sketching at church

Wednesday evening I tried drawing a couple of friends at church --- capturing a likeness of friends and relatives is always hard for me! Maybe because it's so hard to put their personalities on paper, maybe it's simply a fear that the person being drawn might be offended.

This didn't get posted earlier due to unreliable internet and phone signals. We have recently had torrential rains here in central Texas. Our own cabin has remained above the flooding, though there was a 'river' running through our patio at one time.

44 years . . . and still in love

At least we thought we were in love. Now we know that being truly in love comes with lots of time and experiences shared. Today is our anniversary -- this photo was taken a few days after we were married, when Bill took me to see his ship at Point Loma, San Diego.

a book & date night

After finishing this fun little e-book, I jotted down a few quotes from it that I liked . . . then decided to sketch the book's cover . . . afterwards, Bill and I had a date night, so I added those sketches as well. Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers seem to have followed us to Texas. We remember when they were only in Wichita and El Dorado, Kansas. Now the chain seems to be popping up everywhere! We drove to Houston to eat at this one, then to Hobby Lobby for a few items.

Then the date's real event: we went to our son-in-law Michael's spring band concert. He is the head director for Eisenhower ISD high school, after having taught in the district's middle school for years. Which means he had some of these kids from when they first picked up an instrument to this, their senior performance. And what a fabulous performance! Three jazz bands, orchestra, symphony, and wind ensemble --- every piece was fabulous!

church doodles and 2 new toys

Facebook can be full of temptations, at least in the private sketching groups I belong to. Like most sketchers, I love seeing the tools that other artists use. Recently someone wrote about a miniature fountain pen they were trying -- I didn't know they even made mini fountain pens! I've always had a love of small things. I tried both out on these church doodle pages, along with a Uniball Signo white gel pen.

I was ordering a bottle of ink from Jet Pens anyway, so I bought two very cheap minis -- the Pilot Petit 1 and Jet Pens Chibi 2. Both pens' nibs write amazingly smooth for such cheap pens, at least on this Strathmore toned paper in my journal. The Pilot Petit 1 has less line variation, but it can be converted into an eyedropper pen to hold more ink. There is a how-to video on the page link.

I prefer the Chibi 2's line variation and finer line, which does not really show well on this darker paper. I got a Monteverde mini converter to use in this pen after the cartridge it came with is used up. Very tiny supply of ink and the converter seems a bit flimsy, but the barrel contains a few 'air holes' that prevent it from becoming an eyedropper pen.

a furry visitor

While our youngest son is finishing up his geologist degree at Steven F. Austin University, his furry friend is visiting us. The final 'class' is field camp -- over a month of camping in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Studying the geology in places such as the Davis mountains, Carlsbad, the Grand Canyon . . . (yes, I'm a wee bit jealous -- does it show?)

Meanwhile, his cat is visiting us for a while. Named Mist for her foggy, misty coat coloring, she is a rescue cat that is part Maine Coon, part unknown. Because of her shorter legs & tail and general round shape, I've wondered if she is part Scottish Fold or British Shorthair. She decidedly does NOT like other cats; she has taken over our bedroom and bathroom, while Bearcat (who would very much like to be friends with her) has the livingroom, kitchen, and loft. So far peace reigns.

a fallen jewel

Hummingbirds are the hardest bird to draw from life --- they just move too fast! The bird drawings in my previous post were sketched from a couple of field guides.

Unfortunately, this sketch was sketched from 'life'. Bill found this dead hummingbird in his woodshop. We aren't sure why it died.

The colors are iridescent green or black, depending on how the light hits it -- very hard for me to depict in watercolor! This is a female black-chinned hummer; the black chin or hood appears only on the males.

our hummers, always hungry!

Since we switched from the red-dyed hummingbird feed that is easiest to find in stores to an all natural kind without added coloring, hummers keep coming in droves. Often we will be dive-bombed when we go out to our patio or our back door! Especially when the feeders are near-empty! They know where we live and are sure to tell us to refill.

Recently I purchased several ink samples from Goulet Pens, trying to find a water-soluble brown that would bleed in a subtle way when touched with a bit of water or watercolor. I have decided on the J. Herbin Lie de The because it was not only subtle, but it also gave a bit of an antique feel to sketches. I came close to choosing De Atramentis Tobacco brown ink but it smells! Why anyone would think ink needs to have an added fragrance (this one is scented like tobacco -- yuk!), I do not understand.

Mostly ours are the smaller ruby-throated and black-chinned variety, but sometimes we see the larger broad-tailed hummers as well. Sadly, today Bill found one of the wee birds dead in his woodshop. Not sure what happened -- I will sketch it later today.

variations in green

Even though the best greens are made by mixing other pigments, I still like to have a few greens in my palette for convenience. That said, I still 'tweak' tube greens before adding them to a sketch. I thought it would be useful to make a chart in my journal of the variety of greens made from adding one other pigment to each of those I sometimes have with me. I can then keep a photo of this page on my iPod for quick reference.

The cleanest, brightest greens come from mixing phthalo green with other colors; in fact, my sap green is actually phthalo green and quinacridone gold. So I could easily stop carrying the other greens with me. If I chose only one other, it would be Serpentine genuine. All these paints are from Daniel Smith, though I've found just about any artist quality phthalo green to be the same.

mushrooms

 

. . . some mushrooms recently found growing in our yard, next to a decaying tree stump. Our yard was once covered with oak, pine, and cedar trees -- several stumps reveal where trees once stood before the cabin was built.

