WOYBW!

In my case, it's What's on Your Bathtub Wednesday! Today is my second day of college this fall semester and right now the bathroom is the quietest place to study. If you've looked at my workdesk before you might not realize that the living room is just to the right and through some double doors. And the TV is RIGHT THERE. No way! So, I dragged my chair, computer and books into our bathroom (which is pretty spacious) and it's really working pretty well.

 

 

My daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter have been staying with us for a while, but they're planning to move into their new place next week. At that point I'll take over one of the bedrooms at the far end of the house from the living room. I will also have a much larger desk! I look forward to that, but I kind of enjoyed this setup today. With the window open I can hear birds and crickets chirping and feel a nice breeze.

So, no art taking place, though I did mail off a package to my art buddy today! I won't post pics of what I sent her until she receives it.

One of the things I did for Microbiology class was to write an introduction on the message board. We were supposed to list three of our favorite songs, among other things. Here is one of them. Hope you enjoy it!




To see many more artistic desks around the world, jump on over to Julia's Stamping Ground and start clicking on links!

Have a great week and SHALOM!

WOYWW!

I just noticed that I haven't posted since the last WOYWW! With school about to begin and my daughter on the verge of giving birth to her second little girl I guess I've been distracted. ;)
Well, today is a day off from work, so I sat down at my little desk to paint something for an art exchange buddy.

Hey, are any of you involved in the Sketchbook Project? I've been debating whether it might be a fun excuse to draw during study breaks. Can you still join for this year and is the due date in January 2013? Still debating.

Anyway, in an attempt to keep my water away from my computer I've relegated it to my lamp table...along with my usual glass of iced tea. In case you're wondering what's in the big blue bag on the floor (it's been sitting there for a YEAR!) it's my nursing kit, which I will be using this year...finally!

Ready to begin my drawing...

The slant top desk is just sitting there...

How is this picture different from the last one?

So, that's what I've been up to today. I've got a hankering to draw some owls, so I've been collecting images. I also want to do some painted backgrounds in my scripture journal and some actual writing.  Not sure I'll get around to all of that. I do have to interact with the family, after all!

Everyone have a great WOYWW and a great week of creating art! To see more desks visit Julia's Stamping Ground. It's tons of fun! :D

Shalom!

WOYWW!

Well, it's time to trot around the globe once again (virtually speaking) to peep at desks! If you'd like to join in the fun go to Julia's Stamping Ground and click on some links!

I must admit, I'm not doing much at the moment except getting inspired. I'm doing this by watching Danny Gregory's collection of YouTube videos!

Danny wrote "An Illustrated Life" which is a book full of pictures from many different people's sketchbooks. It's on my wish list! But the videos are so much fun to watch! (See my previous post for easy access to his videos!)

Besides that I've Mod Podged a few more dried flowers on my scripture journal. Now to spend some time writing in it! :)

I'm not so happy with the dried hyssop right under the word "journal". It looks too much like a moustache! But it can't be helped now! I really like the tiny grape leaf right above my name. It's transparent!

I had to rescue my latest piece of zentangle inspired art from my new, and very cheapy, Walmart sketchbook. Here I've cut it out of the new sketchbook and pasted it into my older sketchbook where it will be safe.

And here is the accursed cheap Walmart sketchbook which has been relegated to a dark lower shelf, never to be used for anything other than scribbling, heh, heh... (I mentioned this sketchbook in a previous post entitled "A Lemony Sketchbook". The paper is so inferior that it's falling apart after just a few uses. Bleck!)

So, I hope you all have a great WOYWW and maybe you'll watch some of the aforementioned videos!

Shalom, all!

Jane LaFazio Interviews Danny Gregory...interesting!

I found this really interesting and I plan to watch more of his videos on YouTube! :D



I found this video on Danny's YouTube channel. It's a two part video about Danny Gregory and Richard Bell whose Wild West Yorkshire Nature Diary blog is on my blog list! It sure was fun to watch these two talk about their sketching. And, Pom, they exchange drawings in the mail just like us!! Who knew other people did that? Hee, hee! ;)

Just wanted to share this new gold mine of sketching videos I plan to savor in the future!

Shalom!

A lemony sketchbook...

I think that I shall never again purchase one of these sketchbooks at Walmart...

It wasn't even really cheap...$8. That's more than my other large sketchbook which I bought at Ben Franklin's...I think. I don't remember the brand of this sketchbook and I removed the label, but it's their standard brand of art supplies. (Would it be Daler Rowney, like the tube watercolors I bought there?) Anyway, the paper is soft and mushy like construction paper, and after turning the pages a couple of times they begin to tear and want to fall out. I'm not sure I want to put a lot of time into sketching in this book! Just wanted to sound a warning. Back to Ben Franklin's!

Okay, finished whining...

