Last bird posting

I finished off my Buildings sketchbook and Nesting sketchbook. That leaves only one unfinished general sketchbook for the year. This is the last bird in my Nesting sketchbook.

Duck

Rather colorless duck. I sketched him in pencil first then add gray watercolor for shading and dull plumage. Not exciting but an exercise in value.

Sunbathing

My old gray goose sunbathing on a rock shelf by the pond. This is in my Nesting sketchbook. Only 3 more spread to finish it off. Not sure I will make my self imposed deadline. I caught a cold and have had very little energy.

Review of 2016 Goals

Here are the Goals I set for this past year.

1.     Fills my Walls Journal, maybe using wall graffiti  for spiritual quotes. I didn't touch this journal.

2.     Bind more sketchbooks using the paper that is already torn and binding repurpose $1 library books. I was able to bind 4 books from this paper.

3.     Paint in acrylics & watercolour. In the past I have felt that I should specialize in one medium, mainly at the advise and urging of others. But that really isn't who I am. I get bored and some subject cry out to painted in a certain medium. I painted watercolour, acrylic, and oriental brush paintings.

4.     Revisit Roz’s drawing practice workshop (ie. continue sketching every day). Never got around to doing this but I did sketch alot.

5.     Continue doing oriental brush paintings. This I did do.

6.     Try plein air painting. I only went out once but hope to go out regularly in 2017.

7.     Get more active in LSC and LRA, shows, paint outs, workshops. I was only active in the LCS and rejoined for the coming year.

8.     Continuing working on lettering skills to add to my sketchbooks and maybe make some greeting cards. This I did do.

9.     Log my art hours with categories for creating, medium, exhibiting, club work, reading/research, play. I started this but didn't continue.

10.  Adding a spiritual component to my sketchbooks. I didn't do this in my sketchbooks but did do it in my planner.

11.  Painting from life using my still life set up. This I did do.

12.  Blog This I did do.

13.  Try Gelli printing. This I did do. And had a fun time.

14.  Experiment with different acrylics (soft body, high flow etc).This I did do some and discovered I really prefer heavy body acrylics.

15.  Set up a blog just for IFJM or one that is dedicated to just play and experimentation. It would provide a safe place free from the judgment, comments and criticism from those familiar with my “serious” art. This I did do.

Duck, Goose, Turtles

More from my Hill Top Inn photos to fill my "Nesting" sketchbook.

Yes, it's the old gray goose again

I have really enjoyed sketching from the photos I took at the Hill Top Inn in the fall. I think it may be because I really connected with these guys. They weren't just photos but I was there long enough for them to share their personalities with me.

Waiter

This is in my buildings sketchbook that I am trying to fill before the end of the year. Granted this isn't about a building but the waiter is in a building. I really enjoy working with these gray markers. Sorry you can't read my notes on the left but the spiral binding didn't allow me to get the whole book on the scanner.

One Year Blog Anniversary

Exactly one year ago today I started this blog. This isn't my first blog. I had one for several years but decided to stop and take it down. I felt I was spending too much time posting when I should have been painting and sketching. Of course that wasn't true. I can always find time to do what I really want to do. 

No painting or sketching today. I spent the day cleaning and cooking then enjoying company.

Three Little Birds

Another page closer to filling this sketchbook, "Nesting".

Bluebird

My last "framed" posting. This is the first frame I created over a month ago and just got around to filling it. We have lots of Eastern Bluebird around out house.

Poppies and a blue jay

Thanksgiving and preparations for Christmas have taken most of my time, leaving little for art. But I have started playing with frames. I like the way Leslie Fehling uses frames in her sketches so I decided to copy some of her designs and place my own sketches inside. First my frames are too large for the interior sketches. Also I prefer my simple line or no frame on my sketches. Yet I still like and admire Leslie's work. I have made 4 frames and filled two. Will try to fill the remaining two but don't think this is a style I will incorporate into my sketchbook. It just isn't me.

