Part 2……Procrastination

Had the morning to myself so……you’d think I’d get more done. Well, I did go grab my other pencils ( 2H, 2B, B, H, and F). Which helped immensely!! Don’t know why I even bothered attempting this sketch without the other leads. Probably just lazy.

Armed with my monitor, my moleskine, and my Graphite pencils… I finally sat down to draw. It went like this: draw, erase, draw, erase…..go do something (laundry)….. draw, erase, draw, erase, erase, erase…..then surf the internet…..draw, draw, erase…..then get up for more coffee…..erase, draw, erase……text family. You get the picture. I can find so much else to do, except STAY ON TASK!! What am I so afraid of? Or is it boredom? I don’t think boredom is the culprit here, I think it’s focus. Why am I doing this? It…is…Hard…! Who cares? I guess I have to care enough to see this thru.

Talk about b.o.r.i.n.g……..this (see book above) is boring. But see, I get paid for this, so I have no problem staying on task. May have to read and re-read the same paragraph, but I get through it. People count on me for this sort of stuff.

*Disclaimer: Not all of the above book is boring….but most of it is! LOL!!

Now, this is looking more like the picture. Those other pencils really help to add some depth. Making it appear not so flat.

I bet you’d like to see the original picture, huh? Ahhhh……. not yet, I don’t want to be judged!! Plus, how else can I keep you guys interested in this process?

Part 1….Friends

Scanned a bunch of old pictures into my computer a few years ago. Love this digital age! No more concern for the negatives, and if an old photo has a crease….well, just photoshop it! Plus, the digital image is the negative now. Two for the price of one- yeah baby!

Had a few hours to play today, so I took full advantage of it. I have found that if I am to take up drawing I have to be willing to erase. Not be frustrated by the fact that I have to erase AGAIN! I think sketchers must have a good relationship with their white flexible friend. Or else….. it’s a Crash & Burn, a Toss in the Trash,…a Forget it and I’m Done! You get my drift.

This is about as far as I’ve taken any sort of “drawing from picture” attempts. It’s here that I really don’t know what I’m doing. See, I haven’t even switched pencils from my 6H one to a lighter lead. I kinda think I’ll just go a little lighter on the stroke work. Nada…I think I really need to grab those other pencils if I’m going to take this past stage 1. If not….it’ll be Exit Stage 1 to the right. Halted at this familiar check point.

The dilemma for me is this: Do I just make these girls look like regular girls (which I can do) OR Do I do what I intended to do, which is to make them look like the people they are in the picture? Ugh! This is hard! Cuz everything connects. For example….I’ll think I have the right shape to the face, then I’ll realize that it’s too narrow, therefore the eyes aren’t spaced right. And then it’s a whole new person. Good thing I have an extra eraser or two.

We’ll see how much staying power I have…..stay tuned!

Don’t faint….

I used watercolor pencils instead of markers here! Please don’t faint….I know you expect me to be a marker-girl, but every now and then I’ve got to get up and stretch my boundaries. So, since I love the tie-dye look, why not tie-dye the letters here? I’ve only been able to figure out the tie-dye look with watercolors, cuz I really don’t think it’s possible to tie-dye with markers, need the effect of water saturation to get that lovely color gradation.

Been thinking a lot about Karma lately…..why? Because my refrigerator reminds me of Karma and it’s about to go ka-put. To make a long story short, many years ago we almost got a $1000 refrigerator for free because Sears forgot to charge us for it. After using it for a few months, we still hadn’t seen the bill. So we picked up the phone and called them. Yep…sure did! Why? Because if we hadn’t straightened this out every time we would use that refrigerator we’d feel like a thief. What comes around goes around. We knew we’d be paying for it one way or another.

* scan doesn’t show true colors here.

Do you believe in Karma? I do to some extent- I don’t think bad things will happen if I step on an ant or eradicate an entire ant hill….Really!! But I believe if we use or hurt people intentionally that these things come back….in one form or another. Possibly as frustration or a string of bad luck. But if you treat people right, with respect and kindness then things may just go your way unexpectedly. You will have more peace and love. Less Drama. I definitely think there are rules to our unseen world. Science is finding this to be true with atoms & electro-magnetic energy…Why not then with morals and behavior?

