Day Twenty-nine

Collections
Sometimes in my journal classes, I'll have my students look around for certain objects that interest them and paint several.  It's a way of "collecting" things we like.  Some of the collections have been stones, flower containers, ginger bread trim on cottages, windows, flags  -  just to name a few.

I have been "collecting" salt and pepper shakers everywhere I go. I do them in restaurants, even if I have done them before, or they are identical to some others.  I guess I am collecting the experience more than the salt shakers. You'll find an even better variety in your friends' homes too.

If you're a little housebound (at least you're probably not out on the beach looking for stones) this time of year because of winter coming on,  there are always things around you that are colorful and fun to sketch.

For example:

January - chairs, interiors
February - fabric folds, lace, patterns, curtains, tablecloths
March - perspective, buildings, streets, doorways
April - trees
May - figures - people and pets
June - lawn chairs, window boxes, planters
July - gardens, gates and fences
August - produce, farm markets, sunflowers

September - clouds, landscape,

October - fall vegetables
November - dishes, silverware, glassware, tablescapes
December - dinner ingredients, labels, bottles and jars

If you have some prompts, themes, or a series you have done, we would love to hear about it.

Day Twenty-eight

 Themes and Prompts

Ooops - back on Day Fifteen I said we would talk about themes.  Sorry.

There are a few ways to use themes as thought starters  -  or painting starters  -  prompts. Themes can easily turn into a series.  If you're doing a series, you almost always have something in mind to paint.

• A few years ago in the winter I did some little sketches in my journal using the alphabet. The sketches were only about two inches square.  The self-imposed criteria was that the subject had to be something real  -  something I could look at and draw.
• Sometimes I have used a grid to set up some themes for a long weekend.  I would use ideas such as "simple pleasures", "light and shadows", "tastes", "just being here".   Art Escapes by Dory Kanter is where I read about this idea.
• For some reason a few years ago, in the back of one of my sketchbooks, I made a list of my 100 favorite things.  The list grew, of course.  It would make a pretty good reference for painting and journaling ideas.
• There are always the simple, quick sketches you can do in restaurants  -  the salt and pepper shakers everywhere you go, your water glass, your lunch.
• Then there are subjects such as gates, doors, gardens, figures, every view from your porch .  .  . 
• And the more obscure themes such as passions, random thoughts, gratitude, spiritual . . . 
• There is always that view from a window every day for a year  -  watching the seasons change.

 The possibilities are endless.

In the next day or two, I'll explain a little more about each of these and show some examples.  Creative writers use prompts, and I think they work well for visual artists too. 

Day Twenty-seven

Wrapping up Thanksgiving Weekend

This is a sampling of the day, sketched on a journal page.  

We did manage to get another lunch out of the leftovers, but we've hit bottom now.  Well, there are two pieces of pie left.  Tomorrow I will have to go to the grocery again.  Aren't you always amazed that you have to go to the grocery store a few days after Thanksgiving??!!  Planning, shopping, cooking  .  .  .  didn't you think that would take care of it for awhile?

I hope you're all set to start a new week.  Do you have some sketching plans lined up?  Maybe illustrate your to-do list?  Your shopping list? 

Tomorrow I'm going to post some ideas that I hope will inspire your journaling habit.

Day Twenty-six

My Little Studio Mannequin

I'm just doing things today like watering plants, putting away the silverware, gathering up the tablecloths. Things are in disarray in every room of the house, but I don't want to rush into anything.  I do have a couple of paintings buzzing around inside my head, and I don't want to lose that buzzing.

It was very dark and rainy today and felt nice and cozy inside.  We had enough leftovers for lunch, but I suppose I may have to come up with something for dinner.  Then, again, maybe not.  Wow  -  feeling so lazy!

I do have to mat some paintings, and I have to make space to do it, so that will get me going.  It will feel good to get back on track.  And my new classes start next week!

Day Twenty-two

Giverny, France, 1993

Yesterday I started a new sketchbook.  Starting a new book makes me think fondly of the ones that have gone before it, and this is the one that started it all.

