Wow

Wow I didn't know it had been so long since I posted. I have not felt very well for several weeks. First a cold (I'm still coughing) and then stomach problems. Not a good thing to have when Thanksgiving dinner is tomorrow. It won't stop me from eating but I will pay for it later.

We are going to my cousin's house. Sounds like there will be a houseful. Should be nice and festive. At least until we get our bellies full of nice comfort food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, candied yams, dressing, gravy, other salads, rolls, and pumpkin pie. What else could you want?

Here are a couple of cards from the Anything Goes trade. These have been received. I have one ready to mail on Friday and then only have one more to do. After that I will be ready for the Out of Africa trade project. I have already printed several reference photos so I can get busy.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it. May you have good friends, good food, and special time with your families.

Anything Goes

I mailed 3 more Anything Goes cards today. I have only about 5 or 6 to go. And for the Out of Africa trade we just need one more person to sign up.

I am working on one postcard tonight. I'm not getting exactly the colors I wanted, but I'm not unhappy with it. I still have some to do and a background to put on. I hope to get the last few finished this weekend.

2008 Portrait Exchange

I finished my portrait of Roxie Real today. It is posted here: http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=529002&page=10
It's worth taking a walk thru the whole thread. There are so many great portraits done by some very good artists.

I went to Bible study tonight. I missed two weeks when I had my cold. And tomorrow is plein air day which I have also missed for two weeks. We are going to Hart Park. I'm looking forward to it. Life is good.

Zentangle

I tried my first official Zentangle. I have been doing them for years and never knew the name for them. I usually fill every empty space on my Church bulletin each week I am there. Sometimes I sketch people or things but most of the time I doodle. Doodles that are shapes and swirls. I will post the ATC card of the Zentangle later when I get it scanned. In the meantime, If you want to see what they look like, Google the word Zentangle.

Strathmore ATC Trade

I finally broke down and bought some precut Strathmore ATC card blanks. I wanted to do the trade and the rule was you have to buy their prepackaged ATC blanks. Of course for what I paid for them, I could have almost bought a pad of full sheets. I can get 9 cards from one sheet. The prepaid ones have 20 for over $2. They must have had slow sales.

I worked on one card tonight but don't like it for the trade. I will have to make another.

I have been seeing some really good work done with oil pastels. One of the sites is Tanya Bond's website. You can go to her site from my links list. She has some really cutesy animals done in ops. I have no idea how she can get such beautiful work with the ops. I have a set of ops and decided to get some new tools to try and do something with them.

While at Beverlys fabric store, I also found an inexpensive set of ops for under $2. I figure I can practice with those. I bought a couple of embossing tools, a stencil brush, and some plastic blending pencils. I tried a little piece yesterday but plan to further practice with them later.

I joined a portrait sketch trade on WC. I have my person's name who will do a portrait of me and I will do one of her. I believe we have a month to finish. I spent the afternoon taking photos of myself. Out of about 30+ photos, I still didn't really get any I like. I settled on two of them and emailed to her. Hopefully she will be able to use one.

I finished my ATC for the trade on Scribble talk. Nothing going on till January on Toad Hollow Drawing club, and I decided not to do the trade on Drawspace this month. But I still have plenty to keep me busy. The portrait, the scavenger hunts, 10 more Anything Goes postcards, the Out of Africa trade project, and a postcard trade with my plein air art group in December. On that one I have no idea how many I need. A lot of the artists were uncertain if they would participate. I have already given two cards for trade. I have 2 more ready. And then there is Christmas to get thru.....

New Art

I have done two new cards this week. One is a postcard for a trade. The second one is my fourth Christmas card. I think the postcard will be saved for the trade I am doing with my art group. The reference was a plate I bought at the Goodwill Store.

The Christmas card reference was a bell ornament I bought at Michael's craft store. I have 3 of them and bought them mostly for art props.

I still have 10 Anything Goes cards still to do and get mailed. I have one card finished for the Out of Africa trade. And I have to do one ATC for a November trade on Scribble Talk. That one needs to be done soon.