Agree? Disagree? Your thoughts……

Gloria…..not your ordinary bird

Gloria- the Gifted Gardener……Everything she plants Blooms!! Everything!!! She’s the neighborhood “green thumb”. Almost daily you’ll see her out in her yard putzing and pruning from early Spring to late Fall. If you ask her how she gets her plants so full and healthy, she’ll say “Oh, I just water them”. She’s got this incredible talent and doesn’t even know it. One thing you won’t see her doing is writing a book about it, because it would only have three words…..”Just Add Water”.

This bird is based on a couple relatives (you know who you are) and it’s pretty frustrating to ask them about their plants because you’ll never get any specifics, hence they’ve kept their secrets to themselves! Ugh!!! This does not help me at all! I need all the information I can get in the plant department, clueless is what I am. Oh well, no “yard of the month” sign in my front yard.

I used lots of stencils here; from the birdhouse to the flowers, to the watering can and trowel. Just plain fun to draw with stencils if you ask me! If there’s a tool for the job and it works, I say use it!

Since, I’m confessing to my reliance on these stencils, I thought I’d show you the type that I use. Sorry, I don’t know the manufacturer but you can get them at your local craft stores (JoAnns, Hobby Lobby, Michaels). They're pretty cheap and versatile. Great for kids, too. May just help get over an artist’s block too.

The original drawing was pretty stark with all that white, so I played around in Photoshop and gave it some clouds and grass……Now, it’s a little easier on the eyes I think.

Doodles upon Doodles….

I bet your wondering what these are? They are…. my Doodle dictionary pages printed out as a jpg from Walgreens. There’s 14 prints in all. The only problem is the moleskine is a 5x8 and the prints are 4x6, so there’s a bit of a cut-off factor. For the most part, I can see all the different designs when I pull these out for inspiration. So, they work.

I thought the prints looked pretty cool all together. This includes Set 1, Set 2, Set 3 and this present set.

A little doodle fan for ya!

The Stripe Strips piece was inspired by this image at Flickr.

What a relaxing way to clear the head…..doodling aimlessly….actually it requires a little more forethought than that or else I’d be just coloring checkerboards, that’s why I made my own directory. Browsing the flickr groups helps me get ideas. What works for you?

Happy Fathers Day!

Some people come into your life……And your never the same!!!

Fathers teach their daughters that they are lovable and they teach their sons to be men!

My daughter took this picture a few years ago. I am always amazed at the eye she has for composition. Since this is one of my favorite pictures I thought I’d try drawing it. What a learning curve this was, whew!

Every year……gotta have my Beach time!! This is when I get to have some really good talks with my Dad! I’m pretty happy with the drawing here…..I know it’s not exactly what the picture shows, but it works…enough! I used watercolor pencils for everything but the outlines. Unfortunately at the time I didn’t have a good blue watercolor pencil, so I used markers on the sky. The thing about markers vs. watercolor pencils is there is not as much color flexibility to the markers. The highlighting and shading are much more difficult unless you have a huge color-variety stash and knowledge of such things.

I am NOT HAPPY, with this part of the drawing! I used the Faber-Castell pitt brush pen and had no idea it would show these streaks! Next time, I’ll have to use a marker that’s more opaque. Like the Copic Markers! Or a similar off-brand.

And Another big Happy Father’s Day to my main man! He’s my rock! Love this man!!

Digital Elements used for this Layout found at Scrapgirls.

A Bird in his right mind….

Clarence- the Creative Cashier ….He’s definitely in his Right-brain, and he has been all his life. Funny, that with a name like Clarence you’d think he’d be a big time Lawyer, just like his Dad. But Clarence works as a cashier at the Art Store, where he’s a big help to his customers. He knows every type of art media and is very forthcoming with advice. He’s quite the asset! He’s very bright and has lots of ideas, his only problem is he can’t stay on task. He becomes too distracted. As a free spirit, this job is perfect for him. Once he can harness some self-discipline he’ll really make something of himself. …..I’m just saying

Are you tired of my birdies yet???? I’ve finally found a real-life art class, so hopefully I can put a little more variety into the next bird. I must admit, they are fun to draw and to hear about their little lives. I’m enjoying the slow-journaling I learned from Tammy (@ Daisy Yellow) when I write on my paper. Otherwise, my handwriting would be quite sloppy!