Finishing Sketchbooks

I rarely end a year with all the sketchbooks I started that year filled. But this year that is my goal. Chances are I won't get them all finished mainly because I have started so many new ones this year. Why? Because I wanted to dedicate a whole sketchbook to one topic (ie. birds, my Nesting book) or a whole book to one media for planning purposes or a book just for one class I took. I probably could not do this if it wasn't for the fact that I make my own books therefore have less money invested in each one. So how many am I working to finish before the end of 2016? Let me list them and the number of empty pages to fill, if for no other reason than I will be able to see the job I have in the next month.

1) Nesting - bird sketches, 8 pages
2) Buildings - started for Liz Steel's class on buildings, 6 pages
3) Polishing - started for my class at Sketchbook Skool, 3 pages
4) Circles - a sketchbook I started a couple of years ago to practice drawing ellipses that I keep near the TV in hopes I will fill it while watching TV, 30 small pages
5) Don't Sweat the small stuff - a recycled library book I rebound with watercolor paper; it is the perfect size to take on my dog walks but it is forgotten more than taken, 18 pages.

Now I also have a sketchbook for planning acrylic paintings, book binding; oriental brush painting note and planning; and a lettering book where I try different fonts out and just play with lettering. These are long on going books meant to last until they are filled with no time attached to their completion.

So at first glance it would appear I have not finished a single sketchbook in 2016. But I have.

1) my little red oriental brush planning book
2) an acrylic planning book started in 2013
3) the Taos trip sketchbook
4) my Shift in Place IFJM 2016 journal
5)The Lady and the Unicorn, one of my recycled, refilled, rebound library book for general sketching

Therefore you can see why I haven't taken the time to post recently and may not post much in the coming days. Well I am off to bake Thanksgiving Days pies and squeeze in some sketching.

Door Bell

This is the sketch for the third painting in the Taos series. But I will probably change the formate to the same 12x12 inch square canvas I used for the other two.

Back Gate

I have been working on two of the three paintings I conceived from my trip to Taos in September. Not pleased with either one. Actually like my color sketches better than what I have on the canvases. The excitement I first felt as left me so I may need to move on. Or maybe I need to go back to watercolor.

This started out as entitled Kitchen Door but then I realized the gate that goes into the back property is the real center of interest. Therefore the name change.

Back Gate stage one

back Gate stage two

The colors are aren't as bright as they show on the computer screen but they are bright. The brightness was intentional to show the warmth of the sun. I simplified the background, removed a ladder and may add a large pot with plants in the shadow on the right.

Radishes

This was my first go. I liked it but it was too dark in real life. The values look more balanced on the computer screen. The wooden planks work for me too but I decided to go back in and lighten it up.

I lighten it up everywhere except the red radishes. The  background, foreground and leaves are all lighter. Even so I may go in again the lighten the foreground and change the background to a lighter and bluer color. Or I may just move on. 

SBS Polishing Klass 3 faces

This started with a photo of a woman wrapped in a blanket.  I cut out the face and drew one of my own with ink and gray markers. Looking back I wished I had used brown ink and makers, maybe next time. It reminds me of a old faded Polaroid snap shot the way I cropped the page.

SBS Polishing, the food continues

This one was hard for me. So much of the dinner was the same or nearly the same color and value. I tried to use line variation to give it more interest and separation in the food items. Oh, it was delicious too. Drawn from photo, I wasn't going to let this one get cold.

SBS Polishing Klass another day

Another Blue Apron entree. 

SBS Polishing Klass 5

I have filled almost every page in the sketchbook I dedicated to this kourse. I gave each klass at least space for 7 exercises, one for each day for a week. Since I started late I didn't necessarily work in the book sequentially. But often jumped around working on more than one klass a day. Some were more fun than others and learned varying amount of new nfo from each teacher. Always good to look at art from different angles and approaches. It has started me thinking about working on comics. I want to start a sketchbook where I draw at least one frame a day. More food…this one from that all important food group sugar.

SBS Polishing Klass 6

The last class was with Juliana Coles. Her topic was art journaling. She did a great demo plus a parting gift of a detailed step by step exercise. I did this homework based on her demo before opening the exercise. Remember it is a start not a completed work. Now I need to find just the right book to alter for the art journaling exercise.

We started with an incomplete drawing or failed sketch.

