29 Faces in September

Looking for a new challenge?

Grab a sketchbook, a blank canvas, or whatever and join me for 29 Faces in September. Ayala Art had this challenge earlier in the year, but I wasn’t able to commit to it at the time.

Now I’m ready!

Come on, join the fun!

i remember...

Hello! I apologize for not posting more often. I have been involved with a work project that is to launch next week….so I have a few more days of crazy here! Then I can relax and spend more time in the studio.

I hope.

For now, another little doodle of something I remember from the old days. Sometimes I wish I had a place to hang clothes outside to dry. But then I think how hard it must have been to plan your washdays around the weather. And chucking things from the washer into the dryer is just so convenient…

bowl of fruit

Here is my latest painting. I have this wonderful bowl that I found at a flea market years ago. It’s colorful all by itself…and especially with fruit in it. I tried to use some techniques I learned in the workshop I mentioned in my last post.

I started with a value study.

Then I did a color study.

Here is a close up of one of my favorite areas of it.

And another.

Now…the weekend is here and I’m off to the studio!!

grapes

A few weeks ago, I went to a watercolor workshop by Sue Archer. Her paintings are amazing!! Her workshop was just delightful…I got so much information packed into 41/2 days!!

Let me just start off by saying that workshops are hard! Any workshop. Trying to absorb everything AND then putting that information onto paper is just not easy!

My sorry attempt at these grapes should not reflect poorly on Sue’s teaching ability…I was just struggling with the new concepts. She works wet on wet on full-size watercolor paper! I generally work with my paper dry. And the largest I’ve ever attempted was probably 11x15…something like that. So I really struggled.

Here are my sad little grapes. I’ve highlighted the one part that I like!!

I think I’ll move on to something with a little more color next time.

shelter

The theme this month at the Sketchbook Challenge is “Shelter” and I did some sketches of places that quite literally sheltered me. Most of these, I had photos to work from.

A few places I didn’t have any photos and tried to Google Map them. One place is now a vacant lot. Another I couldn’t remember the address. So that didn’t help.

I also lived in a dorm and a few apartments, but they were pretty boring…so I opted to not draw them.

I was surprised to see how many places I’ve lived in my life. How about you? How many places have sheltered you?

over the weekend

I spent the weekend with my grandson.

We went school supply shopping. He starts this coming Wednesday.

New jeans. New shirts. New shoes. Sharp-dressed man.

End of the season sales…new swimsuits for me.

A trip to the used bookstore. Of course.

Iced latte (for me). Mocha frappuccino (for josh).

We played lots of cards, too. The loser had to eat a Harry Potter jelly bean. I tasted dirt, vomit and two black peppers. Ugh.

stay cool

Sorry to have abandoned you. I was on vacation and went to a watercolor workshop. It was wonderful…I learned so much! You would think that I would have TONS to show you but most of what I did at the workshop was just exercise stuff. I’ll keep them for references but not really blog-worthy stuff!

I love going to workshops to learn new techniques but when I get home and try to apply things to make it “my style” it takes a while to work. Most of my stuff lately has ended up in the collage pile! But I’m enjoying the process.

For now, I’m painting and doodling and trying to stay cool. I don’t know about the weather where you are but we have been so dry and most days it is over 100 degrees! I stay inside where it’s cool.

I did get to see rain on vacation! Most people don’t like rainy vacations. Me? I wanted to go out and dance in it!!

Stay cool!