perfect sketchbag?

Maybe. I'm forever trying various bags. Above is the other Baggallini bag I recently bought on eBay. Very light-weight, it easily holds my sketchbook and sketching supplies, a camera, and regular purse stuff for a trip to Texas this week.

a smaller Baggallini bag bought at the same time

In a Flickr conversation with a sketch pal in Australia, I posted the link to a photo of this bag that I had googled . . . and was amazed when seeing that link myself! I had purchased the bag knowing about the large main pocket and those front pockets. But I didn't realize that the front is a flap --- lift it up and there's a whole 'nother purse underneath with pockets for ID, credit card, and money! Who knew?
(Sometimes I am so clueless!)

eating out

I love wee bottles and containers -- my grandmother used to save them for me to re-use with my dolls. Here, one held maple syrup and the other fudge.

Pentel pocketbrush pen, white Sakura gelly roll pen, & watercolor pencils.

more from Tanganyika

More sketches from Tanganyika Wildlife Park. This time I stopped with the ink sketches, leaving off color --- I used Noodler's Lexington gray in the Noodler's flex pen, a white Sakura gel pen, and a touch of black Pentel pocket brush pen for the penquin.
Mikala and I both loved the Ring-tailed Lemur Island --- these delightful and gentle creatures would come right up to us, even climbing some people like trees. I tried to get a photo of Mikala with some of them, but she is camera shy and didn't want me to. So this sketch includes a stranger's child --- I loved the stare-down between them!

scenes from Tanganyika . . .

. . . Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard, Kansas that is. Lots of interaction with some of the animals!

I would have loved to just sit and sketch on the spot -- it was such a lovely day! But I was with others who wanted to move on, so I took photos and sketched them later at home.

Noodler's Polar Black and Lexington gray inks, Sakura Gelly Roll white gel ink, and watercolor pencils on Mi-Teintes toned paper.

eating Cajun

We spent Saturday morning with granddaughter Mikala at Tanganyika Wildlife Park --- then out for lunch at Red Bean Bayou Grill. The decor includes lots of taxidermy; while we waited for our food to arrive, I sketched this opossum who was hanging from a tree trunk, enjoying a soda.

Sketched with my new Noodler's flex-nib pen and a bit of gouache on Mi-Tientes paper; text added later with a Uni-ball Signo white gel pen.

latest journal & new flex pen

My new handbound journal is the same size as the previous one, but this one has a combination of Stonehenge all-media and Mi-Teintes toned papers. The cover is the last bit of some hand-made paper I found a couple of years ago -- I've used it to cover several journals.
And yes, this is one of those highly sought-after Noodler's flex pens that Nina Johansson spoke of on her blog! Mine arrived yesterday in the mail, an early birthday gift from Bill. Next, I need to do some test pages with it.

 

I haven't worked much on toned papers, so first I tested several types of media. Here, I tested gouache, watercolor pencils, and watercolor crayons. I especially like writing personal notes on these pages with a white gel pen! (click on a picture to enlarge)

last pages . . .

. . . of our recent trip to Arkansas, and of this art journal. Time to start working in a new book.
One morning Bill called me out to the backyard, which slopes down to a heavily forested area between our friends' home and Norfolk Lake. On the other side of the fence was this newborn fawn, still a bit damp. Bill had noticed a movement and briefly saw the mother, then found this baby laying against the fence.
We kept an eye on the little deer all day but no more sign of the mother. We know she was watching us; we just did not see her. Early the next morning, both were gone. There was an impression in the grass where the mother had lain next to the fawn during the night before moving it to a more hidden spot.

As for the silly grinning piece of wood -- here's an untouched photo. George is a very talented wood-turner, creating lovely works of art from rough cuts of wood on a lathe. One day he cross-cut a piece of wood for a new bowl and this is what he saw looking at him. Totally natural.

Ceilidh's Arkansas souvenir

I used this stick to lure Ceilidh up the hill leading to our friend's house; she seemed just about ready to squeeze through the holes of the back fence --- I obviously could NOT follow her through those holes and into the woods, so I tricked her into running after this stick.

Then she proceeded to chew right through the hard wood.

bits of Arkansas

While visiting friends last week in Arkansas, we spent a lot of time in their yard --- at the edge of the woods next to Norfolk Lake. (Bill and I had the ticks to prove it -- never had 'em before.)

With recent rains, there were loads of mushrooms --- these are only a few of those found in their yard. Not sure if I named them correctly; my field guide is pretty old.

teething puppy

Our vet, Dr. Beth, has been concerned about Ceilidh's teeth --- her lower left canine pointed inside her mouth instead of out, forming a slight indentation on the roof of her mouth.

Right after a regular vet check-up last Monday, this tooth fell out. Followed by at least one more baby tooth every day we were away on a trip to Arkansas to visit friends. Ceilidh's permanent teeth are coming in so fast, she appears to have grown a goofy grin overnight!

We came home over the weekend but other "catch-up" tasks have prevented me from finishing up some trip sketches. Hopefully I'll upload them soon.