I am still fighting my cold. I couldn't sleep last night. Every time I nodded off I would start coughing and choking. It is scary when that happens. So every time I sat at my desk today, I fell asleep. So tonight I am avoiding going to bed. I don't want to lie down and start choking again.

It's hard to believe that we are almost halfway thru November already. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. And then Christmas will be knocking. Where does the time go?

The Sketchbook Project Exhibition

I signed up for a new project. Surprise. Is anyone really surprised? I saw a post about this project on Jeanette's blog, Illustrated Life in my links area. Is it possible that I don't ever want to sleep? But this sounds like fun and a great opportunity for my artwork to be seen and hopefully enjoyed.

The Sketchbook Project Exhibition

2,000 sketchbooks will be sent out, completed and returned for exhibit in 6 major cities in the USA. The deadline to sign up is 8-1-2009.

These are the smaller brown cover Moleskines

Sign up at www.thesketchbookproject.com


The deadline to send the books back is 2-15-2009. The theme is "Everyone We Know" and can be interpreted however you want.

Still Life Finished

Well I just finished. I have been working on it for several hours.

Top of shelf 1-5

measuring cup

mini rolling pin

something yellow

bowl

colorful rocks in bowl

next shelf 6-9

fruit - apple and plum

silver fake ring

box of staples

tin box of Altoids

left bottom shelf 10

bottle of Primo Cologne

Right top 11-12

shell

person

Bottom 13-14

something brass or gold - hubby's grandfather's bronzed baby shoe

right side back to front 15-19 paint brush was extra

musical instrument

drinking glass

stuffed animal

pitcher - gravy boat

books

left side back to front 20-25

flower

vase

greenery

flower pot

clock

plate - cheese plate I bought at Goodwill

Red shelf 26

I was sitting with a different view than when I took the photo of the set up. I'm pretty happy with it except the front items I lost the perspective. The don't look like they are laying flat. But over all I am satisfied.

New Image

Here is the latest scan of my still life. I like most of it. Not the gravy boat which is a sub for a pitcher. It is too muddy and doesn't really look white. I am changing the glass ice cube for a plum but otherwise leaving everything else the same.

Scavenger Hunt #107

I am host on the Scavenger Hunt for #107. I decided to revisit one of the old scavenger hunt lists. It was #26 and was hosted By JamieWG. You can see her site by clicking her name on my links list.

She also had a challenge that went with the list. It was to take all 26 items on the list, make a still life, sketch it, and then add color. That hunt list and challenge have been my favorites. I wanted to do it again. In fact I have already "hunted" my items, arranged my still life and sketched it, and started to add some color. All that just tonight...well it is morning...2AM.

I hope some of the other hunters will try the challenge. I remember how daunting it seemed to me back then. But I decided to jump in with both feet and give it a try. This time it didn't scare me a bit. I had fun choosing different items this time, and arranging all the things into a pleasing still life is challenging by itself. I also changed to a portrait view. Last time was landscape view.

I'm finished with the rose bud, the mini Altoids tin, and the mini staple box under it. Also the measuring cup and toy rolling pin. Oh and the bottom book. The others just have some color blocked in.

I didn't take a photo of the sketches and my scanner didn't do a very good job. My best scanner is not working and so far I have not been able to figure out the problem. So these are poor scans.

The first is a photo of my still life (I am not working from the photo). The second is my finished sketch, and the third is after some color is added. I did change a couple items from the photo to the sketch. As I have done so much just tonight, looks like I may finally finish a hunt. It's been a long dry spell for me.

The List:

• shelves or cabinet
• vase
• bottle
• pitcher
• fruit
• stuffed animal
• something yellow
• figure (doll or sculpture)
• clock, hourglass or timer
• brass or gold object
• seashell
• favorite gemstone or rock
• books
• box (can be small/decorative)
• a tin (Altoids, cookie tin, etc.)
• bowl
• copper object
• silver object
• flowerpot
• flower
• leaves/greenery
• plate
• cup
• musical instrument (real, decorative, or mini)
• wooden object
• drinking glass