It was a fabulous trip.  We painted in Monet's garden in the evenings after it closed.  We stayed in a rented house and did our own cooking and had to get groceries in the next town  -  we didn't have a car.  Once we hitched a ride on a vegetable truck.  A little old grandma lived downstairs, and sometimes she would come up to see us.  She always had a dog and two geese following along.  She didn't speak any English but somehow we managed to communicate.  One of her geese would make a bee-line to our pantry and pull out the bread.  I went with two artist friends and the house was full of artists coming and going.  We stayed about two and a half weeks  -  it was beginning to feel like home. Every spring I get a little homesick for the place.  I've never gone back.  It was one of those experiences that couldn't be duplicated.  Maybe because they wouldn't want those crazy Americans back in the neighborhood.

Okay  -  back to reality.  Back to cooking.  Back to digging out the table linens.

Day Twenty One

A New Orchid Blossom in a New Sketchbook

I thought I should sketch the orchid blossom, because somewhere along the line I'll want to know when it started to bloom again.

Last year when I received it in February, I did a couple of watercolor sketches of it.  It bloomed until July!  I had never had an orchid like this, and I was very surprised that they bloom for months!  When it was finished, I cut the stalks back, and a new one grew  -  and here we go  -  it's blooming again.

This is a contour drawing (continuous line) done mostly while looking at the subject, not the paper.  Although I do check the paper once in awhile to make sure I'm making the right connections.  A contour sketch does take some concentration, and I must admit, I was thinking more about  the grocery run I had to make in a few minutes.  But I say any line is better than no line.

Day Twenty

Apple Crisp

Could there be anything more colorless?  But it was pretty tasty!

This afternoon I have been getting things ready for Thanksgiving dinner.  I baked the sweet potatoes and the squash, fixed the fillings for two apples pies, and mixed up the crust for those and two pumpkin pies.  I put everything in freezer bags, and I'm that much ahead of the power curve.  In the middle of all this, I figured a few more apples sliced up into a pan for apple crisp was no big deal. 

Our son, in Afghanistan, says he'll be thinking of us on Thanksgiving trying to replicate his green bean casserole. Oh  -  you mean there's a trick to it?  A secret ingredient?  You can bet we will be thinking of him too  -  green bean casserole or not.

What did you sketch this weekend?

Day Nineteen

Lemons

I love lemons.  They are ridiculously expensive by the piece  -  something like 79 cents each. I think that is a lot for a couple of table spoons of juice.  A bag of seven was 2.99.  I put them in a big fat glass vase on the kitchen counter so I can see and smell them.  Before they go bad (I hope I'm paying attention) I'll squeeze them and freeze the juice and some of the zest.

I really have to get with it, and get things together for Thanksgiving.  I worked on my list today.  That's something, huh?  I cleaned the fridge. 

Who's cooking?  Are you ready?

Day Thirteen

Paintbrush

I spent the day painting furniture.  It doesn't matter what you paint, right?  Just as long as that paintbrush is moving?  A couple more days of furniture and then it will be walls.

This is the point where I always get bogged down  -  things get torn up, and then I don't know how to follow through to finish.  I'll just keep painting.  I bought a gallon of white paint for window, door, etc. trim and a gallon of black for furniture.  That's going to go a long way  -  I won't have to get back to real life for a long time.  I may get a little sick of black furniture before the gallon is runs out. 

Did you sketch something this weekend?  Anything?  Keep it simple  -  it's supposed to be fun!

Day Twelve

Saturday Night Pizza

Our fat, dairy, white flour, and meat splurge of the week.  We are trying to lower our cholesterol, so all week we are pretty good about sticking to a healthy diet. Saturday nights we treat ourselves to pizza.  Sometimes we make our own, but often we are in the middle of some weekend project, and suddenly we are tired and hungry, and it's time for pizza.

