Aside from an all-out war with the gophers, it's been an amazing spring out on the Hill.

We have babies chirping:


( Read more... )

Whoops, where'd the last 2 months go? Before I ramble on, here's my very overdue homework assignment, of a still life emphasizing white, or all the colors in white as the case may be. Done in pastel, 18x22.


( Read more... )

In about a month I'll be too old to join the CHP, which up until this point was one of my many fantasy career goals. I have plenty of others, like I5 Tomato Trucker, Professional Creator of Pretty Things, and Frye Building and Renovation Business Manager (the latter only applies if it involves working from our deck in my bikini with a margarita, ( Read more... )

There are two things I used to leave out of my still lifes because I found them too challenging to draw: glass and fabric. And while I can't claim mastery of either of them yet, forcing myself to practice has made a huge difference in my confidence with both.

This week's pretend homework - still life emphasizing drapery, in charcoal on 18x24:


( Read more... )

My pretend homework assignment this week was supposed to be a line drawing of a landscape subject, but I changed it just a bit to a pen and ink drawing. Subtle difference I suppose, depending on how one works with the medium, but I need more practice in that regard. Practice is what I got, as this took me HOURS. Still not sure I have this pen and ( Read more... )

My pretend assignment this week:


( Read more... )

I changed this week's assignment just a tad, after reading some very good advice against crosshatching, in this wonderful little book called "Sketching Without a Master," written in the 20's or so. The author suggests that we almost never crosshatch at all in pen and ink drawings, and do so sparingly when it's absolutely necessary. So my drawing ( Read more... )

I decided not to take a class this semester. Not in-person, not online. But I don't want to lose the main benefit of taking a class, which is the weekly assignments that keep me focused and driven, so I created my own. I tried to focus on things I haven't learned in classes yet, or things I need to practice, or things I wouldn't necessarily push ( Read more... )

"...like a lost chicken..." our old friend Charles used to say in his hillbilly twang when somebody was wandering or wondering. And that's me right now. I'm not quite sure where January went, although I'm not sorry to see it leave. It's always such a dark month, even though it's been just like summer all month long ( Read more... )

Another great art class is over. I know I say this at the end of every class, but this time it really is the end of an era. My favorite art-class partner-in-crime who has been on this journey with me since we first learned how to draw in 2009 has moved across the country, and I'm thinking of taking a break from studio art classes to squeeze in some ( Read more... )