Bobby's Adventures at Alice's Wonderland

Or, at least at the Alice in Wonderland exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center...  Got some great pictures of Sebastian and Kevin!  And, while I continued working on Melanie's homework assignment, I cheated just a bit.  Not "cheat" exactly, but I didn't follow the assignment guidelines as well as I could have...  Instead of sketching the general public, I got consumed with sketching my family.  But it is Fathers' Day, so I feel like I had a good excuse...

Here it is!

 

So, maybe if we think about storytelling, the story I was telling was my own, my family on Fathers' Day.  :-)

Melanie's Homework Assignment

Line drawing.  I'm horrible at it.  But after watching her instruction videos / demos on SketchBook Skool, Melanie Reim helped me to get past it.  Mind you, 10 years ago, I still would have been a nervous wreck!  But certainly, getting out there and doing it helps you get past the nerves.  Miranda would be proud!

The food came out sooner than I'd anticipated, so I didn't get time to really work on this one, but that's okay.  I really wanted to try to fit in another sketch, but the little one looked like he was ready to get home (he'd been pushing something out -- good thing it was just air and not the gooey stuff).  

I hope to get some more line sketches done for Melanie's class when I go to the Harry Ransom Center.  I will pick a few folks to sketch.  And then I might pick a few items to sketch.  I just hope the hubby and the son can put up with me wanting to sit and sketch.  If not, maybe we can sneak out to the park for a little while too.  I shall bring a blanket with me!  :-)

Oh -- I wanted to add a link to Melanie's blog: http://www.melaniereim.com/
I really didn't think that I'd dig what she had to teach me, until I went out and tried it.  As the artist, I am the storyteller, and I can fill in the blanks how I please, write (or draw) the story how I please.  Thanks Melanie!

Watercolor Practice

I followed Mary Doodles watercolor tips and techniques, How To Art #4, and this is what I came up with.  (The edges got cut off by the scanner, since the paper is too big for the screen.)

I also decided to take her advice and to get some pictures that I can use as "reference photos" for gesture drawing, practicing to draw hands, faces, and other interesting tidbits.  This magazine I got in the mail actually helped to make the decision for me -- I get these freebie magazines, I think through my NEA membership, and since I don't pick anything specific, they just send me magazines.  And since my name is "Bobby" and I'm a school teacher, I think they think I'm gay...  so far, I've gotten some sort of fishing magazine, Outdoor Bass or something, Maxim, and now the one I got today is Details.  Details is actually pretty awesome - lots of hot guys like Joe Manganiello, George Clooney, and a few more whose names I don't know.  Anyway -- thank you NEA!

I fit in a little more coloring before going to bed tonight...

Catching Up on Homework and Cartoons!

So, Wednesday...  didn't really do much art, but I tried!  When the little one went to sleep, I brought out all my stuffs, and I was going to give a go with the dip pen.  Low and behold, he did not sleep very long.  So, I basically had enough time to draw boxes.  That's it.  I drew boxes for the cartoon strip, but I didn't like how they looked.  So, I didn't use them.

 

Yesterday, I got the idea to use watercolor washes as backgrounds.  But it didn't turn out as well as I would have liked.  I need to play with the watercolors more so that I can control them better.  But I also think that the paper didn't help; I just used sketch paper rather than watercolor paper.  Silly on my part.  I had my watercolor pad not to far away; I just didn't think to use it.  Lesson learned...

10 days and counting, through 6/18/15.  I wonder what I will do today?!... Play with my watercolors, of course!  I just need to try to wait for the little one to go to bed and to forget about all household chores awaiting my attention...

(edit) - I really like Koosje Koene, the instructor for the homework assignment.  She's got a nice, calm, inspiring attitude, a real positive light shines through her.  And I love her drawings.  Here's her website, along with a couple of sketchbooks that she created:

http://www.koosjekoene.blogspot.com/

Millie's Marvelous Monsters 

(I can't wait to read this to Sebastian!)

Millie's New York

and A Love Story (so cute!)

Homework Assignment 2: Operating Manual

How to use a fly swatter...  this is my sketch for my sketch...

Again, thank goodness my sketchpad was by my bed!  (FYI - taking care of a baby all day sure does make it hard to get work done!  Much less keep the house clean...)

Drawing a Recipe

Storytelling's first homework assignment...  This is what I did today...

Not great, not horrible.  (Maybe just a little horrible, but I did it!)...

