Almost a New Year

I haven't posted as I have been in bed with a cold. Have felt very yukky. Feeling like I might live but still not over it. Hope to get some strength back soon. No artwork done and nothing exciting here, just reading, sleeping, and blowing my nose. Ready for that to end.

Merry Christmas

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

I spent Christmas Eve with my nephew, his wife, and their 2 yr old. Great fun watching a 2 yr old playing and opening presents. We had wonderful tacos and rice. So nice that Cece is learning to cook. Doing a great job too.

And then on the way home, I went to my church's Candlelight/Communion Service at 9 pm. Such a nice way to finish up the night.

Now I'm on my way back to bed to get warm, to read, and maybe even a little more sleep.

Remember the reason for the season.

Me and my Portrait

This is a photo of me holding the portrait that my portrait swap partner did for me. His name is Dave (or Journeyman from Wetcanvas). I took it to our plein air group lunch and painting today and they all loved it. Sorry for the unclear photo. I had one of the ladies take the photo and we couldn't tell it was blurry on the camera.

Dave's Portrait

Dave's portrait from the Annual Portrait Swap on Wetcanvas has landed in Wales. I received a photo of him holding it. I will ask for permission to post it here. He was happy with it and the two sketches I did as preparation for the painting. Both were sprayed with fixative and signed so he can frame them if he wants. He liked that I sent it with a mat. Since a lot of people don't know that the watercolor paintings need a mat, I don't like to leave it for them to do. Then I only have to tell them to frame it with a frame that includes glass.

I'm so happy the portrait made it safely to him. The one of me that he did is in the mail. I look forward to seeing it in person.

I have finished everything I had on my list of "to do" things. Things that had to be finished before Christmas. Nice to have those things pretty much off my mind and shoulders.

I even finished my Sketchbook 2012. I hope to post it in the mail today. Nice to finish up that too and get in the mail. And I am a month early.

Now off to scan the pictures in the Sketchbook 2012 before I pack it up for mailing. And of course it's almost time for my soap opera. Life is good.

River, The Dock Diving Dog

This is my latest pet portrait. My groomer/friend's black lab River. This is her Christmas present. Watercolor, pen and ink, and a touch of white Conte pencil. 11x14 size on watercolor paper.

Bye Bye Bakersfield, Hello Wales

Dave's portrait will be leaving here tomorrow. Not sure how long it takes to get to Wales but hopefully before Christmas. I sent both graphite sketches and the watercolor so he will have plenty to look at when he opens it. It was so nice of him to ask me to trade with him. I still haven't heard from the other partner so he apparently isn't going to trade. At least now I will get a portrait in exchange. I would mail the other partner's to him but don't have his address.

I took my 2 plein air paintings to the Art Assoc. gallery yesterday. The show is for plein air artists who at least did part of the painting outside. It is ok if they finished it in a studio. The reception for the show is on Friday evening.

Now I need to get busy with a couple other Christmas gifts which will be paintings. I know what I want to do, I just have to get them going.

I sketched several more celebrities for the Art House Sketchbook 2012. Tom Selleck (as he is in the new show "Blue Bloods"), Claudette Colbert who has been my favorite actress since I was in grade school and saw one of her movies, Sean Connery (my favorite actor), Bill Cosby, and and Cat Stevens the way he looks today. tom Selleck is getting color put to his face now. I only have a couple more on the covers and the book will be finished.

I'm posting some photos I took at a local park a couple of weeks ago. I love watching the ducks and geese. They are so comical.

Dave Finished

I just finished Dave's portrait. Several times I thought I had lost it and would have to start over. I am happy with the finish now. I didn't plan to add the blue in his hair but I am glad I did. Watercolors on Arches Watercolor paper. A little pen and ink and white Conte pencil. 11 x 14 inch size. This will be getting mailed to the UK.

Dave's Portrait Update

I have started to add the color. I'm probably not finished working tonight so maybe another update or two.

Dave Start

This is the drawing of my Wetcanvas Portrait Swap Partner. Since I had not heard from my other swap partner, Dave volunteered to do a second and swap with me. I did one sketch and worked it to death. Couldn't quite get his eyes after much erasing. So I decided to do a little basic outline transfer of a few vital details and then went to work. This one is much better. I have it transferred to watercolor paper and will get started today on the watercolor.

