More watercolors

 

Reminiscing over trip to Ireland in 2024 and now those paintings in the sketchbook are finished. Amazing what consistent practice can do, hubby was off fishing so I had a watercolor week while he was gone.  I should have cropped all those pics but then they are saved as panoramic and they take up more space.  I need to delete pics again.  Hopefully a week of watercolor got me in “the habit” so I will continue.  It was really just playing with paint —Ann—

Watercolor

 

It has been hot here 94 and humid……a good day to go downstairs and play with the watercolors.  I’m making progress on my sketchbook I started in Ireland.  The paintings are not in chronological order I go through my photos and decide I’ll try painting this today as my skills and confidence grow I might go back and try a scene that I thought was too complicated.  Sometimes I use the Waterlogue app to turn a photo into a watercolor and work from both as I paint, the app simplifies the photo.  Having fun with the watercolors and maybe sewing a few quilt blocks as the paintings dries.  —Ann—

Organizing pencils

 My granddaughters each take a box of colored pencils and coloring books when they go places where they are expected to be quiet like church so I made them each a pencil roll with their name, it holds 12 pencils and is easier for their little fingers to get the right pencil out and put it back. I have several of these for my pencils and drawing tools and a couple have been recruited for knitting needles.  Sometimes I’m better at organizing my tools than using them.  But I have decided to use them!  Darling daughter turned 35 this month, she and college roommate have planned a fun weekend to mark the occasion because 35 is half way to 70.  Guess who will turn 70 this year!?! I have made the decision to use my art supplies with wild abandon ( as wild as I get but accepting there will be bad art days and just enjoy the process) because I cringe at the thought of DD filling the dumpster with unused art materials. I’m going to leave piles of filled sketch books.  If my kids want to tear pages out and frame them I will be thrilled.  Recently I have attacked my travel sketchbooks, those sketchbooks I buy special for a trip then do one or two pages and bring home a mostly blank book.  I have been sketching from my travel photos to fill the pages sometimes I add notes,  progress is slow but I see improvement.  Sometimes I jump up and sew a couple quilt blocks while the paint dries. 

Keeping busy—Ann—

Bird in a tree

 As I was drinking my coffee and gazing out the window making my mental to do list for today (if it’s a mental list and I don’t follow through there is no guilt.)  There is a plastic bag that has been caught in the locust tree all winter I was hoping it blew free with the strong winds last night. No such luck, it looks stuck even harder. One corner of the bag is caught in the “v” of a branch making a head while the rest of the bag looks like it is sitting on another branch with the tail caught in another “v” there are two little flaps that look like legs and when a gust of wind hits it looks like a ptarmigan or a fat laying hen running as fast as it can possibly go. It made me chuckle and a photo was not going to work the bag is the same color as the sky and the camera was focusing on branches that were closer to me. Then a crow stopped to chat. Mental check list: a sketch and a blog post……what else was I thinking of doing today?  —Ann—

A little rain….

 A little rain, a little sunshine and the daffodils burst into bloom!! The little round yellow flowers too                         (dandelions) spring is really here.  Sketches from three old sketchbooks and the current sketchbook.  My models are from the grocery store when they were available back in March. The flowers that opened all the way were beautiful but a lot were duds, the bud swelled then nothing.  I would love to pick a big bunch of daffodils but the neighbors might scowl if someone takes their happy little blooms.

Pasque flower

 One day last week I looked through my old sketchbooks, I have a pile. This page sparked memories of the day I sketched the pasque flower. One of my PEO sisters had been out to the ranch and picked a bucket full of pasque flowers, we each took one home so I sketched it the next couple days. I think it was 2007.  Sadly so much native prairie has been tilled or over grazed that finding a pasque flower in the wild is a rare sight.  The top pic is a print I did 30 some years ago when I was doing a lot of calligraphy and trying to sell it at art/craft shows, I might have broke even on my printing costs. It is hand painted and I still have a stack of them.  We are having the same kind of weather as in 2007 I wonder where the pasque flowers are blooming. —Ann—

New Yarn, New Year, New Project

New yarn, new year, new project, old pattern, tried and true, maybe I will knit it right the first time.     New blade in the rotary cutter, old stash, new ideas, maybe some old ideas but new ambition. New mess on the table. Creativity is not a neat process.

New challenge: sketch something everyday, just one five minute sketch.  I didn’t say it was going to be a good sketch but I would like sketching everyday to become a habit and maybe they will improve. No major life altering resolutions for me. Happy New Year  Ann

Sketching

 

Leisurely breakfast Saturday morning, hubby was off hunting. My coffee got cold as I drew so sad but I do have a microwave. The last photo was done with a click of the button on an app called Waterlogue, so quick but the others are committed to memory and when I leaf through my sketch book I will remember more things about the day than just click click. Beautiful bright blue sky day, still chilly wearing a sweater rather than turn the heat up too high, the wind is blowing and leaves are fluttering leisurely to the ground then a stronger gust sends them cartwheeling down the street. Highs expected in the 70’s today, I may sit on the deck and read.  —Ann—

Creative week

Hubby was off fishing for the week, I had a week of unlimited creative time. I moved the watercolors and a bunch of other creative resources to the dining room table ( I can eat my meals anywhere) the light was better there. I continued work on my little travel sketchbook. The second day of the trip it was raining so hard we stayed in the hotel since plans changed. No excuses not to sketch……I had enough photos on my camera and phone I had a starting point. The first few sketches were done in Italy and not in any particular order as the computer does its own thing when uploading….

 

My sketching improved with practice and my colors are brighter with my larger paint palette. I also got out my old Artist Sketchbook magazines and reread some inspiring articles and “how to” articles. I was trying to capture the gloominess of the weather we were experiencing some sketches are better than others and the really bad sketches didn’t make the post. But it’s okay to do a bad sketch I gave myself permission to make bad art and a couple days later it doesn’t look as bad. I also sent the inner critic out the door.  

I need to improve my workspace downstairs so I spend a little time everyday sketching.  Ann

instead of sewing

watercolor crayon direct application with the crayon then the wet brush

                                                  watercolor pencil then the wet brush

I played with real watercolors not just the app it was hard work, frustrating and overwhelming, I read some of my old watercolor books and followed the lessons using recent photos. I could see improvement by the end of the week, I'm not showing the really bad first atempt sketches. I need to spend a 20 minutes or so everyday with the sketch book and paints, I could easily give up some time on social media for that 20 minutes in the day.  Making better use of my time.  --Ann--

Some little things

 Some days its the little things that need to be recorded like enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck in the sunshine and a little breeze or sketching the stuff around me just because I can.   And then there are those other little things like how can something as tiny as lint cause so much trouble in the bobbin case?  Or mosquitoes, gnats and flies, so tiny but a huge annoyance?  Or how can a bug the size of a cicada make so much noise that it can stop a conversation?  Sometimes I wonder about these little things because the big things in the world are beyond me.    Prayers for our country.
 --Ann--

sketching and coffee

 I was enjoying my morning coffee while looking out the window yesterday morning and a robin hopped up on the neighbors pile for recycling.  It tried very hard to pull something out of the box but it was stuck fast, it tried from every angle but could not free the contents.  Just enough time for me to make a quick sketch.  My little bird just plays dead unless I have a knitting needle poked in it belly.  I could use it for sketching practice.  I could knit another one to look like a bluebird.  A couple of my favorite sketchbooks.  --Ann--