Toast - tones...  I know how to spell it, but I think when I'm sounding it out to match the speed of my horribly slow artsy-fartsy handwriting, I think "toast" - long and drawn out - and I just add the A in there... changes everything, unfortunately.  But mistakes are okay.  :-)  

Late Night Artsy-Fartsy

I was so tired when I went to bed last night, I almost didn't check off my artsy-fartsy task for the day.  But I dug in deep, and I decided to try for some artsy-fartsy writing, which was no easy task!  You just want to hurry up because you're tired, so you mess up.  And it takes time to do it right as well...  Anyway, artsy-fartsy from last night...

I should add that it would have been even more difficult to do if I didn't have a sketch pad right by my bed, so glad it was in reaching distance.  My watercolors were not within reaching distance...  

And I still need to work on some artsy handwriting.  

6/14/2015 - 6 days and counting!

Finish my week up with a Wonderfully Busy Day!

Very busy, so I wanted to get my artsy-fartsy done pretty quickly...  Finished up drawing my calendar, but still need to finish painting my calendar.  That said, a new set of klasses were published on SketchBook Skool yesterday, so I really need to get cracking on my homework assignments! Maybe I can catch up this week, double-time it.  Then next week I'll be on track and can start working on the many other things I want to do this summer.

Anyhoo, here's my art.

Today, we drove to La Grange to meet my dad for breakfast, give him his Fathers' Day gift (the wifi photo frame), then back to Austin.  Clothes shopping at Carter's for Bash, picked up a few more herbs at the Great Outdoors.  Finished potting everything, even got rid of the wire shelves.  (I had to draw the sun, because it shown down on me quite radiantly at the end of the day.  My shoulders and neck are showing wear and tear.)

The back porch is starting to look very nice, and I actually can't wait to sit out there with a nice tea or coffee and do some sketching and painting.  :-)

(Still have to draw in my pink pen!)

Playing with paints and Homework

Watercolors, specifically, but I was going for the alliteration...

I've bought myself No Excuses Watercolor by Gina Rossi Armfield, and I was trying out a couple of the first practice exercises, but they didn't work out quite as expected, and I think it's because of the brush I was using, a water brush.  I just need to get used to it.  Or buy a new one if the water flow isn't just right.  I got the book specifically to get more familiar with watercolor paints.

 

When the practice exercises weren't working out exactly right, I decided to go ahead and color in some of my journal calendar.

Now, what to do for my illustrated recipe?...  (Sketch Book Skool assignment from my Storytelling Klass.)  I've actually done a recipe before, but didn't really worry about the layout.  It was just a journal page from the page-a-day challenge.  

Maybe I should just think of this one as the draft...  and now, what can I do to make it better?  How can I arrange it better?  Then I'd also like to draw stuff bigger take up more space on the page.  Get some more flow from bigger, better arrows.  Hmm...  that means I might have to go buy and cook tostones this weekend.

Art Journal / Calendar anyone?

Went to the zoo today, and had a tax appointment this afternoon.  Busy day...  BUT, I'm NOT going to tell you that I didn't draw anything today!  As much as I might have wanted to come up with excuses, I did in fact draw something.  And let me tell you about it, a little, before I show it to you...

So, after I finished Katherine Torrini's page-a-day art journaling challenge, I googled "art journaling." And, low and behold, it's a thing!...  Well, Katherine had shared how she sometimes did an artsy-fartsy calendar of the month within her journal, and that's how I was introduced to the concept.  And I thought I might like to have an illustrated calendar in my journal.  And now that I don't have school, I'll be doing more interesting things to draw and decorate the calendar with...

Kevin cooked angel hair pasta in his butter sauce, and Sebastian loved it.  I should draw that on the calendar too...

I should also mention that the pink pen is ideal for drawing this week's calendar, as I just received it from Goulet Pens -- love that I have a pink pen with pink ink!  Anyway, when I finish drawing out the week, I will have to include a little drawing of the pen itself...

I also did a map of my watercolors, whatever it's called, so that I can reference it when I am out and about watercoloring...

And, I'm actually going to get a watercolor bag together, a bag that I can fit all of my stuff into: paints, watercolor sketchbook, brushes, water and cup, clips, water soluble pencils, pens, sponge, etc. That way it will always be ready to get up and go.  Yay!