Here are the first and second sketch. I will have to ok with Dave before I post the original photo. Or you can go here and see it on the Wetcanvas Portrait Swap Thread.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

More to come.

Bailey

I met Bailey at a local obedience show. Her owner, Sue, won a silent auction prize for a pet portrait from me. I just finished packaging up the portrait to send on its way. It was such fun getting to meet Sue and Bailey and taking my own photos. And a pleasure to paint such a beautiful dog.

Scavenger Hunt #246

I did 4 of the Scavenger hunt items this morning as ATCs. They are available for trade.

#1 it pivots - it's a tiny little kitty whose head swivels and it is maybe 1 1/2 inches tall
#2 something on my fridge - refrigerator magnet
#3 fits in my palm - A little clay animal I bought last week at Goodwill store
#4 with a crack in it - my hand with wrinkles/cracks
#5 sugar bowl - another Goodwill purchase I got a couple weeks ago. Just last week found another piece of the same set.

And I think it is a miracle that I was the first to post. I am usually about the last these days.

I did finish the doberman that was a commission for a silent auction at a dog obedience show here locally. I can't show it yet but I am waiting for approval from the owner and permission to post it. I am happy with the way it turned out and hope that she is too. To me, it is finished. Just needs my signature.

I still have one more silent auction portrait to do but the lady hasn't decided yet which pet. It will probably be her now deceased horse. I will contact her soon and get started on hers next.

Hitchcock

My latest in my Sketchbook 2012 Project book. Alfred Hitchcock.

Nickels Ranch

Working on the plein air painting I started yesterday when out with my art group. This one and the one from Majestic Palms (the statue) will be in a plein air show at Bakersfield Art Association in December. We went to Nickels Ranch yesterday which is beside the Kern River. Nice day except for the wind and the tiny, irritating flies.

I am taking photos as I work but haven't uploaded any of them yet. I have darkened the background trees and putting the color on the trunks.

November Drawspace ATC Trade

The signups haven't even ended but I got busy last night and this morning and finished the 5 that I need at the present time. If no one else signs up, I'm done.

"What I'm thankful for" is the theme and these are the reasons for my cards:

My hand for my marriage that lasted 39 years
Baby Kylie my great-niece (not a good likeness but....) for family
Teddy bear for friends
Art supplies for getting a gift from God for using and having them
My Bible for being able to worship my God freely

Barney Fife

Don Knotts as Barney Fife. I'm glad the sketchbook is getting done. Next up is Alfred Hitchcock.

Half Pint

Another face finished for the 2012 Sketchbook. Melissa Gilbert - Laura Ingalls - Half Pint from "Little House on the Prairie".

Coffee with Cream

My painting "Coffee with Cream" is now hanging with 12 others at Dagny's Coffee shop downtown in Bakersfield.

Sketchbook Project 2012

I finally started working on my project book for the Art House Co-op. It is due in January. I changed the paper to watercolor so don't have as many pages to fill, but at least I can use watercolor.

My theme is "I Remember You". I am doing celebrity portraits. So far I have Vickie Lawrence as Mama Harper from Mama's Family, Elvis which is not my best but I seem to have trouble with Elvis, and the latest Lucille Ball. I am working on Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie.

A list of other celebs will/may be Ron Perlman, Cat Stevens as he looks today, Andy Griffith as Matlock, Barney Fife, Shemar Moore, Michael Landon, and maybe even Michael Jackson.

Since I am actually sketching them from scratch using no grids or outline transfers, some look more like their celebs than others. I am not trying to get a carbon copy but just a general likeness. If I make a hit, that is good too. Drawing directly on the watercolor paper is a little harder than smooth paper but I wanted to do the sketches directly to the book.

On the cover I decided to do something different. There is an old song called "I Remember You". I have printed the lyrics out and will fix that to the front cover.

It took me awhile to figure out how I wanted to go with my theme. I'm sure I had an idea when I chose that theme but I am going in a totally different way from my first thought. Now that I have made my decision, it is going smoothly. I have several photos saved and am anxious to get on with the next one.

