The Good, the bad, and the ugly

This weekend was full of family fun and visiting relatives. One evening our whole family met a my sister's house for pizza and dessert, and I drew this bust that was sitting on an end table. The face looked tough, so I decided to draw the back of it--hey that turned out pretty good! Then I turned it around and gave the face a try-yikes! Poor lady, she really is quite lovely in person! Then I finished off with a blind contour of her.

Challenge #49 Draw My Refrigerator

I finally did another challenge and combined it with drawing an interior. This is one end of our kitchen including the frige covered with pictures of family and friends. Our frige is over 20 years old--my folks gave it to us when they got a new one. The ice crusher broke, but otherwise it's still going strong. I wonder if the new ones are made that well. Those french doors actually lead to a closet and I plan to put more pics in behind the panes.

I have noticed a shift in my thinking about my sketchbook...I used to be uptight about drawing in a sketchbook, worrying that I might mess up, and ususally I abandoned the sketchbook before long. This time I have stuck with it longer than I ever have. Some drawings I am happy with and some not so much, but each page is a new chance to try and to see things a little more clearly. It shows me learning and I'm liking that.

At the Dentist's Office

Went to the dentist's today and drew the waiting room while waiting for my daughter to get done. Inspired by Laura I am going to do some interiors this month. I didn't get done and actually wished I could sit there for a little while and finish, but...other things to do today!

Blind Contour Friday

Water....I had such trouble drawing the spout last time that I decided to bc it for BC Friday. Then I splashed some watercolor on in a big hurry thought cause I'm trying to get this up and not be late for work.

An Evening in Galena

Today we drove to Galena and had dinner, took a long walk in town up and down the hills, had dessert and drove back home. It was a little crazy to drive so far just for dinner probably, but we had such a good time. Galena is so beautiful and the land so different from the flat lands we live in that we always feel like we've really had a get-away. This drawing is by Galena artist Carl Johnson, Jr. He has a gallery of his work on Main Street-if you get to Galena, check it out.He has wonderful watercolors. This stairway is one of the ones we climbed tonite!

We had dessert at a tavern where they put butcher paper and crayons on each table for the diners' amusement. This is the couple who sat across the room from us. I pasted it into my Moleskine when I got home.

Galena on Dwellable

What city do I belong in?

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city girl with a small town heartWhich is why you're attracted to the romance of RomeStrolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in handAnd gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

I don't ususally post these but I thought this one was fun--and I'd love to try Rome!

New Year's Resolution

This is my first drawing for 2006...I have not been doing very well in my goal of drawing daily and I feel uptight just trying to get back at it.

For EM Challenge: New Year's resolution

This year is the year I take better care of my body....starting with cutting down on the pop and drinking more water. Sorry for the sad little drawing, but that's the other resolution...draw everyday--good or bad regardless.

Merry Christmas Cards

This is the photo from our Christmas card this year- which I am just addressing tonight!

I drew this card about 10 years ago and had a box of them printed up in black and white-which is how we sent them that year.

I had enough left over to use them again, but I hated to send them out with the same look, so I decided to add some color this year. My mom, aunt and I watercolored them one night, and tonite my daughter did all the signing. I may get the hang of this delegating thing after all! We added some glitter too.

I wish peace and joy to all you internet friends this Christmas!

Another Chicago Page

I drew this light fixture and the opera singer on our Chicago crawl-tonite I added the Hancock Center from a photo Aor took. We are looking forward to going up in the evening one day soon to see the Christmas lights and have dinner.

Working and drawing

I drew this at work, and it is the first thing I have drawn in days. These days I work part time at a grocery store and a few days a month at this home deco. shop. I am not used to having so much of my time spoken for by an employer--I know, I'm spoiled. However the extra money is nice--especially in December! I should start drawing at the basketball games--that would add a lot to my drawing time!

We had a beautiful snow this evening! Everything is covered in a layer of sparkling white--I love snow!

Chicago Sketchcrawl & Challenge #41

Aor and I met Lindsay and Lisa to sketch Chicago. It was wonderful to meet these artists/bloggers in person! And very cool to see their sketch books and tools....Lindsay was sketching in a journal she bound herself. Aor did her first realistic sketches...which were very good! Lisa was working with some water soluable graphite pencils I would love to try.
















We met by Marshall Field's and set to work sketching the famous clock (challenge #41-draw a city landmark!). There was a nice supportive feel to being out sketching in a group. One man (who looked like he would like to join us) gave us the thumbs up as his wife hurried him along. Pretty soon we were well chilled...so we grabbed some cider and coffee and headed into the Chicago Cultural Center.
















Lisa suggested we be brave and sketch people...we were brave enough to attempt that, but chicken enough to draw each other instead of strangers. Don't go by my sketches of them....Lisa and Lindsay are actually lovely ladies. The cultural center is a very beautiful building with wonderful mosaics covering the walls, floors and ceilings, fabulous light fixures and stained glass skylights.

I would love to do this again someday, and I hope we will have some more Chicago area artists join in!

Blind Contour Friday

This is the old lamp next to my bed.

EM Challenge #14-What I See First in the AM

The dredded alarm clock. I am not a morning person...even if I have to get up (and I usually do have to) my brain does not function well until about 9am. Or even 10 maybe.

Draw something Halloween-EM Challenge #38

I figured I had better do this challenge before the Halloween decorations go into storage. We enjoyed watching our exchange student get such a kick out of Halloween-she had seen it in American movies at home in Thailand. She went to a Halloween party dressed as a cheerleader and carved a jack-o-lantern. Aor got a kick out of all the decorations around town--this drawing is of some of ours. Halloween is such fun time to decorate....it seems not to matter if Halloween deco is tacky and cheap...and long as it's fun!

Blind Contour Friday

This is a little light because I drew it in pencil-then colored the lines in Paint Shop. When I want to relax this is what I want.

Our Garage and B-ball Basket

One thing I have learned from Everyday Matters Group is that you don't have to have something "pretty" to make a drawing. So here is our garage...drawn on a chilly morning, and I drew in my nice warm car after taking the kids to school.