Senior Pictures

I thought I’d be further along with this by now, but my “drawing time” was interrupted by some much needed psycho cleaning!  After being gone for almost a week and spending time in some really clean houses, I felt a little bad for my pad.   Hours later, chores done, I’m feeling much inspired.  So, I thought I’d share my latest drawing with you.  Plus, I’ve missed you guys!!  Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving!



The good thing about stepping back and posting these here is…I can see I don’t have the face shape correct on the interior (left) side.   Will try to fix that, ASAP!



Little FYI for you:   Did you know that an artist (A really good artist) cannot display their painting/drawing if it was drawn from a Studio picture because of the copyright???   I did not know this…. it’s a good thing I’m not that good!!



I sharpened my graphite pencil a few times as I attempted the teeth here…..But will need to go in and tone some of those edges down…..Geez!!  A little tombstone-y here, I think!



Don’t look too closely at the hair off the forehead, because it really doesn’t match the picture, but I must say it was fun to draw!!

Oh, I’ve got to show you this book I just picked up. 



Secrets to Drawing Realistic Faces by Carrie Stuart Parks

The book was written by this lady who has done Composite Drawings for the FBI since ‘81.  She thought it best to teach a class on composite drawing to Police Officers so that more bad guys can be caught.   The book is an extension of her class.   A very well written book, with face “rules” which helped me to break down the dimensions of the photograph.

All for now!!

Happy Thanksgiving

I don’t know what it is that I like so much about drawing these birds but they sure are fun!  I was a little unsure how I’d portray this Thanksgiving Bird.  I was given some ideas of the bird talking to the turkey and saying “Bill, is that you?”, but that’s in poor taste….Funny….but in poor taste.  Then I was told that female Indians aren’t allowed to wear Chief Headdresses….but this is a Helen Reddy bird  (you may be too young to remember the song “I am Woman”) and she pretty much wears what’s she wants, when she wants.  After all, it’s her party!



I could draw and color Headdresses all day!! Really!




I brought the kiddo-birds in because I wanted to show some excitement at finally being able to eat the turkey.  After many hours of smelling it’s sweet aroma!



Just another shot of the unfinished Bird and friends.



Helen the Thanksgiving Host…….She takes hosting the Family Thanksgiving meal to a whole new level…..Yes, she really does dress up for the occasion, and yes she even puts her kids in costume.  No one complains and her family & friends have gotten used to her little quirks.   She is the Number One BEST COOK you’d ever want to meet.  She thoroughly enjoys everything about this day.  She gets up early to dress the 3 turkeys she cooks (baked, fried and smoked), the Honey Baked Ham will be prepared a little later….but what really sets eating at Helen’s house apart is the 9 pies she makes the week of Thanksgiving!  Yep, NINE!!

You can still download the Uncolored Drawing of this Bird from HERE……(might be a good way to keep all those Pilgrims and Indians occupied while awaiting the feast).  I'm just saying.

Well guys!!  I hope you all have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!!  My sympathies go out to all of you that plan to venture out on Black Friday too!

Facing Forward…...Mural Drawing

I looked and looked on Flickr for a person painting a mural.  I wanted to see the entire person, actually I wanted to find a girl painting a mural from about this distance away……No luck, none!! Ugh!!  So, off I went to draw an imaginary person and I’m not very happy with her.   She’s too simple and in my mind I had her more realistic.  But she works.  Enough.



Decided that I'd do the block background in the Rainbow colors.  You remember how I like those colors?



This is a total take on my Sketchbook Project’s Welcome Page.   I enjoyed doing that page so much, I thought I’d do a repeat.



This little Zen bird appears sad, must be the slant of the eyes……But really he’s not.



Just plain fun to fill in the Bird with all different random doodles and patterns….



I really would’ve spent more time on the girl IF I had something to mirror!  I may have to try this again, assuming I can find the right picture.   The neat thing about this mural drawing is once I get the person drawn I can put any drawing I want in the background, anything.  Ahhh, the possibilities!



I was contemplating putting some grass sprouts and weeds along the bottom of the mural….you know to look like the setting is outdoors…..But I didn’t think I could pull it off, because I drew and filled in the drawing first.  Maybe next time.

