Category: Every Day Matters

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Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Plants Sketchbook Pages

Every Day in May: Days 1 and 2

EDiM 1: Food Food: Defrosting Burger, graphite and watercolor, 8x7.25 in
EDiM 1: Food Food: Defrosting Burger, graphite and watercolor, 8×7.25 in

Day 1 of Every Day in May 2015 is supposed to be a favorite food and although I do enjoy the occasional burger, ground beef isn’t really a favorite eat…but this vacuum-sealed package of defrosting-as-I-drew meat was certainly a favorite to draw.

EDiM 2: Tree (Baby Cherry Tree), ink and watercolor, 4.5x8 in
EDiM 2: Tree (Baby Cherry Tree), ink and watercolor, 4.5×8 in

Day 2’s cue is “A nearby tree” and my next-door neighbor’s adorable little baby flowering cherry called out to be drawn before the puffy flowers fall. I meant to fit the whole tree on the page but I started in ink with the top left branch and drew too big so only the top left side of the tree fit. Oh well.

 

EDiM 1 and 2: Food (Defrosting Ground Beef) and Tree (Baby Flowering Cherry)
EDiM 1 and 2: Full page in sketchbook, ink and watercolor, 8×10 in 

It felt so good to just draw for fun in my sketchbook again after weeks of working on two commissioned paintings that are finally approaching completion. I needed to get back to playing in my sketchbook again, whether the paintings were finished or not, so EDiM came along just at the right time.

For me, it will probably be more like Every-ish Day… or (Almost) Every Day… or Some Days in May since I have a lot of other things going on this month. However many days it is, any day that I get to draw is a good day!

If you want to join in the fun, check out the Facebook Group or the Flickr Group and click to join. Everyone is welcome to play any time during the month.

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Every Day Matters Sketchbook Pages

EDiM Day 4: Thumb (A-OK)

EDiM #4 Thumb, ink, 5x7 in
EDiM #4 Thumb, ink, 5×7 in

A thumb by itself isn’t so interesting so I drew my hand in the scuba diver’s “OK” position (used to sign to your dive buddy that you’re doing OK). It’s Sunday and I’ve wasted most of it trying unsuccessfully to color correct in Photoshop a photo of a commissioned painting I recently completed and delivered (and as soon as I get it right I’ll post it here).

But I did a drawing of my thumb and I like it and it’s nice weather and my dog is healing and so I’m A-OK.

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Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

Every Day in May #3: Umbrellas

EDiM 3, Duck Umbrella, ink & watercolor, 5x7.5"
EDiM 3, Duck Umbrella, ink & watercolor, 5×7.5″

I did 3 sketches of umbrellas for EDiM 3. Above is my funny folding duck umbrella (meant for children, I think, but it’s been my only umbrella for at least 10 years). First is where it lives in a tall vase and then opened, sitting on the floor where it scared my cats.

20140504_EDiM_3-Umbrella
20140504_EDiM_3-Umbrella, ink & watercolor, 5×7.5 in

The umbrella above sits on the deck outside my studio and shades the big glass door from the hot afternoon sun. It’s actually a much bigger umbrella than it looks in the picture. I got the base from Costco to replace a previous one that cracked over the winter. This one is designed to be filled with sand and bricks by the owner and then assembled (ugh).

It was a lot of work filling it and then screwing on the cover with about 36 screws, especially since my electric drill stopped working and I did it all by hand. Then I couldn’t lift it turn it right side up and had to get the guys next door to help me since it weighs about 125 pounds filled. Even though it’s heavy it rolls really well so I can move it around as needed.

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Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

Every Day in May #2: Knife

EDiM 2014 #2 Knife, ink and watercolor 5.5x7.5 in
EDiM 2014 #2 Knife, ink and watercolor 5.5×7.5 in

The cue for day 2 is “Knife” and this is the most recent of a long line of Swiss Army Knives I’ve owned over the years. I carry one with me in my purse or backpack. They come in handy for cutting fruit, opening a can, removing a splinter (there is a tweezers) or screwing in a loose screw.

I’ve had several taken away from me at airports; I forget to take it out of my bag before traveling and the x-ray machine doesn’t lie. Oops.

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Animals Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Sketchbook Pages

Every Day in May #1: Window (and Cat)

EDIM 2014 #1-Window. Ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
EDIM 2014 #1-Window. Ink, white Sharpie and watercolor, 5×7 in

Yay! It’s May 1 and that means it’s time for Every Day in May. Each year the Every Day Matters (Facebook) (Flickr) groups posts a list of cues and members commit to doing one drawing a day, all month long. The cue for day one is “Window.” My calico cat Fiona snoozing in her fuzzy bed, on a blanket, in a box from Costco, beneath the window in my home office, on a sunny (too hot) day was fun to draw.

Do you think there are enough prepositions in that last sentence? One of the few things I remember from all the stuff we had to memorize in school was a list of prepositions in alphabetical order. I can still cite them…. “about, above, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, beneath, beside, between…..” But why on earth did we need to memorize that list!!!!???

