Baby girl finished....

I decided on Thursday that I wanted to do a picture for my Goddaughter's birthday. Thursday I drew the line drawing. Thursday night I bought the drafting film that I wanted to do it on. Friday evening I started drawing and at 4:30 Saturday morning I matted and framed! It is ready for her party today.
Sometimes I get a little crazy! Next time I'll have to give myself more notice.
While it is cute and not bad for a first child picture, the rushing does show. My strokes are not nearly smooth enough for that baby skin.
I also found out that drafting film has two different textures to it. I think I prefer the other side, I just didn't have the time to start over. I'll have to experiment with the film and see if I am right.

Baby girl....

This is a preliminary sketch. I am thinking of doing her in coloured pencil on drafting film. This little sweetie has just turned two.

Lenore....

I am hosting the Weekly Drawing Challenge at Drawspace this week. One of the pictures that I put up was Lenore. Lenore is a wonderful friend who is a retired teacher/librarian. This pose says a lot about Lenore, I think of it as her listening pose. Whenever Lenore sits and listens to the kids (which is often) she gives them all of her attention. The kids never have any doubt that they have her attention and that she is fascinated by what they have to say.

Cat Eyes....

This set of cat eyes was done with a group on Drawspace. We are working together with colour pencil, using the same picture. I did mine on drafting film. I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Baby girl...

Quick sketch for challenge at Let's Make Art.

Sketching...

Why am I filling up my blog with these horrible sketches? Well these are my 5-15 minute portrait sketches. They are done either while my subject is sitting still for a couple of minutes or from a photo. Why are they horrible, because my eye and hand are not trained to "see" and "draw". Your mind has a habit of saying hey that is an eye draw it like this. Never mind that every eye is different. I am hoping that if I keep this up, sooner or later I will be able to sit down and draw someone recognizable.
Like this one of Alex. No great drawing, yet one of the other kids said "hey that's Alex". Then went on to tease about the blank stare.
Who knows maybe during this practicing I'll also learn to make nice looking quick sketches.

Little Girl....

A quick sketch for the weekly drawing challenge at Drawspace.

Little boy...

My cousin is trying to adopt this little boy. We met him at the family reunion this past summer. He seemed to be a smart little guy. Which is a good thing if he is going to keep up with his brother to be. Another smart guy who seems to be running a mile a minute. It's a good thing my cousin is young the two of them are about the same age!

September....

This summer we didn't join anything. We went to some family reunions and we spent our time around the backyard....And we tossed the calender!
Well the easy life is done. September brings school, scouting, robotics and the dreaded schedule. Several years ago I had to finally give in and start keeping a calender. With four kids, there was just no way around it. It is quite the task to explain to your son, who thinks the world revolves around him, that he needs to use the calender too. Yes , he can go babysit on Saturday, but I need to know this is happening . Nothing worse than thinking you have a built in babysitter and then finding him gone. Or his potential employers thinking they have a confirmed babysitter and finding him gone for a family weekend.
Ah summer, we'll be thinking about you.

Mom....

We stopped at my Mom's house for coffee after church today. That turned into her cooking breakfast for all of us. It made for a pleasant afternoon.
While she was cooking I tried to draw her. It was beyond horrible! So I decided I had to try again from a photo this evening. The second one joined the first in the scrap heap. This third one, while by no means great does look like her, at least the way I think of her. Young and vibrant, full of life.
I wonder how much your vision of the person you are drawing gets in the way of how they look now. Something like your mind sees this person in front of you aging and changing. Your heart sees the person you love. Stuck in some space warp of the mind forever unchanging.

Aunt Genny....

Playing an instrument at the family reunion.

Ben at the computer....

Computer usage has been restricted to half an hour each. The kids are not impressed, but it is time to get on a school year schedule. The middle one is Alex waiting his turn.

Big Buck has passed on....

Big Buck went missing this week. Our neighbor found him in his garden. I thought she would be around a bit longer, but when I think about it she was getting quite thin despite plentiful food that she liked. Big Buck and Little Johnny were getting up there in age so I guess it's not a surprise that they went within months of each other. I was thinking that they were around 13 but my husband thinks more like 15 to 17 and when he counts it out I would have to agree. Ten years at this house, three or four at the last house and another 2 or three years with the previous owner.
My son William, Jim and I buried her in the woods out back. She is the first animal we have buried. The others have all been brought to the vets to be put to sleep and cremated.
Well hopefully Big Buck is frolicking with her sister and our Danes Amy and Fred.

White Flower....

I looked at hundreds of flowers, trying to decide what kind of flower this is. Beyond finding one that was helpfully labeled "Orange Flower", I am stuck calling this "White Flower". I am sure that any gardener worth their salt would know, but me I have a black thumb.
This is an ATC done in CP on drafting film. I was trying to create my white flower using any colour but white, gray and black.