Christmas sketches

Our Christmas Day was relaxingly low-key and I was able to do some sketching as well as beginning a new crocheted project. Plus playing with Butters, of course!

“Butters”

My new buddy’s name given to her by her former owner is Butters, short for Buttercup — but in my mind it’s short for Butterscotch. Her red and white coloring reminds me of an old-fashioned butterscotch sundae! She will be 5 years old on Tuesday, a fluffy Pembroke Welsh Corgi who has quickly become a much-loved member of the family. 

I love that she has the fluffy gene because it means less shedding, but it is harder to sketch than a smooth coat! The eyes are wrong in the lower right sketch but I’ll have lots of time to practice.

in lieu of a gift

I’ve had several gift ideas to give Bill, one of which was to replace his feather pillow. The man is very particular about having a good feather pillow! Unfortunately, the one I ordered will not arrive until after Christmas — so I’ll give him a sketch of it.

(He doesn’t do internet so I’m safe posting it ahead of time.)

I taped the edges of this Hahnemuhle Agave watercolor paper but the paper tore as I pulled it up. Lovely paper to paint on but it doesn’t like tape.

a bit of knitting

One of our dishcloths has a large hole so I gathered cotton yarn scraps to make a new one . . . . then stopped to draw my progress before finishing it.

something simple

Sometimes just a simple sketch is all that’s needed . . .

Over a week ago I developed an eye infection around my left eye that soon spread to my right eye as well. In spite of antibiotics and topical ointment, it has stubbornly hung on — but now is finally clearing up!

Quickly drawn in continuous contour line using a Pentel Falcon fountain pen with a splash of watercolor in a Traveler’s Notebook blank notebook, passport size.

Christmas has arrived!

My Christmas gift has arrived! Meet our new family member, Buttercup, a 4 year old Welsh Pembroke Corgi ❣️

Butters has retired from breeding and is ready for new adventures here at “the farm”. Our cats are quietly keeping their options open but since she isn’t barking or chasing them, they are tentatively accepting her. Our daughter and son-in-law’s dog Bradley is VERY interested in playing with her but we’ll take it slow for now. She was just spayed last week and needs to heal.

camping last week

After returning from our short camping trip, we were busy with unloading the camper, laundry, making a grocery list, etc — finishing my sketches and posting them could wait. 😁 

We were just a bit north of Houston but I managed to find a couple of red leaves — maybe dogwood? Not sure, but I love drawing autumn leaves! And the camper must’ve missed our regular trips; as soon as we set up camp, the plumbing broke down! We drove into Huntsville for repair parts, passing the Sam Houston statue on the way. Usually he is brilliantly white in the sunshine but this time had lots of shadow on him.

The first time we camped here at Cagle there were great masses of American Beautyberry, which is great for keeping mosquitoes away. The shrubs didn’t look so good this time, probably hurt by the summer drought.

Though I didn’t hike an entire trail this time, I did manage to hike down to Lake Conroe and this view. The forest had a wilder-than-normal look about it. Not very many birds this time and only one squirrel spotted. But very peaceful!

my “forest” Demi Palette

I like to collect Pocket Palettes in different colors, then fill them with special mixes of paints. (Easy to identify each one at a glance!) 

Art Toolkit is offering two sizes of limited edition GREEN palettes this Christmas season — I just had to get one for camping in local forests! Small enough to clip to any sketchbook with my favorite green pigments plus other basic colors to paint foreground, background, trees, grasses, lakes, and rocks! Maybe even an alligator?

Cancer treatment interrupted our camping this year but we are finally going for a few days next week to one of our favorite campgrounds in Sam Houston National Forest. I hope sketching the forest doesn’t intimidate me after all this time.

Traveler’s Company USA is again offering their collaboration limited edition green Pocket Palette but the quote on it includes “good coffee” in the phrase — and I hate the taste of coffee! So I never got that particular palette. 😂