Tag: art journal

“Urban sketching” in the mall…

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Norfolk, Virginia has mermaids everywhere. They all have the same silhouette, are (more or less) ‘life-size’, and are decorated individually. This one inside MacArthur Center has always fascinated me. It has “bites” carved out of its tail, and is wrapped in silver foil, to look like a foil covered chocolate mermaid. There used to be a Godiva store in the mall, (Heaven on earth, imo) and this mermaid is titled Go Diva, with a little poem beneath it.

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I brought shiny silver paint for the foil, but then wasn’t sure about shading on top of it. I want to try it again, though, so maybe next time I’ll try the shiny. (Although I was pretty satisfied with the way the Daniel Smith Bloodstone worked)

Poppies. And daffodils. And a new travel watercolor idea…with magnets, tin, and paint!

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(This post has affiliate links)

So after watching “Following the White Rabbit” set up her palette  on Youtube, I was inspired to look around and see if I had a similar sized tin. I found two. One is a Pentalic drawing pencil tin, the other BARELY larger, a Sketchbook watercolor pencil tin. The tiny bit of size difference allowed the Sketchbook tin to close perfectly over my half pans, and fit an extra row of pans, too (or brushes, if I prefer, later) Plus, it’s pink and cute.

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It’s slim, lightweight, already painted white inside, and EXACTLY holds three rows of 9 half pans, so I can use it in the studio or out and about. I filled it with lots of Daniel Smith, a few Schmincke, 2 QoR, and even one A.Gallo paint.

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(yeah this is what my table generally looks like)

 

I ordered THIS magnetic tool wristband from Amazon for under $10. (Arrived in two days… bless you, Amazon) Some of the other bands’ reviews said the magnets weren’t strong enough, so check reviews carefully if you don’t get this same one… this one is quite strong enough for my needs! (You see where I’m going with this?)

I added super strong little magnets (Found HERE on Amazon) to a little plastic cup with a screw on lid, and to the bottom of a swatch card I made of the colors in my palette, set the whole thing on my wrist and was ready to try a painting… (I use E 6000 glue because I have it… there may be other glue that works for these magnets as well. Somehow between December 1st and today I have used 99 of these little magnets!)

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This worked great, and I THINK might be even better once I take it “on location” somewhere, because I’ll have my etchr bag with me to rest my arm on! It would fit ANY size tin, and I have much smaller ones if I want to use them instead, but this tin is very lightweight.

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So what do you think? Love the idea, or hate it? What type of things have you tried to make plain air or urban sketching more convenient?

-Indigo watercolor journal (I like the paper, I don’t like the spiral binding), Daniel Smith paint (Perylene red, lemon yellow, quin gold, green apatite, Uniball Micro Deluxe pen

Saturday 1/19: altered matchbox, and January’s Storytime

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My first altered matchbox…and Storytime at work!

Saturday morning I led a storytime, reading three adorable books by Peter H Reynolds, (sold in a set called a Creatrilogy!), all about kids, art, and how much fun ANYONE can have with  art… We had 15 or so kids attend, I think, or all ages, less than 1 year to about 12 years old…a good turnout. (And they are not just kids who happen to be there, now, but kids actually coming in for Storytime!) The kids really seemed to enjoy the books (I know I did). Then we did a sticker craft, using dot stickers, because one of the books is all about a little girl who paints only dots. But the best part (even better than the cookies we had) was painting. The second book was about using colors, the third about how things don’t have to look exactly perfect in our pictures. We had ordered 24 Crayola* paint sets (sold here, on Amazon), and some nice quality 100% cotton watercolor sheets (sold here on Amazon) I had worried about it being too messy, but even the younger kids were very focused and there were no problems. They made some really nice paintings. (*If you need sets of watercolor paints for a group, these crayola paints are a very good price, about $1.50 a set, but know that the brushes, while much better than the hard plastic ones from my childhood, shed something fierce. The kids didn’t care)

(Okay the older one in red is actually one of our team members, helping out 🙂

Once home, I worked on a swap I have to send out this coming week, for swap-bot.  

(Swap-bot has been a great  motivation for me over the 10 past years or so, inspiring me to try quite a few artistic or creative things I would not have attempted on my own, or even thought of on my own. In fact I don’t think I’d be painting or drawing at all without it, and I have met some awesome ladies there)

Anyway, I’d been putting off this altered matchbox, because I haven’t made one before. (I signed up specifically because I haven’t done one. Then kind of regretted it!) Naturally, once I began, it wasn’t difficult at all, and I enjoyed myself, and although it isn’t great, it’s fine, I think. The theme was chosen for me, Stevie Nicks’ song “Crystal”… I’m embarrassed to admit I wasn’t really familiar with the song or even really with Stevie Nicks, (another reason I procrastinated), but it was fun learning about both.

I added a few tiny shells and sea glass inside because of the line “drove me like a magnet to the sea”, the only line that really spoke to me. (I collect seagrass bits AND shells, especially heart shaped shells, so I had plenty to choose from!)

Then did my journal page. To be honest I had decided the matchbox was enough “art” for the day, then just before bed thought Wait, why am I not journaling it? So:

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Now. Off to start my Sunday!

