EDM #10 - draw your hand

Continued work with the structured block-in method, I like the discipline it involves and hope that with more practice it will be easier and more natural to work like this (old habits die hard!).

All the great painters were also superb draftsmen who employed the concept of breaking subjects down to shapes & stacking them together like building blocks. It's also training your eyes to draw what they see as opposed to what they know - we all have embedded symbols of objects into our brains but when we try to draw one sitting in front of us, our eyes want to retrieve that image from our *file* and draw that, and that's where the resistance comes in. Once I pass the resistance stage, I thoroughly embrace that shift into right-brain mode, it's such a wonderful zen-like zone to be in! I believe we all have inventive, intuitive, imaginative powers that we can tap into when we're *there*.

EDM #103 - exercise/stay fit

Slightly challenging (and i suggested it, what was I thinking?) but worth it as I got to combine it with a homework assignment from drawing class - the structured drawing method. This method is based on how to recognize the quality of a shape by examining the tilt of its constituent line segments. Sounds a bit complicated but basically if you block-in your subject with lines, you can compare the angles & tilts that you see to the horizontal and vertical axes on a compass rose. The lines stay sketchy and angular until you have established that all tilts and angles are correct, then you begin the inside drawing.

The block-in method is explored further in the book "The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing" by artist & teacher Anthony Ryder

EDM - Challenge #102

Draw a plug - this one is plugged in as I thought it would be easier to sketch, I was wrong =) Actually it was only a a bit of a challenge at first and I'm happy with the way it turned out for the most part. I am loving this recycled paper journal but do want to add a watercolor or heavyweight white paper journal that I can switch back and forth with as I go along for variety and to use different mediums.

Illustration Friday - Super Hero

When I read the theme for this week, the first thing that came to mind were Marvel comic book characters, then I thought of all the real people out there who perform *heroic* deeds every day - everyone from the kind stranger who stops to help someone in need to the busy parent juggling a job (or two) and family life.

I ended up going with something unexpected, super heroes of a sort - all the items that talented craftspeople created long ago with great pride and craftsmanship. This antique chest has been passed down in our family for at least 4 generations - it once held infant clothing, today it holds my antique linens & small keepsakes. The handles fall off regularly and the original skeleton keys for each drawer are long gone but the little details and strength of it are quite amazing. Some say it needs to be refinished, I like it flaws and all. It has great character, it doesn't quit and it gets the job done - sounds like a super hero to me.

Everyday Matters - Challenge #4

Finally joined in on the challenges at the Everyday Matters group and started my EDM sketch journal- yay! Actually, I just finished reading Danny Gregory's Everyday Matters book (now in paperback) - what a wonderful, inspiring story behind his awesome work. Thank you Danny for having the courage to tell your story with such honesty, know that you have touched many of us and made a difference in how we look at everyday life.

Artwords Topic #36 -"Latte"

5x7, bristol vellum, oil pastels, prismacolor pencils

mmmm, i love coffee and this week's theme word and the fabulous pics from tonx's collection of latte art had my mind brewing with ideas, but in the end i decided to go for a realistic-looking piece to help with my new year's resolution to draw or sketch daily (so far so good!)

and actually i just created a small coffee painting last week with the theme word "buzz" (caffeine buzz) you can view that here

some coffee quotes:

"Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee." ~ Stephanie Piro
"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons." ~ T.S. Eliot
"Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis - a good hot cup of coffee." ~ Alexander King
"Deja Brew: The feeling that you've had this coffee before." ~ unknown
"Be a coffee-drinking individual - espresso yourself!" ~ unknown

and can you believe this one?!!

"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking, nauseous puddlewater."
~ The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674

Illustration Friday - 80's

my totally original artwork from the '80's on a 100% cotton tee.

drawn by hand with tubes of what else? slick black & hot pink puff paints. love that rhinestone beauty mark =)

also if you look down at the bottom right corner you'll see that only the "T" in my sig survived (and actually now that i think about it, thankfully most things from that era didn't!)

Illustration Friday - Buzz

As in Caffeine BUZZ - my day doesn't start until i have a cup (or 2) of this eye opening, brain cell boosting, heart pumping brew that has me BUZZing around in no time =)

oil pastels on bristol vellum, 5x7*
*this new size & format is the start of a series of small pieces for 2007 for all the different mediums i like to work with, i'm hoping this *limitation* will bring more structure to my work and ideally result in a collection suitable for greeting cards and/or to use as prototypes for larger pieces