Thank you for your submissions

This little giveaway was a blast to host.  I am so glad that a few of you played along.  I know that there are still some shy people out there that didn’t send me their Thanksgiving birds, and that’s ok.  Maybe next time??



As you can see some people used Crayons, some used Markers, and some did theirs Graphically (in their photo-editing program).



Aren’t these all so interesting together?  I just love the different styles here.



I have submissions here from a 6 year old, a Middle Schooler, a Teacher, Moms and a Graphic Designer. 

And the winner of the giveaway is………………………………………….



That’s you Rachel!!!   Please email me with your snail mail address and I’ll get that Starbucks card out to you right away.

I also wanted to show you one other Thanksgiving bird that was NOT submitted, but pretty darn cute nevertheless.  Check out Dawn’s bird HERE.

Thanks everyone for playing!

List It Tuesday….Teen-Lingo

I can’t believe I will actually be participating in List It Tuesday…. on Tuesday.  Yes, the delights of this Blog Boss!!!

Here is a quick list of the Top 10 words spoken by my Daughter to me this past weekend.  We spent 36 hours side by side as I drove her on a college visit to another state.   I think it’s funny how not only is she one to not talk a lot (at least to me), but 50% of the words she likes to communicate with are made up of 4 letters or less!  Hmmmmm……I would be floored if she becomes a public speaker at any time in her life! Floored!!

Teen-Lingo Definitions:

1. Touché-  When I’ve figured out the right answer to why she does something.
2. Whatever- When she really doesn’t want to do what I ask her to do.  Or is stalling.
3. What- If I look at her at any time.
4. Stop- If I don’t avert my eyes after she’s said “What”.
5. Fine- If I tell her not to do something she is wanting to do.
6. Random- If I communicate with her about my day, or make a statement about life in general.
7. Sure- If I ask her a Yes or No question
8. Obviously- If I agree with what she is doing
9. Congratulations- If I figure out something that I didn’t know before….usually pertaining to her school life, her social life or her sports life.
10. MOM !!- If #3 and #4 hasn’t diverted my attention and now she really means it!

So in Honor of our weekend together I thought I’d share this little drawing with you.



If I was really good at drawing I’d make it look like her feet are up on the dashboard.  Not that we drive that way or anything.



I use the big Copic-like markers for my skin tone drawings these days.  I am not happy with the flesh tones in the Faber Castell series.  The ink tends to appear too streaky.



Hard to get to know somebody who doesn’t want to be known…..probably because they have NO CLUE who they are yet…..They know what they can do, they just don’t know what to think about it.

Facing Forward…..in a coloring book

Right after I outlined my Thanksgiving Bird, I had an idea…..I had to STOP myself from coloring any further.  Because I would love to see how you guys would color this bird in.  I know you are creative!!  And I know you like to draw or doodle or zentangle or embellish or collage or paint (cuz you’re here visiting me). 

So, wouldn’t it be fun to do this on a fixed item and then SHOW us what you did?  I would get such a kick out of seeing your work. 

I think it’s time for a little giveaway too.   (not sure how else to entice you to play along and show me what you can do).  Anyone up for a $5 Starbucks card?   Anyone???

Guidelines:

1. Download the picture by going HERE ……or I can email the image to you.  (It is possible to download from this blog, but the image will be half the size)…..Up to you.
2. Color in HOWEVER YOU DESIRE (with markers, crayons, watercolor pencils, watercolors, acrylics, collage, black and white, zentangle it, doodle it)  ANYTHING GOES!
3. Upon Completion:  take a pic or scan the Thanksgiving Bird then email the  .jpg to elg921(at)yahoo(dot)com
4. I will post the submissions on my blog the day before the GIVEAWAY WINNER is announced
5. Since it’s my contest and I want you to just have fun with it…..I’ll use the Random Generator to pick the winner…….(but you never know if I’ll include an HONORABLE MENTION as well).

