The Pet Doctor

I don’t know why I didn’t think of drawing this bird before.  About once a week, a young friend and I go and walk dogs awaiting adoption at a local Pet store.  So many dogs….so many personalities.





Whoever taught this parrot to say “Squirrel” has a sense of humor.  If you’ve seen the movie “Up” you know what I mean.





Who can resist a beagle?  I had a beagle for about 2 days when I was 7.  It was a gift from a relative on Christmas……but the thing is…..relatives can’t give animals as gifts without the parents consent.  “Aww...c’mon Mom”!





Paula the Pet Doctor…..having not had an easy life growing up, caring for her furry friends has helped heal her “Heart of Gold”.

Skull Candy

I’ve been missing my markers and didn’t know what to do about it….until….





I remembered all the fun, little, whimsical skulls I’ve wanted to try.  I think describing  a skull and whimsical in the same sentence is a little odd….but it is what it is.





These are just plain fun to draw!  No rules, no deadlines!





Gave my skull red hair….cuz you know what they say about redheads….





I don’t know if I should appreciate her (for expressing herself) or be afraid of her!  Haha!

Graphic Grid

When I got my first dSLR I needed to practice taking pictures.  So, I went out to a local nursery and took a couple hundred pictures.  Many shots were of the same image but with different settings.  I then played with my images in photoshop and created the above grid categorizing them by color.  It was fun and I liked seeing all these flowers together.


I stopped over at Tammy’s place today [daisyyellowart.com], as I do a few times a week.  She was talking about “moments”.  Moments when your art came together for you.  Places where you may have been working on something and it clicked….and possibly where the whole piece didn’t click but parts of it did. 





Since I’m not working on anything right now, and can’t for the life of me figure out what I want to draw next.  When Tammy wrote of “moments” I thought I could create my own moments digitally and revisit the graphic grid like I did with my flowers.  Use my own drawings and arrange them in a somewhat logical order. 


If you can’t see the order because at times I stretched it a bit.  Here’s the schematic.

• Column one…Green
• Column two…Orange
• Column three…Black/White/Red
• Column four…Blue
• Column five…Pink

Beach….Six

I’ve done about as much as I can with my skill level.  I can see that the right girl’s chin area was “over-colorized”….I’ve made it muddy.  But by the time I got to the left girl, it’s not so muddy.  That’s progress!  Haha





The difference between this picture and the first one is I’ve gone in with my markers and straightened my edges.  I also, used markers in the polka-dots.  Just looks better that way. 


If I was giving this away…I would work on those hands more.  But for now…for me….they’re ok…enough.





Looking at these together [like this] is a bit embarrassing.  But then again….how else will I learn?


Thanks for baring with me thru all.this.learning!

Beach….Five

So, I went in and gave her some hair.  Softened that forehead a bit, but I think it could use more softening.





Looking at the picture next to the drawing I can see that I have that upper lip in the wrong place.  It’s curling up toward the inside, (like you would if you were sneering).  This girl doesn’t sneer so it’s best if I fix that.





Drew in the missing eye and the hair of the right figure.  Had to adjust those eyes some….make them a bit bigger.





It’s getting towards completion.  I expanded out the mouth of the girl on the left.  Possibly it will need to go out more.  I also need to adjust the ribcage on her as well.  Doesn’t look right from here. 


The easy stuff is done.  Now, it’s onto the hands.  Not sure if I’m mentally up to that yet….may have to google search “5th grade art” to find something fun and play for awhile.

Beach….Four

Gave up on the right face for the time being and moved over to the next figure.





Almost a complete profile…but not quite.  Interesting angles in this shot.





Will have to play around with that nose…up close it doesn’t look hooked, but standing back it does.  Ugh!





Seeing these images here, I can see a bunch of things that need to be tweaked:

• left girls collarbone
• left girls nose
• left girls forehead (un-bulgicize it)
• right girls eyes (yea…yea…she’s missing an eye too)

Beach….Three

So, I’m sketching along….and omitting the shadows as best as I can.





I was liking the figure portion….but pretty disappointed in the face portion.





Then I received a tip….get some acetate paper and make a grid over the face.
I copied the grid over the face on a copier….then took the acetate with the grid and placed it over the problem areas. 





