More Moleskine pages

My afternoon tea - a new tea I bought last night. It is very good!


EDM Challenge 229 - Draw a summer joy
My zinnias - I look forward to their brilliant colors all winter and spring.
The perfect subject for sketching with their interesting shapes and glowing colors.

Moleskine Pages

Inspired by Jennifer Lawson's sketches with collage http://jenniferlawson.blogspot.com/2009/07/weekend-in-northeast-harbor.html - the moleskine spreads above are the result of my day's work.

Flower a la Butterfly

Flowers are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out-values all the utilities of the world.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Saturday afternoon sketches

I did the colored pencil sketch (denim blue) from a photo as my warm up sketch before going to the neighbor's and sketching in their garden. I intended to sketch the sunflowers but when I got there I discovered Blueberry Bushes! Something I don't think I've ever seen - blueberries yes, but actually growing on a bush in a garden, no. It was a very nice surprise.

I took several photos so that I could go back later and do some more drawings and watercolors back in the comfort of my studio.




I was walking leisurely back to my own yard when I heard someone say, "Ma'am..." I turned to find the neighbor's daughter who just came out to find out why a stranger was walking through her yard. I had asked her father if I could sketch that morning. By that time it was 6pm and he had not shared with his family that I was coming over. It's funny how you can live within eyesight of someone and be a stranger. I don't know my neighbors, but they sure have a pretty garden. I explained that her father had given me permission that morning to come sketch. I showed her my sketches, and she seemed totally uninterested - just relieved that I wasn't some completely crazy person.

As I was walking back across the church yard (the church sits between my house and the neighbor's) the pastor stopped me and asked if I knew anyone who wanted to buy a piano. I just stared at him, because just that morning I had been thinking how much I missed my piano and how bad I wanted another one. The church is just getting started, several members have lost jobs, they didn't have a pianist, so he was wanting to sell the piano so that they could pay their rent. I went in to see the piano and we ended up singing and playing - he on the guitar and me on the piano - for several hours! I had the best time!

I can't decide whether to buy the piano. My husband says we have no room for it, which is true unless I can figure out something to get rid of or somehow rearrange it all - we have a tiny house. The piano has been sitting in the church which was unheated much of the winter and also rather damp, so I'm not sure if it is in good condition or if the dampness and cool temperatures may have damaged it inside. It has a rather strange twingy ? noise in it that occurs sometimes (almost sounds like a vibration) when you play, all the keys are in great shape and it looks great. I thought I might have someone come out and look at it and then go from there.

At any rate, I sure had an interesting Saturday evening :-)

Feeling a little sketchy lately...

I sat down on the loveseat while my husband watched TV and did this 2-page spread of blind contour drawings. The subjects were vases, pitcher, seashells and books in the display cabinet. This was very relaxing, a lot of fun, and a great learning experience. I was surprised at the accuracy of some of the drawings. I've come a long way in 20 years when I first started doing these :-)
I used the Sanford Design Ebony Pencil. I highly recommend it! It's my favorite pencil to use for sketching and drawing.


Last night I sat out on the front porch with my daughter and talked and sketched the flowers. For the washes of color I used my Niji waterbrush and an Altoid tin filled with Yarka St. Petersburg refills (hot glued down of course).



Yesterday at lunch I pulled over on the side of the highway and sketched the scene above with Neocolor II watercolor crayons. Later I added gouache and then oil pastel and pencil. I like the way this turned out!

This scene has always drawn me in. The red barn and light-struck roof of the barn against the dark green of the trees and the mountains and sky beyond is just such a peaceful pastoral scene. It changes through each season, but summer and early spring are my favorites. I pass this everyday on the way to work.

Beach sketches

A week at the beach on Holden Island - the east coast of North Carolina. I was relaxed and inspired and had a wonderful week with my family - but sketching and painting were just not what I was inspired to do. Instead I meandered on the beach, biked down the sidewalk trying to keep up with my daughter, stayed up late reading, slept the morning away, and all those things that make life at the beach so easy and relaxed.

One evening I was getting the itch to sketch and it just couldn't be controlled, so I got out my colored pencils while I was out on the deck with my husband and daughter and did this quick little drawing of a house across the canal in the distance. I was drawn by the contrast of the white house against the deep greens and blues.