Adella

I went out with my plein air group today. It was my first time in a very long time. We went to a Nursery/Statuary/Landscaping place. I decided to paint one of the statues they have there.

In person it is a very clean, pretty white with wonderful gray shadowy areas, I couldn't get the grays just right so I used a blue and gray color. Some mixed, some not.

This statue had the name Adella. I don't know where that comes from but it does seem to fit. I keep wanting to add some pen and ink or graphite on top to give it more definition, but I don't want to ruin the softness of her. This is just about as loose as I paint. I do much better with detail.

Autumn Leaves

We had another person join the Fall Trade at Drawspace. I will stick her card in the mail tomorrow.

Drawspace October ATC Trade

The ATC trade for October at the Drawspace Forum has the theme of Fall. I finished my cards tonight.

Coffee Time

Odd title for one who doesn't drink coffee. I love the smell and hate the taste. I have tried for many years to get past the bitter taste. Sitting with a cup of coffee on a cold day sounds great...until I get that bitter taste in my mouth.

But this coffee will be on paper. Our local art group (Bakersfield Art Association) is having a show at a local coffee shop. Theme of course is coffee. Coffee cups, breakfast, people drinking coffee, pretty much anything if it has to do with coffee.

Well I wanted to put a piece in the show and finally came up with an idea that I like and would suit my style. I am working on it but can't share until the actual show
is over. It doesn't have to be there until October 31st, so I still have plenty of time. I don't have too much more to do to finish. It is 11x14 in watercolor.

In the meantime, I am donating a gift certificate for a pet portrait to a local dog show. It will be auctioned off as one of their prizes. So I don't know yet what I will be painting. A little exciting but a little scary. I will go to the show for a couple hours and take some of my artwork and some business cards. Maybe drum up some more business. And get to see some beautiful dogs and wish I could bring them all home.

Pet Portraits by Jeanne

I have a new website for doing pet portraits. You can visit it here. The first 10 people to visit the site and email me the name of my cockatiel will receive one of my bookmarks. Please include your postal mailing address in the email.

Please let me know that you saw my visited my site from here.

Tennis Player

I did a watercolor painting of a tennis player for a young couple who were getting married. I know you think that is a weird wedding present. But I gave the bride a choice of subject, colors, size, etc and she didn't come up with anything.

At her bridal shower, I found out they were going to New York to watch the tennis open competitions on their honeymoon. and they got shirts with one tennis player's name on the front. So not knowing if the two names were two different players or one since I know nothing about tennis players, I Googled.

Here is the painting I did for them.

Zeb

Here is Maizzie's man friend Zeb. Another ATC in mixed media of watercolor and colored pencil. Reference was a second figurine I got at Goodwill Store.

Maizzie

I just finished this little ATC of Maizzie. I bought 2 figurines at the Goodwill store, a male and a female. Maizzie is done from the female. This may be used for the still life trade but I'm not sure yet.

That Was Quick

Wetcanvas is back online. Yeah!!!!

Wetcanvas

It seems that Wetcanvas Forum is offline since last night. I can't log on and I know they were having some problems in several different areas.

The reference library was one. I'm not sure what that problem was. I am a guide on the New users area and I have not been able to post there for a couple months. And then there is the Project area. We have had problems posting new projects, can't upload our finished images, and for over a year now we can't post any information about our images. So hopefully they are fixing some of this.

I didn't see a bulletin stating they were going offline. I wish they would let us know by email or something. But hopefully it won't be forever.

Almost Bye-Bye September

I can't believe how fast this month is flying past. And like magic, Christmas is just over the horizon. It seems that only days ago it was January and I was teasing people that Christmas would be here before you know it. And here we are.

I have bought one Christmas present so far. No surprise who the recipient is. My Grandniece Kylie. So much fun to buy for a 2 year old. At this age they still like just about anything they get. the gift cards will start when she gets hooked on brand name items. I'll let her parents pay for those.

Kylie's dad was easy to buy for when he was small. He like me loved looking at office supply stuff. so I would just buy him a lot of stuff like that and wrap each separately. He didn't really care what was in the packages as long as there were a lot of them. I gave him a choice early on whether he wanted one big present or a lot of little ones. He chose the many little ones. Now he gets gift cards as I have no idea what he wants.