If the nap lasts long enough...

then will draw the baby...  This nap lasted just long enough, and while I didn't have enough time to really try to paint it properly, I did go in and put the stripes in.  (Of course he has a flat back and square sides!)

I think I will need to play with my watercolors more before I try to incorporate them into any sketches.


I've also been coloring a zentangle type of page, from my Enchanting English Garden coloring book. While I'm not drawing, I am coloring and being artsy-fartsy, so in my book -- or, rather, on my blog -- it counts!

6/10/2015 makes 3 days of creativity in a row!

There's an App for That!

Yesterday, 6/8/2015

So, there's an app for that, right?!  I think so...  if I get back to making something every day, I shouldn't fall behind with posting, as there's a Blogger app and it's already on my phone, and as long as it's not quirky, I should be fine...

Yesterday was actually the first day in a few that I drew something, so it counts.  I'm posting it as Day 1 of my drawing every day stretch... let's see how high I can go!

Monday 6/8/2015

All I can think when I look at this is, "My, Sebastian, what long legs you have!"

But, you know what?! Even if I don't post it every day, I'm not going to go crazy like I did the last time...  I'm going to just be fine with clumping them together into a single post.  Starting now.  -- Remember, it's better to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.  Either way, I forgive myself and give myself permission.  It's a win win.  I win!  :-)

Tuesday 6/9/2015

And BOOM!  2 days on count!  Yay Me!  (It's the little celebrations that matter...)

And, I worked on this one while I was publishing this page last night. The Internet was doing so slow, I didn't want to wait to upload the picture... (Please hurry Google Fiber!)

While it's dated 6/05/15, that's the date that I got the stuffs from ArtSnacks.
I actually drew them last night.

By the way, you should check out ArtSnacks!  I love them, but I found 2 other subscriptions that I want to try for artsy-fartsy stuffs before I settle on one for the long road...  It's a subscription box. You pay a monthly fee, and they send you a box of stuffs and you don't know what they are...  It's like surprising yourself with a present every month, and you get to try stuff out that you haven't tried before.  -- if you're interested, send me a note or post a comment, and I can post my past drawings of stuffs that I got.  

April 2015

This past April, I participated in an art journal challenge group.  I had won a raffle at Jerry's, and I joined Katherine Torrini's group.  Since I didn't take a whole lot of time to reflect on the group when it was done -- I had lots of stuff going on at the end of April -- I'll take the time now...

1.  While she didn't really do any instruction on artsy-fartsy techniques, she did give us lots of permission.  In fact, she gave us permission to give ourselves permission to create crap, to not care what other people think, to doodle during class, to have fun, and a whole lot more that we usually don't have to give kids permission to do.  We forget this stuff as adults.  Which actually reminds me of a very good quote that I read in Danny Gregory's book, the Creative License...

my permission slip

 

quote from the Creative License by Danny Gregory, page 23.

2.  She gave us daily assignments that we could turn to if we needed some inspiration.  I seldom used the daily assignments, as I was also using Danny's book for ideas.  But I did use an idea or two, and they turned out to be surprisingly fun -- I say surprisingly because, well, who'da thunk that office supply dots could be fun art?!  Kevin even laughed at my little beach scene, but it was fun!  And kid-like -- I could totally imagine using said dots as a kid to create just such a scene!

dot art, by me!

  

3.  It really did get me into a habit of drawing every day.  Though with a newborn by my side, and going back to work, and having a house to clean, and so on and so forth -- oh, and don't forget finding time to actually sleep -- it was very easy to fall out of habit.  That said, I forgive myself, and now, let's get on with it (another skill she provided participants with)...

some of my favorite pages, not in any order...

      

So, that was April...  I certainly didn't keep up in May, but I did dabble.  And now it's summer, and I'm ready to get into the habit again.  Particularly after something I heard from a YouTube artist, Mary Doodles, who is awesome -- if you're still reading this page, you definitely want to check her out.  Anyway, I can't remember which video it came from, so I can't attach a link here, but she said something like practice drawing every day - every day doesn't have to be a work of art, but you can always do a quick practice of something - gesture drawing, study a picture, still life, etc.  Just practice!  So, I'm reviving the blog.  I'm not even worrying about changing the name, now that 2014 is done, or starting a new one for 2015, which is half-way done...  And we're just getting on with the art.  Just doing it, so to speak -- Nike and Danny Gregory and Mary Doodles might be proud!...

(It might have been from her Drawing Faces Basics - How To Art #8 video...)