nanke's stuff

OK, it's too soon to say I'm on a roll, but I haven't done 2 in 2 days in ..... well, I have no idea how long!  Once again I did an ink sketch (as if you can't tell), and once again I have no idea who it is.  But, I can say that it was fun to do, even though I did it in about 20 minutes or so.  I think I'm afraid to spend more time on these pieces for fear that they will just get worse.  I'm just tickled that I actually drew something again today.  One day at a time.  I just have to keep reminding myself of that. 

Well, once again it's been a long time since I've posted anything.  It's been almost that long since I've done anything with art as well.  I've done a few (very few) little sketches on the fly, but nothing to speak of.    Today I sat down with a large sketchbook and my Micron pens and decided that I just had to jump in.  Jump I did.  I got an old Vanity Fair magazine from the bin, put on some good music, propped up the magazine and made myself comfortable.   Since it's been so long, I thought I would give myself a good scare (I was already scared, but what the heck?) and use ink.  The advantage, I thought, was that once the mark was on the paper, that was that.  I wouldn't have to stress about trying to make it perfect because I knew with ink it wouldn't be possible anyway (well, not for me, that is).  I drew the woman on the cover.  I have no idea who she is, which was another advantage.

I didn't have a whole lot of time to do it .... another plus!,  and I spent about 25 minutes on her.  No need to point out the flaws - they're obvious, but I don't care.  I'm just tickled that I actually did something and posted it!  My aim for the new year is to post to my blog at least once a week.  I'd also like to sketch something everyday..... no matter how tiny it might be! 

Happy New Year to you all, and may your coming year be filled with many blessings!

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted anything.  One of the many things I've been busy with is making a Halloween costume for Oliver, our youngest grandson.   He is 20 months old, and his parents decided he should be a rooster for Halloween.  I got to make the costume!  I used to make the costumes for our sons when they were young and it was a lot of fun both to make them and then to see their sweet selves in them.

I've made several for our grandsons, too.  There's been a pineapple (yep, a pineapple!), garden gnome, cowboy, teddy bear, and now a rooster.  Since they live in Tennessee and we live in Michigan, it's always kind of scarey for me (I guess that's appropriate for Halloween!) because I never know until they arrive and are tried on for the first time if it's going to fit.    Anyhow, I finished it yesterday and mailed it off today.  It's supposed to arrive on Wednesday, so I'm keeping all my parts crossed until I get that picture on my phone of little Oliver strutting his stuff as a rooster.

So, here is what the costume looks like, sans boy.  An old teddy bear is modeling the hat for you.




I'm eager to start drawing again!   Which is not to say that the rooster got in my way .... it's more like I've been too chicken to do it.

It's been mighty dry around here.  The farmer's field of soybeans behind us is turning yellow.  Corn is troubled, the grass is mostly brown and crispy, and flowers are dying despite my efforts at watering them.  But that's not the only dryness.  It's been a long, dry, spell for me artistically, too.  Oh, I've been busy with different things (including a wonderful week with our children and grandchildren!), but that aside, I've had trouble even coming up with something to draw.

So, I decided to return to an old standby .... copying portraits done by masters in pencil.  It's satisfying, challenging, and difficult for me, so it seems to fit the bill.  I've chosen to do William Warham,  by Holbein.  There's something wrong with my scanner and it takes an impossibly long time to scan something, so for now all I'm posting is my beginning sketch.  When I have more time, I'll also post the original that I'm working from.  One of the things I like about doing this is that I can sit on our front porch in the evening and do a bit of drawing while my sweetie reads the paper or plays with his iPad.  Even Abby, the dog, likes it!

So, here he is!

After ordering the wrong thing and erroneously sending them back (I wish I had kept them ... the return postage was ridiculous!), I ordered the right thing and was really looking forward to trying them out.  I watched a video about them (sadly I can't give you the link because I have no idea where I saw it) and was completely intrigued.  In the video the artist sort of made a palette of them by thickly applying them in squares on a piece of watercolor paper, and then using them like pan watercolors.  I was intrigued, but also a tad nervous about using them.  I know, that's really silly, but there you are ... somebody let the wicked critic out of her cage and she wasn't happy.

So, finally I sat down and did a quick ink sketch in the sketchbook I'm zeroing in on to complete.  I was on the front porch and drew one of the chairs.  After that sat for awhile ... OK, a pretty long while .... several days, if not a week,  I finally decided to just jump in and outcome be damned!  To put it mildly, the piece is busy, but that's because I really wanted to just fiddle with these pencils.   They are fun .... they are easy to use, although I have to learn how much to put in my square, and they mix well.  As you can see, I chose to mix mine on a separate sheet of paper rather than in the sketchbook since the book isn't very big.  I bought them online from Dick Blick - 25 in a very nice tin, along with an instruction book and color-mixing wheel.   BTW, I don't know if the above link will work .... I had trouble with it and I'm not very good at trouble shooting this sort of thing ... well, really anything having to do with computers.  Anyhow, here's the experimental, very busy, piece.





The blue on the posts is actually burgandy, but I wanted to try out a different color.  I will play with them again ....  maybe soon!        Thanks for dropping by, and I'd love to hear from you!!  

It's been really hot and dry here in the mitten.  The only things growing in our "lawn" are the weeds.  I can't help but wonder why it is that weeds never seem to mind the weather ... not the heat, not the drought, not heavy winds or rain.  Even frost doesn't kill them - they just fade away until the next growing season.  Their roots  settle in for a  long winter's  nap, and in the spring pop right back up, bright eyed and bushy tailed.  Ditto with the crab grass, quack grass, and other grasses that have nothing to do with lawns or gardens.  OK, I'll try not to complain anymore and look at the bright side.  Yes, there is a wee bright side.  I don't have to mow quite as often.  Enough said about all of that!

So, the other night I sat on our front porch with my sketchbook (it only has 5 sheets left!), my little Windsor &  Newton travel sized watercolor set, and my waterbrushes.   I'm never quite sure what you call them - the ones with the tubes to hold water with a brush on the end.   While I like to use those brushes for this kind of casual playing, I like to have a container of water to rinse them off in.  That way I don't have to keep filling them up.  Anyway, what I ended up doing was painting the yard in front of me.  I haven't finished it yet, but you get the idea ... yellow grass.  So far the trees seem to be doing OK.  The gardens, flowerpots, and hanging baskets are all we water because of the size of our yards - hence the dry and dead "grass".  Maybe tonight I'll be able to add a bit more to it, although the truth is that this view doesn't really have much more in it.  Evergreens, trees, and dead "grass".  sigh.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have a second to leave me a wee comment - I love hearing from you!

Last night I sat on the porch with my sweetie and did a quick little watercolor sketch.  I did it in my old sketchbook that's almost filled up (I'm going to quit saying that because I'm planning on continuing to use it until it's all filled up ... which I hope will be soon!).  I used an old set of Pelikan pan watercolors that I've had for about 100 years.  Ok, so that's an exaggeration, but I've had it for at least 30 years!  Clearly I don't use it all that often, but each time I do I wonder why I don't use it all the time.

Sweetie got home really late last night - it was almost 7:00.  Since he usually leaves for work at 4:30 AM, getting home at 7 made for a long day.  I settled on the porch to wait for him with my painting things at the ready when our son, Andrew, called me.  We talked for over an hour about lots of interesting things.  I loved every minute of it!  It did, however, leave me a tad short of time for painting, hence the abbreviated little study.  I didn't do any sketching first, just dove right in with water brushes and the paint.  It was fun, even though the results are less than I would have liked.


PS ... due to our rapid fire internet speed, it took me longer to download this picture than it did to paint it.