I did one ATC for the new Still life trade on Wetcanvas but can't show it yet. The trade is still signing up people and hasn't really started yet. I just happened to need a scavenger hunt item that fit in with the theme of the project. So no artwork to show today.

Here is a photo of my 3 dogs standing "guard" in the front yard. From left to right: Jo, Dizzy, and Penny.

Jazzy (Jazz)

My neighbor/friend's dog Jazzy passed away about a week ago. They don't know what was wrong; just found her dead in the yard. I will miss her very much. She would lie on the side of their storage building and watch my dogs play.

She was someone's throw-away puppy. She was about 6-8 weeks old and abandoned out in the foothills. Left to die or be eaten by coyotes. Some people are so cruel to leave an innocent little puppy all alone like that.

My dog groomer who is also a neighbor and her husband found the dog and brought her home. They gave her to the other couple. It was the weekend of their wedding anniversary and they had reservations at the coast they didn't want to lose. So Kathy asked if I would babysat.

I had Jazzy from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. She loved it here with my two dogs. One of mine wasn't so happy and spent the whole weekend running from a very playful puppy.

After that, if Jazzy happened to get out of her yard, here she came to my house. I can't even remember how many times I had to call Kathy to come get Jazzy. That happened for about a year.

Jazzy was a special dog. So sweet and Kathy said she never tore up her toys. They still have everyone she ever got. My dogs tear theirs up in about 10 minutes.

So I decided to do a portrait of Jazzy for Kathy and her husband. This is on an 8x10 inch piece of watercolor paper. The actual face is about 4x6 inches. Done in watercolor, a touch of colored pencil, and white Conte pencil.

Kathy is making a shadowbox frame with Jazzy's collar and some other mementos and will ad the painting to that.

Goodbye my sweet Jazzy. I will miss looking across the yard next door and seeing your sweet face looking back.

At the Fair

September ATC trade at Drawspace is "At the Fair". I decided to do my cards with quilt patterns. There are always lots of quilts on display at county fairs. These are done with mixed media of watercolor, colored pencil, marker, and/or pen and ink.

Scavenger Hunt #236 Framed

Here it is framed.

Scavenger Hunt #236

The Scavenger Hunt this time is a rerun of an earlier one. This is the 3rd time I have done this one. The 26 items are supposed to be put in one still life.

Here are photos of my work. First is the graphite sketch, then the inked sketch, the finish with color, and the setup.

It is 7 x 14 inches and done with watercolor and mixed media on watercolor paper. I planned it to fit in a frame and mat that I bought at the Goodwill Store.

And here is my list of the 26 items. From the Left:

Plate
fruit (apple tin napkin holder)
Wood (bird house and stick)
box
brass (pencil sharpener)
books
greenery
copper
vase (penguin Vase)
music instrument (angel holding instrument)
White pitcher
statue (chicken)
shell
rock (under shell)
silver (initial B with a pearl I got for Christmas -necklace)
yellow duck
cup holding duck
Purple bottle with cork
blue glass
gold poppy (fake)
green striped flower pot
stuffed animal bear
white bowl under flower pot
tin box
timer
shelf under all

More Animal ATC Trade

Yesterday was my grandniece Kylie's 2nd birthday. The time is passing so fast. Nice food and company.

Here is another of my ATCs for the Animal Trade on Wetcanvas. This squirrel was done in mixed media with mostly watercolor.

Art House Co op

My second book has been digitized at the Art House Co op site. You can click here http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif to see it. This one was required to be over 50% written.

Animal ATC Trade

When I first started the animal trade, I worked and finished 5 cards right away. Then before I could get them mailed, one was missing. I never did find it but I have my suspicions that my Mini Schnauzer Dizzy ate it.

Dizzy likes to eat paper. In fact she sits and waits for the envelopes from the mail. If I am cutting paper for the cards, she is sitting there waiting for the scraps to fall. She chews the paper and even eats it. So I figured odds are that my goat (er...dog) ate the card.

Well fast forward to the card I did last night. It was from a photo I took of a dove sitting on a wire in my back yard. I felt like I finally got it just right and put it on a table with the envelope waiting until I scanned it.

