Sunset, Christmas Day

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Christmas Eve at Southwest Church

Doodles and Drawings

 

Sketchbook, 5.5" x 8.5"

 

Doodling Flowers - Alisa Burke style

 

Ball-Point Pen

And because I can't resist those cacti:

 

 



Advent

 

Strathmore Watercolor Art Journal

Watercolor Pencils

Ball-Point Pen

 

Missing my gelatos; felt like finger painting.  Discovered that on 140 lb. watercolor paper you can do the same thing with watercolor pencils.  It's all about the paper, evidently.  Why did it take me so long to figure this out?

 

Christians celebrate the arrival of Christmas for four weeks, called Advent.  Each week brings into focus one of four different characteristics personified by Jesus:  hope, joy, love and peace.

Inside My Art Journal

 

Watercolor and Ball Point Pen

(Missing my pointed nib)

 

Watercolor, Ball Point Pen, and Sharpie

 

Quick and fun - just the way I like it.



Why We Have an Obesity Problem in North America

 

 

This, folks, is a juice glass.  It holds 4 oz., or about 100 ml.  When I saw this cute retro glass in our Palm Springs condo, I was reminded of my childhood breakfasts.  This is the size of glass that my mother used to serve juice to us in the morning before school.

 

A small orange juice at McDonalds is 12 oz.  Even if math isn't your strong suit, I think you can figure out why we have an obesity problem in North America.  Enough said.

 

"Wot?  No art?" my friend Janice will ask.  Well, I've done a few sketches that aren't worth posting and a blatant copy of something I saw on Diana Trout's blog.  I love Art Nouveau, and I'm ashamed to say that I haven't heard of Charles Rennie MacIntosh.  More study will definitely result.  Do you know where Picasso got the idea of the thick black lines that I copied here?  Art Nouveau.

 



 



Doodled Flowers

 

Strathmore Watercolor Pad, 6" x 9"

Watercolor, Sharpie Pens

 

Hot on the heels of Alisa Burke's $5.00 journal, I thought I'd try some of her doodled flowers.  Poinsettias for the Christmas season.  Fun, fun, fun!  (And with that 140 lb. watercolor paper, those Sharpies don't bleed through the page, either :))

 



Sometimes You Just Want to Slop Paint Around

 

For those sloppy times, a sketchbook just doesn't cut it.  I had one of those moments last week and I'm away from my collection of journals.  What's a girl to do?  Make a $5.00 art journal,  that's what Alisa Burke recommends!  I couldn't get the exact pad recommended by Alisa, so I think mine cost $7.  Easy come, easy go.  LOL 

Tomato Plant

 

Sketchbook, 5.5" x 8.5"

Watercolour Pencil, Peerless Watercolour

 

My friend Janice borrowed a library book for me called "Picasso at 90:  The Late Work".  I love how Picasso captures only the essence of things.  I didn't do it so well, of course - his red tomato stands out vividly, mine muddied.  He painted this in oil in 1944.

Mission Inn

 

We hopped over to Riverside to have lunch at the Mission Inn, a hotel dating back to 1876.  It is known for it's 4 million (!) Christmas lights, making it the centrepiece of the Riverside annual Festival of Lights.

 

 

 

 

Of course the lights weren't lit at lunch time, and the Christmas decorations detract a little from the interesting architectural mix.  The original owner travelled to Europe many times, each time bringing back not only treasures to decorate the Inn, but also bringing back a few architectural ideas that he built into each expansion.

 

 



 

 





A Little Doodle on Black

 

 

Sort of like a little black dress....

Calder Exhibit

 

My sweet friend, Janice, took me to a Picasso exhibit yesterday.  We were delighted with the Calder lithographs, gouache paintings, and a mobile also.  Such imagination!

First Journal Page of Palm Springs

Learning to Draw Birds

Here are a couple of sites for you if you want to learn how to draw birds:

• John Muir Laws, a naturalist and wonderful artist and teacher
• and pictures of birds you can draw/paint!



