Category: Life in general

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Cartoon art Life in general Sketchbook Pages

No computer – going cold turkey

no-computer1.jpg

This is me going cold turkey, hands shaking, reaching out for the keyboard that isn’t there. Drawn with a Sharpie on a yellow legal pad before leaving the office at 8:00 p.m. and colored in Photoshop.

My sturdy laptop crashed Friday night after I installed Outlook (I HATE MICROSOFT!). I was able to apply a bit of first aid and kept it limping along, until I could get it to the emergency room today (the computer tech’s office at work) . With his wonderful bedside manner he applied his warm stethoscope, ran a few tests and shook his head sadly.

The only solution seems to be a lobotomy…a thorough brain washing…in other words, a complete reformat of the hard drive and reinstallation of the operating system and all the software and files. It’s going to take a few days.

Since I might not be able to post or visit blogs for a few days, I made this quick sketch of me to post before leaving work. I was thinking it might be kind of nice to have no computer at home, that maybe I’d do some painting after work.

Except now, after finishing my work at around 7:00, it’s already nearly 8:00 p.m. and I’m still at work. By the time I commute home in the freezing rain and have dinner, it will practically be time for bed.

Things to be grateful for:

  1. Excellent technical support at work so I don’t have to do all the work of the reinstall, just some of it.
  2. A nice clean reinstall so the computer should be like new again.
  3. I didn’t get in trouble for installing Outlook (which I need to synch my iPhone with my calendar and address book but which my company doesn’t support because it’s too full of security holes that most viruses are specifically written for).
  4. It will be warm and cozy when I get home all wet and cold.
  5. I finally caught up on all my email at work today.
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Life in general Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Karma & How to Remove Oil Paint from Cat Paws

Ink & watercolor in handmade sketchbook

This evening Busby, my tabby cat, walked across four freshly oil-paint primed panels on my work table, each footstep lifting the paint right off the panel. There were painted footprints across the table, on a chair and along the floor leading to his usual hiding spot in the corner of my closet. He was curled up for a nap, his paws covered in paint.

Since cats lick their paws so you can’t use anything toxic (and fortunately the paint he stepped in wasn’t toxic–Titanium white). I found a solution that worked. (Disclaimer: I haven’t checked this with a veterinarian):

  1. Use canola, olive or other vegetable oil on the paws like a soap to moisten and loosen the paint.
  2. Rub paws and fur around them with paper towels to remove the paint.
  3. Put dish soap on a cloth and get it wet and sudsy and then rub paws with that to remove the oil and any remaining paint.
  4. Rinse paws under the faucet (or with a soap free wet cloth).
  5. Dry them with a towel and/or a hair dryer (optional).

This was just the last in a series of things that have gone wrong since Friday night when I did something I wasn’t proud of (minor but still….) and immediately thought of karma and wondered how it would affect me. Here’s what’s happened since then:

  1. I bought Microsoft Outlook to use with my new, fabulous iPhone so that I could upload to it my address book and calendar on my computer (currently in Palm software). I installed it on my computer which now crashes on startup and won’t allow me to login as me.
  2. My clock radio decided to die last night, repeatedly waking me with annoying buzzing sounds. The first time I jiggled it and it stopped (midnight). The second time I pulled out the battery and it stopped (1:00 AM). The third time I unplugged it and threw it in the trash. I set the alarm on my iPhone to wake me at 7:00 so I could make it my painting class in Petaluma.
  3. I woke up dazed and exhausted, and decided not to go to class. I went in the kitchen to make coffee. My coffee grinder was making a funny noise so I decided to clean it out, thinking there was finely ground coffee clogging it up. I took off the hopper and tilted the grinder and a little silicon sleeve fell out. I thought I put it aside to finish cleaning the grinder itself.When I was ready to clean the little silicon thingee it was gone. I spent an hour, seriously undercaffeinated and underslept, trying unsuccessfully to find it. I pulled out the trash can, thinking it might have fallen in there. As I sorted through the fish bones, old coffee grinds, and vegetable slime I came across my old friend the clock radio and thought of karma yet again.

    I never did find the silicon gizmo (my Calico cat Fiona loves playing with and hiding anything plastic that falls on the floor so maybe she stole it) but fortunately found the phone number of the manufacturer who agreed to mail me a new gizmo one within a week.

  4. I dug out my old little coffee grinder, which of course wouldn’t work. After I messed with it for half an hour, I finally got the little blades to spin. At last I had my coffee but by now it was nearly 11.
  5. Instead of having the day to do the creative art projects I’d planned, I was too sleep-deprived to do anything but mindless tasks like priming canvases.

