Rearranging....

I was inspired by Lindsay's post to show you what I have been up to in my studio. I have been working on organizing stuff at our house. My studio was in a tiny bedroom and had turned into a storage space where I could not even work. If my computer had not crashed last week, you would be treated to an amazingly messy before shot. But our hard drive bit the dust and we lost some recent photos. Lucky you! I decided to move the studio into the room that was our exchange student's bedroom. I still did not get it all moved, but I am making progress.
We found this desk on sale at Office Max and I think I'm going to like it. In the middle of this project I could not resist starting to work on my son's high school scrapbook. He graduated in 2005, so you can see how long I've been putting this off!

Pinky: EDM Challenge #6

This little gal is Pinky. She is a much well loved object and favorite childhood toy of my favorite 5 year old. We gave Pinky to our nephew on his first Christmas and I just love seeing how "well-loved" she is! She might actually end up a real mouse....just like the velveteen rabbit!

Young Artist at Work

This is my husband's younger cousin, Maggie. She is in eighth grade and a wonderful artist. We were at a family party on Sunday, and she (like a true artist) brought her sketchbook with her. She is very in to sketching Manga characters of her own making, but before the day was over she was sketching from a portrait of the newest baby in our family.

As someone who only occasionally has my sketches of people turn out looking human, I was just blown away by her sketching. At the end of the day she gave the parents of little Jenna the sketch...aren't they lucky parents?!
Maggie, it was so inspiring and fun to talk with you on Sunday!

Happy Halloween!

Made another calendar this month. I really like making these because unlike my other calendars which show what is planned, this one shows some of what I actually did. At the end of the day I write a line about what happened that day.

When I started this one I tried freehanding the squares in...yikes, what a mess that was! Plus the squares were so small, I never would have been able to write in them. So I grabbed a sheet off a legal pad (I was at school) and folded it into the proper number of squares and glued it in over the mess I made. Then I took my black pen and used the folds as a guide for the squares. More highlighters...orange this time.

I you want to see some inspiring calendars check out Tracy's and Summer's! Now those are some awesome calendars!

Drawing at School

The last few days I have been substituting and this time I had quite a bit of time to draw while waiting for kids or while they worked. I had a photo of Louie tucked in the pocket of my sketchbook. This drawing of Louie turned out kind of goofy, but he really was smiling in the photo.
Just ruminating on what my dream job would be. I really only have vague ideas about what I'd like to do. I brought my ink pen and Moleskine but other than that had to use what I had at hand in the classroom....highlighters! Two things we all wish we had more of!

Vintage Treasures

In our family we are big into reusing old stuff. Not only is it great on the pocketbook, but you get a home that doesn't look straight out of a catalog page....more interesting in my opinion. Sometimes the stuff needs a little fixing up. My dad has to rewire almost every old lamp we find, and lots of times I end up waxing or painting something before I can use it. This drawing is of a couple of vintage treasures from my mom's living room and mine.

Challenge #83-Evergreen Lake

I did this earlier in the summer. My husband and son love to go mountain biking around this lake. It's all trails and wild. The whole lake is a no wake zone, so it's nice and quiet. One of my dreams is to someday live on a lake or quarry. There is nothing like being near the water all the time...heaven.

Autumn....

Autumn always makes me think about going back to school. Today I actually did...just for the day to pick up some records I needed. It was fun walking around campus though....seeing what has changed and what has not. The Union is a great building and changes very little through the years.
After I ran my errands, I sat in the Union and drew the windows along one wall. I used to love to sit in here or on the terrace just outside this room and study. It's even more fun to sit and draw....sometimes it's great to be out of school.
The last line says, "The Union looks today pretty much the way it did when I was here in the 80s and as it looked when my dad was here in the 50s....and probably as it did in the early 1900s. Sturdy and dignified."

Autumn was the September topic at The Art Blog Challenge.

Making Marks

I've been playing a little with the Copic markers. I found these old sketches (complete with mean notes to myself about my lack of talent!) and decided to mark them up with the new markers. I like the way you can blend them together by going back over them with the lighter color. If you want to see someone who is really good with these visit Janey.

I think it's interesting that I was trying to draw people then too, but I had a lot less patience with myself a few years ago. I would draw, get fed up and not draw again for months.....not a very good way to improve! I'm sure having more fun now!

Junior High

Remember junior high? Yuck, I do. Junior highers are in a wierd inbetween age....not yet teens and not little kids. I quit working at the grocery store so I could be home more in the evenings and weekends when my daughter and husband are there. I have started substituting for teacher's aides, secretaries, and librarians in the grade school system instead. It suits me much better. These are a couple of the kids I've had this week.....sometimes while they are working I have time to draw! I like the one of Britanny, but I was really uptight on the day I drew Anthony and it shows.

