelli as the center  of attention.  Not an easy task for a brand new quilter, but I love challenges.

Anyway, I got the design idea from one of my Goodwill artbook finds.  I used watercolor pencils and added watercolors where I thought it needed a little extra oomph.  Now, if I could just get up enough nerve to try my acrylics!

Still having back problems but I am moving a little better.  My right leg keeps going numb all the way to my toes so I think I'm going to have to go back to the doctor.  She told me to give it two weeks and we're at about 1.5 right now.  Somehow I don't see it getting miraculously better in the next few days.  :(  At least I'm back to drawing and painting!  :)

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What Was I Thinking?

This was the first sketch I did after being laid up for a few days due to my back.  (Drawn before my Sunday Sketches sketch.)  Maybe it was the pain that I was trying to work through, or the meds I was on or a combination of both but there are so many things wrong with this picture it's not even funny.  First and foremost one of the recurring issues I seem to be having is making my eyes too large.  I think it's because I feel like you should be able to see the iris, pupil and light reflections but this isn't necessarily true. 

Secondly, babies don't have thick, long eyelashes like this little one does.  The reference photo is a girl baby and this looks more boyish except for the lashes to me.  Finally, the head should have been longer.  Overall, it doesn't look bad as a sort of illustrated, generic baby similar to the Gerber baby. 

I'm learning new things with each sketch I produce.  I have also noticed I make faces slimmer than they really are.  Constructive criticism is always welcome.  Please don't feel that you have to say, "Great sketch" every time I post something.  I know I have produced some 'sketchy' pieces.  Oh boy, meds kicking in.  lol.

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Sunday Sketches - Another Portrait

Pencil on Sketch Paper

I've been trying to practice my portraits because I feel that this category is my strongest skill set.  I tried doing a small landscape sketch of rocks and some plants, horrible.  lol.  I will be trying some famous faces soon so that you'll be able to see the comparison and see how I'm doing.  It's easy to draw a portrait, but it's extremely hard to get it to look like the actual person you are drawing. 

My back is a little better.  I ended up going to the er and got some pain meds to take along with the motrin and muscle relaxers.  I only take the muscle relaxers at night though.  Makes me very sleepy.  :)  I'm off to work but will be back later this evening to check out all of the wonderful Sunday Sketches.  In the mean time hop on over to Sophia's blog to see more great sketches by some very talented artists.

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I'm Falling Apart

Like this glass vase, apparently my back is very fragile.  If you recall, I was going to work extra hours yesterday.  I never made it to work.  As I was getting out of the shower, I bent over to dry off my legs and my back went out so badly that I couldn't even move for a few minutes.  

By some miracle, my wonderful boyfriend happened to wake up and knocked on the door to see if I was almost done.  There I was naked, in tears and unable to move.  What a sight that must have been.  lol.  I couldn't even get dressed without his help.  

I don't have health insurance so I'm stuck going to the county clinic, which I called and was told that since the doctor I saw on Saturday was not in, I would have to go to the ER.  I couldn't even put my shoes on, let alone sit in a car or even get into the car.  So I opted for extra muscle relaxers and alternating cold and hot compresses along with some anti-inflamatories.  I'm moving a tad bit better but am still in extreme pain.  We'll just have to wait and see what today will bring.  I can't afford to miss much more time off of work so I'm hoping the rest will work some magic and I'll be back to normal (like I ever was!) soon.

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Happy Hump Day!

"Study of the Eyes II"

Pencil on Sketch Paper

You may or may not have noticed I changed my thumbnail image.  Not because I like to make changes like I do to my blog every few weeks, but because Blogger in it's infinite quirkiness lost my previous one.  Not quite sure what happened but I went to post a comment one day and it showed up with no image.  So I chose this sketch as it was readily available on my computer.  I have been working out of the two Lee Hammond books I have and really love doing some of the smaller sketches while I'm at work.  They're quick and I don't need quite as many supplies as I do with some of the larger pieces.  I still need lots of work on my eyelashes but I'm relatively satisfied with the overall outcome of this image.

I have just gotten Lee's book called Lifelike Drawing in Colored Pencil.  I haven't started anything yet, but it looks to be as intriguing as the first two books I bought of hers.  Hopefully I'll have something ready to post soon.  I really love working in graphite, but I do wonder, should I ever decide to sell my artwork, is there really a desire for this type of medium?  If so, are people willing to pay for the time vested in each image?  Is it better to sell reproductions or originals?  I have so many questions.  I have always been able to sell handmade items, but I'm so new to this aspect of my creativity that I'm unsure of where to go from here.

As artists, how do you decide what to sell and how much to charge?  Ah, too many questions, not enough room on my blog.  Not to mention, boring my readers.  lol.  Anyway, hope you are all having a good week.  I have decided to pick up some extra hours at work so I won't be off at 10 am like I planned.  But I will have some overtime on my next check.  More cash for my art supplies!  Shhh, don't tell my boyfriend.  He already thinks I need to pare down my quilting, sewing, crochet, knitting and artwork supplies.

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Feeling Better

'Waves'

Pencil on Sketch Paper

I just wanted to thank everyone for all of your wonderful thoughts, not only that I would feel better but all of the great compliments I've receive on a daily basis in regards to my artwork.  My back is feeling better and I hope to start visiting all of your blogs today when I get home from work.  

In keeping with the water theme (see Monday's post) I decided to post a small sketch of ocean waves crashing on a beach.  This was the first time I tried sketching water and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  My boyfriend was able to tell what it was on the first guess so I think I got it right.  lol.  

We're in for more hot weather today, yuck.  Haven't been to the pool or anything since my back started hurting.  Hopefully I'll be back in soon.  My luck it will be pouring out on Wednesday as I'm off work at 10 am and have plenty of time to swim. 

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Monday? Already?

I can't believe it's already Monday.  I don't work a typical work week though.  I normally work Sunday through Friday but last week I worked Saturday instead of Sunday.  Yes, I work part time, 6 days a week.  Thank you wonderful economy!  :(

I do get to sketch at work sometimes though and this pretty little seal was one of the practice pieces I did while at work last week.  I think it turned out kinda cute.

Hope you had a great weekend.  I'm ready for the weekend already!

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