I’ll spare you the details of the rest of the day. I think tomorrow I’ll see if I can’t undo my (minor) foul deed to halt this march of karma. Do you believe in karma?

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Gouache Life in general Painting Sketchbook Pages

Dinner at Costco: So much for my good attitude…

Dinner at Costco

Ink & gouache in sketchbook (larger)

Well, so much for yesterday’s Pollyana attitude of gratitude. Now I’m mad!

After working half the day I headed out to do errands, including shopping for new car tires. After going to the library, the Toyota dealer and another tire shop, I ended up at Costco. Normally I’m a big fan of Costco as they have reliably high quality products at excellent prices, but it’s not a place I’d ever chose to eat dinner.

Unfortunately I was stuck there for over three hours waiting for my tires to be installed, only to learn that they’d made a mistake and the tires they’d sold me were the wrong tires that didn’t fit my car.

Click “continue reading” below to read the rest of my rant:

Continue reading “Dinner at Costco: So much for my good attitude…”
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Drawing Life in general People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

Grateful for a flat tire!?!

Subway drawing - just a guy

Ink in 8×6″ Strathmore sketchbook (larger)

I’d planned to be in the studio with my painting group tonight, but instead got a flat tire, and spent the evening waiting for the tow truck guy to come change my tire. So all I have to post tonight is this guy I sketched on the BART train this morning.

I actually found the flat tire experience rather interesting for several reasons. At first it scared me because I heard a weird scraping, flopping sound and was afraid there was something seriously wrong with my car. I pulled over, and walked to the back where the sound was coming from and immediately saw the poor sad tire, all deflated.

I was surprised to discover I was feeling grateful instead of pissed off because:

  1. It didn’t happen a couple days ago when I was driving fast on the freeway to a painting class in Petaluma (an hour each way).
  2. It wasn’t a serious problem with an expensive part of my car.
  3. It wasn’t freezing or raining outside and I was in a safe area.
  4. I had a spare tire, a cell phone (and good reception), a battery charger for my phone in the car, and I’m an AAA member and they were sending help.
  5. I’d been warned that I needed new tires last time I had the oil changed, but I didn’t want to buy new ones because (a) they still had plenty of tread and were just old (I don’t drive much) and (b) that’s a boring thing to spend money on — I’d rather spend it on art supplies–but now I had proof the guy wasn’t just trying to sell me tires, they really do need to be replaced.
  6. There’s an extra paycheck this month because of 3 Thursdays so I’d actually be able to pay for new tires.
  7. It’s a problem that can be solved, unlike most of the other problems we face these days.

I spent the time waiting for the tow truck by calling my painting group to cancel the meeting and Costco to find out the price of a new set of tires (a lot). The truck arrived on time, but the guy couldn’t get the cover off my spare on the back of my Toyota RAV4. He kept trying while I scanned my car manual which I keep in the glove box (do they still call it glove box since nobody wears gloves anymore?).

There were no directions for removing the cover and the tow truck man about to give up and just pump some air in my tire and send me on my way.  The problem was that his fingers were too big to reach into the space between the tire cover and the car. I tried and found that my fingers were just skinny enough to grab the elasticized edge of the cover, stretch it and lift it up. Then he was able to use his strength to pull and we got the stupid thing off. What a dumb design!

He changed the tire, bending over with his big butt serving as a reflective warning device in the lights of the oncoming traffic. When he finished he said, “There you go M’lady” and told me I needed new tires. I asked where he recommended getting them. He looked at me with surprise and said, “Don’t you have a husband?” as if all women had them and shouldn’t have to bother themselves with tire shopping.

I said, “Oh yeah, I used to have one of those and he did take care of my car, but not anymore.” I thanked him and we went on our way, with me feeling cheerful and grateful, even though I have a headache, had a rough day at work, no dinner until after 8:00 p.m. and now have to spend nearly $600 on stupid car tires.

Did you know you’re supposed to rotate all your tires (including the spare) every 6 months or 7,500 miles (whichever comes first)?  I never did rotate these tires and they’ve been on my car since it was born in 2002. Oops.

