Here is a sketch of a young girl from one of the drawing challenges at Drawspace.

To blog or not to blog........

Hard Day at the Office

Pointillism 

paper is Bristol Smooth 148lb from Bienfang

 Staedtler pigment liner 0.3.
It is about 4x6.

I have been ignoring my blog and thinking about dropping it all together.  I had found that it was just being about my art. Not that that is bad, just that it wasn't my intention to only talk about art.  I started talking about family and other things at the beginning, but gradually dropped it.  Then I started another blog called thinking, learning, doing.  This blog was a chance to talk about things I and my family were  interested in.  It also fell by the wayside.  As it narrowed in topic and content.  I have, today, blended that blog into this blog.

So I have been trying to decide why I am writing a blog. I think I want it to be a type of journal, a catalog of my interests.  It's public, so I think that is the reason I went to showing just my art.  Now I am thinking if the blog is going to keep my interest it will have to follow my interests.  Things like art, cooking, kids, dogs, Jim and his trains and the world around me. Will this be of any interest to others?  Maybe sometimes and  maybe not.  But it, I think, will keep my interest.  My blog will be for me and anybody who is interested is welcome to read along.  I hope that it will show me in the light that I have always tried to portray, that of some one who is always open to learning new things.  To that end I am going to keep Becoming a Renaissance Woman as the title.

Teddy bear......

This adorable guy came up on the weekly challenge at Drawspace.  Siks did a great job photographing him, beautiful shadows and highlights. 

I have been doing sketches in charcoal lately.  It is a great medium to work with.  It lays out really fast and mistakes can be corrected on the fly.  I finally stopped trying to work small and have taken out a big 11x14 inch sketch book to draw in.

I tried to give the bear some texture by dotting on some charcoal and then using my figure to tap in more texture.

Now I have to figure out how to preserve my pictures so they don't just disappear.  I suppose a spray finish.

Jeanette's Apple Challenge......

This apple was inspired last night by Jeanette's apple challenge on Drawspace and her blog.

Jeanette was looking for inspiration and found it on her counter in the form of an apple. She decided to put out an apple challenge to us to join her in finding the beauty of apples. The lovely highlights, colours and shapes of our fall harvest.

Llama.....

I haven't done a pencil drawing in ages! This one is 4x6, graphite on stonehenge.

I know this llama is female, she is probably pregnant and I am not sure on her name. Llamas have one year gestation periods! The matriarch of the group is pregnant and has passed 13 months already. When my cousin talked to the vet, she found out that the older llamas can take as long as 18months to have their babies!

Llamas and such.....

This past week we were in northern Michigan, spending time with family. We camped in the rain and had dinner and fires under a wild range of tarps and canopies. Luckily before we were ready to leave the weather cleared up. We went to my cousin, Jenny Rose's farm to help with chores and of course to see all the wonderful animals. She has llamas, alpacas, turkeys, a wild variety of hens, a peacock and an aging horse. I snapped as many pictures as I could and have now set up a drawing challenge over at Drawspace.


This guy I added after someone mentioned that all the pictures looked difficult. I used one of Brenda Hoddinott's lessons, Emma Emu, to see how easy it is to see shapes and start filling in detail. I started with a large circle and a triangle just like in the lesson and was surprised to see how easily the drawing started to come together.

Strawberry light.......

I am doing a OSWOA trade at Lets' Make Art this month. I did this strawberry for it from a picture I took, the background was horrible, but the play of light was really great. The strawberry is sitting on my grill cover and the light is coming from the glass block windows behind it. It is done on a 4x6 drafting film with Prisma colour pencils.
My new goal with my art, besides trying out new medias, is to make more of an atmosphere or story with my work. Not just copying what I see. Let me know what you think.