Tag: Pen and Ink

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Cartoon art Colored pencil art Life in general Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Hamster Brain, Part Two

Silence of the Hamsters

Ink, colored pencil & watercolor in 9×12 sketchbook (Larger)

In yesterday’s post I wrote about what I call “Hamster Brain” (when my mind gets stuck spinning in a hamster wheel of “shoulds” and I can’t figure out what to do next and so do nothing). I was going through an old sketchbook and found this illustration I did in 1999 on a similar day of “my brain on hamsters.”

When I read the journal entry it was interesting to see that I’d figured out back then what was really going: a fear of not having enough: not enough time, and maybe not enough talent or skill either as I faced the artist’s version of writer’s block…that icky fear that seems to come around when I finish one project and am faced with the blank canvas/sheet of paper. I’ve learned to encourage myself and turn off those critical voices but every once in awhile they sneak up and get me when I’m not looking.

Today was so much more enjoyable,  even though it was pouring down rain. I did my errands, went to the gym, and painted. Sometimes it takes a hamster-brained day like yesterday to make me really appreciate an ordinary day that is joyous just by the absence of negativity and blocks.

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Every Day Matters Faces Life in general People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

13 minutes, 4 commuters, politics and art books

Ink in 6×9 sketchbook (Larger)

On my way home from work tonight I intended to continue reading Hensche on Painting (about an American Impressionist painter and his teachings about seeing and painting color under the influence of light). But the BART train was full of fascinating faces and I had to sketch instead. There are four stops between my office and home. The person in the seat two rows ahead of me was replaced at each stop, which made for a wonderfully random assortment of models, with 2 to 4 minutes each to draw them.

Tonight my painting group was here and we talked about whether we were going to vote for Hillary or Obama. As I wrote that sentence, I realized that it doesn’t feel right to call her by her last name or to call him by his first name. I wonder what that means and if it’s unconsciously sexist of me? Or is that I didn’t know how to spell Barack and had to look it up, even though I’ve seen it a hundred times already? Or is it because when I think “Clinton” I think of her hubby?

Susie has been reading Obama’s first book, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, about his life pre-candidacy and it has convinced her to vote for him. I’m going to download it from Audible.com and listen to it.

Tomorrow night (Thursday) is the California debate between the two of them, and although I don’t get CNN on my TV, they are streaming the debates live on CNN.com so I will watch it on my computer. Then I’ll make my decision and mail in my absentee ballot. (I like pretending that my vote actually matters.)

I’m just looking forward to the end of the Bush era and not having to run to turn off the sound when he’s on the radio or TV.

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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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Animals Art theory Drawing Glass Other Art Blogs I Read Painting People Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Debate Doodles & New Sketchbook

January Sketchbook Cover

White ink on black paper, 8×6″ (Larger…but why?)

(above) I was so inspired by seeing Nina Johansson‘s easy-to-make 16-page sketchbook so I made one for myself. Above is the cover drawing, inspired by a dream that I was losing my hair. That was the same dream about dating Jack Nicholson; I realized it wouldn’t work out because he probably wouldn’t be interested in dating a woman with thinning hair (let alone one over 20!).

To make the sketchbook I used one sheet of 140 pound hot-pressed paper cut into 4 strips and then folded (see Nina’s page for how it’s made; it’s very cool!) . I’m going to try 90 pound paper next time since 140 pound is pretty stiff. I punched a hole an inch from the bottom and another an inch from the top and tied the bundle together with twine.

Debate Doodles

Ink and watercolor on Fabriano Artistico hot press paper, 8×6″ (Larger)

(above) This was drawn (doodled) while watching the Republican debate last night (which I found depressing; they all seemed to be competing to show they were less caring about humanity and more militaristic than the next).

Honeydew in bowl

Ink and watercolor, on Fabriano Artistico hot press paper 8×6″(Larger)

(above) Having spent the past two days preparing a spare computer and printer to give to my neighbors, installing it at their house, setting up their internet (using the signal coming from my wireless network), going with them to Best Buy to buy a monitor and on and on, I was desperate to just have some fun in the studio. This was fun. Next I’ll do it in oils.

The art I like the most is quirky, odd, handmade rather than photographically perfect, whimsical, full of personality, nutty, imaginative. Yet I’ve always felt that I should make perfectly drawn and painted work and fought against my natural inclination to make quirky, lopsided, imperfect, nutty, playful pictures. It dawned on me this week that I don’t need to do that anymore and can be as Jana as I want (and am)! Yipppeee!

