Posted by ffyrebird on January 02, 2012 at 11:24 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Inky Fingers | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
It seems like it has been forever since the last time I made a drawing or posted on here, I feel so rusty!!! I have been itching to draw again and learned so much from my attempt to draw everyday, that I decided why not go for it and try for another go at drawing daily for a year. Time for me right now is very limited as I spend most of every day with R2 at rehab working on his recovery from the wreck. I decided to keep my drawings very simple for now- just a quick pen sketch from photos. I grabbed a bunch of royalty free photos from the Library of Congress Flickr stream etc. and put them on my IPad so I wouldn't have to waste time trying to figure out what to draw. I want to work on drawing people and straight to ink drawings really seam to be (for me) quick, honest and a great learning tool- so for a while that's what I'll be playing with. Here is the first, a very dapper man in Noodler's Beaver on Stonehenge paper. the ink sat on the surface a bit and I found I could smear it with my finger for a touch of tone....
Posted by ffyrebird on January 01, 2012 at 08:29 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Inky Fingers | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Well we returned home, but I didn't return to trying my hand at making art for what seems like ages. Once I got out of the habit of daily drawings during the trip it was murder starting up again. To be fair, life has been a little more insane than usual around here. We returned from our vacation only to find our upstairs AC was dead, in the middle of a heat wave! Cut to a string of folks coming out to give us estimates then us deciding to replace both units since we basically killed the downstairs unit running it alone in triple digit temps while they came over. Finally, over a month since we left on vacation we got to sleep in our own beds again. During this whole fiasco I couldn't find the time, energy, or even desire to make art. I'm just rebooting now with assignments from Laure Ferlita's Imaginary Trip to Italy class........
Posted by ffyrebird on August 16, 2011 at 05:26 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Perpetual Student- Art Classwork | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Well, I'm back from our family vacation!! Despite my best intentions to keep up with my daily drawings on the trip, that didn't happen. Packing a family of six, stuffing the travel trailer and then driving straight through the night in a joucy, bouncy truck didn't exactly lend itself to making a drawing, so I missed my first drawing of the year on the first night of the trip, bummer.... That did make it a little easier to skip drawing a few nights later when my oldest asked if I'd play card games with them or was I going to go hang out by myself in the back of the trailer drawing. R1 is eighteen and there won't be many more trips with him, so I put away my sketchbook for the trip and just enjoyed the time with the kiddos and DH. I did take over a thousand pictures (really!!!), so I'll have plenty of future drawing material.
This moose is from our trip last year to Rocky Mountain National Park. We climbed all the way up to Bierstadt Lake the hard way instead of coming down from Bear Lake on the trail. We were tuckered out at the top but it was worth it when we saw this moose come up to the lake while we were having our lunch.
Posted by ffyrebird on July 26, 2011 at 10:49 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on July 08, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
I wanted to get a feel for my new journal from Useful Books on Etsy, so I did a little experimenting on the last page. I love the way the journal is constructed, but I've never used the Magnani Velata paper that it is made of and I'll need to get used to it. I've been using sized Fabriano Venezia books or Aquabee's for so long going back to unsized paper is odd. It stood up well to watercolor without buckling and there was just the faintest ghosting on the reverse with the really heavy black marker. Even though it felt like I was really roughing up the paper when I erased, it didn't seem to cause any problem when I went back in with watercolor in those spots. The mad scientist rates this experiment a success!!!
I had fun printing a drawing I'd made of our travel trailer being pulled by our 'Shark' of a truck and putting it into the cutout in the journal's cover...
Posted by ffyrebird on July 07, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Omm... Occasional Manga Mania | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
DH has coached the boys in baseball for years and this year he signed up to coach R4's team. To his suprise he was asked to coach R3's softball team as well. He said yes and had a blast!!! The girls and their parents were great, positive and supporting. They made this a really fun year, of course, it didn't hurt that the girls won first in our city division and first in the four-city league they played in. To celebrate the end of the season the team dunked DH with the water cooler. Ice water- brrrrr!!!!!