August Calendar

Ali and my baby, Colleen

I was inpired by another blogger (I wish I could remember who!) to make a calendar for each month. This month was a great month until the end. One of my daughter's friends was killed in a car accident. She was 16 years old. Kiss your kids and tell people you love them....you never know what will happen. Lucky for Ali and all who knew her, she really lived like that in her short 16 years.

Holy cow,

I hate to break my once a month blogging streak.........ok, I need to get back to it. I have been lusting after copic markers for a long time and today I decided to bite the bullet and spend the big bucks to get them. I was sooooo happy when I took them to the checkout and found the total was much less that I thought....they are 30% off at Hobby Lobby! I can't wait to try them out and report back to you!

Eagle Lake

I went along while Joe took Darryl and Colleen mountain biking. Darryl said he liked it. Colleen not so much. Joe and Mike are just passionate about mountain biking and they just don't understand why everyone isn't into it! I'm that way about drawing too so I guess I understand.

This beautiful lake is in one of their favorite places to bike--Fort Custer Park in Michigan. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about foliage--so many of the things I want to draw are outside-I have to figure it out!

Long time, no see!

I have been busy with summer and not posting. I need to fix that! Posting helps me stay motivated to make new drawings!

This is cute vintage set of shakers that we use up at the lake. They are made of heavy white glass-the printing is in blue and red.

Back again....

We had a wonderful couple of weeks at the cottage. At first I was feeling like whole page drawings were just too much to think about, so I divided the page into little squares like the grids I have seen many journalers using. I like how it turned out.
Just a little sketch of the lilies that grow around the back door.
One day we went to the beach on Lake Michigan. There must have been a storm moving in because the waves were much bigger than normal....we had great time playing in them. That lady in the skirt was there watching five of here grandkids swim.
Louie has been losing a lot of weight and muscle mass this year...he has trouble getting up and down. He still loves the water though and went swimming almost every day. When I drew this he was snoozing on the porch, and I was relaxing in the swing.....ahhhh.

Lots of walks and bike rides,

but not many drawings. I must change that! Here is the press box at the high school football field. If I had a nickel for every hour I have spent there! Lost patience with drawing bleachers.
Last night I walked 3.5 miles and worked in 1/2 mile of very slow jogging to try and raise my heart rate some.

Another creative project...

I always wanted to try to do something with paper mache....Colleen and I made 2 pinatas for her Spanish class. This frog was one....we also made a fish but I don't have a pic of him. They were alot of fun, but messy! I have some ideas of other things I'd like to create using this techinque. The colors turned out pretty, I think. We basecoated it white and then glued on torn tissue paper to make the colors.

Flip-Flops

These are my little 5 year old nephew's flip flops. He loves the water and has a little fit anytime he has to come inside. They were laying on the porch during naptime so I drew them. Somehow in my drawing, they look like he must wear 2 different sizes....oops.

At the Lake

This litte boat is a wooden model that sits on the porch.
We only have one bathroom in the cottage so, this little washstand is kept busy with all the make-up and hair-doing. It's hard to tell in my drawing, but there is a big mirror over it--and that is how you are seeing the reflection of the door and lake.
This swing is always the first seat taken on the porch. Usually one person sits on it as mom is doing here---or with our feet up on the chains to keep it moving--like a swinging recliner!

Going to be walking in Michigan....

I will have my sketch book with me and hope to return with lots of sketches filled with blue skys and water!

Headed to the lake....

and I hope to do lots of sketching while I'm in Michigan. Taking some paints and other toys with me to play with.

Walked 2.5 miles

and stopped downtown to make this sketch. I love the old buildings downtown...it would be so neat to live in one of the spaces above the stores. Lots of them have very cool windows...most are not being used. Sorry about the quality of this.....I just started wearing contacts and using reading glasses cause I need bifocals.....yikes.....I forgot my reading glasses on the walk, so I could not see the page as well as I would have liked. We could call this semi-blind contour...LOL.

Biked 10 miles

strong breezes today

Biked 16.5 miles

working up to more.

Mall Walking

Not my favorite place to walk, but today I went with four 15-16 year old girls to a big mall up north. They had fun shopping and I used the time to walk, people watch and draw. Probably walked about 3 miles. At least it was a big mall with lots of stores I don't usually get to see.

Walking Errands...

