Category: Drawing

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Colored pencil art Drawing Other Art Blogs I Read Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Drawing Friends

Judith by Me 2

Judith by me, Ink and watercolor (Micron Pigma .08) in 9×12 Aquabee sketchbook.

Painting group tonight in my studio but only three of us could make it. Susie wanted to work on a still life so Judith and I decided to draw each other. We took turns posing for a 5 minute sketch (below) and then drew each other’s faces as we were drawing each other (above).

Judith by Me 1 (Click image to enlarge, pick “All Sizes”)

Above: Judith by me, 5 minute ink sketch in Aquabee 9×12 sketchbook.

Me by Judith 2 (Click image to enlarge)

Above: Judith’s 5 minute sketch of me (colored in afterwards).
Ink and watercolor pencil in 12 x 16 Aquabee.

Me by Judith 1 (Click image to enlarge)

Above: Judith’s longer sketch of me, slightly cropped (sorry Judith, I removed the “cocks comb” as Susie said it resembled, that you drew growing out of my head that was really a weird pillow behind me)
Ink and watercolor pencil in 12 x 16 Aquabee.

I find that drawing someone’s face is like caressing them, getting to know them on a deeper, more intimate level. My mother always told me it’s not polite to stare, but drawing gives you a chance to stare and really see, and among friends, it is a real gift!

Categories
Drawing Gardening Life in general Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Little Green Tomatoes

Tomato plant

Haiku for my little tomato plants

Poor green tomatoes
Planted too late to grow red
Reach for fading sun

I guess I planted them a little too late. Everybody else has harvested theirs and removed the plants from the garden. Mine are still striving to grow up and become nice big juicy red tomatoes but summer is over. Unless we get a month of Indian Summer (fingers crossed) they will never grow up to become edible fruit.  Just sad little green tomato babies.

I drew this as a meditation after a frustrating day (more about that in a minute). I sat down outside and started drawing the middle of the plant, looking at it like a jigsaw puzzle, where each intersecting shape was a puzzle piece. Every time I reached another intersection I followed that line to the next. Eventually the puzzle started fitting together. But the sun went away and it was getting windy so after I did about 80% trying to accurately capture each little leaf and stem (amazing variety of charming leaf shapes on tomato plants!) I quickly sketched another 20% to fill it in so I could go inside. This Jigsaw Puzzle method of drawing I came up with is really helping me to understand better what I draw–especially when there are layers and layers of shapes. (Raffine 6×9 sketchbook, Lamy Safari pen, Noodlers Ink, watercolor)

My frustrating day involved typical contractor bad behavior– not finishing a job, not calling when they said they would, leaving holes that were supposed to be patched, making me stay home all day waiting for their return to finish which never happened, leaving a mess. Drawing helped me let it go, as did this quote I found in one of my old journals:

“Cheer up! Life isn’t everything.” (Mike Nichols)

Categories
Drawing Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Monastery in San Anselmo, CA

Monastery in San Anselmo

Today was a much better day. I visited a friend in San Anselmo (Marin County) and have always been intrigued by seeing the top of this castle-like building peeking out over the trees in her neighborhood. So today on the way to my next stop (the gym) I parked at the bottom of the dirt road leading up to the monastery (or so I thought). And put my quick sketching kit in my backback and started climbing the road…which ended in a hillside covered in poison oak and weeds. I spotted a tree trunk halfway up, climbed up to it, dodging the poison oak, and used it as a little table to put my paints on.

While I was doing this quick watercolor sketch, two nursery school teachers and their brood were having an adventure, walking up the dirt road (but not climbing the hill). It was fun listening to the teachers calling out “Peanut butter!” and the kids shouting “Sandwich!” along with the whines, “It’s too hard…” and demands “Put down the stick!” and questions “What do we do when we cross a street?” (“Look for cars!”). It’s funny how the music, conversation or stories that are happening while painting somehow get embedded in the painting.

If I had taken just an extra minute before I started drawing, I wouldn’t have put that one tree centered right in front of the other, even though that’s how they were in real life. Ink, watercolor in small Moleskine watercolor notebook.

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Drawing Life in general

Full Moon Blues

crane-1

I started feeling really blue this afternoon and was telling Michael I felt like I had nothing to say, no talent, no skill, nothing to offer, why bother, etc. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me since this morning I’d been in a great mood and looking forward to my weekend which starts this evening. Michael mentioned that tonight was a full moon. Yay! It’s not me it’s the moon and the blues will be gone with the morning sunshine!

See below for poem that inspired the heron in the moon.

Drawn using a “quill pen” in Painter (digital drawing/painting program). Since I’m not experienced with the program, it took much longer than if I just drew it with ink on paper. I’m still in the evaluation period, trying to decide if learning Painter will enhance my art life or just mean more time in front of the computer. I’d be interested to hear how or if others have found using digital painting/drawing tools to be an asset or a hindrance.
———-

Excerpt from the Sandokai (a favorite Zen poem)

The white snow falls upon the silver plate,
The snowy heron in the bright moon hides;
Resembles each the other yet these two are not the same;
Combining them we can distinguish one from the other.

Within all light is darkness
But explained it cannot be by darkness, that one-sided is alone.
In darkness there is light
But, here again, by light, one-sided it is not explained.

Light goes with darkness
As the sequence does of steps in walking;
All things herein have inherent, great potentiality,
Both function, rest, reside within.

With the ideal comes the actual,
Like a box all with its lid;
With the ideal comes the actual,
Like two arrows in mid-air that meet.

If, from your experience of the senses,
basic Truth you do not know,
How can you ever find the path that certain is,
no matter how far distant you may walk?

