More children's drawings

The next three drawings are ones I did for grandmothers. The one with the ruffly hat is my sister-in-law's long time friend's granddaughter.

The second and thrid (boy and girl in hooded jacket with fur are twins. Grandkids of a friend I met a few years ago at a barbecue.

Update on the apple picture.

Used toothpaste

Today the puppy was not good. She was ok while I ran an errand but tonight she chewed up a paper plate, unstuffed a toy, and chewed up a new tube of toothpaste I had bought today. She was chewing the toothpaste on the couch and thankfulflyf I found her before it was squeezing out. It was just full of bite marks. We had a very heated discussion but to no avail. She just looks at me and cringes, then runs and plays again. I have no idea what to do different.

I finished the weekly drawing early. Spent most of the evening drawing. 4 items for the new scavenger hunt and then the weekly drawing of apples. I wasn't too thrilled with mine. I decided to do it in color. I wish I had stuck to graphite instead.

Well I am fading fast. Need to get to sleep. Work again tomorrow. It's a shame wasting 4 good hours on something I don't like. I would much rather be home drawing.

What is impossible from a human perspective is possible with God. Luke 18:27, NLT

Penny in trouble again.

Well today I went to church then to a friend's house for a short visit. I left Penny for about 4 1/2 hrs. She had been doing so good that I was hoping. Well she got into the kitchen and got the mink oil my husband has for his boots. She chewed the cap off and had toenail prints or teeth prints in the wax. But I guess she didn't like the taste of it. And last night I made bean and cheese burritos. I left the tortillas out on the stove with some tongs on top. When I went to put them up, the plastic wrap was in the living room floor and the tongs on the kitchen floor. She ate 9 flour tortillas. And that was after her dinner and breakfast and the bagels. I am afraid this dog is going to get fat if she keeps eating that much. Right now she is just a puppy but later. And she has already been spayed so they usually get a little heavier after that.

Well I work tomorrow 11-3. We will see how she does then. I will have to try to block off the kitchen doorway better.

Here is a picture I did for the scavenger hunt for #25 Something I love.

Another day in the life of me

I finally decided it was time to finish the weekly drawing. I had started it the first of the week but stopped and did other things. But the week is about at its end, and I wanted to finish and post my black boots.

Shopped and banked today. The puppy is still doing really good. Just tearing up their toys and plastic coke bottles and leaving the furnishings alone. I will try to put some hours in at work next week. Try 2 days 11-3 and increase if everything works out those days. I do have to block her out of the kitchen tho. She steals food off the counters. My two bagels disappeared yesterday. And I was sure looking forward to that cinnamon-raisin one. All I found was the paper bag chewed up and the grocery bag on the floor of the kitchen.

More from the past

A co worker adopted a wild burro. She named him Mojave (mohahvee) after the nearby desert. She is a house sitter/housekeeper and lives in a smaller cabin/house adjoining her employer's vacation house. She has a couple dogs, a horse, and there are peacocks on the same property.

The burro is pretty tame now and follows her around the property while she works. The lady is a very colorful character and has many stories that make interesting listening. Here is Mojave.

The grass is always greener...

Another Commission

I did several drawings for my Bible study leader. She wanted a picture of her past animal babies. I did head shots of all of them. Some from photos that I just about had to guess at. But I knew how important it was to her. Then she wanted a picture of all her present animal babies. I did that one also. But when she gave me the photo references, there were two that I knew I had to do separate. One was a cat peeking over a fence, and the second was two of her passed dogs stacked together. Here is the one of the dogs.

First Commission

In the past

Since I haven't drawn anything but items for the scavenger hunt, I am going to post a few of my earlier drawings. This first one is of my hairdresser's two children. I did this for her Christmas present two years ago.

Monday

Another day down. So glad they keep coming. I went art supply shopping today. Aaron Brothers had 50% off on sketchpads. I also found some woodless Koh-l-noor colored pencils that I liked. I like the smoothness. Also no waste. All pencil and you can use the tip or the side. I also like the woodless graphite for use on the back of my drawings to transfer them to other more expensive paper. Regular pencil takes too long to cover the back of a drawing.

I did a drawing this last weekend of my husband. I have wanted to draw it ever since I took the photo. I tried to color it in colored pencil but I messed it up. Tried to blend it and the eye color smudged into the face color. Very stressful when you have a lot of color done and then mess it up.