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Drawing Dreams Life in general People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Dreaming of Haircuts & Flying to prevent gang violence

Dreamt I accidentally cut off my(?) long, bleached blonde ponytail

All are ink & Schmincke watercolor in square 5.5″ sketchbook
(Larger)

I dreamt that I accidentally cut off my long, bleached-blonde ponytail. I was horrified at first. But as I stroked my departed ponytail, I realized it was really damaged and straw-like from being bleached and that I still had nearly shoulder length hair so I’d be OK. Then I remembered that I don’t have thick bleached blonde hair, I have curly red-colored hair. The End.

Flying to prevent gang violence

(Larger)

I dreamt that I could fly by pushing off with my feet and then turning with my hips to change direction. Unlike my usual flying dreams, this time I was in a neat sort of capsule that came off of a carnival ride.

I saw these gangbangers (above) and thought that it might help them if I showed them how cool it was that I could fly. First they were going to rob me and then they were sort of impressed as I flew away.

Then….

I really can fly!

(Larger)

….I took off on a wonderful joy ride over the ocean, flying up and swooping down and around, having a blast! Flying is just so real and wonderful in my dream and when I wake up I am completely convinced that I can do it. My body knows exactly how to move to fly.

Or maybe I’ve just been watching too much of Heroes, a fantastic TV show that is available on DVD. I highly recommend it. It’s a lot better than most movies I’ve seen in the past couple years. The writing is amazing and I love that all of the plot twists and turns are foreshadowed by the paintings and graphic novel sketches of an artist who is one of the main characters. All of the characters are interesting and the story and visuals are fascinating. I’ve been watching it on DVDs from Netflix and sadly only have a couple more disks left until they release season 2 on DVD.

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Animals Drawing Faces Life in general Other Art Blogs I Read Painting People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Noses (catching a cold)


Pencil and watercolor, 8×6 (larger)

Pooh! I’m catching a cold. Here’s a sketch of my nose which is getting a lot of attention right now. I set up my mirror on my drawing table and Fiona hopped up to bask in the warmth under my lamp so I got to draw both of our noses.

Inspired by Laureline‘s recent experiments, I dragged out my ancient, very first watercolor kit of Schmicke watercolors. She’s right — they are more brilliant than any others. Also inspired Laura I tried using a Mars Lumograph 8B pencil I found in my pencil box to draw instead of my usual pen. It was really silky and fun to draw with and nearly as unerasable as a pen.
I wanted to do a painting about a neat flying dream I had the night before but I need to feel better to get into the spirit of that dream. I’m feeling too limp and funky to paint flying and soaring. Noses are about it for today.

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Cartoon art Drawing Dreams Life in general Other Art Blogs I Read Painting People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Dream Journal: Film Crew Dinner & Sleepless Sleep Over with Laundry

Film crew dinner with Amazon Indians

Ink and watercolor in sketchbook (Larger)

I did these dream drawings right after I woke up, sitting in bed with a special SAD light (see previous post) propped up on my lap, shining on my face. My friend loaned me her spare light to see if it helped. I’m not sure if it was the lights, the sunny day, the hour at the gym and walk in the sun afterwards, but I’ve definitely been in a much better mood today than I’ve been in weeks.

Last night’s dreams were quite strange. The one illustrated above was about a dinner party with a film crew, including the director (at the head of the table) and two Amazonian Indian women who had just participated in a ritual that the crew filmed for a documentary.

One woman was displaying the scratches/lashes on her back she proudly received during the ritual. The other was mostly just displaying her boobs.

Maybe I’ve been watching too much of the TV show Bones on DVD about a forensic anthropologist? Or maybe it’s from listening to the National Public Radio series about the Ganges River (that I converted into the Amazon) and combined it with the interview on NPR’s Fresh Air with film director Jason Reitman and scriptwriter Diablo Cody.

Sleepless sleepover with pile of laundry

Ink and watercolor in sketchbook (Larger)

In this dream I invited Martha over for a little slumber party (huh?) and then remembered that I needed to vacuum because there was cat hair everywhere. I was still cleaning when she arrived so she hung out downstairs helping my mom plan some wonderful menus involving roasted pork. (I have no upstairs, my mom doesn’t live here, and she doesn’t cook, especially not pork.)

I still hadn’t finished vacuuming but realized there was laundry everywhere and so started piling it up on the spare bed to get it out of the way. Finally we said goodnight and Martha went right to sleep. I didn’t.

This dream happened right after Kate and I talked about meeting in person the next time she comes out to San Francisco (Kate turned into Martha in my dream). Having guests always seems to bring up those darn insecurities about not having a fancy home and other general unworthiness (that I can usually overcome with a little pep talk to myself).

