it was red while it lasted

I began this sketch a full week ago. But neither of us have been sleeping well lately and I was just too tired to work on the sketch beyond a few dabs of paint here and there. Last week the tree behind the cow shed was clearly orange-red; this week the color is gone.

We’ve also been too tired to cook, so we ate at Backdoor Pizzeria yesterday. Where I drew this very tired sketch of the cheese and pepper flakes shakers. I’ve been debating whether to sketch on one side only in this tiny 2” sketchbook, or do different sketches on each page like I do in larger sketchbooks.

new sketchbook, random bits

Over the past week, I added a bit here and there to the first pages of my new sketchbook. Eclectic and unplanned. The paints I put together in this “landscape” palette include several colors I’ve never used before.

a little Jesus

I went to the dentist for a tooth cleaning and saw this teeny figurine next to the receptionist’s computer. She told me how Dr. Naeger happened to give it to her — so I sketched it in my teeny sketchbook. Life sized.

new sketchbooks, finished

These two sketchbooks were begun 21 November and I finally finished them today, after “life” caused them to be set aside several times. I took some photos as I went along.

I taught myself to sew the book block using a Coptic stitch from a Trumpetvine Travels blog post years ago, but I’m never quite sure about building the cover from scratch. I sort of make it up as I go along. At one point, I used not only the two antique irons for weight, but also a large book weighed down with a bowl of onions and potatoes! 

The small book is accordion-folded from 3” scraps of Fabriano Artistico paper from a previous sketchbook made years ago. The covers are plaid scrapbook paper and linen book cloth — I had both in my stash, though there wasn’t any paper for end papers so I just glued the outer book block pages to the inside of the covers.

I used a stretchy ponytail band to hold the accordion book together.

more Christmas cards

Over the past week, I painted a few more cards using the Christmas Demi palette that I recently put together. These started out as postcards but were later glued onto cardstock blanks. The wreath forms were made by applying watercolor to the rim of a juice glass and pressing it on the card 3 times each.

I can’t decide whether to add the greeting “Let Heaven and Nature Sing” to the fronts of these like I did the other cards or not.

a Christmas ornament

This simple sketch of one of our Christmas ornaments, using a Pentel Pocketbrush pen, is the final page in my current sketchbook. Time to finish that new sketchbook that I began a few weeks ago! It was set aside to deal with important family matters and a trip to Kansas.

I usually use the inside of the back cover to test pens or paints, and jot down the brand and type of the sketchbook itself. Labels are often lost and I may want this info later on.

testing page

more remembering

In the 1980s I designed and sold handmade teddy bears, under the label “Victoria’s Waifs”. (This was before companies like Boyd’s and Beanie Babies flooded the market.) This “Veiled Lady” was one of my first and she ended up with my mom, who later began to collect bears as a hobby. Several of her favorites now live on a shelf at my brother’s home. In the same location, this 3-headed turtle bowl can also be found — my brother made it in school and Mom always displayed it wherever she lived, alongside a giraffe sculpture he also made.

eggs have grown in size . . .

My brother and I were looking through some of our mom’s belongings yesterday, and among them was this very tiny egg cup. We don’t know if it once belonged to Mom’s mother or grandmother, but eggs were definitely smaller then!

I spread out my sketching tools in a Wichita hotel to sketch it this morning. And was obviously too quick at erasing the faint pencil lines where text was added. Ink smudges seem to be my trademark. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 🖋️ 

playing with my Christmas palette

We are currently in Kansas but just before leaving Texas I spent the day painting a few cards using the Christmas palette I put together, filling a red Trailbound Demi palette from Art Toolkit (found here) with Letter Sparrow paints I already owned, patterned after their recent Holiday Hues collaboration with Lisa Spangler, now apparently out of stock.

At first I used 8 mini pans and a small mixing pan, but later I switched out the mixing pan for standard pans of sparkly paints, taken from Art Toolkit’s limited edition Rainglow palette (paints from Case for Making). With a larger “gold”, I was also able to add Shire Blue, which looks similar to the “blue” mixed from the quinacridone magenta and peacock. The sky in the lower card was painted with the magenta-peacock mix! (with a touch of lunar black)

a little Thanksgiving sketching

We had a low-key, relaxing Thanksgiving day at our daughter’s . . . where I did a little surreptitious pencil sketching. Then added ink and watercolor later at home.