The puppy made it thru two days of me being gone without tearing anything up that I value. She just unstuffed a couple more dog toys and chewed another plastic Coke bottle. Maybe we will make it thru her chewing stage yet. She sure is wound up by the time I get home. But hopefully when she realizes I will be back, she will get less stressed when I am gone.

"Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you". James 4:8, NLT

Play day

Today I spent some time "playing" with colored pencils. I am trying to learn to use colored pencil on portraits. I had read that you don't do your drawing with graphite if you are going to use colored pencil. I found out why. It makes the face look dirty. Not a pretty sight.

I worked on a face and tried different colors trying to find a good mix for flesh. I need some flesh colored pencils. The only ones I have are beige, pink, and peach.

The face I worked on didn't look really good but it did look ok. Especially for my first try.

Last night I drew my aunt and uncle from Texas. He just passed away a couple months ago. My aunt spent a couple years taking care of him. Even when he went to a care facility, she was there from the time she got off work until the morning when she left to get ready for work. Spent every night with him. I imagine she is totally exhausted. Hopefully now she will be able to get some much needed rest.

My friend Evelyn

I have a friend named Evelyn. I see her only once a year at an annual barbecue. What's funny about that is that she only lives a few hours away from me. But she and her husband travel a lot. I first met her at the barbecue. I met a lot of people there. That was probably in year 2001. I had met another friend Shari at a bookstore. We started talking and talked for a couple hours, exchanged email addresses, and a couple months later started an online friendship.

Eventually we met for lunch and are as close as sisters. We were instantly in tune with each other. We were even finishing each other's sentences. We don't see each other very often but when we do, the conversations flow fast.

Thru Shari I met 3 other close friends. Now the five of us are great, close friends. They had been just the four and friends for many many years, but I fit in with them and now we are a group.

Shari and her husband have a yearly barbecue. It is from Friday-Sunday. They live on a cattle ranch and during the barbecue there are about 15 or more vehicles parked for the weekend. Motorhomes, campers, and even tents. It is a wonderful three days of good eats, good music, and good fun. Everyone brings a dessert and a salad or chips n dips or finger foods.

So far I have only been able to be there on the Saturday they have the barbecue. They have had up to 100 people there off and on during the day. Several of the men are musicians and they have some really good jam sessions. Even a steel guitar there. That is Evelyn's husband. He writes music on a computer. I can't even imagine what that entails but it is nice he can do that while they travel.

I did a drawing of Evelyn from a picture I took of her in May at the barbecue.

Nothing new

I sketched while the dogs were outside. I have been going out with them to keep them company. That way they will stay out a little longer. Really peaceful sitting in the backyard in a lawn chair with them playing nearby. If they would just stop having shouting matches with the two dogs next door. Every few minutes one dog on either side will start a ruckus. Then there are 5 dogs all yapping at the same time. Of course they wait until I get all mellow and about asleep, then they start.

I did a sketch of part of the backyard. I showed it to hubby, and he said oh yeah, or mess in the backyard. The plants are geraniums and one spider plant. The flowerbed is raised at about 3 ft. Just about waist high and easy for me to work in since I can't get down on my knees any more.

We also have a tree back there that was only about 1 ft thick 14 years ago when we moved here. It is now about 3 ft thick. And has the most gnarly branches. Several of those branches are as thick as the original trunk. I printed a photo I took of the tree, and one day will be sketching and posting it.

I also did a drawing from a photo playing with color again. It is by no means perfect, but it gave me pleasure to do it. And I am still determined to learn more about putting color into some of my pictures.

The eyes have it.

I finished my weekly sketch of the eye ref. I am happy with it. About half way thru I had problems with it. I was just about to toss it. Then it all came together. I just finished posting it. A gallery will be made with all the different eyes together. That should be spooky. But I can't wait to see it. A lot of the artists posted fast on this one. I didn't even make an attemp until today.

I also finished another page of scavenger hunt items. 22-24. Only 2 more to go. I don't really want to "win" again. I would like to see another list. I will get a list ready but hope someone else finishes first.

Tuesday in the wee hours

Well it is after midnight here. I haven't been to bed yet. I took a late nap so haven't been sleepy. I spent the day cleaning out a closet and rearranging stuff from it. I still have a few things to put back. I am trying to discard as much as possible. That is easier said than done.

Usually in a family there is one person who is a packrat and one who isn't. Well we are both packrats. We save way too much stuff thinking that as soon as it is gone, we might need it.