In case you’ve missed it, I’d like to introduce my little bird family.

• Billie Jean, Cleopatra, Andre, Suzie, Martha & Renee
• Olga
• Sheila
• Easter Birdie
• Patty
• Terri
• Diane
• Susie
• Regina
• Penny
• Amy
• Leo

I just realized I’ve drawn 18 of these guys! Eighteen!!…. and I’m not bored with them yet, highly unusual! But like I said, they have taken on a life of their own and are asking to be created or something like that! LOL!!

To be no one but yourself in a world which is doing it’s best to make you just like everybody else, means to fight the greatest battle there is or ever will be. - e.e. cummings

I’ve always loved this quote, because I find it so true. Really, how boring would the world be if we all thought the same, looked the same, did the same things? I try to limit my TV viewing, because after a couple of hours watching the boob-tube I feel like I have to be more like “her” or “her”. Visiting other countries or cities is such a good experience, it enhances our perspective on ways to live. All cultures have their norms, but freedom of expression is pretty cross-cultural, don’t you think?

Freedom of Expression……this is what ART is all about. We really don’t have to sketch the house with the straight lines, do we?…..we can put our own spin on it and do a less straight line version like this. We get to decide what colors we want to use as we draw or paint. We can choose to be more playful and draw a whimsical character or try our hand at something more life-like. Ahhh, the choices, the possibilities!! Endless!

Notes and a Doodle

Here are a few notes I took while listening to Dennis Prager’s Happy Hour this weekend. My DH turned me on to him about 6 yrs ago, and I’ve been hooked ever since. You can find him Here and Here. Dennis talks about real life issues and he comes from a good moral perspective. See for yourself sometime.

Since I’m in between birdie drawings, and just needed to play with color……Out came the markers and the rulers and the stencils! This probably took me about 3 days to finish. I like that I can work on it, put it away and come back to it right where I left off. As you can see, still in my comfort zone of the more bolder and primary side of the color spectrum.

In my last post, I talked about Right vs. Left Brain thinking. I think I’m still very Left brained. As I was doing this part of the page, I was dissatisfied that I didn’t do these little rainbows in a more “unified” way….Such as, green series next to blue series, then red……you get the picture. But winging it is what I intended to do and since I haven’t found a good marker eraser yet (LOL), this is the result.

I find that rulers, parallel lines, circles tend to fill my doodle pages. I’m not one for shading and highlighting…...yet……this may change!

Right Brain vs. Left Brain

Leo- the Laboring Artist…..He’s been drawing and painting since he was a child. He’s become quite good, as it so happens the work that really sells is what bores him to make. It’s a juggling act, does he paint the things that pay the bills or does he paint what makes him happy? He’s not complaining, he makes time for the things that matter and he’s got a plan.

Some articles suggest that before we enter school, our left brain and right brain functions are more even. That school plays to the more left brain ways of learning. I think in school that is the way it has to be if you’ve got a class of 30 or so students. I don’t think we lose our “right brain” activity, I think we stop trusting it. It’s always there in the background. There are exercises you can do to get your “right brain” more involved, which may help in getting over a block.

1981- Roger Sperry (Nobel Prize winner) suggested that the two halves of the brain actually house two different realms of consciousness. It’s been suggested that people, in general, are primarily either right brain thinkers or left brain thinkers.

• Left Brain: Doctors, Scientists, Lawyers, Mathematicians
• Right Brain: Artists, Dancers, Musicians, Architects

The main theme to emerge... is that there appear to be two modes of thinking, verbal and nonverbal, represented rather separately in left and right hemispheres respectively and that our education system, as well as science in general, tends to neglect the nonverbal form of intellect. What it comes down to is that modern society discriminates against the right hemisphere.