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Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

Every Day in May 21-26: Laugh, Tote, Screw, Joy, Bought and a Map

EDiM 24-25-26, Laugh (Fiona), Tote, Screw, ink & watercolor, 8x10"
EDiM 24-25-26, Laugh (Fiona), Tote, Screw, ink & watercolor, 8×10″

I’m running out of days in May and pages in my sketchbook so here are two pages with 3 days each. First, “Something that makes you laugh” is watching my silly cat Fiona trying to catch a piece of cotton twine I swing around for her on my bed. It was interesting drawing her standing from the perspective of looking down at her (from a blurry photo of her in motion).

Next is “Draw a Tote Bag.” I was surprised how fun it was to sketch. For “Draw a Screw” I drew this big, rusty screw I found in the garden. It was hard to focus on each turn of the thread so I generalized. It might have been a good concentration exercise to draw each one.

EDIM 21-22-23, Last Thing Bought, Summer Joy, Map
EDIM 21-22-23, Last Thing Bought, Summer Joy, Map

For “Draw the last thing you bought” I sketched the New Wave Palette I bought at Blick’s with a 40% off coupon. I’d never used a hand-held palette before and I’m liking it. Next is “A Summer Joy.” I tried to draw the water drops on the window of the studio on a rare and surprising rainy day in May. I should have made the rain drops transparent instead of using a white china marker to create a resist. For “Draw a Map.” I made a map of how to get to the bathroom from the studio.

Only one more day in May but 5 more days of prompts left to sketch. That just means I get to keep going into June. Yay!

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Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

Left Palm, Something Owned by Another and Favorite Drink (EDiM 18, 19, 20)

EDiM 18-19-20 Left Palm, Something Owned by Another, Favorite Drink, ink & watercolor, 8x10"
EDiM 18-19-20 Left Palm, Something Owned by Another, Favorite Drink, ink & watercolor, 8×10″

On my left palm above is a kitty toy owned but not loved by my kitties. Their favorite toy is a 2-foot piece of cotton twine that they chase and jump for and carry to bed with them or bring to me to play with them. They were never interested in this toy but since it “belongs to someone else” it fits the Every Day in May challenge.

The other sketch is my afternoon cup of coffee, sitting on a mirror. I only drink decaf now, with just a little stevia in it. I miss my lovely lattes and the energy they gave me, but not the insomnia or headaches when I didn’t have my coffee on schedule.

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Drawing Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Sketchbook Pages

Something That Scares Me (My Back) & First Aid Kit: Timely EDiM Topics

EDiM 16-17, Something that Scares You (Back Pain) and Something from First Aid Kit, ink & watercolor 8x10"
EDiM 16-17, Something that Scares You (Back Pain) and Something from First Aid Kit, ink & watercolor 8×10″

The Every Day in May cue #16 was “Draw something that scares you.” And I was mighty scared when I drew this because my back was in terrible pain. A couple times a year an old back injury flares up and I get really scared the pain will never go away. Fortunately it does, with good care and treatment. The funny crosses on my back above are special tape that my physical therapist put on my back to keep me from moving in directions that would make the pain worse. It really helped.

After a week of using the items in the drawing, “Something from the first aid kit” (pain relievers, ice packs including good old frozen peas) plus two appointments with my brilliant physical therapist Christine at Physical Therapy Innovations, my back was nearly back to normal.  I was able to go to my holiday weekend getaway in Santa Cruz and return home in good shape, even with two 2-hour drives.

Yay! Life is good again and now I can get caught up on the Every Day in May project and back to painting in the studio and plein air.

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Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

EDiM 14-15: Draw a Figurine (Buddha & Poodle), Draw a Pencil

EDiM 14-15: Draw a Figurine, Draw a Pencil. Ink & watercolor, 8x10"
EDiM 14-15: Draw a Figurine, Draw a Pencil. Ink & watercolor, 8×10″

I thought the Buddha with the curly hair* was a nice match with this little poodle figurine  I sculpted years ago to be part of a chess set, with dogs on one side and cats on the other. The poodle with her little pink handbag and manicured nails is the last remaining piece (of the six I made before losing interest in the project). She she sits on my altar beside Buddha and a little plastic lamb I found in the street.

Maybe someday I’ll return to the chess set project, though I don’t really need one since I don’t play.

The pencil I drew is actually a chunky wooden lead holder. I like it more for its aesthetic value than as a pencil.

*I know Buddha didn’t have curly hair. According to legend the lumps on his head are snails who crawled up there to keep him cool and protect his head while he meditated in the hot sun all day long.

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Every Day Matters Sketchbook Pages

EDiM 12-13: The Oldest Thing in The Refrigerator & Draw a Pillow

Every Day in May #12: Oldest in Refrigerator; #13: Pillow. Ink & Colored Pencil, 8x10"
Every Day in May #12: Oldest in Refrigerator; #13: Pillow. Ink & Colored Pencil, 8×10″

“The Oldest Thing in Your Refrigerator” was the cue for May 12 and that was easy since there was only one old item in there: a bottle of red wine that was a gift from a vendor at work in 2010. I don’t drink red wine (a migraine trigger and I don’t like the taste anyway).  I can’t re-gift it to anyone since the label is all about the vendor, a printing company. I know red wine doesn’t belong in the fridge but that’s where it lives until I give it away or serve it to a guest who doesn’t mind a random Sonoma County chilled red wine.

May 13 was “Draw a Pillow.” These fuzzy/furry white pillows are a favorite of my calico cat Fiona who likes it when they’re stacked up so she can sit on the highest, softest place in the room like a princess.