I went to the computer to check email. When I went back to the living room, I happened to see the envelope on the floor. Panic attack..."oh no where is my card?" I jumped up and there was paper sitting in front of Dizzy. It was my card. All mangled. A little of the watercolor paint missing. The lower half of the card bent and crumpled. I grabbed it and put it in my Moleskine sketch book with a heavy tape dispenser on top for weight hoping I could save the card.

Well the card is in one piece. No holes from teeth. Still a little crinkly but still nice enough so I mailed it today. The only thing it did was make the wing look more 3-D. I hope the recipient doesn't mind that she got a special card that my Dizzy helped me prepare. A one-of-a-kind (hopefully).

Animal Trade

Two more of my cards have arrived at their new homes. Both are done in Mixed media.

Retriever Puppy

Here is the second ATC for the Animal Trade on Wetcanvas. This was sent to Alabama to geminisinger. It is watercolor, pen and ink, and Conte pencil. The reference was one from the Flicker photo account of Just Chaos and used with permission.

A Chicken Has Arrived at It's New Coop

One of my ATCs have arrived at it's new location. It is a chicken I painted from a little ceramic one I have. In fact I have a pair. I have 5 other cards in the mail. I tried to mail some of the ones that had to travel the farthest. And of course another problem with posting at Wetcanvas.

I am a WC Guide and several things in the forum don't seem to work for the guides. I can't post in the New User forum which is where I am a guide. I can't start new projects in the project area. And now I can't upload my card images to the Final Images area. It's a pain. Now I won't have my cards all in one area for everyone to see and comment.

This little chicken/rooster is done with watercolor, pen & ink, and a little white Conte pencil. It is 3.5 x 2.5 inches.

ATC Animal Trade

I signed up for the new project on Wetcanvas with the theme of Animals. I have worked on and finished 3 today. If all the spots are filled, there will be 19 for me to do. I don't really have a plan on what I want to do. I did print off some photos but whether I use them, will depend on what mood strikes me. I have done one bird, one giraffe, and one ceramic rooster. I am unable to show them as they haven't been sent to the new owners yet. I will post them after they receive them.

My friendly Scrub Jay had not been around for a couple weeks but did finally make an appearance. It was a "touch and go" visit. He came with a friend, said his "ain't" call a few times, then flew away. Just letting me know he was already. So I figure he is having a family.

I worried about his when he first disappeared. I was afraid that he might have gotten too tame and someone hurt him. But after his visit, I feel better. I now know he is ok. And if he doesn't come back, that's fine. At least he came back to let me know he was till around, just busy. And I have a wonderful, sweet memory.

Long Time No Post

I think this is the longest time I have not posted. At least for a long time. I just haven't done any art that I can post. I did one for a wedding gift but I did it from a photo that wasn't mine so I won't post. It was of a tennis star. The couple is going to the tennis open back east on their honeymoon. Now that's a tennis fan.

I joined a new project at Wetcanvas. Theme "Animals". Right up my alley. My favorite subject.

I have been productive. I got some yard work done that had been waiting for several years. Getting rid of junk that was just stacked around. Still have some stuff to toss but I don't have a pickup so can't haul it away. I am in the process of cutting some of it up and putting in the weekly bin. I have to do it a little at a time as I still have weekly trash from the house too.

Yesterday I rearranged the living room furniture so that I could do some art in there. Plus I went to Walmart and Target to find a blender that they advertise on tv. The Magic Bullet. I got one and have been making fruit smoothies. They are delicious and points free. And it gets more fruit in me. Haven't tried a vegetable one yet but plan to eventually.

"Fluffy" not Fat

I just finished this one for the Wetcanvas WDE (Weekly Drawing Event). Photos this week were provided by Just Chaos. She lives on a farm in KY, and it is one of her critters. This is done on 150lb Strathmore Watercolor paper in one of those Visual Journals. Watercolor with a little White Conte Pencil for highlights. About 9x12 inch paper.

High Wire Act

I previously posted some photos of some pairs of dove that like to sit in my dead apricot tree and the wires in my back yard. When my dogs are inside, they sometimes walk around in my backyard. Here is a watercolor painting of one of them. The total size of the painted area is about 5x7 inches.

