Apri 29 and 30 actually.....

I walked both days, but today (May 1) is the first day I've had a chance to post. I edited the date on this post so it would end up in the right spot on the blog. Not pretty drawings, but the sketchbook is making me think more about having to get out there and do it! I have walked to the store each day I worked and I have been walking many of our errands. We live in an old style small town that makes it easy to do....I had just gotten out of the habit. When I think back to how much I walked in college....it's no wonder I had a great metabolism and was thin. I was moving a lot! I have a pedometer and I think I will start wearing that to get an idea of how many steps I'm getting in.

EMC #60 Draw a Car

Answer for the Draw a Car challenge at Everyday Matters. I also have another drawing posted at my new fitness/drawing blog. Yup, you read it right. It is Julie Oakley's brainchild. Check it out. My blog is A Mile in My Shoes.

First Day of the New Habit

Well, I hope I'm creating a new habit here. Yesterday when I was running errands, I stopped and bought one of the tiny little Moleskines to use for my walks.

Today I walked to a nearby park. A local patron donated the park land and these iron sculptures. They are pretty cool, but also a little scary............they are huge and loom over you. I bet they are 18 feet tall. The playground equipment looks tiny in comparison.

Exercising

I always like exercising my brain, but lots of times I avoid exercising my bod. So when I saw what Julie Oakley was proposing at One Mile from Home knew I had to join in. This blog will be to record my walk a day in drawing or maybe sometimes a photo. Great idea Julie!

Lilacs

EDM Challenge #59-Sign of Spring
I love lilacs......the smell soooo wonderful. This has been a good spring for all the flowering shrubs and trees. Tonight we are supposed to have a cold snap though, so I hope they don't all get frozen.


Colleen snuggled up to the fire tonight...there is a definite chill in the air.

Top Ten Hobby Supplies-List Friday

Here is my list for List Friday at Pomegranates and Paper.

1. Moleskine Sketchbook 6x9
2. Faber Castell PITT Artist pens (esp. super fine)
3. Small pan watercolors
4. Niji waterbrush
5. Cutterbee 12 inch paper cutter
6. Bamboo knitting needles
7. Pages from old books
8. My sewing machine-it's an old pfaff
9. Set of ABC stamps in very plain type
10. Lots of time....this one is the hardest to find!

Devine Soup

Devine Soup is named after my brother-in-law's family. There were 6 kids in his family and this is one of his mom's recipes. It's fast and easy to make after work and yummy too.

• 1lb. ground beef
• 1/2 cup choped onion
• 2 cans Del Monte Italian style stewed tomatoes
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 can mixed veges (don't drain)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1 cup uncooked egg noodles

Brown meat with onions and drain. Salt and pepper to taste. Add remaining ingredients except noodles and bring to a boil. Add noodles and simmer 10 minutes or until noodles are tender.

I have beautiful kids....really!

Colleen made me promise to post pics, so you would not believe my drawings. LOL. As you can see she really is a pretty girl (inside and out, too).












These are the photos I used to try drawing more people tonite.



















This is Anotai, our exchange student from Thailand.



















and here are the crazy drawings--please read Colleen's comments which I included on the page. I'm posting them anyway though....cause you know, you have to start somewhere, right? After reading Laura's blogpost about noses, I was trying to put some real noses on them.

I also have a handsome son that I could probably make look like an old, creepy coot next!

#53 Draw a mouth and #56 Self-portrait

So I finally do a self portrait...in the spirit of following Laura's lead to draw people this month. Going to a scary place...drawing people! I think I made myself look younger and thinner, but it does look a little like me.

And then there are the lips. As I drew these I thought, "how can you shade in pen and ink and not have them look hairy." Well look at Eefje's drawing to see how...stunning! Then I realized that the challenge included journalling about speaking out or remaining silent. Well, I just know that I tend to get in more trouble from speaking out, than from remaining silent. These days I think there are a lot of times when we should speak out, but we remain silent because it will cause us less trouble or not make waves. It seems that often the majority keeps silent and lets the fringe or more extreme element make all the noise. Remaining silent can be a wise thing to do....but sometimes it is just the easiest thing to do. It's pretty important to be truthful with yourself about your motives.

Drawing at a Museum

Well, I finally did the challenge to draw at a museum. Jennifer and I went to the McLean Co. Historical Musuem which is housed in the beautiful old courthouse. We drew a plane that was built in Bloomington in the 30's and was a forerunner to the modern high speed jets. I journaled on the page about the plane and how it reminds me of my grandfather. He was a machinist at Studebaker and he was also a pilot of his own plane. He built a flight simulator in his basement and he and his buddies built a race car for the Indy 500. It had problems in the trials and never made the actual race. I just think it is cool how ordinary (but brainy) guys were building cool stuff like that in their own garages back then. My granddaddy only went to school through 3rd grade before he quit to work....but he never stopped learning and he did some amazing things in his lifetime.
This one is my attempt to draw Jennifer....trying to draw more people Laura! As you can see she is almost faceless, as faces scare me to pieces. But look, I pretty much caught how she was sitting! That's cool!

List Friday....foods that freak me out

At Pomergranates and Paper they ask you to list a few things each week.

Here are foods that freak me out:
1 mushrooms--yucky texture
2 mussells, clams, oysters--yucky texture
3 olives--yucky texture
4 liver-yucky texture and taste
5 cooked cabbage-if you can't get it past your nose, you shouldn't eat it
6 brussel sprouts--same as above
7 raw tomatos-yucky texture, but great if cooked in something!
8 sushi-raw meat...eewww

Mammoth Cave

We had a great visit to Mammoth Cave over spring break. The cave is just pretty awesome...with wonderful formations. While we listened to the ranger speak I sketched in one chamber, then when we got home I drew from a couple of snapshots. I am going to have to buckle down and draw lots of people to get a handle on drawing the human figure.