-Roger Sperry (1973)

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS	RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic	uses feeling
detail oriented	“big picture” oriented
facts rule	imagination rules
words and language	symbols and images
present and past	present and future
math and science	philosophy & religion
can comprehend	can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
knowing	believes
acknowledges	appreciates
order/pattern perception	spatial perception
knows object name	know object function
reality based	fantasy based
forms strategies	presents possibilities
practical	impetuous
safe	risk taking

So if I'm Left-Handed, Does This Mean My Right Brain is Dominant?
No, hand dominance is not directly related to brain dominance. And, remember, just like you don't do everything with only the one hand, so your brain doesn't do everything with one side, although there is generally a preference. However, a significant number of artists have been and are left-handed, more than would be suggested by the one-in-ten occurrence of left-handedness in the population. While those who are left handed do exhibit a greater propensity for right-brain dominance, being right handed does not preclude your right brain from dominating. (From this article)

Our right brain is visual, intuitive, playful, subjective, emotional, timeless, spontaneous. It deals with humor, imagery, physical activity, art, music, and dance. It is passive whereas the left side is aggressive. I think the more “right brain” activity I can bring into my life, the better. As long as I can keep my female emotional side in check! LOL!!

Another sign of hope for us beginner's is that we can learn to tune into our Right Brain (see book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain). When kids are about 10-11 yrs old, they enter the “stage of realism” where the child wants to draw something that looks real. Some kids are able to make the transition into the right brain thinking and tap into that part which helps them “see” what they are trying to draw. While many other kids get frustrated and give up. Later, when these kids are adults and want to draw again, their art will resume right where it left off, at the “stage of realism” level. This book helps make the conversion into Right brain thinking.

This book also talks about:

• Upside Down Drawing
• Negative Space Drawing
• Crossing Over: Experiencing the shift from Left to Right

I may just have to dig around in my basement for my copy!

What about you? Are you more right brain dominant or left? What tricks have you learned to compensate for your right or left brain dominance?

Related Links:

• Left Brain, Right Brain
• More Links for Right Brain Left Brain
• An Artist's View
• Right Brain Characteristics

Hippie, Hipster….Beatnik

Amy- the Ageless Hippie……She was at Woodstock in 1969, can’t remember much but thought she had a good time. She loves the clothes from this era. The bright bold colors, the wonderful tie-dye uniqueness. She’s pleased to announce that with some effort she can still fit into those same clothes.

Poor Amy, she didn’t get the memo about fashion; that if she wore it the first time around she shouldn’t wear it the second time! Ahhhh, but who can blame her for liking all these fun designs, colors and whimsical accessories? It’s her own business if she’s comfortable or not. She’s not indecent, is she? But personally, I couldn’t imagine holding onto any items of clothing for that long, unless it’s a Wedding dress or Mink stole. I’m a bit sentimental that way. The smell alone would do me in!

This was so fun to draw! Went to my Flickr favorites once again and used this image and this one for the VW van. My Dad had two VW vans growing up, I had no idea it was such a symbol of this counter-culture. But then again, they were in a rather boring paint scheme.

Brought out my handy-dandy watercolor pencils for the tie-dyed purse. Haven’t a clue how to do it with markers.

Here are a few quotes to close with:

Know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly. -Epictetus

Be in the habit of experimenting with your clothing so that you don’t get stuck for life with a self-image developed over the course of High School. -Marilyn Vos Savant

I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn’t itch. -Gilda Radner

Have a good weekend!

Birds of a feather…..

Penny- the Power Shopper…..she shops till she drops 2-3 times a year, because she gets so overwhelmed at all the choices in the stores. If she finds something she likes and it fits well she’ll buy 2 or 3 of the same item. Because she knows once she leaves she won’t be back for months and her favorite item will have moved on.

The thing I like about the watercolor moleskine pads is the amount of eraser abuse they can take. These bird drawings are when I use my eraser the most. Once I get the basic bird-bod, I’ll draw the legs next. I have a hard time with the shoes. Hard to put little bird toe-claws into people shoes, but I do my best. I wanted to draw Penny holding a coke as she shopped, but she ran out of hands! Can’t you just hear her saying, “Get me out of here already, my feet are killing me in these shoes!” I used to shop in styling-type shoes, but no more. It’s all about comfort for me these days! I’m so American!

