Plein Air….Birds-n-Bridges

Lets hear it for Friday!!!



I have a thing for Cardinals, so during the July World Watercolor Challenge, I drew this candle holder.



On another day in July, I drew this bluejay off of an image on the internet.



You got me!!! This is not a bird, but she’s a bit of a beast!  A lovely beast….Our City has many artistic horses throughout town in honor of Horse Country or Derby…not sure which?  The program is called Gallopalooza.  Life size horse statues are painted colorfully and are bought by individuals or cooperations.



Took myself out to dinner last winter and found the perfect spot!



Bridges can be intimidating….but…the trick is to “see the patterns”, cuz they are there.



That same bridge, but on the Indiana side!  Beautiful day for drawing too

WIP….Desktops

I am such a digital pack-rat! 



Being of the more visual sort, I get a real kick out of seeing art in it’s “Work-In-Progress” mode. 



Possibly because it hasn’t defined itself totally yet.  The piece can be taken in so many directions.



I especially love it when a drawing surprises me!



What is there not to like about the colors in the pics here?  Anytime I get to use the whole color spectrum, I’m happy!



Graphite pencils….Ya gotta start somewhere!  I must admit, I miss the erasability of graphite.



Desktops!  I’m not the neatest person, that’s for sure.  I also tend to spread out!  If I don’t see it, I forget I have it! Haha



Art journaling in a whimsical way.



Photo-realism…my latest passion!



More graphite work.



More messy desktops.

So, now you can see what I see as I try to bring something into creation.  I love it when I have lots of ideas….all lined up in a row…in my head.  But that’s not always the case.  Art evolves with the person.   Something I may have wanted to do one day doesn’t always carry the same weight the next day.  What I find important is the doing!  The trying to learn new things, to challenge myself with a new picture or new technique.  For instance today…I have no interest in painting.  But that may change. 

I think it’s best to not force yourself to like something you don’t.  This is also the beauty of not being in a super-structured environment.  I have the freedom to choose what to spend my time learning.  With that being said….I can see the flip side of that super-structured environment too!  We can gather information/inspiration from other sources in unexpected ways.  So really either way…it’s a win-win, if I keep the right attitude.

A penny for your thoughts too!  I’d love to hear your take.

Teen Lingo…redefined

If you’ve been following this blog for awhile then you may remember my Teen Lingo post from November 2010. 



I loved that post!!  Since it was such a popular drawing and so many people can relate to the sentiment I was asked to make the teen a boy.



Boys are simple…. all I had to do was put him in a soccer or football jersey and give him a ball cap.



Oh yes….and make sure he displays that “bored” look that is so popular amongst this age group.



The fun part was placing him in the car with his mom.  Gotta love photoshop!  What does this program not do?

For those of you new here, let me give you a little background on this drawing.  I had to drive my daughter to a college visit last year.  Since she could hardly tolerate my presence at the time….and I was trying to make the best of it.  Every question or comment I made was answered by a ONE WORD response.  All and all her vocabulary consisted of 10 words that weekend.  It really was quite funny and I believe one day she’ll realize how funny she was.

Teen-Lingo Definitions:

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

Please tell me…..can anybody relate?

TV Tots

I probably should start this post with a WARNING Sign, because opinions will be expressed.  But it’s my blog and it’s just my opinion.  One opinion among billions!



But before I get ahead of myself, I’ll show you my usual step-by-step drawing process.



Just three young birds doing their thing.  But I think the baseball player is trying to get a game up.



Brought in those wonderful watercolor pencils for the green wall, the blue sky seen through the window and the blonde girl.



Turn me off… Think for yourself.  Just the facts m’am – just the facts.  These people aren’t real, the lives you see here are an illusion.  Go do something…Anything….read, write, draw, dance, sing or play.  Your options are limitless.  Don’t succumb to the mistrust, envy and greed that this breeds.  And often it all starts with the commercials!