Cretacolor WC pencil play

Quite some time ago, just after we moved to Texas, I had a 'splurge' day at Jerry's Artarama in Austin. Among my purchases was this fat watercolor pencil containing 4 colors. For some reason, I never got around to playing with it . . . until this week.

It is actually a lot of fun to sketch with! I like letting go of color expectation, allowing the color just to happen. And the subtle effect of just touching a damp brush to singular areas only. I added watercolor to the flower blossom in the upper right corner just to see how that worked; I also added watercolor in the sketch of the pencil and sharpener.

My favorite is this quick sketch of Beorn Bearcat, with just a hint of green watercolor added for his eye, plus a bit of black ink for the pupil.

windfall

Recent winds around this part of central Texas have rivaled normal winds of Kansas. I noticed that several blooms had blown off of a potted plant in downtown Somerville before they had a chance to open. I'm not sure what the plant is, but I sketched one of the remaining blooms as well.

lunch with friends

Earlier this week, we ate lunch at Las Fuentes with some friends. Instead of stuffing myself with tortilla chips and the yummy green salsa they serve, I began drawing what was on the wall next to our table.

Then the food arrived and I finished later at home, from a quick iPod photo. I would have had to finish at home anyway; I didn't have my white gel pen with me, to draw in the silvery embroidery on the hat.

my shrinking Bearcat

 

Beorn Bearcat is shrinking. When we adopted him as a retired breeder at age 1 1/2, he was already too large to fit in our cat carrier. (The breeder had hoped to raise kittens with his gorgeous classic

blue tabby coat; unfortunately, his coloring is recessive --- all kittens he sired were white.) Later, as a full grown cat at age 4, he was 22 lb., a normal size for healthy Maine Coon cats.

Now at 13 1/2 years old, he weighs only 13 lbs -- a literal bag of bones. Lab work says he is a healthy cat, yet he keeps losing weight even though he is eating. The vet suspects that his kidneys are failing.

He now fits in the cat carrier. Which he likes to sit in now and then, in lieu of a good cardboard box.

Bearcat, just over one year ago at 18 lbs.

another etegami

Today is my brother's birthday, so I drew this etegami card for him. He loves outdoor sports of all kinds --- I used a photo of our son-in-law and a grandchild as models, out in the kayak on Lake Somerville.

new journal, first pages

Done with my cheap Hobby Lobby journal, and SO ready to work on decent paper again! This handbound journal is mostly filled with Fabriano Artistico 140# cold-press, with a few pages of toned papers. I prefer soft-press but was unable to find any at the time I made these.

The inside end papers are glued in a bit messy; I left a bit of white paper exposed on the right page, to add my current paint palette selections.

Bill and I were both getting hair trims, so that's where I began sketching. Then added a few more bits from my daily activities. Normally there's no wait-time with Rosie so I was glad that Bill came; I could sketch while she was busy with him. No one else in the place this morning. By the way, we get our hair cut at "The Best Little Hair House in Texas".

color play

I gave away a lot of art supplies before moving to Texas, but I still have some whole and half sized pans that hold colors I no longer use. I don't want to get rid of the little pans, yet I don't want to just throw the old paints away because they are artist-quality (as in, more expensive).

I used to have around 30 watercolor paints in my large studio set. Then cut that down to maybe 24. Now, I am down to the above 18. Among these are several convenience colors that can easily be mixed, but sometimes I just like to "grab and go". A couple of these (like blue apatite) may eventually go as well, but I'll keep it until the tube is empty.

On the left side above are the limited palettes I normally use, one for color and one for just a bit of shade or light in an ink drawing. I had three Altoids chewing gum tins (no longer available), so I put together three more limited palette sets, on the above right. One on the bright side, one of muted color, and one with Liz Steel's limited choices just for fun. (She doesn't have the mixed gray in hers but there was an empty space and I learned of mixing my own gray from her.)

Recently Irish artist Roisin Cure posted the colors in her paintbox --- many I don't use but I had similar colors in leftover full pans so I put together a "Roisin" set just to play. I love her use of indigo for black and shadows; I don't have indigo but I do have some leftover Lunar Blue that might work. I wondered about her not including a burnt sienna-type color, but found I could mix one. Not liking pink, I don't have 'opera pink' but do have a quinacridone violet that was once sent to me by mistake. (The seller told me to keep it at no charge.)

And that ends this particular sketchbook, a cheap ($4) journal found at Hobby Lobby. This last 2-page spread was used to test inks and color mixes while working elsewhere in the book.

last night at Bible study

 

Ms. BJ is teaching our current Bible study each Monday night, but unfortunately was called out-of-town yesterday on a private family matter. So Bill volunteered to teach in her place. I have missed his teaching -- he is good at encouraging good discussions while keeping us all on topic.

This sketch is a corner of the remodeled room where we are meeting, drawn before the others arrived. The original, rough bricks look very cool next to those cedar cupboard doors to the right that lead to old store-front display windows. Bill was the main force behind this remodel of a vintage downtown building as well.

an etegami card for a friend

Our pastor's wife, Ms. BJ, builds these amazing diaper cakes made up of baby diapers, receiving blankets, clothing, and accessories for baby showers. Since knowing her, I have seen an airplane, a motorcycle, a bicycle-built-for-two, and two giraffes --- if she sees it, she can build it!

Today is her birthday so I sketched this card for her.

an old spring house

This old spring house built into the side of a hill is on a property in Independence, Texas once owned by Sam Houston. Right across the farm road from Old Baylor's women's college. I love how the bluebonnet and paintbrush wildflowers bloom around it every spring.