Kokopelli Dancers

Used a couple stencils here and had some fun coloring them in. These are the Kokopelli Dancers, don’t you just want to hear their music? To start dancing along with them? I’ve done a little research about these guys, and found various stories. Some about fertility, others about agriculture and a belief that he’s thought to represent the season change from winter to spring. So, we can take our pick on what we want to believe. The following definition was found HERE.

Who Was Kokopelli?

Known as a fertility god, prankster, healer and story teller, Kokopelli has been a source of wonder throughout the country for centuries. Kokopelli embodies the true American Southwest, and dates back over 3,000 years ago, when the first petroglyphs were carved. Although his true origins are unknown, this traveling, flute-playing Casanova is a sacred figure to many Southwestern Native Americans. Carvings of this hunch-backed flute-playing figure have been found painted and carved into rock walls and boulders throughout the Southwest.

To journal or not to journal? That is the question. I tend to struggle with this question when I’m drawing for the fun of it. Should I journal something in all that white space, or let it be? Well, the journaling won out on this one. I like it when a piece says something to me then, I get to write out my thoughts, otherwise it’s a no-go.

Journaling:

Kokopelli Dancers- I think of these guys as Life! As Spirit! They come dancing in and dare me to get up and dance, to express myself! I used to be like the Black & White one with a bit of Attitude (the RED). But lately I’m embracing the more colorful sides of my personality. I’m realizing just how opinionated I am. After all, I think people are much more interesting when they can express themselves freely. Not in a whiney or mean way. Just being real, this sure gets the dialogue started. Don’t you think?

Summer Kicks Off….

Regina - the Racer……She loves to swim, needs to swim, in fact, just to clear her little bird brain! Sure she’s not as fast as she used to be when she was younger, but she still likes a good race!

Yahoo! Happy Memorial Day Weekend! It’s finally here…summer, that is. When I was a kid, summer officially began when the outdoor pools opened. My friends and I were on the swim team. We practiced every single day, except Sundays, and sometimes twice a day. After morning practice, we’d head to someone’s house for breakfast. Then we’d proceed to ransack the chosen kitchen. While the rest of the house slept, We’d be making pancakes, eggs, waffles or if we had a “sympathizing” parent, we’d get to demolish Dunkin’ Donuts.

Then, kitchen emptied, we’d head back up to the pool, meet up with more friends and pester our favorite lifeguards. We virtually lived at the pool. We’d ride our bikes everywhere and they got us anywhere we wanted to go. We’d finally go home at the end of the day to the whistle of our moms, only to get up the next day and do it all over again.

Ahhh, the life… No Responsibilities… other than simply showing up. The freedom we had! I made my all-time best girlfriends during this time of my life.

And whatever you do….don’t forget the towels. This would actually be a fun thing to draw with all those amazing colors.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! What kicks off summer for you?

Thursday’s Child

No one has it all figured out!!! What a relief, huh? Or are you disappointed? For me, it depends.
I totally want my elders to have it all figured out! Really I do. I’m in the trenches, I’ve got so much to learn, yet, I know I’ve come so far already. The road is still opening up ahead for all of us.

Mondays child is fair of face,
Tuesdays child is full of grace,
Wednesdays child is full of woe,
Thursdays child has far to go,
Fridays child is loving and giving,
Saturdays child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay

That’s me, I’m Thursday’s child!

Psychodelic page

I got the idea to do this page from Janet from this post. I hadn’t done a page like this in markers yet, so off I went to color it up. I was able to use some of the doodles from my doodle directory pages, which helped. I’ve been thinking a lot about positive space and negative space (white space). If I’m doodling I have a hard time letting the white space be. I want to squeeze color into every little spot, if I can. But i don’t have the Teesha Moore flair for this. I’m much more standardized! Lines should be straight and colors should be complementary. How will I ever get onto the next level this way? So, that’s why I did this psycho page! To loosen up my creative hand. To practice.

Some old journaling was added to the white space to help me work on my letters! Wanted to do it the slow-journaling way, but had way too much to write.

Design theories probably have a lot to say about this, the how’s, the why’s, the when’s. I think white space helps to rest the eye, to draw us to the main object.

Interesting Articles:

Power of Negative Thinking

Negative space

Whitespace

A Negative view of White space

Interesting Pictures:

White Space drawing

Negative Space Pic

How do you like to work? Is your natural tendency to have more white (negative) space or more positive space?