Sunday/Monday, January 7th and 8th, 2019

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We spent Sunday putting away Christmas decorations… and pared down our collections a LITTLE. Then we took the dogs to Williamsburg for a walk (uh… after bathing Clara, who dipped half her furry body into a HUGE deep mud puddle of her own creation. A newfie bath is not a small challenge) We had trouble in W-burg finding a place to seat us outside. This was odd because it was warm, like 65 degrees, and several restaurants offer seating for people with their dogs. But the crazy restrictions they were suddenly presenting us with!! We ended up frustrated, and just having pizza at home.

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Not much of a sketch, but that’s about all I could handle by pm.

Monday’s most important activity didn’t get recorded in pictures… Emmett and Clara were groomed!! (this doesn’t sound like such a big deal… but last time I took Clara she bulldogged on us and they called me back after 30 minutes to come get her. Bulldogging is our term for when our humongous fur babies decide not to move. What are we gonna do, pick them up? We CAN’T physically do that. So mostly if they decide not to move, they don’t move. (Mark can always get them to move, but I’m sometimes at a loss, and I can’t blame the tiny girls at the doggy place) They also passed their assessments and could then play with all the other dogs for a few hours in group play. They suffered through the grooming and came home happy, clean, and tired. Clara was already missing one new hair bow when we arrived to pick her up. THAT’S what I should have drawn.

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But I didn’t. Monday’s sketch is of the video I watched on youtube on Dr Oto Kano’s channel, comparing 11 different ultramarine watercolors. She always presents some well researched ideas. I really enjoy what I learn from her, and if you are interested in technical aspects of watercolors, beyond “how to paint” videos, you should check out her channel. I’d like one day to have a youtube channel myself! If I ever come up with anything unique to express.

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Thursday Jan 3, 2019… Draw Your Day

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I have been saving these leaves and finally thought, it’s about time I clean off my work space. Very little effort applied. 😦 But at least I did journal.

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I had planned to fill both pages with watercolor leaves, and frankly just wasn’t feeling it. So… Mira Byler suggested this in the youtube video I watched tonight. She tried it with ink first, which didn’t take to the leaves well, so I tried watercolor. Both had marginal success. She’s right, the gouache works better. Basically, a lazy artist’s page, but I’m sticking with the idea that I was EXPERIMENTING. Anyway, slapping gouache onto leaves is relaxing and fun.

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Sunday and Monday’s journal: how do you paint a black dog?

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Sunday we went to Colonial Williamsburg for a short time, and I thought the entrance to this basement bookstore would be fun to try. I love Mermaid Books… it is nicely crammed with lots of “vintage” books. (My favorite kind!) And, it is hidden away in a basement!

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Today I went in to work for some interviews, and paperwork I had to get done. That didn’t sound fun to draw, so I drew Clara, my one year old newfoundland “puppy”. (At 120 pounds, it’s hard to think of her as a puppy!) She is solid black and in photos is often just a black blob with pretty eyes.

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(How do YOU do black animals? Any tips to share?)

 

 

 

 

Inktober days 4-9 (daily journal)

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Embarrassingly… I’ve done SIX JOURNAL ENTRIES since my last post. (????) I am halfway participating in the big Inktober challenge. I’m not following the suggested prompts, but I AM trying to practice with ink every single day in October. It’s really more of a journal challenge for me.

These days were painted in with QoR watercolors. To be honest, they worked fine, but I enjoyed using the EEM handmade paints (Eventually, Everything Mixes) better, from the previous week’s pages. Except QoR’s sap green which is QUITE lovely. Seriously. I like it. Might just be out of practice with QoR? Or maybe… I haven’t used them in so long, I simply like the other brands better now. (Daniel Smith, Schmincke, M Graham, EEM) Mostly, I am addicted to THEM ALL.

 

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MI did the sketch on the left Saturday. I hated it, and tried the one on the right from the same photo on Monday… much improved! The second one isn’t quite right either but significantly closer. I didn’t want to post the first one but then I thought, sometimes it is nice to see other people’s messed up attempts!! Suggestions for improving my sketches of people, please???

Day 197 (Sun July 16) Crazy newfie watercolor

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I want to learn ways to paint a big fuzzy black dog, so googled newfie watercolor art, and found something looking a little like this (only much better) I’ll try it again another time but this DOES capture the spirit of Emmett pretty well, I think. He’s nuts.

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This was for a journal entry I’m working on for a friend on Swap-bot, a very fun site I’m a member of, and I included a poem I wrote years ago about another dog I had.

Painted with Daniel Smith watercolor on some type of parchment.

The bravest, dearest, sweetest heart on Earth
Rests within my dog’s big furry chest.
(Well, maybe not the bravest…
But of all the world, he does love me the best.)

In his perception I’m the greatest friend.
I’m always right… of that there’s never doubt.
I’m simply never wrong.
If I say “in”, it’s in… if I say “out”, it’s out.

He loves the way I speak, my voice, my sound.
He loves to hear me say his name out loud.
He tries to make me smile.
He’ll follow my voice even in a crowd.

In his eyes I look just the way I should;
Change my looks, I’m still the perfect me.
He doesn’t think I’m fat.
My face, and hair, exactly as should be.

Never has he gotten mad at me.
Even when I’ve lost my temper first.
He showers me with love.
He loves me at my best and at my worst.

He comes to sit beside me as I work,
And never tells me “no” if I say “play”.
He tries to be my friend.
He loves me still if I push him away.

And when I’m empty, shattered and alone,
And hiding broken pieces from the rest,
When no one else is there,
He moves in close and offers me his best.

Even though I look at him with love,
Never have I given him his due.
And yet he never sways.
I wish I could be that sweet hearted, too.