There I said it!  Now you know my opinion about TV.  Don’t get me wrong, I watch TV, and we’ve got 4-5 of them in our house.  And I thank my lucky stars that I stopped being glued-to-the-tube at an early age, for reasons I won’t go into here. And it’s pretty rare that I’ll sit down and watch a show alone.  Just my way…. just my way.  I have to confess, I’m never the first person to know what’s going on in the news, and I rarely remember the names of some of the new stars.  I can’t recognize a mature face that started out as a child actor.  I’m a sucker and completely gullible when I watch TV.  I believe so much of what I see.  So, for me….I’ve got to prevent the drama from creeping into my life from the tube.  I don’t much care for any Soap Operas, American Idol, or Dancing with the Stars.  But if there’s a mystery on, or a lifetime mini-series….I’ve been known to take a peek.  Usually I’m not in control of the remote, and I’ve fallen in love with the “go back”  DVR button when I am.  Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a “go back” button in real life?

If I may….

If I may:

• Make a prediction
• Cast my ballot
• Cheer on my team
• Whistle while I work

Since the Chicago Bears aren’t going to the Super Bowl, I had to pick another team and it wasn’t going to be Pittsburgh (sorry, Steeler fans). 



To honor the Big Day, I thought I’d draw another bird.



There was a lot of white space in this drawing.  I thought it would be fun to put a bunch of people in there to watch the game…..after all it is the Super Bowl, you know.



Doing some “mixed media” here, by adding watercolor pencils to the marker drawing.



Rodgers the no-longer Relief Quarterback…….his DREAM is coming true, he’s playing in the Super Bowl AND he’s the starting quarterback.  He’s finally able to show what he’s made of, and it’s been developing over years and years of hard work and unbelievable determination!  He’s not just here on looks, or raw talent….this guy is smart.  It’ll be one heck of a memorable day, no matter what the outcome!

Should be interesting to see how this plays out….but I really must confess, I think I’ll be more entertained by the commercials!  LOL!

Santa Bird in a Sketchbook

                    Background Quilt made in 2005, click here for full view.

Well, he’s not in the SKETCHBOOK yet, but he’s on his way!!  He’s been a little preoccupied with helping me decorate my house, do a little lot of shopping, some organizing and various other holiday activities.  This is the month where blogging will be decided for me…….Do I blog or do I help my family?  Do I blog or do I shop for loved ones?  Do I blog or do I visit?  So, if you don’t see me around here much, it’s because of those other duties.  Plus, my well is a little dry….I have no new ideas….none… zilch….zippo!!  Ugh!  But Hey, don’t you just love those holiday colors????   All those reds and greens….. my all-time favorite colors!!



My Santa started out like this….really quite ordinary….and yes, a little boring!



Oops!  Actually, here is the bare-bones Santa…..this is how he really started.  If you’d like to color him in, you can download the drawing HERE.   I’d love to see your finished version, please come back and leave your link below.



It was fun to add some patterns to his clothes!!  A little ‘tangle here and a little tangle there!!  I miss my markers when I’m sketching, what can I say?



Sam the Singing Santa…..He plays this role every single year…..Wouldn’t miss it, even if you paid him to stay away.  He is the jolliest one in his family, that’s why he gets to wear the outfit.  His younger cousins absolutely couldn’t believe their sleepy little eyes when they saw him that first Christmas morning.  They were completely shocked when he’d pull out the very toy they had written on their list which was mailed to the North Pole….There was just one older cousin that thought he sounded awfully familiar. 

My next big challenge is to get this house decorated in time for Christmas.   Click HERE to see how I did it last year.  May change things up a bit, which makes it more interesting!

I have a confession:  I’m finding that I don’t enjoy decorating the tree like I used to…. I’m a little bored with it….but I love pulling out and decorating with all the other Holiday knick-knacks!!  Now, those are FUN!!  How about you?

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!

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.