In reality, my house is usually tidy, organized and there are no piles of laundry. There is the cat fur problem though, which I tend to ignore longer than I should…but I just warn people not to wear black to my house since it’s a cat-fur magnet.

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Flower Art Life in general Outdoors/Landscape Painting Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Flower Stand at Night

Ink & Watercolor in Canson 7″x10″ Sketchbook (Larger)

This little flower stand looked inviting and yet so forlorn all by itself on a dark, lonely corner in downtown Oakland the night before Thanksgiving. On my way home from work I stopped to take a few photos using a postbox as a tripod and was lucky enough to get some good shots.

I did this quick ink sketch with watercolor from a photo as a study for an oil painting. I especially like the way this appears on the monitor since it enhances the feeling of light glowing out of the dark.

I’ve been feeling a bit of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) lately — grumpy and craving light. I know that it’s a common affliction and just a physical reaction — that things are just as fine in my life as they were a couple weeks ago before SAD hit. A friend of mine recommends sitting in front of special lights designed for this purpose and says they really help her. I know exercise helps mood so I’ve been trying to do more of that, especially outdoors when it’s sunny, but I think it’s time to explore SAD lights.

As much as I love to occasionally spend a good rainy afternoon listening to Mozart’s Requiem and wallowing in melancholia, generally I prefer feeling cheery.

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Berkeley Drawing Life in general Other Art Blogs I Read Painting People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Eavesdropping without consonants

Peet's Coffee Drinkers

Purple ink and watercolor in small Moleskine watercolor notebook (Larger)

I love overhearing snippets of other people’s conversations and how they flavor my sketches in cafes. I’ve drawn and scribbled overheard conversations at Peet’s Coffee’s 4th Street shop in Berkeley before. When I saw Pete Scully‘s fantastic sketches with conversation snippets I thought I’d try it his way with the words in little boxes. But I’m not as tidy at printing as he is.

Peet's Coffee - ...and I got my potatoes back

Purple ink and watercolor in small Moleskine watercolor notebook (Larger)

So on this one I wrote the words I overheard on the newspaper above. Maybe the passerby didn’t really say, “…and I got all my potatoes back, you know…” – my hearing isn’t what it used to be so sometimes my imagination fills in the blanks with things that make me laugh. I can hear the words but the consonants aren’t clear.

It’s amazing how one wrong consonant can change the meaning of a sentence. (He says, “Hey, guess what! I got a hog!”…so I’m thinking…he got a pig?! oh maybe he got a Harley motorcycle, they call those “hogs”….and then I realize as he goes on talking that he said he got a DOG, not a HOG and he said it was BIG not a PIG!)

Categories
Life in general Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Organic Bananas, The FURminator & Blindness

Organic Bananas

Watercolor on Arches Cold-Pressed paper in 5.5 x 7.5 sketchbook
Larger

After working half the day I decided to finally vacuum my house since I was feeling sleepy and not particular creative and the house and studio sorely needed cleaning. I’ve been contentedly choosing painting over housecleaning for too long, and the cat hair was piling up. So I dusted, vacuumed, washed the throw rugs, brushed the kitties with a great new cat and dog brush, the FURminator, that thoroughly removes the undercoat and ends shedding for weeks (the pictures on their website don’t lie–it’s amazing how much fur comes off the first time).

After dinner I was still sleepy but knew I’d be sad if I just turned on the TV and had no fun in the studio at all today. So I grabbed the only produce left in the kitchen (I’ve also been putting off the grocery shopping) and painted these bananas.

While I painted I was listening to a fascinating book, Crashing Through, about a man who was blinded at the age of 3, became a downhill speed skier, an entrepeneur, married, had kids, and a great life. Then he was given the historical opportunity to try an experimental surgery and become one of only 20 people in the history of the world who, after a lifetime of total blindness, had his sight restored, via a stem cell and corneal transplant. The book provides really interesting information about vision and how we make sense of what we see, from distance perception, to 3-dimensionality, to recognizing faces and expressions. It turns out it actually has to do with parts of the brain rather than the eyes and is learned in infancy.

A lot of that information is useful for painting. When the author explains how the brain uses visual clues to judge distance, these are the same things artists use to create the illusion of depth and distance in paintings. These include objects getting smaller the further away they are, closeness to the horizon (the further away or taller something is, the closer to the horizon it is), aerial perspective (the effect of moisture and particles in the air between the distant object and the viewer that causes distant objects to appear grayer, cooler, paler than closer objects), linear perspective, and occlusion (one thing in front of another).