This weekend's project is way off track.  While we were in the middle of discussing the re-do of the kitchen and dining room, we decided to redecorate the bedroom.  We spent the day cleaning closets, painting window trim, getting rid of things that really didn't need to be in there, buying paint, going over paint chips, and looking at carpet, mudding some bad spots in the plaster, and on and on.  It was fun -  of course we aren't finished, but I'm hoping this doesn't drag on too long.  Things can do that around here. 

I hope you're treating your sketchbooks to pizza or dinner out.  I hope you're treating yourselves to a nice relaxing weekend  -  or a nice productive weekend  -  whatever feels good.

Day Eleven

The Last of the Red Hot Blossoms 

This has been on its way out for quite awhile, but this last blossom is really hanging on.  It's a great color  -  somewhere between red and "hot" coral.  I think it is a Kalanchoe Calandiva.  If the leaves stay nice, I may try to keep it going to see if it will blossom again.  It can live with my messy geraniums that I keep shuffling around.

A strange day today  -  it feels like a Saturday.  My husband took the day off, and Middle Granddaughter was here because there was no school. It is one of those things that throws off the days of the week  -  in a nice way.

Day eleven of blogging every day in November.  I have nothing exciting to say or show, but I am hanging in there.  I can tell from my stats that you are too.  Thank you for "listening".

Day Ten

Indigo Sky

This is a scribbly little watercolor done in my sketchbook on Strathmore drawing paper.

More than anything else, I was trying to record the contrast of colors as I looked out the front window.  It is raining/sleeting/snowing, and the sun is shining very brightly periodically, but the sky is VERY dark in the north.  A very interesting, beautiful, dramatic day  - and I can hear geese "barking" as they head south, away from that black sky.  They don't know what they'll be missing.  Just as I don't know what I'll be missing where ever it is that they go.

I did dig out a couple of Julia Cameron books and I'm feeling more creative already.  Is Julia Cameron my little creativity pill?  She's one of those "just do it" people, and I need that once in awhile.  I have always said you can paint whether you are in the mood or not.  I guess I just forgot my own advice for a week or two (or more).

Now I'm going to round up some objects for a still life for this afternoon's class.  It's a warm colors kind of day  -  maybe with a little glass added to the set-up.  Maybe the round bottle with the plant cuttings from my post a couple of days ago, and a few pieces of pottery.  We'll just see what falls together.

Happy painting!

Day Eight

A Contour Drawing in my Sketchbook

This is ink on drawing paper. Sometimes I will do watercolor on this paper, and sometimes I just like the look of the ink.

I am in kind of an uncreative funk.  I figure if I just get my pen, pencil, or brush moving, I'll work my way out of it.  I am in a dry spell and don't have a plan, so I've decided I just move on without a plan.  One of my very favorite quotes is by Julia Cameron: "You may find yourself to be temporarily without a vehicle -  just keep walking."  Maybe it's time to read Julia Cameron again.  She wrote The Artist's Way, and several other very similar books.  So similar, in fact, that if you've read one, you've read them all, but I like her style, so I have read them all


Tomorrow I have class.  They'll get me going.  Actually, I had better get going before that  -  they are paying me to get them going.  No problem  -  it is always easier to have a plan for someone else.

Day Four

Little Chairs

Are these "little dolls chairs", "little doll's chairs", "little dolls' chairs", or "little doll chairs"?

A student brought these to me for drawing props. This a  contour drawing I in my sketchbook.  I didn't have enough concentration left to finish the right side, so I just threw in a border.  Works for me.  Don't forget, when you are drawing in your sketchbook, it is your sketchbook  -  you can do anything you want.

The cream sauce I made last night worked out great. I used olive oil, whole wheat flour and unsweetened almond milk.  I also used some onions, mushrooms, and, of course, garlic.  

We have SUNSHINE today.  Maybe I should get out there and soak it up before it turns to snow.  At least when it snows I won't have to feel guilty about the yard work I am not going to do.

Day Three

 

Pomegranate

Day three of Blogging-Everyday-In-November.  I know I should be linking to the website that does this challenge  -  maybe tomorrow.

We got a lot of things discussed in class this afternoon  -  everything from the body found in the creek a short distance from here to Herman Cain's smoking ad.  Oh yeah  -  we did discuss triads and color mixing for a minute.

