Emma Swan from Once Upon A Time

 played by Jennifer Morrison

Graphite on Bristol Smooth

Well, it’s been a while since my last post, and I’m sorry.  We have been having a time here and most of it not a good time.  Mama went into the hospital with both arteries in her neck blocked and had to have emergency surgery.   Then two days after my mama came home my daddy had to go in for his heart.  Praise God both are fine and doing well!  But it got me thinking about my own health and since I found that there is cholesterol issues from both parents and my cholesterol is a tiny bit high.    So,  I’m going to try to do what I can.  Get into some better habits for me and Alana…poor thing she’ll be doomed too:(

      So I decided to cut down (not remove) the animal fats and strap myself to a pedometer walking 10,000 steps (at least) a day.  I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I do all or most of it at one time.  Last week I walked 26 miles.   I have more energy, my spirits feel lifted and mind doesn’t race at night.  *TMI ALERT:  My digestive system is the best its been since I was pregnant with Alana.  I guess my goal is just to move!  Get out and breath in the polluted air and skip the eggs and cheese , LOL

Now, on with the drawing….

This is another portrait from my favorite show, although Missing is trailing really close.   She wasn’t that extremely hard to draw. I had to give a few tries to the lip though.  I’ve never drawn dimples before and they were really easy. First,  I layered a bit of graphite in this ) shape and blended with a stump. Second,  I used a kneaded eraser and drug it down in this ) shape…thicker,  in front an over a bit to show the small roll in the skin.   (The light will hit the roll area first and the crease is the shadow) And third,  I layered a 4H over the entire area…Viola! You have dimples…  The blonde hair is another story!  I still need to work on that….

Be Well and Happy!

Well, it’s been a while since my last post.  I read somewhere from some blogging guru ( I guess) that you shouldn’t post without some kind of picture.  Well, since usually I’m one for following rules,  I had a perfectly fine mediocre drawing to post with my his and how are yas.  The key word in that sentence was had as in I don’t anymore.   You see, I drew the picture, painted the picture in colored pencil (no less), tidied up the picture, and then got out my can of fixative and sprayed the picture to knock off glare before I took a picture.  Well, in my mind that’s what transpired, but this is what happened.

I drew the picture, painted the picture in colored pencil (no less), tidied up the picture, and then got out my can of black spray paint and sprayed the picture to knock off glare and to remove the image before I took a picture.

I have no idea why I thought it would be a good idea to store black spray paint next to the fixative….. I’m a genius!

If you read this blog you will know that I struggle with color, and to spray black spray paint over my color work?  Oh, the horror!  Now, I’m too mad to draw anything else! I hope I will have something to post soon, and I hope it won’t be graffitied.

Be Well and Happy!

The Evil Queen/ Regina Mills from Once Upon A Time

played by Lana Parrille

Graphite on Bristol Smooth

       On Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. you can count on Alana and I watching Once Upon A Time.  It is one of my favorites even though not one of the main characters has had lived happily ever after so far.  I know, it is part of the curse but it is still very irritating.

     My favorite part of the drawing believe it or not is her hairline.  I was able to get those little baby hairs, and a very nice scale variation up and into where her hair thickens.  And the feathers are a close second.  I draw for people and I draw to learn (gotta a long way to go) But I rarely draw guilty pleasure pieces, and I hope to draw the entire main cast and hang them in my art room.  I have yet to draw a man and I think I’m intimated by all the whiskers….Do people actually put those in?

Be Well and Happy!

20 x 24 (ish)  Commission

Graphite on Bristol Board

   I finally founded the first commission that I did.  It was hidden well!   These dogs were fun to draw and had very different personalities.  The dog with the paw print was posthumous.  But the customer was very happy and displayed lots of tears too.  I love the way the little Yorkie in the top right has his ear sticking straight out.  David liked the Yorkie in the middle and said, “that he’s trouble.”  The Boxer mix in the bottom left had his ear been bitten off by the dog in the middle (poor thing)….but out of all of it, the hardest thing to draw was the pillow that the Jack Russell was laying on…oh my goodness that had me sweating!  I’ve typed before and I’ll type it again…I need to start drawing backgrounds!

