April Snow - May Flowers

Back to the flowers of week four.  April should be the perfect time to sketch flowers.  Not this April. What a roller coaster!  Constant fluctuating from summer temperatures to winter storms.  We just had 4 days of 80's, but today's blustery high maybe hit 40° with snow expected tonight.  Happy May Day!

Back to mid April.  The tulips were on the verge of blooming - just in time for this lesson.  THEN a cold front moved in the first day I had time to go outside and sketch.  I planted the bulbs last fall and didn't have the heart to cut the stems just for my lesson.  So, I did what any normal person would do.  I bundled up in multiple layers and plopped down on the front porch in finger-numbing weather with my sketchbook, pen & paints.  Cars rolled by and the occupants would glance over and do a double take.  Crazy lady.  Other than my fingertips, it really wasn't too bad, but then, I'm a winter lover, so you can take that with a grain of salt.

Part of the fun of this class is combining the watercolor with a bit of journaling.  Lovin' the mix!  I hope hope hope to get in the habit of doing this often.  It is more memorable than snapping photos and more interesting than just writing.

Later that week, I took advantage of a balmy day and a spare moment to sit on the porch and sketch and paint.  Bonus inspiration from the class.  These more stylized tulips were created with a Pentel pocket brush pen in the little Moleskine.  The pocket brush has a flowing, yet somewhat unpredictable line and I'm still learning to go with its flow.

Painting Souls

Week five.  Yeah, we're out of order now, but I just finished the first part of lesson five in the watercolor journal class yesterday, so we'll get back to week four later on.  It was a good one - adventure in the cold, lessons learned, and a bit of inspiration.  You'll see.

This week's assignment was shoes.  I have  boring shoes - mostly browns and blacks.  Yawn.  Imelda Marcos I am not.  These three are the least boring.  When the last shoe was between ink and paint, I realized I never take any in-process photos.  *click* (with my camera phone)  Now I have one oddly-lit in-process photo.

A few close ups because I like to see other people's close ups and study their brush strokes.  Though now I'm paranoid about everybody scrutinizing my brush strokes...

The TOMS shoe took the longest and was frustrating at first - until I had to stop for a bit.  Stepping away and taking a fresh look, plus allowing areas to dry before adding more shadow - good things.  Patience is a virtue.  I used to drive my kids nuts with that saying.  I need to listen to myself.

Other than the tennis shoe (propped on a couch pillow) falling over each time I got up to let the dog out, feed the cat, answer the phone, feed me, answer the door.... other than all that making it nearly impossible to get the shoe strings right, this page was quite a bit of fun.  

Getting way more comfy with watercolor.  (woot woot)

Fun with Lines

Virtual lesson 3 . . .

This week - contour drawing in pen, without lifting the pen, then paint.  The results can be "wonky" as our instructor says.  There's no sketching, erasing or redrawing, so the shapes are a bit more abstract - a challenge to the perfectionist in my brain.  The first go round, we drew with our usual drawing hand.  My subjects were a pitcher and an old cookbook of my Mom's.  My classmates and I submitted photos and shared feedback.  It's amazing the wide range of styles and skill levels.  Some have been artists for years and some are drawing for the first time.  Let me tell you (you "I can't draw" people), the newbies are catching on quick!

Then we moved on to contour drawing with your non dominant hand, still in ink -  YIKES!  Talk about no expectations of perfection.  I tried this a few months ago as part of my 30 day challenge (um, still not done with the challenge, oops) and found it freeing and fun.  This time around was just as fun, maybe more so since I'd tried it once before.  These angels really lent themselves to the imperfect lines.

You should try it.  It makes you laugh and the  wiggly results have a definite carefree feel.

Being Green

Report card, week 2...

Lesson two was slow to get going.  With family here, I squeezed in a late night study of greens - mixing yellows, blues, greens & browns.  That was the first step.  The next was to paint a few leaves journal style and I finally tackled that task last night.  That is, I tackled it after getting Milo to stop tackling my subject matter.

The love/hate relationship with watercolor is improving stroke by stroke. 

Back in the Saddle Again

I was going to title this Back in the Classroom, but the saddle song keeps playing in my head (Gene Autry - not Aerosmith).  So, there ya' go and on with show...

Guess what folks?  Another milestone - I'm a student again!  This time it's in a virtual classroom.  Yesterday I began a watercolor journaling class - a little bit of drawing, a lot of watercolor and loads of support and advice.  So far we've mostly just gotten acquainted and played with our paints a little - paint swatches, color wheels and such.  Several of my distant classmates have already completed lesson one.  I'm waiting until Saturday when I can give it my full attention.  Plus it's supposed to snow tomorrow (L.O.V.E.) which makes for a perfect stay-in-the-house-and-paint day.

I will share my results in the coming weeks.  In the meantime - happy weekend and go KU!  (Yeah, I'm one of those goofy March Madness people - though my brackets are already nearly completely blown.  Rats.)