A Day at the Lake

What a beautiful day at the Lake with my family! My favorite sketch of the day is of my daughter Grace on the float bobbing along behind the boat, having a ball!  Love this sketch...

 

Who knew that Claytor Lake had a lighthouse! Everybody else was performing antics in the water while I sketched during intervals between watching them... "Watch this, Mama!"...add another brush stroke..."Mama, look at this"... another brush stroke... "Deborah, watch this!"  Okay I will have to call it done!



Sketches at right above from the football game last night.  Our team won 45 to naught!!  Yeah Team!


And back to the lake today... a real RIGATA!  How beautiful all those white sailboats were against the backdrop of billowy soft, perfectly formed, summer clouds.



This was a warm-up sketch I did in the camper from a photo in Southern Living Magazine before we left to ride the boat.



A perfect day, documented with sketches and topped off with a camp fire roasting marshmallows before heading home.  And now I'm off to bed.  Night all...

Some Recent Sketches

The sketch below was done in the car parked on the side of the road, a very quick sketch.

Then I did the above sketch in my Hand Book Journal using Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons and water soluble graphite. I also added whtie oil pastel to the barn and the cloud.



Using a Sharpie pen (love those things!) to draw from a magazine picture.




Done from memory in my lined journal.

On Making Journals

So many of you have asked for instructions on making the journals in my last post.  I don't feel comfortable giving you instruction as I am a novice myself.  I took a class at a nearby art supply store that closed shortly after my class.  The instructor was Kathy Vincent and she was great!  Her artwork is so fresh and expressive!

Here is the link to her website where she showcases her books: http://gallery.webfresco.com/kv/Books/

The stitch I learned is a PAMPHLET STITCH, 3-hole and 5-hole depending on the size of your book really.  It's a simple stitch.  I may attempt a video of myself stitching a book, but this is something I've never done.  Good reason to try something new maybe :-)

Thank you all so much for your comments and your interest!  Do visit Kathy's website!

Making and Filling Journals

Relaxing on the couch sewing journal signatures

A close-up of the stitching

And the results! 4 journals - now I'm ready to jazz up the covers and fill them!

In the meantime...
Recent pages in my Hand-Book Journal:

In the above sketch I was drawn by the swirls on the stage - so many curves - the instruments and their designs, the musicians, and the music...I'm feeling a rather abstract or expressionistic painting coming from this sketch.

And lastly, my resolution of yesterday below. I'll have to add color later - no time.