Painting of Taz

Here is the watercolor painting I did of Taz. I couldn't resist his beautiful face. The watercolor paper it is on is probably 11x14 inches and Arches.

Taz

I was at the groomer this week and one of the groomers had a new puppy. A chihuahua named Taz. He is a powerhouse of energy. He had a new toy. A golf ball, and I got to watch as he tried to catch it as it bounced. He bounced every time the ball did. Sooooooo cute. He isn't much for posing tho. He doesn't stay still long enough.

Here is Taz.

Back in the Day

I joined Wetcanvas forum in 2006, the same month I started this blog, and when I got more serious about my art. Before that I did some drawings of friends, their relatives, their pets, and friends of theirs. But they were more like line drawings.

After I joined Wetcanvas, I learned so much and found out how much improvement can be made by drawing every day and from life. It has been a wonderful experience.

I thought you might like to see some pre-2006 sketches from me. And these aren't the earliest of my drawing experience. I even have some of those tucked away out of sight. I doubt I have ever thrown many of them away.

In fact when I oil painted in the 80s, I couldn't draw. I had to trace a picture of what I wanted to paint onto the canvas. Even as a child, I would sit in front of the living room window and look out at the rain and try to draw> It seems like the drawing urge always came when it rained. But frustration with what I produced, had me putting my pad and pencil away until another urge hit me.

About 1994 I went to work in an office full time. I stayed there for 10 years. It was too hard to oil paint after that. It was too time consuming, we lived in a smaller house and there was no place to hang the paintings for them to dry (not water soluble back then), I had no where to leave everything out, and the clean up was just too time consuming.

So I turned to a pencil and paper which was always available in an office. I would draw on my breaks and lunch time. It started with me doing my animals and relatives. Soon I had others offer photos for my practice. I never charged. I didn't think they were worth money. I used them as practice.

One lady had 3 kids and I sketched their school photos every year. That helped me judge whether I was getting better or not. Then some of the ladies started asking for photo copies of some of my wild jungle animals to frame for their houses. I was pleased to provide them and I still gave them freely.

Then I wanted to do better and found information about using a grid. I ordered one and from that day my people started looking more like the people with less stress and effort on my part. I was stuck using a grid until I took a "From Life" lesson on Wetcanvas by Katherine Tyrrell. From that day forward, I have never used a grid again. Not that I have anything against them. I just didn't want to be confined by them. That class gave me the confidence to sketch from life, go out in public to sketch, and improve my drawing skills.

Eventually people started asking when I would start using color. I had no interest in it for quite some time. Then I wandered into the world of colored pencils. That opened up another love for me.

Now I find myself in the middle of watercolor painting. I had been wanting to paint again for about a year. I bought water soluble oil paints, acrylic, gouache, and watercolor. The smaller sets that weren't too expensive. Plus all the stuff like brushes, etc to each medium. And they all sat in a drawer for months and years.

Now I am doing watercolors. I am enjoying watercolors. I am really enjoying the fact that I can fill the space a lot faster than with cp. I am learning a lot day by day by not reading about it or taking classes but by doing it. Seems to be the best way for me. I don't like to follow the "proper" rules. I can't save my whites. It's probably because I started as an oil painter. So I have to find a different way to get my whites. I'm not unhappy about the way I paint watercolors. I kind of like doing things my way. It has always worked for me in life and at my age, I'm not likely to change now.

It's just like with graphite. I don't do perspective. At least the "proper" way. I just don't get it and refuse to make my love of art become a chore for me by doing it someone Else's way. It doesn't bother me if the perspective on my buildings are not just perfect. Lots of buildings sag and don't keep the perfect perspective. Phone lines don't stay snug tight. The water line is not straight. So there are few things I measure. Even with faces, I use my eye to get the pieces where they belong. I don't really measure except using my eye. It works for me.

Here are two sketches from an old sketchbook I found when cleaning out some cabinets. The one of the birds was done while sitting at my mom's kitchen table looking out at her bird feeder. You can't really say the birds are drawing from life as Hummingbirds don't pose. You just have to catch a glimpse of their outline and go from there.

On the people, you can see where I was trying to use lines to follow something I had read. Sure didn't help my sketches.