Boy, were my dimensions off.  Way too small.  This grid really helped.  I was surprised to see how much I had to expand on everything.  The nose, mouth, eyes, forehead.  All of it!





It’s better now….a little more in proportion.  Still needs much adjusting.  Glad I have a new trick up my sleeve!

Beach….Two

This is getting fun!  I really like the way this sketch is going. 





I guess because I haven’t made any assumptions.  You know, assumptions about where the eyes are placed….the nose….





I can take my directions from the picture itself and use COLOR.  By using the color in this way, I’m able to shape the face.  It’s a bit like sculpting, but with pencil.  Hard to explain, but the color/shadowing is a bit more pliable.





I was able to see some light in the right eye.   Not so much in the left.  But something will need to be done here…because they don’t match up!  Haha





Tried to de-wonkicize that arm….Will probably need a more experienced eye to help me there. 

Beach...one

Since, I was still in color-sketch mode and I haven’t received the promised jpg’s from my daughter’s friend to sketch yet.  I had to go looking for something “cute” to draw in my own collection.





Contoured these girls out first.   Then started sketching.





The above sketch looks like it’s taking shape the way it should.  That arm is still a little wonky….will be working on that more.





I’m doing something that I’ve never done before…..sketching-in as I go….Notice, I did not pencil in the eyes yet….I also have laid no graphite down on the face interior.  Highly unusual for me….but may help in the long run.  Hopefully less erasing!…..hopefully

Birds fly….

So….I’m working away….minding my own business…





When I notice I’ve got a song stuck in my head.  Not sure how it got there….but by golly, it wasn’t going away.





If you’re familiar with “Wizard of Oz”, then you’ve probably heard this song too.





Yep….”Somewhere over the rainbow”… that song Judy Garland sang in the movie.  I can’t carry a tune…but it doesn’t stop me from trying!  Haha





I used this picture as my inspiration.  Changed up her dress…added the rainbow and the bird. 


And now…guess what song I keep hearing over and over ….. in my head?

Inward Dive….Drawn

Here is the image that I color-sketched.  I think this is the Allison Brennan a US National Diver. 





Thankfully my Art instructor was “all better” and she was in class today.  Had to pick her brain about a thing or two!  Haha





I think sketching hair with colored pencils is easier than with graphite.  The colors do amazing things….Some colors when applied if they are “opposite” on the color wheel bring in shading.  But I can go in and add some lighter highlights by working the lighter variety (to some extent). Unfortunately, once I go into the untouched paper with color I could lose that really nice highlight if I’m not careful.





As is my habit, I didn’t model the picture too much for the hair.  Just applied lots of line-waves to show movement of the ponytail portion. 


Talk about layering color!  I used Red, Green, Blue, Brown, Pink, Orange, Dark Pink, Salmon, Tan,…..I could keep going, but you get the picture.  Lots and lots of different colors up there….who’d have thought?





Sometimes you just gotta call “uncle” and be done with it.  I know to others this isn’t done…but I’m not that good and I’m still limited on what I can see and duplicate.





What a fun piece to sketch!  This final shot appears to have lost that line to show the back of the leg.  But you can see it better in the early photos.


Now, I think I’ll go play with my markers!!

Coach Crane

Here’s to all the good coaches out there.  The volunteers, the part-time, full-time, Big-Time.





Stumbled upon this definition of “A Coach” at www.daringtolivefully.com and thought it applied here.


    A [good] coach assists and facilitates, and they can help you in assessing the situation and recognizing recurring patterns.  In addition, they can help you analyze how you’ve been responding to the situation in an ineffective manner.  They can help you decide what steps to take in order to move forward.  However, they will never take power away from you.  Instead, they empower you to make your own healthy choices.





Coach Crane…..He sort of fell into coaching and discovered that he was good.  His influence with the athletes stems from the way he observes them.  Some kids need coddling & coaxing, some need logic & explaining, and some just need to get mad to perform their best.  The most valuable trait that his athletes will take with them into adulthood….is…their willingness to TRY.


I have a young teen friend who has a lot of energy, needs friends and needs some confidence.  But she’s afraid to try.  Kind of breaks my heart.


I don’t think we ever outgrow our need for “coaches”.  After all, our parents, teachers, mentors all have played the role of coaches to some extent in our lives and they just want the best for us (or from us])…haha.