Posted by ffyrebird on July 06, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on July 05, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Toady. we stayed inside to avoid all the smoke from the neighbor's fireworks since it aggravates half the family's asthma. Usually we go park a long ways off from the city park and watch the display, but they did it Friday while we were busy so we missed it. To celebrate the Fourth we broke out a DVD of ID4, our traditional movie for the holiday.
Posted by ffyrebird on July 04, 2011 at 11:26 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Omm... Occasional Manga Mania | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on July 03, 2011 at 01:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
We've had a bit of a challenging time preparing for vacations later this year. The dealer who sold us our travel trailer and is, unfortunately, the only authorized repair center seemed determined to make life interesting for us. Somehow between dropping our trailer off for AC and other minor repairs and towing to storage something in our hitch coupling got deformed or broken. Our guess is they dropped it onto the wrong size ball to tow it into the shop. Now we have to find someone after the holiday to go out to the lot and fix it since it can't be towed with the broken coupling....
Posted by ffyrebird on July 02, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on July 01, 2011 at 11:49 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
R4 is having a great time with his baseball team, The Giants. DH is coaching and R1 and R2 got to help out some when they weren't umpiring. R4 is a really good sport and a clown, good thing too. The first thing out of R2, the guru of baseball, when I showed them this drawing was, "Bud, you're throwing off the wrong leg." With as many coaches and as much advice/teasing as he gets at home, I'm glad R4 just laughs it all off....
Posted by ffyrebird on June 30, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 29, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Perpetual Student- Art Classwork | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 28, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 27, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 26, 2011 at 11:48 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 25, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 24, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 23, 2011 at 11:53 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 22, 2011 at 11:56 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 21, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 20, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Perpetual Student- Art Classwork | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 19, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 18, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 17, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 16, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 15, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Omm... Occasional Manga Mania | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 14, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 13, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 12, 2011 at 11:04 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I was feeling sick and puny so I spent the day as a couch potatoe and ended up watching the remake of True Grit with the kiddos. It was OK and Jeff Bridges did a good job as Rooster Cogburn, but I still prefer John Wayne. It's hard to top the best. Like I said, I'm feeling puny so I just inked up a quick scribble for tonight...
Posted by ffyrebird on June 11, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 10, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I was playing around posing Da Bear, aka ffred ted, aka Yoga Beara ( he just can't settle on a name!) and he insisted on being in my journal today. He's great for posing since I took him apart and inserted a pop-bead adjustable skeleton into him. He's nice and squishy cuddly like all Beany bears, but he can be molded into all sorts of positions a normal Beany can't hold.
Posted by ffyrebird on June 09, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 08, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Omm... Occasional Manga Mania, Perpetual Student- Art Classwork | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
R4 was playing around with his video games and I wanted to play with my shiny new Noodler's Flex pen, so we made a deal. He says I can sketch him anytime for as long as I like as long as he gets to play video games, LOL!!! Not a bad deal for him, since we've been cracking down on how much time he spends gaming.
This was just a quick and dirty sketch, but I really like the Noodler's Flex pen. It would be wonderful to take into the field instead of my pricey vintage flex pens. At only $15 dollars I wouldn't be heartbroken if I lost it somewhere...
Posted by ffyrebird on June 07, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 06, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Perpetual Student- Art Classwork | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 05, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Perpetual Student- Art Classwork | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 04, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Perpetual Student- Art Classwork | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 03, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 02, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Perpetual Student- Art Classwork | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on June 01, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, Perpetual Student- Art Classwork | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on May 31, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, EDM Challenges | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on May 30, 2011 at 11:51 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, EDM Challenges | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on May 29, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, EDM Challenges | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Every Day in May-- EDM128, draw a view thru a doorway from one interior room to another. I didn't really like this topic and put it off until late at night. I halfheartedly scribbled the view thru the walkway seperating our sunroom and breakfast/ hearthroom. This is my little corner for drawing with windows everywhere and bookshelves and rolling supply carts for all my art junk.
Posted by ffyrebird on May 28, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, EDM Challenges | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on May 27, 2011 at 11:32 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, EDM Challenges | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on May 26, 2011 at 11:54 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, EDM Challenges | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on May 25, 2011 at 11:53 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, EDM Challenges | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by ffyrebird on May 24, 2011 at 11:59 PM in Art Journal/ Sketchbook, EDM Challenges | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