NOTES:

a.  If you’d like, you can also comment here and leave a link to your static (Blog) page with the finished image.  BUT, to be included in the contest you must email me the jpg……Sorry, just easier that way :)

b.  Don’t worry I won’t sell your art work to the Paparazzi, Claim it as my own in the book I’m writing, Post it all over facebook with your name attached to it or Sell it to spammers……It’ll will be safe with me….really! LOL!!

c.  And if you are participating in NaNoJouMo or AEDM this month, coloring this in would count as “art” for that day….right?

d.  Time to have fun…..Relax… and… Color away!!

 CONTEST DEADLINE:   November 17, Midnight EST.

Follower Appreciation

I wish today was FRIDAY because then I could title this post “Follower Appreciation on Friday”.  I like alliteration statements.  I had to look this up…. it means “words that start with the same letter or sounds”. 

But here at DD and D (draw doodle and decorate) we don’t always do things in order, the perfect way, or the way one would expect.  After all, last week I posted List It Tuesday on Wednesday.   And even though Decorate is in the title of the blog, I haven’t decorated anything since last Christmas.   All I can say is it’s nice being my own Blog Boss (love this word combo cuz I get to use alliteration….again!! ).  As you can see almost anything goes here.  I’ve got enough to keep track of in my “real life” that I don’t want this blog to be a place that I “have to” post on, or apologize for not posting enough, or ranting about our president and the economy….you know those types of things.  Life’s just too short, and we are all busy and we all understand.  Enough said.

I probably don’t thank you Followers/ Commenters (is that a word?) enough here….because you guys are so nice, and I’m so flattered when you leave a comment or decide to follow.  I don’t think a follow-up comment of just “Thanks” says enough of what it means to me.

So without further adu, here are a few neat sites that have actually linked back to me.  All I can say is these people are so creative and inspiring.  It’s nice to see people having fun with all the pictures/ designs/ blog articles/ art/ doodling and drawing…..it’s just plain neat to meet you!

BLOG LINKS:

1. All I Did Was Listen- by Rachel…..beautiful drawings and living insights here.
2. Artsyville- by Aimee…..Absolutely loaded with tons of fun and creative art to see at this site.
3. Cathartic Creativity- by Dawn…..lots of Art journaling, Painting, Drawing, Book suggestions and other inspiration here.  And this lady knows what she’s doing with her camera!
4. Daisy Yellow- by Tammie….OMG!  She oozes with inspiration and art.  Make sure you have a few hours to spare before you stop by her site.
5. Defining Me- by Lee…..Beautiful Drawing, Beautiful Paintings, Beautiful Journals…..click over you’ll see what I mean.
6. Faerieacres…lots of fun art journaling projects, sewing projects, zentangling……you get the picture.
7. iHanna- by Hanna…..one of my very first blog loves…..Again, INSPIRATION OVERLOAD here.  You will find yourself returning again and again to this site.
8. Judy McCarthy's Drawings- by Judy…….if you zentangle or doodle you won’t want to miss this site.
9. My Quest- by Elena…..Wonderful pictures and funny stories to go along with them…..She always posts the best quotes too!
10. Pumpkin Delight…..you will want to start cooking and baking and EATING after you see the enticing goodies she prepares.
11. Sue Doodles- by Sue…..my most favorite “Doodler of All”
12. The Daily Doodle- by Warren…..this man in on a mission and he WILL accomplish it……Go and Submit your doodle for his World Doodle Challenge (you've got to help him get to A Million Doodles)
13. Wild & Precious Life by Chel……so much talent wrapped up into one blog…..she journals, she makes her own polymer beads, she draws, she writes, she_____ …..you name it!
14. Zendoodle- Wege…..I go just to look at the ZenDoodling because unfortunately I can’t understand a word of German.  Verdammt !!

p.s.  If I’ve missed somebody and you want to be included on my next Follower’s Appreciation post.  Please email me and I’ll include you next time.

Facing Forward…in Incognito…..FINAL

Finally got to my favorite part!  Yep, drawing in this background.  I totally love doing this part, because I could unplug the ‘noggin.  LOL!!  I think those colorful pebble squares work here, too.  But not everyone around me agrees.  My dear teen daughter told me that this picture was “way too busy”, but what does she know?  HaHa,  I usually listen to her though, because she’s got a good eye.  That’s ok,  I’ll survive,  we are all entitled to our own opinions.  Plus, I’m  all about color and she’s not.