Planning A Travel Sketching Kit

Crayola watercolor pencils have remarkable pigment content.  A few of these, a pen and pencil, some Peerless watercolors and a sketchbook and I'll be all set!

Playing with My New Inktense Blocks

Learning to Draw?

 

 

I found a new source of drawing instruction through the free Strathmore classes.  One of their instructors, Alphonso Dunn, has a YouTube channel with many videos.  This page was inspired by the "How to sketch & draw people Part 1 | How to use a mannequin" video.



Is It Spring Yet?

Animals Too!

Fabriano Sketchbook

8.5" x 11"

Pencil

Of course bulls were a favorite subject of Picasso's.  Picasso was born and studied for awhile in Spain.  

This is from Sketchbook # 105, 11 x 17 cm (about 4" x 6").  He used a wide variety of sketchbooks; he kept a small one with him when he was out, and used a large one in his studio.  I'm in good company.

This may be the last drawing copied from his sketchbook that you'll see here. 

Such a Wide Variety of Subjects

 

Fabriano Sketchbook

8.5" x 11"

Colored Pencil

 

I did a terrible job of copying the whole Picasso sketch, but I practiced this child a few times.



Still Channelling Picasso

 

Fabriano Sketchbook

8.5" x 11"

Pencil

 

In one of Picasso's sketchbooks there is a wonderful series of cubist interpretations of a woman in a chair.  Cubism is one of my favorite styles.  Even after copying a few of these, I still don't "get" how he does them, though.  How does he look at a subject and make the transition to these different planes?



More Picasso Chanelling

A couple more copies from Picasso's sketchbooks.

 

 

Fabriano Sketchbook

8.5" x 11"

Charcoal

 

The photograph of this isn't very good, but I love the energy of Picasso's sketch:

 

 

Channelling Picasso

 

Fabriano Sketchbook

8.5" x 11"

Charcoal

 

I realized that I haven't posted on my blog the sketches I've been copying from "Je Suis Le Cahier:  The Sketchbooks of Picasso".  They made it onto Instagram (much easier to post to) but not here. And not everyone is on Instagram, are they?



Birthday Card for a Hockey Fan

 

Watercolor and Elegant Writer

 

He's a Montreal Canadiens fan, although he lives in Toronto.  I think that's all the birthdays for awhile!



Calligraphy Practice

 

I made a little 8 Fold Book to show off my Gothic lettering practice.  Each month at the Westcoast Calligraphy Society we receive a homework assignment, and there is a table on which to place your homework for all to see.  I try to participate when I can, because I love to see the work that others have done.

 

Here are the pages:

 

 

Front Cover

 

 

 

 

 

Back Cover

 

Latin phrases make great gothic practice!



Birthday Card for a Train Lover

 

Elegant Writer and Watercolor

 

Lot's of birthdays at this time of year.  Inside I wrote, "It's Your Birthday!  Go play with your trains."



I Said I Couldn't Do It

 

Elegant Writer and Watercolor

 

Remember I said that I couldn't do it?  That statement proved to be a challenge that I set for myself.  This is a birthday card that I made for my husband.  On the inside it says, "Happy Birdie!"

 



 

 



Everything Else I Do Today Feels Trivial



Maui, Hawaii

 

Strathmore Watercolor Journal - 8.5" x 5.5"

Elegant Writer and Watercolor



Miro Sculpture Garden, Maeght Foundation, Saint-Paul de Vence

 

Strathmore Watercolor Journal - 8.5" x 5.5"

Elegant Writer and Watercolor



Digby, Nova Scotia

 

Strathmore Watercolor Journal - 8.5" x 5.5"

Elegant Writer and Watercolor

 

My hubby has taken me on some wonderful trips over the years.  Now, in my old age (HAHA), I'm painting from all those photographs I took.



Rediscovering the Elegant Writer

 

Strathmore Watercolor Journal 8.5" x 5.5"

Elegant Writer and Watercolor

 

The past few days I've been playing with my Elegant Writer.  It takes awhile to get the hang of it again.  I'm painting from photographs; this first one is from a cactus garden in Palm Springs.

 

 

 

The Everglades