As you walk on, distinctions between
near and far are lost.
And, should you lost become,
there will arise obstructing mountains and great rivers.
This I offer to the seeker of great Truth,
Do not waste time.

* * *

Categories
Drawing Sketchbook Pages

Bird clock and table with orchid

Table-web

I’m so very tired tonight that I didn’t really want to draw but convinced myself to just do pen and ink of something I could see while sitting on the recliner in front of the TV. The bird clock on the wall used to be my father’s. It’s the only thing I asked for of his stuff when he died because he had it in his study where he wrote many books. It’s just an inexpensive thing from Walmart that his stepson gave him but I remember talking to him on the phone and hearing the bird calls, never knowing if they were the loons from the lake in Maine where he lived or from the clock in his study.

I took out the battery that powers the bird sounds because it was driving me crazy, always chirping to remind me that yet another hour had passed, never to be had again. Time seems to be flying by and to hang onto it I keep staying up too late, which is why I’m stupid-tired tonight.

After answering email and looking at my favorite blogs last night, I started watching the training videos that came with my copy of Painter (digital drawing/painting software). At midnight I tried to go to sleep but my mind wouldn’t switch into sleep mode and stayed alert all night, selecting colors from digital palettes, typing those stupid nonsense letter combinations into stupid Blogger verification screens, and thinking about painting and drawing. Hopefully tonight I’ll sleep!

Lamy Safari pen, Noodlers Ink, Raffine 6×9 Sketchbook.

Categories
Drawing Every Day Matters Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

For Labor Day – My Office: EDM #82

Labor Day - My office

I drew this from a photo I took of my office when I was leaving work for the long weekend Thursday evening. Since this week’s Everyday Matters challenge #81 was “Draw your art workspace” and I’d already drawn my studio the week before, I decided to draw my work workspace instead.

I’m lucky to have a lovely view of Lake Merritt and Fairyland Park. But I’m unlucky to always have to keep my blinds closed and never see the view (unless it’s raining) because the glare from the lake makes it impossible to see my computer and the heat coming in the windows makes it feel like a sauna.

…and I’ll be seeing it all too soon tomorrow morning.

Noodlers Ink, watercolor in Raffine almost 6×9 sketchbook.

Categories
Drawing Life in general Sketchbook Pages

To Jupiter for Dinner

Jupiter Pub Berkeley

[edit added November 06: If you are a fan of the duo that was playing the night I described in my original post and have arrived here via google search for the group, you don’t need to leave any more rude and personally insulting comments like several others have done as I will delete them.  Since people still seem to be getting here via Google search for the band’s name even though I’d already removed it at their manager’s request, I’m also going to remove my previous comments about the duo in my post, who were mostly enjoyable to listen to, especially the violin player. Please have some manners, folks!]

Tonight Michael and I went to Jupiter, a pub and pizza place near UC Berkeley Campus with a large outdoor courtyard and live music most nights. I selected it because I hadn’t gotten in any drawing today and knew it would be fun to sketch there. Usually it’s hard to get a seat because there’s no hostess. You have to stand around like sharks waiting for someone to leave but tonight we lucked out and got a table right away. These folks above were in the front row, listening to a folk duo. The pizza and Caesar salads were fabulous.

Violinist at Jupiter Pub Berkeley

Quick sketch of one of the musicians
(she was much prettier than my drawing) 

These were drawn with Micron pigma in my small Moleskine sketchbook. I started drawing the violinist when we sat down but they took a break after a minute. So I switched to drawing the courtyard and entrance to another cafe until the duo started playing again. I rushed a bit on both, since drawing time was limited (between courses and before a movie) and regretted having to do so, since I found so much to explore there.

I think I discovered something interesting about converting 3-D to 2-D tonight. For the first time I think I kind of got how to see a very complicated scene as flat, interlocking shapes (2-D) instead of layers of things in front and behind each other (3-D). I want to explore this idea more because I think it MIGHT be a key to understanding and drawing complex scenes.

Categories
Animals Drawing Illustration Friday Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Illustration Friday: Safe (Safe Version)

Safe-bears-web

Nice and safe and cozy. Now scroll down to the Risky version of “Safe” or click here to see it.

I originally drew this as a little pencil sketch in a notebook on BART yesterday. Today I scanned and enlarged it, and printed it on a sheet of paper I pulled out of my Raffine sketchbook. Then I inked over the printed pencil lines and painted it with watercolor. (I don’t like working in this Raffine sketchbook because the spiral binding is too big and it annoys me but I’ve discovered I can put the pages back when I’m done painting them. I know this would be considered sketchbook heresy to some but it works for me.)

Categories
Animals Drawing Illustration Friday Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Illustration Friday: Safe (Risky Version)

Snake-Unsafe-Safe
It’s best to use protection if you’re going to get close….

(I’m noticing from the comments that some people don’t get what the protection is…Is it my drawing that makes it hard to tell it’s a condom? Should I redraw to make it more obvious? Did you get it? )
I drew the snake on the left in ink in my sketchbook, painted it with watercolor, scanned it, and then in Photoshop, added a new layer and painted in the “protection.” I placed the two images side by side in a new Photoshop file.

Categories
Drawing Every Day Matters Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Streetlights (Everyday Matters #81)

Streetlights

Ink & watercolor in 9×12 Aquabee Sketchbook (Lamy Safari pen, Noodlers Ink).

Last week’s Everyday Matters challenge was to draw streetlights. The one on the left is on the corner of Carlson by Nation’s Burgers in El Cerrito. I spotted the middle one while taking a lunch-break walk along Lake Merritt in Oakland. The lamp on the right is on the Albany end of Solano Ave.

I drew the one below in my little Moleskine sketchbook with a Micron Pigma this morning while I was on the elevated platform at the BART station waiting for the train. It was right at eye level.

lamp