Tag: Every Day in May

Categories
Sketchbook Pages

EDiM 13: Cowrie Shells

EDiM 13 Shells. Ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
EDiM 13 Shells. Ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

When I was a kid I had a little shell collection and my favorites were Cowrie shells (though I misheard the name and thought they were called Molly shells. I still get confused and have to look them up. They feel so nice to hold, with their smooth, shiny surface and egg-like shape.

Since I was looking up the name anyway, I read a bit about them on Wikipedia and learned these interesting factoids:

  • The term “porcelain” derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell (porcellana) due to their similar translucent appearance.
  • Shells of certain species have historically been used as currency: The Ghanaian cedi was named after cowry shells and starting over three thousand years ago, cowry shells were used as currency in China and India.
  • The Classical Chinese character for money (貝) originated as a stylized drawing of a Maldivian cowrie shell.
  • Cowry shells are used in sacred Objibway ceremonies and the Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba, Canada is named after cowries.
  • Cowry shells are also worn as jewelry or otherwise used as ornaments or charms and are viewed as symbols of womanhood, fertility, birth and wealth.
Categories
Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages Still Life

EDiM 10, 11, 12 (Cracked, Found on Internet and Shelf)

EDiM 11 Water Bottle Found on Internet, ink & watercolor, 7.5x 5 in
EDiM 11 Water Bottle Found on Internet, ink & watercolor, 7.5x 5 in

I love Klean Kanteen stainless steel water bottles. I keep a tall one in my car, the one sketched above lives on my bedside table, I carry a Kid-sized bright blue one on walks and keep a jumbo 64 oz. Klean Kanteen filled with lemony water in the fridge where it surprisingly fits nicely on the door shelf. I use it to make sure I get my 8 cups of water each day. The bottles are light weight and don’t leave a taste or chemicals in the water.

EDim 10 Cracked Cup, Ink and watercolor, 7x5 in
EDim 10 Cracked Cup, Ink and watercolor, 7×5 in

This drawing is just as cracked as the cup! This was my favorite coffee cup for a long time. Now it’s on my still life shelf waiting to pose for a painting.

EDiM 12 Shelf and stuff on it by studio sink, ink & watercolor 5x7 in
EDiM 12 Shelf and stuff on it by studio sink, ink & watercolor 5×7 in

I shouldn’t have even started this sketch as I was way too tired and it shows. This is a shelf next to the sink in my studio. I drew quickly and directly with ink and painted just as quickly. Sloppy but it’s done.

Categories
Gouache Ink and watercolor wash Rose Sketchbook Pages

EDiM 8 and 9: Mirror Image (me in pitcher) and Shadow

EDiM 8 Mirror Image in Copper Pitcher, ink and watercolor, 7.5x 5 inches
EDiM 8 Mirror Image in Copper Pitcher, ink and watercolor, 7.5x 5 inches

This one was really fun to draw. It was a surprise to see that I was reflected twice, right-side-up and upside-down. I had to stack the pitcher on top of a box of kleenex on top of a box of rubber stamps.

EDiM 9 Mirror Image in Copper Pitcher, ink, watercolor, gouache, 7.5x5 in
EDiM 9 Mirror Image in Copper Pitcher, ink, watercolor, gouache, 7.5×5 in

I drew this in pencil sitting outdoors at a little round table in the sun.  I sketched in the shadow of the flower and painted everything with watercolor. By then the sun had moved and there were more shadows so I painted them in too. I didn’t like the way it messed up the composition so I brought the sketchbook into the studio and painted over table and extra shadows with gouache. It only partially hid the “mistake” but I decided I liked the way there’s a shadow of a shadow showing through.

I used rubber stamps for text on the page but got that wrong too (9, not 8) so just used the X stamp to cross out the 8. I love work that is fresh and just right on the first pass. This isn’t that, and shows a bit of the struggle. Sometimes that just makes things more interesting.

Categories
Animals Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages Studio

EDiM 5 and 7 (Hobby: Millie and Microwave)

EDiM 5 Hobby (Millie), ink on Stonehenge brown paper glued in Moleskine, 5x7 in
EDiM 5 Hobby (Millie), black ink and white Sharpie on Stonehenge brown paper glued in Moleskine, 5×7 in

I filled pages of my sketchbook trying to draw Millie from life but never got more than 1/3 a dog before she moved. So I pasted some brown Stonehenge paper over a couple of the dog scribble pages and then drew this one from a photo. She’s extra elegantly long in my drawing and seems to be prancing through the air (I forgot to add some shadows or a part of her bed so you could tell she was relaxing lying down.

EDiM7-Microwave in the studio beside the sink, ink and watercolor 5x7 in
EDiM7-Microwave in the studio beside the sink, ink and watercolor 5×7 in

I inherited this microwave from my son, left behind when I converted the grease monkey garage into my studio. When I use it to heat water for tea in the winter I just have to remember that if I have both electric heaters on, all the lights and the stereo going and a hair dryer blow-drying a watercolor, there’s a good chance I will shortly be sitting in the dark until I visit the circuit breaker box and flip the switch.

Categories
Ink and watercolor wash Rose Sketchbook Pages Still Life

EDiM 6: Hand-Me-Downs from Mom and Grandma (3 tries)

EDiM 6-Relic: From Ma and Grandma's Kitchen, ink and watercolor 5x7"
EDiM 6-Relic: From Ma and Grandma’s Kitchen, ink and watercolor 5×7″

I wasn’t happy with the first two tries (posted below) for the prompt “a relic or something handed down from family” so started over with the simpler subjects pictured above: my grandmother’s yellow mixing bowl; a serving spoon with part of its pink handle broken off and my favorite spoon that I eat with all the time, both remnants of my mother’s 50s kitchen with their pre-plastic Bakelite handles. And last, my grandmother’s beat up old jar opener that she used to pop open her homemade dill pickle jars. I use it all the time to open jars and think of her each time I do.

EDiM 6-Relic: 3-hole vase and roses #2, ink and watercolor 7x5 in
EDiM 6-Relic: 3-hole vase and roses #2, ink and watercolor 7×5 in’

Above is my second attempt, some roses from my garden in a little vase my mother gave me. It’s really complicated with “arms” reaching around and circling three round-bellied vessels, all connected.

Below is the first attempt, sketched outdoors in blinding sun that messed with my judgment of color and value. Also below is an attempt at drawing what the vase looks like from a different perspective. Also a fail.

EDiM 6-Relic: 3-hole vase and roses #1, ink and watercolor 7x5 in
EDiM 6-Relic: 3-hole vase and roses #1, ink and watercolor 7×5 in

The color of the roses was so pretty…much nicer than anything I could paint.

Photo of vase and flowers I sketched from life
Photo of vase and flowers I sketched from life
Categories
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.

Categories
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!

Categories
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.

Categories
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.

Categories
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.