Shalom and happy sketching/painting/collaging or whatever your passion may be! :D

Building a better phoenix...

When Zach commented that my drawing of a phoenix in this post looked almost "happy" and "huggable" I took it as a challenge, heh, heh... We all know that a happy, huggable phoenix is not a real phoenix at all, so I did my best to build a better version. And here he is.

I took pictures of each step as I colored it so I could remember what I did...

Close-up to see details...



Probably my last phoenix drawing. There are too many things to draw in this world to do too many do-overs. :D

The DIva's Challenge-Brayd!

My mind works in mysterious ways. I think a lot of our minds do that! As I worked on this ZIA for The Diva's challenge my Brayd reminded me of a rope...

...so I asked myself, "Self, what theme can I go for on this Zia that could incorporate a rope?" For some reason I came up with a nautical/marine theme. Rope...boat...fishing net...sand...sea, etc. I'm not sure the associations are obvious; especially the initial leap from rope to boat. But hey, it's MY imagination, right? :)

So here it is! I especially enjoyed playing with my colored pencils and layering some colors!

To see what everyone else did with the Brayd tangle go to The Diva's Challenge blog and check out the links! :D

WOYWW!

Almost 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday night here in northern Minnesota, USA! I'm hurriedly trying to put something together for WOYWW so that people from around the globe can marvel at my enticing workdesk! Ha! If you'd like to do the same please go to Julia's Stamping Ground for a list of participating artistes!

Did I insinuate that my desk is marvelous and enticing? Well, that was a bit of hyperbole...

I've been a little caught up in getting my paperwork together for fall nursing classes, but now that that's done I hope to do a little art in the remaining days of summer. I've begun my Brayd tangle for the Diva's Challenge, but besides that I mainly have a stack of reading material on my desk. BO-RING! On my slant-top desk is my colored pencil rendition of a phoenix which Zach from Designed to Create described as "happy" and almost "huggable"! Not traits usually associated with a phoenix. I am quick to admit I need to work on a fiercer visage, more majestic body and longer wingspan. But it was fun practicing with my pencils!

The Brayd tangle is quite challenging and I have a lot more to do on this ZIA, but it's good to get a pen in hand once again!

Hope you all enjoy your WOYWW and shalom, all!

Sketchbook Challenge-Shelter

The topic this month for Sketchbook Challenge is "shelter". I almost immediately thought of an ancient, though solid, stone barn in the rugged Yorkshire countryside. I've never been to England, but I have vicariously lived the life of a country vet while reading most of James Herriot's novels, lol! So I found a picture of a beautiful old barn, which is actually located in Swaledale.

I did this colored pencil drawing in a relatively short period of time, but even with LOTS of time I could never replicate the wild beauty of this country. So many shades of green, thousands of individual stones placed one atop another to build the seemingly endless stone fences. The barn itself must have taken a great deal of skill and patience to erect! These old barns often had just a few tiny windows which I imagine helped to keep the fierce winter winds and snow at bay, while still allowing some ventilation and light. Any animal finding itself caught in a blizzard would feel truly blessed to find this shelter and to wait out the storm in its dim interior.

By the way, this sketch is the first one in my new sketchbook! I just finished filling my last sketchbook and this will be my third sketchbook since beginning this blog, though I also have some random drawings in other books. It's been a fun journey and hopefully I'll find some drawing time after school begins!

Shalom!

It's a drawing kind of day...

I started kind of late today, but got in a lot of drawing. I'm doing the free colored pencil technique class that I won on the Sketchbook Challenge. I don't have the fancy pencils and tools, but I'm just playing around and doing what I can with what I have. Just a hobbyist folks...

In Lesson Two we learned about coloring on colored paper. I know...I've used this purk design a lot, but the main thing was to practice the colored pencil technique and this was something quick. I'm not crazy about the color combination I used. Maybe I'd better consult a color wheel next time?

Then we learned about doing an impression with a tool before coloring: (I didn't have the tool, so I used a white pencil.)

And, thirdly, layering colors. I found a picture of a pigeon pea pod. I've never heard of that (is it related to a chick pea?) but it was kind of unique instead of the usual sweet pea pod. ;)

In Lesson Three we learned about scrumbling (making little circular motions) and striking. I used both in this drawing of a phoenix which was drawn from a painting by Wenqing Yan I found in an image search. (My two sons used to be in a Christian band called Phoenix Awakening and I became fascinated with the beautiful paintings of phoenixes I've found online.) Yes, this phoenix does have a goofy expression and is a little on the portly side. I'll have to practice a lot more to do a decent job. His wingspan is also a little small in proportion to his body. Oh well, live and learn! :)

Lots of fun, but I'll probably have to get back to real life pretty soon, eh?

Have a great day in the Lord!

Shalom!