I used to discard things and give them to my mom. A few months later I would be going thru some of her stuff and find what I had discarded. Well it never failed that some of the items would come back home. I learned a lesson. Now I give everything to the Goodwill or donate to our church for their yearly parking lot sale called a Junkatique. It goes to a good cause as they make quite a lot of money that day and a half and every penny goes to missions work.

The puppy has decided she can go "big potty" in the house. I take her outside several times in the evening after she has her night meal. But she just plays and wanders. About midnight the last two nights, she came in and started pestering me. I decided she must have to go out. Well she had, in but not out. I scold her and she understands she is in trouble but it doesn't phase her not to repeat. Now I have two problems to deal with. That and her chewing. I can't seem to find a remedy for either.

I notice that the scavenger hunt is almost at a standstill this week. So is the general sketchbook thread. I saw a newer site that said "back by popular demand" a monthly sketchbook thread. Two or three people who have posted in there said they were too slow for the scavenger hunts. So I guess they don't want to participate. With the lack of response this week, I think many have gotten bored with it. Too bad as it was a very good way to keep practice.

I will continue to do my own. I will keep making lists and doing the sketches for the lists. It is one way that I can keep myself busy without having to sit and figure out what I will sketch next. And I like making lists. Just hope I don't run out of ideas. I have several pages worth already. I will just ask hubby to suggest some things in need be. And I have only been thru a couple of colors. Like draw something red that is on the current hunt.

Making lists for the hunt is no different than what I do to keep me writing. I collect writing prompts. If I get stuck for an idea, I just pull out a prompt and write about what is on the paper. I have hundreds individually in a jar and more listed in notebooks. I found as I was printing them out and cutting them up for the jar, that each time I looked at one of the items, I would think of a memory or a story about that item from my life. The prompts just keep the writing juices flowing.

I write poetry too but have never found a way of having prompts for that. It is a very different type of ability. It just seems to flw right out of me. I will be driving to church, sitting somewhere, or in bed and a sentence or two will pop into my head. Then I start thinking of "like" thoughts and trying to rhyme them. Eventually I have a poem. The thing that amazes me is how I will just keep writing and writing and will end up with a 3-page poem.

The ability to write poetry is a fairly new one. A friend online sent me his poetry site. And I just started writing too. I had worked at a job for 10 years and when I quit and took an offered packet, I started writing poetry. I don't know where it came from and sometimes when I go back and read it, don't even realize it is mine until I see my name there. Some of them I don't remember writing at all.

Here are my latest scavenger hunt items.

The weekend

A quiet weekend. I did my banking then got busy in my home office rearranging. Hubby brought home a small drafting table he got for free. It is in good shape. But, I had to move everything around to fit it in the room. Some things are still in boxes but I am slowly making headway.

I did several more items for the scavenger hunt tonight. I need to get a drawing started that takes my time up. That way I will slow down on the hunt. Don't want to win too often. I am now finished with 17 items. I haven't posted all of them yet. Trying to space my entries out.

The puppy has been on a rampage today. Just a few minutes ago she had a running fit. Breathing really hard and running just as hard and fast as she could go. Bouncing off the bed, the couch, and down the hall. I opened the back door to give her a longer run. She is just so full of energy and no place to let it all out.

Hubby didn't work today so he got a full blown introduction to the mess the puppy can make. Twice I picked up enough stuffing to stuff a small pillow. She really likes to unstuff their toys. I don't know what the thrill is but when I am picking it up, she sits in the middle of it and watches. It was all over the floor from the length of the hall to the living room.

Hubby also saw why I am so worn out every day trying to keep up with her. She is more dog than I probably needed to deal with at my ripe age.

It is such a joy to see the puppy play. When she came to us, she didn't seem to know how to play. She is terrorizing our 5 yr old dog. Friday is finding out what it feels like to be "pestered" 24/7. I have lived with Friday doing the pestering for 5 years. Now she is getting paybacks. But they seem to love each other and are often seen lying side by side sleeping. We had some doubts that they were going to get along. Friday has always been so jealous. But she has come around. Now the new one is terribly jealous and she is heavier and can push her way in whenever we are loving on the other two dogs.

The weekend

The cliffs

Thursday

Another day has come and gone. And another week is about to slide by. Where does the time go? I was talking to a lady at the grocery store about how fast the years go by. No surprise...the older you get, the faster they go by. Seems like you blink and another year gone.

