Black-eyed Susans in Cobalt Carter's Ink Bottle

7/27/06
I picked a huge bunch of these from the backroads near work at lunch. I arranged most of them in a pitcher on my desk, but put these in my ink bottle and put them beside my computer. I sketched them in my Aquabee with Caran d'Ache Neocolor II and then when I got home I added some black Prismacolor over the blue for the darks in the bottle. Before I did that the bottle seemed sort of faded out in comparison to the dark centers of the flowers.

As I was riding and picking these flowers at lunch, I thought "Wow, how blessed I am to have such beautiful country surroundings just a couple miles from work!" No skyscrapers and sidewalks for me; I'd go crazy. Just fields and barns and roadside chicory, AND I even saw an older couple blackberry picking on the side of the road. I wish I could have drawn them without being noticed, but that would have been impossible. The woman had a bandana tied around her hair and the man had a straw hat on. They had parked their pickup truck across the road. What a peaceful country scene that was. 

Macado's in my Moleskine

Took Grace out to Macado's tonight. I did this little sketch of a table across the room in my Moleskine. Oh how I love my Moleskine sketchbook!!! I think this is the place where I lost my first Moleskine, so thankfully I was careful to place this one back in my purse after I sketched this!!! Whew! 

Zinnia Still Life

I did this today in my Aquabee sketchbook. I used Derwent Aquatone and Inktense pencils along with dry Prismacolors. There is something so special about zinnias - I suppose it's their intense colors - these in particular because I grew them myself. My very first flowers grown from seeds. I never want to be without a garden again! I wish I'd known; my what I have been missing. This sketch will be dear to my heart - one of the most special - because of the subject, and I like the way it turned out. The pitcher in the still life is a piece of pottery from my collection - I love brown pottery - Hull, McCoy, and this particular piece is Marcrest. It's a very happy arrangement. 

Zinnia Close Up 7/25/06

Did this at work with Derwent Aquatone, Inktense, and Sanford Prismacolor pencils. 

Grayson Highlands State Park 7/22/06

Beautiful and very cool night. Rained very hard. City Bound (featuring my neice Melanie) sang at the event. One of the songs (quite appropriate for the weather) was, "When it rains it pours...God will pour you out a blessing that your heart can scarcely store - when it rains, it pours..." 

7_19_06

I sketched the lizard sitting in the bank drive-thru.

I was stuck in a traffic jam for an hour yesterday and what could I do but sketch in my Moleskine!! 

7_12_06 Zinnias

This was done in my Aquabee sketchbook with Prismacolor marker and Caran D'ache Neocolor II. But the best part - these zinnias were grown from seed that Daddy and I planted in my little garden beside the porch. It was so fascinating to watch them come up and grow and bloom. It was the first time in my adult life that I had planted seeds and watched them grow into flowers - my favorite flowers at that! 

7_18_06 Moleskine Sketches

I sketched all these the same day 7/18/06 in my new Moleskine. I still haven't found the one I lost, which for some reason was more special - I'm sure it was because it was my first and because I bought it when I was out with Grace, my daughter. But this one still has all the same wonderful qualities of the other. 

7/6/06 My Second Moleskine Sketch

I am hooked on the Moleskine after only 2 sketches in it!!!! Now I know what all the fuss is about. There is just something about the feel of this little book...it's really inexplainable...it's like you're holding something veerrryy special. The feel of the paper, the way it opens up and the tightness (security) of the binding, the discreteness of its size, it's just too wonderful!! The best $10 I've spent in a while! This is a scene I pass almost daily and it never ceases to inspire me to paint it. I love this little sketch - the Moleskine was just what it needed!

Aunt Margie's Watering Can with Ivy Plant 7/5/06

This little 5x7 drawing is done on Stonehenge printmaking paper using Prismacolor markers and Inktense pencils. This is my aunt's ceramic (porcelain) watering can. It was sitting on her dining room table this weekend, and I did a quick drawing with my Prismacolor marker right before I left to start home. Then today I added the background ivy and the foreground from my imagination. I colored it with Inktense pencils and a few touches of Yarka Professional watercolor in the yellow background behind the watering can and on the terra cotta pot.

I love the way it looks. I'm thinking I really need to have some of these small paintings printed on notecards. I sell the original, but then I'm sick, because I don't have it anymore. A print would solve that dilemma.

My FIRST Moleskine!!!

I finally have a MOLESKINE! I am so excited! I purchased this at Barnes and Noble at around 10:30pm Thursday, June 29. Grace and I went to Winston and were hanging out at Barnes and Noble at this late hour! We had THE BEST time.

I've read so much about Moleskines, and now I have one. Wow! This, my first sketch, was done in the KFC drive-thru at lunch. I did the ink sketch and then added the watercolor later. This paper and the way it takes (or doesn't take) watercolor will certainly take some getting used to!

Aunt Margie's Geranium, Sunday, July 3, 2006

This is the view of my aunt's geranium as seen through her kitchen window. What a lovely peaceful place my Aunt Margie's kitchen table is! It is situated in a bay window with a deck and woods beyond. This beautiful geranium adds so much to the view. I did this in my brand new Aquabee with my brand new Inktense pencils and my old faithful graphite pencil.