I am loving how my friend in blue turned out.  She’s a lady with class and I hope she likes my representation.  However, in the original picture she tilted her head to the left, and I’ve drawn it tilted to the right, which makes me wonder just what I’m seeing!!!  Ah, well!



Just an early stage of the background part.  I am planning on fixing the yellow-biker-chics eyes because she’s so much prettier than I made her out to be.



Learned a lot with this drawing. 

1. Sometimes less is more (less pencil marks for the eyes and things)
2. When you are stuck on a dimension of a person…..walk away from it for awhile, preferably overnight.  If you don’t have that much time, ask someone to look at it with you.  Their fresh eyes will give you the needed adjustment.   (I do this A LOT!)
3. Take the things you like or can do from a picture and EMBELLISH it anyway you want….It’s allowed, really! 
4. Not everyone will like my version of the picture, and that’s OK. 

Thanks for all your EnCoUrAgEmEnT and kind Comments you’ve left along the way here.  They really keep me on task, and I appreciate each and every comment you leave!

Facing Forward….in Incognito….Part 2

After sketching this out for a day, I decided it was “good enough”  (sometimes ya just gotta go for it).  So, I brought out my Faber Castel XS black pen for the outlining..  I like to define my edges, be clear on what my boundaries are.  I’ve also found that after outlining the image, the ink can stand up to my eraser as I erase the bulkier graphite lines.



Once all was outlined, it was time to play!!  Having already decided this wasn’t going to be a “realistic” drawing this really freed me up to try out some new doodle patterns.  I like the idea of using just black and white designs, but I was drawn to using just a “dash of color” on each person.   I think it gives them personality, LOL!!




I tried to make it even with the amount of color I used on each person.  I really, really wanted to use more color than you see here….but I refrained!



I’m a bit embarrassed to show this….the eyes on the yelllow-girl are totally not right!!  Have no idea if I can remedy them. 

As always, this drawing is telling me what to do next…..I just hope I can pull it off……stay tuned :D

Facing Forward…...in Incognito…Part 1

                   * Digital elements used above from Scrapgirls

Still using pictures as the basis for my drawings.  I thought I’d try to draw a picture that was recently taken at work, of the more crazy, no weirder, ahhh… fun-loving people I get to work with.  I don’t want to spend too much time on this.  Which means……Whimsy time!!  Or Color-by-numbers time!  Or Doodle-the-clothing time!  Anything….. so that I can get this done and move on in a timely fashion……After all, this is for the sketchbook project.  It’s just for fun and it doesn’t have to be perfect, or exact, or anything because with these drawings I get to decide what challenge to take on next.  (Trust me, there are lots of artsy challenges out there and it can be hard to decide! LOL!)  And if you read my post about the Tutu…..it’s all about clothes!! 



There’s really nothing quite like the clothes you see on people when they dress up for Halloween now, is there?  So these biker-chics and that Frito-Bambito cross-dresser gal…..get to get sketched.

 

This will probably be a 2 or 3 part blog post.  Because I’m not sure what I want to do with this yet.  I’m not quite ready to outline the figures in permanent ink because there are still some details I need to apply.  And other details I have to erase.

Most likely, this sketch really won’t be about the clothes at all (other than the contour drawing of them).  I really just want to color them all in.  Yep, just like a first grader with a brand new coloring book.

List it Tuesday…..on Wednesday

Aimee at Artsyville has been doing a List It Tuesday segment for a couple of weeks, now.  It sure looked like fun so I made my own little list of “Things Inspiring me Lately”…..I probably should’ve dated the piece but heck the blog is dated so that works. 



I don’t use the Sakura Gelly Rolls very often, because well…being a gel pen, they smudge and I’m not very good at waiting.  Especially since I work in time segments.

They have wonderful colors though.   I have not found a PINK as vibrant as the one they have in their Glaze
set.  Totally vivid!!

If you want to play along, please do!!  Love seeing people’s list and checking out their handwriting…..I’m such a geek!!  Don’t forget to link back to your blog at Aimee’s site though :D :D