Then we added words, thoughts. This reminded me of the Morning Pages exercises.

Next we added paint covering some but not all of the words we had written.

Then some mark making and collage. Not sure where this will go next.

Klass 5 was with Matthew Midgley. He had us drawing our food. Now I love to eat and draw but like my food hot and fresh or cold and fresh, however the cook intended it to be eaten. So a quick outline of my salad and finished from a photo. In fact all of my other meals were drawn from photos.

Sketchbook Skool Polishing Klass 3

The instructor for the 3rd klass was Nelleke Verhoeff. She had us working on creating faces with collage and sketching. It was fun and I think it will help me work on my goal of creating a comic strip. This is actually a sketch of Nelleke I did from a photo she gave us. She is known for adding red cheeks to her faces so I could not resist giving her red cheeks.

Sketchbook Skool Polishing Klass 2

Not a masterpiece but my homework assignment in Klass 2. Kooske Koene has us working on drawing negative spaces. This is my drafting stool in my studio drawn with different tools each time. The hope is that it would be closer to reality with each attempt. Not too sure I succeeded with that goal.

Sketchbook Skool - Polishing

Decide very late in the game to sign up for the Polishing kourse at Sketchbook Skool, a 6 week course. It started 30 September. I started almost a month late. The first class is comics with Danny Gregory. I have always wanted to do a comic series about my life and family. I kept putting it off because I firgured I needed to develop my characters first. That meant being able to draw their heads and bodies in any pose. Therefore, I never did anything, I quit before I could start. I had set a very high threshold. Danny has you just jumping in and doing it. I am having fun. Here is my first conversational comic, the first assignment.

Goose at Pond Edge

Another view of the gray goose.

Duck Couple

Another sketch from one of the photos I took at the Hill Top Inn. The rock formations around the grounds were interesting. They were flat gray and looked like very thick pancake batter that was pour out. They appear all over the lawns. These were around one of the ponds. The white duck was the female and the malard duck was the male. I can't remember their names. But the female was the guardian and did not like me.

Three Geese Heads

Still working on drawing geese. Like the bottom one best, but more practice is needed. Had hoped to get out today and draw from life. Instead I took my husband to the doctor's office for this cold/flu thing that is going around. Plus the wind is a bit strong for my new plein air set up so I couldn't have used it anyway. Thank goodness I took enough photos recently to keep me busy.

Plein air set

This is my "fishing" vest. The pockets contain everything I need within easy reach. I have used this for several years. It is perfect for hiking or sketching in a confined space. When I get to the point of adding color I balance my travel watercolor set on one side of my sketch pad. This set up works well for me when using waterbrushes so I don't have to worry about a water source. I make most of my sketchbooks so I always have ones that fit the largest pockets.

But last week I came across a set up designed by Leslie Fehling on her blog Everyday Artist . It looked so much better than anything I have seen. So I bought the pieces and put my own version together. It is a bit larger, 15x18 so my 12x9 inch watercolor block fits. Instead of a sponge I use a wrist band (the black rectangle below the drill bit gauge).

This show the lid from a liquid laundry detergent bottle that holds my fresh water supply.

Here is my brush case, liquid laundry detergent bottle, and tote that holds everything including my board.

Resting Peacock

A quick sketch of a peacock at the Temple Hill Farm.

Rooftop Goats

The people at the Temple Hill Farm have built a multi-level ramp with a couple of lookouts. This is a great idea it probably keeps them from getting too bored. Want to work on the angles and proportions of the goats heads. They are fun and interesting animals.

Chicken

I am guessing it is a chicken and not a rooster. My knowledge of farm animals is very limited. This chicken lives at the Temple Hill Farm in Leesburg Virginia. I went out Tuesday on a paint out with the Loudoun Sketch Club. We are scheduled to return to the same location next Tuesday. I am trying to decide if I want to go back. There are chickens, goats, and pigs 5 minutes from my house. I might go there instead.

Duck, Duck, Goose

A couple of value sketches of the white duck and gray goose at the inn.

