Art Journal assignment #1

Part of our first week assignment suggestions was to do a sketch from a photo. Here is my sketch of a photo I took of a bumblebee on a stalk of blue salvia! Penny

drawing from a photo

My new Art Journal class will be giving us assignments every week! One of this week's assignment suggestions was to illustrate the quote "Every Artist was first an amateur" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This is actually a page from an altered book I am working on -- title of the book is "Art and Soul"

Blind contour on market day

Lots of talk on the EDM listserv about Blind Contour drawing. Here are some vegetables from my market basket!

blind contour drawing

The EDM list has been talking about blind contour drawings (drawing an object without looking at the page). Q while back I took a class at the DIA and we did a blind contour drawing. And, after we finished, we looked at the paper, put the pen down and did another drawing of the same object. Then repeated that a third time. Then you color in the spaces that show between the drawings. It's fun to do -- even if it doesn't always resemble the object. I wish I had not written the word "flowers" here -- but, anyway, here is my vase of flowers - drawn triple blind!

spam on blogs!!!

I was surprised to learn that spammers can even get into blogs and leave comments that look legitimate - but are actaully advertising a product etc. What an amazing world! So, I have had to add a "word verification" step for any real reader who wants to actually post a comment. So sorry for this inconvenience. You KNOW I want to hear your comments!!! Penny

shading practice

An exercise from EDM list on shading. You tear a balck and white photo in half and then draw the missing half. This was a great exercise for me not only about shading, but also helped me to get the proportions of the face right as I could constantly check it against the photo which I had torn. Quite fun!

new journal started

Well, I finished up my last sketch book and I always look forward to selecting and starting a new one! This time I decided to get one that would hold up better to watercolor. Then, I decided to decorate the cover and the title page -- as seen here! I bought some new watercolor in spray bottles which is fun to make backgrounds with! I am trying to make myself create a page a day!