In the Portrait class, the new assignment for the extended week was to do an animal and a landscape. I did my dog Friday who is already red. Great for the mostly reddish pencils. I left it a little rough looking as she is long haired and shedding. Her coat looks a little rough at the moment.. She is a red golden retriever and boy does she retrieve. Anything and everything. You hardly ever see this dog without something in her mouth. She won't even greet you at the door without running for a toy. If she can't find one, anything will do, even a slip of paper.

The landscape was just something out of my head. After looking at the town bluffs yesterday while doing my scavenger hunt landscape, cliffs/bluffs were on the mind. I don't have a clue what I will do to finish it. Or if it will get finished. I just like what is on the paper so far. Don't want to add something and ruin it. I do realize it doesn't look finished tho. Will leave it and see. I haven't posted either to the Portrait thread.

A new class will start on Monday. Teacher will be Mike Seibly. He does graphite pictures. A lot of animals. Very good work. We will all learn something from him.

Hubby will be home tomorrow. Seems like my space is invaded each weekend when he comes home. It is hard when someone gets used to being alone in a house and then is not. Takes a little adjustment. When the out of town work stops, it will probably take a couple weeks to get adjusted again.

Scavenger Hunt Pictures

Scaventer Hunt #5

Well I finished the 5th Scavenger Hunt today. I did some shopping. First time I have been out of the house in a week. The dog did pretty good. All she chewed on was the handle cover on my husbands reclining chair. Before I left, I gave her an empty plastic coke bottle to chew on. Hubby said we may have to put up an electric fence in the back yard and try that. It is not supposed to hurt just scare her.

On the way from shopping, I pulled into the parking lot at church and sketched my landscape for my scavenger hunt. I had only 3 items left to do. The church is below the bluffs. They are a grand sight. I didn't have a good view as there were too many trees. But I did get two short views of the bluffs. One had a house and I needed a house also for the hunt.

When I got home, I drew the fir tree out in the front yard. I needed something that grows in the wild. The tree is about 7 ft tall. It started out about 6 inches tall.

We were in Petsmart, the local pet supply store, and they were giving the rooted trees to people. My husband took 2 of them. He babied those trees so much. Finally when they got big enough, he planted the one in the front yard. And put a fence around it to keep out the puppy we had at that time. He has watched that tree like a mother hen watching her chicks.. So proud when it got some new greenery. Well now the trunk is probably 3 inches in diameter. Very sturdy and we saw our first pinecone this year. One day we will probably have to worry about it falling on the house. Since we had no more room for trees, at least ones that will get that big, I gave the second stunted one to the neighbor across the street. I haven't asked so far to see if it is planted and growing.

Hubby called tonight and has a problem with his foot. His foot had been hurting for days. He stepped up on his truck and something popped. He said it felt like a bone broke. Now he can hardly walk and the foot is terribly swelled. Not a good sign since he has diabetes.

Weekly Challenge Drawing

I finally tackled the weekly drawing today. I spent a couple or so hours on it. Tried to use the graphitints on the right corners, but it didn't work. The paper was too thin to use water. They would have been great for the picture this week. I was really happy with my drawing this week.

Spent a lazy day today. Surfed on the net, looked at the different WC sites. Emailed back and forth with a friend. Watched tv and took a nap. Pretty bad that the most I accomplished today was my weekly challenge drawing. Oh well. It was still a good day.

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. Proverbs 14:30

Productive Day

I did several sketches for the scavenger hunt. Also sketched two geranium leaves.

I have geranium plants in my back yard. I have always wanted to sketch them. I have taken many pictures and looked a many photos on the web. I never have been able to do a drawing of them. They probably are my favorite plant. Low maintenance, green all year round, and they handle the hot weather here and shade. All I have to do is see that they are watered and pinch back the leggy stems. Keep the blooms pulled off when they start to wilt. That's pretty much it.

The person who is probably going to win the scavenger hunt this time sounds like an interesting person. She does tattoos in a shop with some very unusual memorabilia. It will be interesting to see what is on her list for the next scavenger hunt. She only has a few more sketches to do, and we just started this one a day ago. Going very fast. This is the fastest one yet. Everyone who participates has said that the scavenger hunt has really made a difference in their everyday sketching. For me that is very true. I haven't missed a day sketching since I joined WetCanvas. What a wonderful ride it has been.