I did about 3.5 miles today walking my errands before I head off to work. I stopped to draw the giant rubber ducky. We have rubber duck race on the river on Father's day to raise money for The Boys and Girls Club. They dump thousands of rubber ducks....and catch them down stream with a net. If your duck wins you could win some pretty big prizes. I don't like this drawing, but the subject matter was one of the ugliest intersections in town. Thank goodness our church built on one of the corners...it helps it look better.

Then I stopped on the deck attached to the suspension bridge to draw this bench and the cottonwood tree behind it. I love to sit on this deck above the river....kind of like a treehouse. I think you can tell by the drawing that I like this subject matter much better!

Louie and Colleen

Here is Colleen and Louie. Louie really needs a haircut! He is a standard poodle...about 75 pounds of poodle. He is 10 and has a little arthritis these days. He is the best dog I've ever had....loads of personality and fun....and sometimes a little too smart for his own good!

You can see a couple more of my drawings from today here.

Biked 10 miles...

in a very very stiff wind....was fun on the way back with it at my back though!

Biking again....

10 miles. Sorry about the posts w/o drawings, but I am posting anyway to keep track of the days I exercise. Drawings to come, promise.

aakkkkk. No drawing again!

We did bike 12 miles again tonight though. I was going to make a drawing of my bike, but by the time we got back it was getting too dark. Planning to take a morning ride tomorrow....and I will probably be by myself and can stop to draw where ever I please.....

Life IS Art

My sis-in-law told the editor of Impromptu magazine about all the daily sketching I've been doing. The editor thought it would make a good story and she assigned a writer to do a story about it. It tells about how I started making drawing a regular part of my life after reading Danny's website and book, and how it has enriched the quality of my life. To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure there was enough there to make a story...but it turned out pretty well. This magazine is circulated to homes in the Kankakee/Joliet area. I don't know how long this will be up---if the Impromptu Magazine gives me permission, I will let it stay.

No drawing but....

we did bike 12 miles today. Hopefully a drawing tomorrow. As you can see by my "pedalpower" name, some of my summer miles in my shoes are bound to be on a bike.

Biking

This is the front wheel of my husband's bike. Bike's are complicated to draw! We went 10 miles today on flat land.

Walking in Chicago

I walked so much today that my feet are killing me. But I sure had fun. I went by downtown by myself, so I could move at my own pace. I am putting a charm bracelet together for our exchange student and needed a couple of Chicago charms....it really does not take a large excuse for me to spend the day in the city. I got a new little watercolor kit on sale at an art supply store across from the Art Insititue. I wanted to go into the museum, but sort of hated to spend the day indoors.

Things have been kind of crazy around here lately and I have not been doing a lot of drawing. I felt kind of timid at first, but then I really got into the swing of it. I love letter stamps and now I have 3 different sizes.

3 Miles....

but no drawing because I walked with a friend and it was night. I will try to a drawing walk tomorrow.

Challenge 66 on my walk

I walked in the drizzling rain again so my fire hydrant drawing got smeared in a few places. I stopped in at the library to make a sketch out of the rain.

A Walk to the Park

Walked and mowed the lawn today....I count the lawn as exercise too! I haven't been doing so well with everyday walking. I'll have to start fitting it in. I have started walking to work....it's not very far, but every little bit counts.

Mississippi Palisades

Yesterday I spent the day by the Mississippi River where my husband is working for a couple of weeks. The Mississippi Palisades State park is a beautiful place. This is a spring that you pass just as you enter the park.
I hiked a couple of the trails and spent the day drawing while my husband was at work. The wildflowers were beautiful. Drifts of trillium and bluebells sweeping down the hillside. While I was drawing I was so still that 2 deer walked right up on me. I took some photos too and will add them to this post if they turned out well.

May 2 Walk.....

I walked in a different town yesterday because I went to visit my hubby who is working near Savanna, IL for a couple of weeks. Savanna is a river town....I love being by the water. I spent the day drawing and walking the hills in the Mississippi Palisades State Park, and then after supper I made this little drawing on a walk in Savanna.

When I get home from work I'll post the drawings from the park at Draw Daily.

Corner Drug Store

Louie
Today I took Louie with me so he could get some exercise too. He used to looooves to go for a walk, but can't go as far as we used to because of arthritis. When I got home I tried to color it because I liked that red awning so much, but I really did not know what I was doing or how to make it look like night. Some colors were showing because of the street lamps, but there was also a lot of grays going on. The building is made of brick that is shiny white glazed. I'd like to take a watercolor class someday to learn some of this stuff....it takes a long time to reinvent the wheel, er, watercolor.

It was drizzley weather but nice and cool for walking. We walked about 2 miles.