Introducing Lauren…..

Lauren- the Littlest Doll……she is one who will roll with the punches. Not too much upsets her unless you take her food. She’s learned to get attention by being adorable and engaging. She feels like she’s always a step behind her older sisters. Most of the time, one of them will slow down and let her catch up. It’s a good thing too, since she was made without hands!

Yahoo! I’m DONE (for now)!!! This was a fun little self-assignment! I would encourage any of you to do a series of something you like as well! Because it forced me to draw different faces, to draw “very simple” hands in assorted poses, to try out a variety of hair scarves or hoods, to sketch different hair and different eyes! I still have so much to learn! My favorite part of all of this was I was able to play with color and pattern! Ahhhh!!!!! Heaven!!!

Lastly, I’ve got to show you some real Matryoshka’s nesting dolls that my DH (Dear Husband) just brought home. He’s had them sitting in some desk drawer for 2 years. These were given to him by a friend that bought them in the Ukraine, for a whopping 80 cents! Can you believe it? Aren’t they cute? Cool too, that they are dressed in my all-time favorite colors of red and green, huh? Since we know someone who frequents the Ukraine, this may be my only way to get that set with a dozen or so nesting dolls I was talking about Here, Hmmmm…….

Doodle Directory continued….

I thought I’d show you my marker stash! As you can see it contains numerous, Sharpie poster water-based markers, Sharpie ultra-fine, Bic Mark-its ultra-fine, Faber-Castell pitt pens, Gelly Rolls, Sakura Microns, and some Marvy LePlume’s. I think the good thing about having all these different brands of pens is that the colors vary ever so slightly. If I want to draw something in a bunch of green’s for example, I can pull out about 8-10 different greens from my stash and each one will vary slightly in color or tone!

I prefer the nibs of the Sharpie ultra-fines and the Bic Ultra-fines to the Faber-Castell Brush nibs, because once you’ve used the FC brush pen a few times, the brush gets a little sloppy. I’m all for precision and control! Unless I have to color in a big space then the Brush nibs are great (Faber-Castell, Sakura, LePlume). The gelly rolls have such vibrant colors but make sure you let them dry before you close your notebook or lay your hand on top of them! Ugh! Only takes a few minutes to dry though…..However, they will retain a certain shine afterwards



I really liked the Collide, Circle Suns and Rainbow boxes here! Not much of a swirl-girl, the Branch swirls are hard for me!! Probably my wrist isn’t very flexible! Nothing like another zig-zag to keep boredom at bay!



Loved the Tiny Circles that I’ve seen so often on flickr. I probably should’ve varied the size more, would’ve made it more interesting. The Numerical and Alpha Huddles were the result of having a little fun with my stencils!



The wood grain, spider web and straw spindles would be a good reminder for me when I do a total black/white zentangle.



Pulled out my good dSLR for these shots. I wanted to play with my aperture settings and composition!
I think my guardian angel’s wondering what color she’ll use next!

My Blue Babushka

I know she’s not really a Babushka, she’s a Matryoshka, but it didn’t rhyme!

She started out like this….just a bunch of lines and squares.  I thought she’d be so cute in a little gingham smock-type dress.  Simple enough, since I can do lines and I can do squares, so I was happy! 
Had to consult the little color generator, once again to help with the decision making. 
See below….

Had to change a few things on her compared to the other dolls!  Since I was happy with the previous faces, had to try my hand at a new face style, I gave her a side part instead of the down-the-middle, and eyelashes.   What pretty Danish girl doesn’t have long beautiful eyelashes?  Possibly enhanced by maybelline, but that’s no big deal.  Drew the hair strands in as if she were a comic book figure.  Not very happy with the eyes, either too big, or too blue, not sure which.

Danielle- the Danish Doll……she likes clothes, and flowers, and dressing up.  She so Dutch!  She’s still in school and is quite the student.  She’s social enough, but tends to be more reserved than most of her friends.  That’s ok, she’ll open up when she’s ready.

Ahhh, now just one more to go!! 
I wish I was Sam on bewitched, I could just twinkle my nose and have these drawings be 3D…..