Now I'm going to go try to make a mushroom cream sauce using almond milk.  What do you think?  Is it possible? I'll let you know tomorrow how it comes out.  In the meantime,  sketch some little thing  -  a piece of fruit, a mushroom.

Painting in Karen's Garden

 

Painted at the End of the Season

I painted this back on September 1st.  I needed something to post.  I could say I have been neglectful because I am saving myself for "Blogging Everyday in November".  Yeah, I'm gonna say that.

My creativity seems a little sluggish, but we all need a break now and then, so we can come back ready to go.  I played Mom to the two local granddaughters for a few days, I bought a "new" car (halleluiah!), I have gone through many boxes of Christmas decorations and pared it all down to one medium sized tote, I have done a pretty good job of putting the garden to bed, and I even got the leaves raked up and out to the curb for the pick-up  -  that was accidental, but still  .  .  .  .


I am finally getting into my autumn nesting mode and I have to go with it before it fades.  It's the only time anything gets cleaned and grubbed out around here.

How is your autumn nesting going?

Yoga/Painting Workshop

Demo in my Sketchbook

Saturday morning I did a workshop with yoga instructor, Sandi Jones.  She started off with an hour of yoga, and then I did sketchbook journaling instruction for two hours.

It was so much fun  -  everyone was so relaxed and very willing to try new things.  They painted loosely and quickly, and really let go of perfection. Maybe every painting class should start out with yoga.

I had been feeling a little stressed for the past few weeks  -  just a lot of stuff going on.  When I got home from the workshop, I stretched out on the couch in the sun, and I SLEPT for two or three hours.  It was great.  Talk about relaxed!

So here we are, into October.  I'm finally feeling ready for a new season  - was it the nap, the yoga, the beginning of October with fewer things to do?  What are your creative plans for this season?

A View from Hitchcock Hall

A Watercolor Journal Sketch from Late Summer

A sketch from late summer  -  wow  -  that seems like a long time ago.  It is cold, very dark, and raining here today, and the leaves are turning.

It's fun to look through my sketchbook at the summer sketches.  Summer here is crazy-busy, fun, and beautiful.  I'm doing a pretty good job this year of moving on  -  transitioning into the quieter season.  I've been busy with classes, workshops, and family.  I always get into a nesting and organizing mode about now, but that hasn't happened yet this year  -  it still could, of course.  I hope so  -  we could use a little organizing around here.

Now I'm going to go pack up my things for a mini workshop I am doing tomorrow.  I hope you're all going to carry your sketchbooks around with you this weekend.  I hope you're going to open them and paint in them!

Weekend Sketch

Salt and Pepper Shakers and a Couple of the Grandkids

We spent a family weekend at a downstate hotel, seeing our son off as he deployed to Afghanistan.   As difficult as that was, we had a really nice weekend together.  Some woman came up and tapped me on the shoulder as I was ordering a Starbucks and said, "There are a lot of weddings here this weekend, but there are also a lot of people here that are deploying. Just so you know".   Just so I know?!  Yeah, I know!  Did I look like I was having too much fun ordering my coffee?

This sketch was done on Nideggen paper in my sketchbook. I did the salt and pepper shakers at dinner, and one of the kids thought I needed the beverage menu as a backdrop. It would have been a good one to do in color.

I have a class tomorrow morning, so I had better go work on some sketches, so my students think I've been doing something.  They keep me on my toes.

Cedar Campus

Cedar Campus on Northern Lake Huron

in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

 I attended a women's retreat here Friday and Saturday.  Such a beautiful spot.   I wish that I had taken a picture of the moon on the water  -  spectacular!

Last night was our life drawing group, and I was just too tired to go.  But I went anyway and, boy, did it feel good!  I really struggle with life drawing, but I enjoy doing this once a week.  It feels so positive -  I'm struggling with it, but doing it anyway because I want to LIKE it.  I'm getting there.

Keep those pencils, pens, and brushes moving!