New Moleskine

I finally started my new Moleskine. I have had it for a month but was just too scared to try it. Of course the first thing I put in it was a mess. I covered dit with a name label. That's the last ime I do something straight away with a pen.

I did finally use it tho. I did 5 items in the new scavenger hunt. This time I wasn't the first to post. I'm not losing momentum, just doing a lot of portraits for the portrait class and trying to take as much time as I can with the hunts. Otherwise I would probably finish first most of the time. I just don't know when to stop sketching.

We got our new weekly ref for sketching. It is leaves and acorns. Should be interesting. Another one that is more in my comfort zone. But a challenge nonetheless.

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Psalm 68:19

My Inlaws

I just finished a portrait of my inlaws who are no longer living. I have sketched them in graphite but wasn't too happy with it. The photo ref is not a good one. It was taken at their 25th anniversary party. Scanning just made it more blurry. My husband requested a new portrait in this particular style since I have been taking lessons to learn it.

My brother Randy's portrait

Tonight I finished my brother's portrait. Now I have done both my brothers. This is my fourth portrait using the method of Alfred Jones, and I think each has gotten better. I already have another one started of hubby's parents. The ref photo is not very clear and not very large so this one will be a challenge.

Final Boot Update

I finally finished my weekly drawing of the boot. I really did enjoy this assignment. Now I am ready for the next one.

I am getting a new portrait ready to do. This one will be of my other brother. I have yet to do a drawing of Randy that looks like him. I have done several, and they seem to look more like caricatures. I hope that this one looks more like him.

I had lunch with a friend. I met her at a Spanish class about 4 or 5 years ago. We became friends. We meet every so often for lunch and email back and forth. She and her husband are both retired and travel some. I have "seen" several countries thru her eyes and photos.

I ordered the appetizer sampler plate that had several items on it. Baked potato skins, the most delicious onion rings I have ever had, some chicken tenders, and some spinach dip with a few tortilla chips. I had enough left over for dinner tonight. I wasn't really fond of the dip but everything else was very good.

Nothing planned for tomorrow but hubby does get home so I will be cooking. He requested a potato salad. After eating in restaurants all week, he can't wait till he is home to some home cooking.

Weekly Drawing Thread

Today I did several sketches. I worked on the weekly drawing for WC. A pair of boots. I am finally in my comfort zone with this reference picture. I am enjoying the relaxing time working with something I am comfortable with.

I found some photos that I am considering for my next portrait. None of the photos are really clear like I would rather have. But hopefully I will be able to deal with the one I choose. I will probably do the one of my hubby's parents. I have drawn them before a couple times and don't look forward to trying again. The photo is small and no way to enlarge it unless I do sketch it. It has been enlarged from the original already and has lost its crisp edges. Any more scanning and enlarging and they will just be a blur.

I took some new pictures of my puppy tonight. They turned out nice, and I will probably do a drawing of her soon. I also "borrowed" a rose from a neighbor as I don't have any roses. Needed one for the scavenger hunt. I have it in a cup on my desk with water, but I need to sketch it soon before it wilts. I don't fancy doing a dead rose. Although that would probably be a new presentation no one else would think of.

Getting towards bedtime. The dogs have finally calmed down for the evening. I so look forward to this time of day when I don't have my extra ear on the alert for any signs that the pup is up to mischief. One good thing about her is she sleeps thru the night. Otherwise I wouldn't be sleeping much. Our golden retriever gets me up about 3 am to go out almost every night. Usually takes me a couple hours to get back to sleep. I hate broken sleep. It's not very restful.

Another Day Ending

I submitted several more items for the scavenger hunt. I have now finished 13. Some are going to be harder for me. I will have to go somewhere in town to find them. I have no statues so will probably do one of my cow figurines. The pond/lake/river/dyke/stream/sea will have to be found elsewhere. Unless a dog water dish would count, I don't have any of those. Likewise with a rose. Maybe the neighbor across the street won't mind if I pick one of hers. Will also have to go looking for a church. Mine is farther away and if I don't find one closer, will sketch mine on Sunday.

Shop/cafe/pub/bar I will find soon. I was at Barnes and Noble today and should have sketched part of the Starbucks section. I need to go to the pet store and print some new dog identification tags, and there are many shops near there.

Here is the one I did for something with print on it: open book, magazine, pamphlet, brochure, newspaper, etc. I chose to sketch a page of my Bible.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13