Taking a leave

I will be taking hopefully a short leave from blogging due to a death in the family. See you when I get back.

Scavenger Hunt Items.

Farm Cards Finished

I finished my last two farm cards today. Now I can get the envelopes ready and get them mailed Monday. Feels good to once again be finished with a trade. My emotions go from excited with a new trade, to pleasure of finding the refs, then the pressure of getting them done in the allotted time, then the relief of finally finishing and getting them mailed. But I must love it because I keep signing on for more and more trades. And the anticipation of receiving cards in the mail is quite nice.

Something new

Finally something new to post. I was going to do my Old McDonald's Farm animals realistically but my unrealistic mind has taken over. They are ending up cartoony.

Today at Michael's, I found a little pig flashlight. It was such an unusual pig that I just had to have it to draw. So I sketched 3 of them for one of my cards. I also did another fat sheep;this one a black one. And a bull from a reference by LinDajSon on Wetcanvas. That's 7 finished and 2 more to go. This is the latest I have been doing and mailing my cards for a Drawspace trade. I usually have them ready before we get the name list and mail them shortly after.

For the window trade, I have 4 finished. After I finish the last two for the Farm trade, I will start concentrating on the windows. I have way more references lined up than I will need. But I have been enjoying my car trips thru the Google Street views.

No New Art

Nothing new from me in the art department. I have had a bad couple of weeks. One friend passed away on the 15th, a person whose site I have had poetry posted on passed away about the 16th, and this morning I got an email and another friend is gone.

I met him and his wife at an annual mutual friend's barbecue several years ago. I have always joked with them that they are attached at the hip. Wherever he is sitting, she is always by his side. They even had one of those double lawn chairs. I think it was both of their second marriages and they were so in love. I know that she will be lost without him. I too will miss him when I am at the next barbecue. But now he is with his Father.

Two More Windows

I finished two more windows postcards for the swap. I believe both of these were from snaps I got from Google Street Views of Norway.

Scavenger Hunt #169

I did some scavenger hunt items tonight. The time for this one is almost up and I was really cutting it close. I'm glad I checked the hosting thread tonight too. I'm up next to host. So I made my list tonight and the 21st I will post it.

The last few days have been rough on me. A friend of mine from high school passed away on Monday night. She found out only about 6 weeks ago that she had cancer. Then just over a week ago found out nothing could be done for her. A week later and she was dead.

She had no medical insurance so had not been to a doctor in about 8 years. She worked up to January and seemed to be in good health. No major problems. Then one day she started having terrible pain that was diagnosed as urinary tract infection. Further tests showed it started as cervical cancer, spread to the lungs, and had reached the lymph nodes.

It seems to have happened so fast. I'm still in shock. Nothing makes a person feel vulnerable like having your same-age peers start to pass away. Now I know why my father-in-law stopped reading the obituaries when he was in his 70s.

Sharon and I shared a love of the soap opera The Young & the Restless. We were both waiting for the current storyline to end. It was one of a baby switch. Well this week they started completing the storyline and I can't quite enjoy it as much when Sharon doesn't get to see it.

Several things keep reminding me of her. I was sitting here at my desk tonight watching the Criminal Minds marathon. Dog the Bounty Hunter was advertised. I remember how much Sharon looked forward to that show. There weren't many shows she liked to watch but that was at the top of her list.

She also like the snowball cupcakes. For awhile she was having some every night. Her one little sinful treat. So this weekend I will be buying a snowball to eat in memory of her.

Another thing I remember fondly was when we were freshmen in high school. We sat on the brickwork in the school quad and ate our lunch. It was the same thing every day. 2 hotdogs and a carton of chocolate milk. We had a walk down memory lane about those lunches in one of our phone calls.

Sharon and I had lost touch for a few years and she found me by using a search site. She paid for a 24-hour pass and they gave her my unlisted phone number. Nice to know I have some privacy. But I am glad she was able to get the number. It gave us a year or so to reconnect. We had a few phone chats but most of our connection was thru email. I am having a hard time dealing with her death.

It doesn't quite seem real. I hadn't seen her since the 1980s and then only a few times. But because we were in contact so often in the last year, I know I am going to miss her for some time to come. And I'm really going to enjoy that snowball even if I have a good cry while eating it.

Anolther Quack

Last weekend hubby and I went shopping and I found two stuffed animals among all the Easter ones that I couldn't live without. One is a purple rabbit (my favorite color). The other was a duck on it's stomach with the biggest eyes. I just had to add him to my McDonald's Farm. ATC on Bristol in colored pencils, pen and ink.

Norway

I finally did my piece for the Virtual Paintout. I didn't get the address but I really liked all the houses. I do know that on the opposite side of the water, there was a huge black anchor bolted to the cement for a sculpture. I saved quite a few other photos and hope to do at least one more. I have a wall and a statue.

This one is colored pencil and pen & ink on 8x10 inch mat board.

Little Quacker

Here is Little Quacker. Another little farm animal for my trade.

Little Pig

I finished another farm animal. This time a little pink pig. I have a ceramic white with black spot pig and used it as my reference. ATC size with colored pencil and a little pen and ink. I have a couple more ceramic pigs so I may just have to dod a couple more. What would a farm be without a few pigs.

Another Window

I finished my second window. Not sure I will stick to the way I have done the last two. I may change it up. 24 just like these might be a little boring for me. For some reason lately I'm wearing more colored pencil than the paper is. Each of the cards had dark panes of glass. I can't quite decide how I want to do my glass. These are both ok but I'm still feeling my way with the glass parts.