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Art theory Drawing Glass Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Happy 2008! Prosperity and Art Goals

New Year 2008 - Change Jar

Ink & watercolor, 5.5 x 7.5″ (Larger)

I heard Nigela Lawson on the radio talking about New Year’s dining traditions in different cultures that all included eating round things (the shape of coins) to create prosperity in the new year. It inspired me to finally paint this former candy jar where I put the change I find in the dryer and washer after my son does his laundry at my house. The jar never fills, so I assume he also makes withdrawals.

The foods included lentils, grapes and sliced salami. One tradition said to eat 12 grapes, one for each month of the year. If the third grape was sweet it meant March would be prosperous; if it was a sour grape, March wouldn’t be good.

I’m usually more concerned with peace and health than prosperity, but after watching an insipid Suze Orman TV special about women and money last month, I decided that prosperity would be nice too. She emphasized that women often feel they have to apologize for having money, or feel guilty if they are have anything for themselves before everyone else has their needs met.

But of course the key to prosperity is very simple:

Want what you have; Don’t want what you don’t have

Easier said than done, especially in the U.S. where overconsumption is considered to be patriotic.

Art Goals

My art goals for 2008 are also very simple: to enjoy myself by exploring whatever directions I find interesting, challenging, exciting, pleasurable, fun. In other words, learn, practice, grow, but do it in ways that are good for me, that are satisfying and healthy. No lists of shoulds, no rules other than play, practice and enjoy the journey. Be prosperous in the pleasure and enjoyment of the process.

My hope is that by this time next year I will have earned enough competence with oils that I can comfortably and freely work in the medium most fitting to the subject or idea I want to express, whether it be ink, watercolor, oils, goauche, or monoprint.

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Animals Cartoon art Drawing Dreams Illustration Friday Painting People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Illustration Friday: Soar – Flying with Whales

Flying with Whales

Ink and watercolor in 5.5″ square dream sketchbook (Larger)

I love my flying dreams. In this one I was flying over the ocean and saw some whales frolicking below. I flew down and was playing with them when one bit my arm hard. I knew he meant no harm though, so once he let my arm go, I stayed and played with them some more.

The next dream wasn’t as much fun. I went into San Francisco to visit my boss (unbeknownst to her), planning to phone when I got there. But my cell phone had no reception and then I dropped it and it fell apart right over a sewer grate. I finally retrieved all the pieces and then a block away, drop it again over another sewer grate.

Then I realize I’ve forgotten my shoes and am barefoot and it’s dark and cold and I’m in a bad neighborhood. But I remember I love to run barefoot in the dark (huh?!!!) . So I run up and down the hills of San Francisco, trying to find my way to downtown Hollywood where I can catch a bus home. It goes on and on, but the rest of the story is likely to amuse only me so I’ll stop there.

I woke up with the idea that I needed to replace my cellphone and then wasted the morning researching the latest phones until I remembered that my phone hadn’t really fallen and broken and does still get reception and that I had no excuse for considering buying an iPhone, no matter how cute they are.

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Animals Drawing Dreams Painting Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Kiwi-Colored Cat Dream

Ink & watercolor in 5.5″ square sketchbook (Larger)

Last night I dreamt that I found a lime-green, kiwi-colored tabby cat in the rainforest jungles of England (huh?). It laid on on it’s back purring, wanting it’s fuzzy tummy rubbed. This was a nice dream to wake up to, after the terrible one I had before it for most of the night. Since this is a time for peace and joy on earth I won’t share all the scary stuff from that dream.

One and a half more work days until my two week winter vacation!

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Drawing Other Art Blogs I Read Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages Studio

Payless Shoes from Peets Coffee


Ink in Moleskine sketchbook (Larger)

After taking a huge load of stuff to Goodwill and the recycling center (that came from three days of reorganizing the studio, which led to cleaning out my closets, cabinets and the garage) my reward was a latte at Peets (and what feels like a fabulous new, spacious studio!).

Now that I’m nearly done with this organizing/rearranging project it was great to relax and just draw what I could see out the window while I sipped my coffee.

This is another sketch inspired by Pete Sculley’s drawings with incorporated overheard snippets of conversation. (overheard: “I know you can’t make any decisions.” “My parents are here and I can’t just send them home.”)

Next time I’ll post photos of my newly organized studio.