   As far as recent work, I’ve been working on another weathered barn front and I’m gathering materials for a collage that I’m making for David.  The collage’s premise is Electrical engineering…. parts, schematics, cords and hopefully a machine or too.  I might do this as W.I.P. and if it works out I will post the results.  Welp, I guess that’s about it for me.

Be Well and Happy!

“Owl”

Mixed Media on 65lb. gray card

I don’t post many W.I.P.’s because I don’t know if I will end up messing the work up or at times even finish them.  It may be the case with this one too,  although I’m hoping not, but you never know.  I couldn’t wait to post the early stages of my Owl!  AND IT’S COLORED PENCIL….well mostly anyway.  I have been really frustrated trying to work in color.  Acrylics, watercolor, colored pencil, watercolor pencil and pastel, I’ve been playing with them all (along with my tutorial books) with cheap and expensive paper.  The only thing I’ve been managing to do was provide job security for waste management ’cause I’ve been filling my trash cans to the rim with my attempts!  About a week ago, I spent the whole afternoon on one colored pencil exercise and I followed it to the letter and it looked nothing like the sample…NOTHING!  I thought it was me until I did the background in the required French greys (which has a creamy look) and the sample background was blue.  So I put away the 24.00 book of lies grabbed a piece of cheap card stock (acid free), the smallest set of colored pencils I had and started my owl.  I have to admit that it is a little adventurous for my skill level and I fully admit when I’m  finished with the head, I will probably be completely lost when I do the body. But I’m tickled that I got this far.  This isn’t a total triumph in stubbornness. I made the mistake of putting down my brown first and when I tried to put down my white it got contaminated..so I had to use acrylic white.  Overall I think using a small set of pencils and using a paper that could only handle 4 or 5 layers of pencil really helped me from being overwhelmed.  I could have picked an easier subject, but I can’t stand the thought of drawing  another piece of fruit!

So, if you are like me and frustrated try:  Limiting your colors and limiting your layers and see if it works for you.  Also, please do your lights first LOL…

      I hope this post finds everyone geared up for the new year.  So far, mine isn’t off to a good start.  I’ve been a little under the weather.  I’m feeling much better now except for the stupid cough that wants to hang around.

Christmas was busy!  It was full of family, fun and FOOD.  We had such a good time and I really hated to see it end.  But I guess it’s time to get back to our normal schedule. BUMMER!  I did manage to finish knitting this scarf.  I used one of those loom thingies.  Although, I think the scarf is beautiful I did find the process a tad boring.

I was reading over last year’s resolutions.  I did everything but use the polymer, make a collage and I didn’t refashion any clothes, but I did a little sewing.  Not too shabby huh?

I have been thinking about my new year’s resolutions for this year.  I really don’t have any.  So,  I guess my new year’s resolutions is that I don’t have a resolution:)

Be Well and Happy!

I use to have a beautiful, fat, glittery Christmas wreath.  But with all the moving and stacking over the years she didn’t survive. (Yes, wreaths are girls).  I found a blank wreath at Michael’s and decided to throw caution to the wind and make my own.  How hard could it be, right?  I have lots of Christmas thingies at home and I could just hot glue them on…easy peasy!  As it turned out I didn’t have too much of anything that would look good on a wreath and I was just too lazy to go back to Michael’s.  So, I went up in the attic and found some old poinsettias and I walked up and down the street grabbing pine cones.  I tried to pull some tiny pine cones off of the trees. But the little babies are in there pretty good and all I got from the tree is cut.  I came home, got my glue gun out and I came up with this.  It’s simple, and I kinda like it but in hindsight, it would have been a lot faster just to get off my rear and just drive to the store.

Be Well and Happy!

  Like  a lot of patterns that I have done, I’m not sure if this is a “real” Zentangle pattern.  But I can certainly see how this pattern could be useful for christmas cards and holiday designs.  I’ll let you be the judge:)

UPDATE:  uh-oh!  This pattern has already been done!  My apologies to  Lori from http://lace.lacefairy.com    Lori was very sweet about it and didn’t demand that I remove the pattern. Our patterns were very similar, too similar for me to keep this pattern as my own. 

LaceFairy’s pattern is called Litz and this is the link: http://lace.lacefairy.com

ENJOY!

Be Well and Happy!