Once again colored pencil and pen and ink on Bristol. 4x6 inches. And another reference from Google Street Maps. This one is "Blue Shutters" and the last post is "Red Curtains".

My First Window

I have one of my Window cards finished. It turned out different than it started. A change of colors. Everything was white except the darker part of the glass. I couldn't get it to look good. So I added some color. Not as happy with it as I could be but it is finished. One down and possibly 23 more to go.

This is in colored pencil and 4x6 inch postcard on Bristol paper.

2 New Projects

I joined two new projects. One in Drawspace Forum with the theme "Old MacDonald's Farm". The other is in Wetcanvas Forum with a theme of "Windows". I spent a lot of time the last few days looking on Google Street Map for unusual or interesting windows. I have found quite a few, but during the process, I now want a "door" trade. I found lots of great doors too.

The MacDonald's Farm trade leaves a very large choice of subjects. Animals, barns, machinery, crops, or just about anything. I'm not sure what all of mine will be. I did find this sheep in the Wetcanvas RIL by ceiliog. I love really "fluffy" sheep. Ones that look too heavy for their legs. In fact with this one, you can't even tell if it has legs. All of these will be ATC size. So far 10 people have signed up for this one.

One the Windows Trade, I plan to do a variety of windows. I even saved one of a clothing store with a different name. Some have brickwork, some cement-type decorations, some are plain, some have flowerboxes, and some shutters.

I also had a nice long Google drive thru New York. I have become a fan of all the big tall buildings and their windows (as long as I don't have to go up in them as I'm afraid of heights). So many and so tall and some wonderful patterns made by the windows. I could see Zentangle patterns in them.

I really enjoyed the drive along Broadway and one other street. I saw the Trump tower, and so many hotels and stores that I had seen on tv. I just don't know why the hotels with the doormen out front didn't have names on them. I expected to see the sidewalks full of people like you see in the movies but there weren't that many people on the ones I saw.

Scavenger Hunt #168

I can remember when I wondered if the Scavenger Hunts on Wetcanvas would last thru hunt #100 and here we are at #168. I have no doubt we will make it thru #200. We have some really great people/artists who keep that site going. And a wonderful great bunch they are. We get lots of sketching from life done as well as have a few laughs along the way. Each artist who posts a new list provides interesting, thought provoking items for us to "find" and sketch.

I really enjoy the hunts. I don't participate as much as I used to, but I still look forward to each and every new list. I look to see what strange or weird item someone can come up with. And I look forward each time to what each person's response will be to certain items. Like the word on a list might be "eye" Ai from Thailand might draw herself from a mirror. Another person might draw someone Else's eye. Or an animal's eye. Or the eye of a needle or a potato. One that was particularly interesting was "pickle". I just thought everyone would draw a whole pickle. Well we had a spoonful of pickle relish, pickles sliced lengthwise, sliced crosswise, and I believe there was even a cucumber.

So you can see the hunts are not only productive and keep our sketching from life skills sharpened, but they also let new artists learn and get practice with sketching from life or just sketching in general in a nice critique-free area. We have all levels of skill, all levels of a finished product, and many reasons for people to sketch. Some are there to build sketching skills, some to renew sketching skills, some to use only pens (no erasing), some to practice with digital, or other mediums. Most anything goes except that everything has to be from life and you can't use one item for several of the list items. The purpose is to draw/sketch, not to finish.

So any time you need practice or just want to look and enjoy, come on over to the Scavenger Hunt in the Artwork from Life area of Wetcanvas and join the crowd. Doesn't matter if you finish the list, do one item, or many. There is a new host who provides a new list every 9 days. You have the nine days to sketch and upload to share if you want.

Whether you sketch or just browse, there is always something to learn. I learn from the other's sketches as well as my own. I have learned new words that people from other countries use for things. I have made many worldwide friends. And if I have a few minutes to sketch, I never have to wonder what I should sketch. I always have a list handy and the thrill of trying to come up with something no one else will for some of the items.

Nothing New

I haven no new artwork to show. I have been running errands and doing too much surfing and blog reading. Plus tonight I played with the Google Street Map thing for Norway. I have several photos saved for the Virtual Paintout but like the last month, I still look for more. Way too much fun to browse thru the streets and be nosy.

Duchess

This is Duchess. She belongs to Jean from Canada who goes by Justjean in Wetcanvas. We met thru the project trades there. I did this picture for the WDE (Weekend Drawing Event) where a different person posts 16 photos. We have 30 minutes to choose what we want to do. Then after starting our painting/drawing, we are supposed to post what we have done after 2 hours. New photos are posted every Friday.

I don't know how or why the WDE started but it is a great opportunity to use photos that we might normally not see or have. Sometimes they will put a condition of "only for this WDE" on a photo but most are available for us to use freely.

Everyone who posts tries to post photos that will appeal to a variety of people. Some Floral, animal, still life, marine, and landscape. Some artists do just one and do a very detailed drawing/painting. Some do several and some do line type drawings of all of them. It's really fun to see the same photo done in so many different mediums and ways. It's like looking at the photos thru everone else's eyes.

If there is anyone who hasn't been to Wetcanvas, go over and take a look. Something there for just about everyone. It's free to join and you need to join if you want to participate. The first night I found the forum, I was on the site running around trying to see everything. I was there until about 4 am. And I still spend quite a lot of time there. I participate in several of the different areas, but I also just browse some of the others to see all the great work.

Duchess is about 3 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches on green cardstock with colored pencils.