Castle Tea Room

I've been wanting to do a series of sketches of my city's downtown area. A new year and a new larger formatted journal have made me decide no time like the present. This sketch has eaten up bits and pieces of my daughter's nap time for the past week. My favorite part of the drawing-the tree in the upper left corner added as an afterthought. Go figure.

Vanilla Extract Painting

I couldn't post this earlier because it was actually a Christmas gift for my brother and his wife. Over their last visit he looked through my sketchbook and asked if I could do a larger version of my vanilla sketch. I blew it off as him being nice until he asked about it again a month or so later. And so here is a watercolor painting (my first actually). I get nervous when I'm not doing a pen drawing first - but I think it's good to do work out of your comfort zone every once in a while.

Molly

This is an important post for a few reasons. It is the last page in my first moleskine notebook. As such it marks the first sketchbook I have completely filled. It took a few years for such a small book but it is done. I fully intend to start on another notebook soon now that the holiday craziness is dying down.

The real reason this drawing is so important to me is because it shows Molly. Molly passed away just shy of Thanksgiving after being with our family for almost 16 years. To put that into perspective Molly was a Christmas present when I was a girl and now I am married and have a child of my own. We grew up together. She was technically a dog, but had more personality than many people, and was a definite member of our family.

I love this drawing so much not because it is a picture of a dog. Not even that it is a picture of a West White Highland Terrier. I love it because it is a picture of Molly, that specific little being who is much loved and much missed.

Acorns

Here's a quick sketch of some acorns I did recently just to get back in the swing of drawing. Without realizing it I drew this the wrong direction in my moleskine - which is neither here nor there but this is how I see it since this is how I drew it. Turn your screen upside down and you'll see how it looks in my moleskine.

St. John's

I drew this in late summer when we were at a local park. The tip of this church tower just reached over the tree tops and my husband graciously chased around our daughter while I sat on a park bench and drew. I didn't have a pencil and had the drawing in public jitters so after a few lines I looked and realized it was off. Way off. Instead of scrapping the whole thing I decided to just use what lines I could and just ignore what I couldn't. So here is the slightly wonky drawing with a few extra lines with absolutely no right to be there. But you know what? I kind of like it.

Unfortunately this is the last drawing I've done in a while. In the meantime I've made a quilt, worked on a stocking for my daughter, and now am knitting slippers for her. I guess I've just been following my creativity in other directions lately. Hopefully soon I'll have some more current sketches to share.

Noodler's Ink

So for my birthday a while back I received a bottle of Noodler's Bulletproof Black Ink and a much discussed Lamy Safari fountain pen. I then did this quick sketch using both. I find I have trouble getting different line thicknesses with the Lamy but it also loosens me a up a bit too. I'll probably try again with it sometime but I can say for sure that I love my Lamy for everyday sorts of writing.

Before the Haircut

This is only the second drawing I've done in public. I notice that everything is less accurate, more loose. It's not necessarily a bad thing to occasionally get more loose even if the results are less than stellar.

Chloe's Sunglasses

Coming up are a few sketches I did over the summer that I never got around to uploading. Should be easier now that we have a new printer/scanner that is always attached to our computer.

Flag

Here's a sketch from around the 4th of July. Just a little plastic flag that was handed to my daughter when we were taking a walk downtown.

Words Chloe Can Say (Sort of...)

This drawing is a little more doodle-y than what I normally do. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to get drawing again.

Tree Outside the Dentist

Here is a sketch from May that I never got around to posting. It was done while waiting in the lobby at the dentist. It was my first sketch I've done in a public place. Finished it up at home. Next time I'll have more recent sketches.

Lortab

So I haven't been posting (or unfortunately drawing) much recently and the reason for that has been illness. So apparently when you get the chickenpox the virus stays in your system. And then can decide one day, hey, the last time we made geeky girl miserable was what, 20 some years ago. That is not acceptable. We've got to get going now, only this time, we're bringing the PAIN. And this, my friends, is shingles. Boo. I got it about a month ago, and frankly I've been fine for a few weeks but just haven't gotten on top of drawing again yet. But I promise I will start drawing and posting again soon.

Pictures of Bag

By request here are some pictures of my bag. Anyone who wants to is free to draw this bag for any EDM Challenge, artistic pursuit or just general love of bags.

Chloe Mix Container

I found this Cheerios container a while back. It's now filled with whatever dry snacks happen to make up the current batch of Chloe mix. The drawing was going fine until my cat decided she needed to climb into my lap and help. Kind of hard to keep the concentration going for all of the little text on the left side. But I kind of enjoy when I'm not in love with a drawing because then I can have fun experimenting with the paint without worrying that I'm going to "ruin" a good drawing. 

Comments

Just a quick post to thank everyone who has been stopping by and commenting. It's really great motivation to keep drawing. So thanks everyone! Also, by request, I'll be posting a photo of my bag as soon as I get a moment to take the pictures...

Chloe Mix

After the keys I needed to draw something a little less... intense. Thus a drawing of cheerios and goldfish crackers. 

Keys

Here's the tag inside my bag and my keys. This drawing made me realize that I probably don't need two carabiners on my keychain. An updated drawing would show that I've tossed the cheap green one with the compass that doesn't work and the light that's burnt out. Drawing as a means to clean and get rid of clutter. Who knew? 

Green Purse

This is my green purse and it is nearly perfect. It holds my sidekick in one pouch, (you can see the case for it), and my moleskine and pens in the other (which you can't see as I'm using them to draw). It's the perfect depth to hold my wallet, some watercolors, an ipod and even a decent sized hardback (I always carry a book with me, it's a sickness really). There's a flap in the back that holds my datebook. The strap is serious enough that I can attach my keys and sigg bottle full of water to it without a problem. I love this bag.

Green Chair - Part Two

Here is another view of the green chair. I like how it looks a little abstract up close.

And here are both pages together. It's the first time I've done a spread across both pages.

Green Chair - Part One

Here is the slouchy green chair in my living room. This is my first spread that sort of goes over two pages. I'll post the second half tomorrow.