White Duck

Last week we went to a winery and then stayed over night at a B&B. We had a great time. The inn had 3 small ponds where a duck couple and a gray goose lived. This duck was not particularly fond of me. She chased me twice. I guess I invaded her personal space while photographing her and her friends.

Peacock

I belong to two local art groups, one for my oriental brush painting and a general art group, the Loudoun Sketch Club. The LSC has paint outs during the warmer months of the year. Unfortunately I haven't taken much advantage of going out with them this year. But yesterday I did go after being encouraged to do so by a fellow member. It was one of the few hot days we have experience this fall but it was great to get out and paint with other artists. Since it was my first time in ages to attempt plein air painting I decided to start with my sketchbook, pen & ink, and watercolor. I also took a complete watercolor set up just in case I got ambitious. I did not. Sketching and bag lunch was about all I was up for. But they always go to the same location two weeks in a row. That way you can complete a painting with the same lighting. So I may go over my photos and see it I want to plan a painting from one of them and return. There were chickens, pig, piglets, turkeys, and goats. Plus a lovely brick home, barns, out buildings, corn fields, and pastures. Hopefully I will be better at taking advantage of these outings next year.

I have been sketching. I have been taking Liz Steel's Sketching Now - Buildings class on-line. It is a good class and I think my buildings are improving. But the main thing that will improve my sketching is just practicing sketching more and more buildings on location.

I have also being working out compositions for my Taos acrylic paintings series. I have to get on them before the excitement fades.

Tree Removal

Our house sits next to a county tree reserve. In order for our HOA to cut down dead trees it takes a lot of paperwork. It has taken about 2 months to get this dead tree approved for removal. The problem is the tree is so tall that when it falls it could possibly take out part of our deck or our neighbor's house depending on the way it would fall. So when I returned home this morning after walking Jake I grabbed a sketch pad and went to work. The paper is classified as mix media but I think ink, pencil, or colored pencil is about the only media that would work well. Maybe a light watercolor wash with very little water. But it was fun quick sketch.

Ladder to the Sky

I think I finished this one today. Changed the left side quite a bit but think it works. Not as excited as I was at the end of the first stage. The longer I fiddle with a painting the less I like the end result. Now to decide whether to work on the other 3 that I have sketched out compositions or move on to something else.

Ladder to the Sky (stage 1)

This is the first in my Taos series. I am working in acrylic and playing with blocks of color. I have 3 more sketched out. It is roughed at this stage but I think it is going the way I want to go. Don't know if I have the courage to leave the colors so bright and unblended but at this time that's the way I want to go.

Ladder to the Sky 12"x12" acrylic on canvas

River (unmounted)

I have been working on a new oriental brush painting, River. It is probably finished, waiting to be mounted, sitting in a drawer. Will mount it when I get at least 3 paintings finished. It is a pain to drag out the large mounting boards.

Orange Slices

5"x7" acrylic on gessoed board

My second small acrylic painting based on Barbara Newton's teaching study.

Fall Leaves

Every year I have to do at least one watercolor sketch of the fall leaves. Picked these up this morning while Jake and I were on our morning walk.

Fall stuff

I try to walk Jake our shetland sheep dog at least 2 miles everyday. Luckily we have paths that take us through lovely wooded areas. There are so many scenes and objects that keeps my eye to paint and occasionally I pick up bits and bobs. This was such a case.

You will notice the pencil lines under the journaling. I purchased a set of three guides design to use on envelopes to make addressing them easier and neater. I thought I would try them in my sketchbook for awhile to see if I like them. I left them on for the scan of this spread so you could see the guides but will erase them before shelving this book. This finishes off this sketchbook now on to choose a new one to start.

53th Annual Juried Exhibition

Saturday night was the Sumi-e Society of America's 53th Annual Awards Banquet. The Judge, Freda Lee-McCann selected two of my paintings for the show. Then I was pleasantly surprised to receive the Sarasota Chapter Award for my Deer Friends 2 painting.

Acorns

I picked up a couple of oak branches while out walking with my dog Jake. After all what says fall better than acorns, well, maybe pumpkins. Only one more spread in this sketchbook and it will be full. It is always fun to think about which sketchbook and tools to work with next.