Dreaming of spring..........

 

 

"Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral." Frank Lloyd Wright

Just a little something in my new moleskine.  I love iris.   They remind me of my grandmother's.  They both had flowers but my mothers mom had the most beautiful garden.  She raised both flowers and vegetables but the iris and the peonies were phenomenal.  I also like that they are a surprise.  They  have  sword like fans and up from the fans comes this beautiful delicate ruffled flower.  Mine usually bloom towards the end of May.  And the riot of color is something to see.

The chicken was just for fun.

I know I have seen this before..........

I truly enjoy looking at work by Andrea Joseph and France Belleville. So in their honor here is my canon camera. I rarely leave home without it.

I enjoy working with ink, (even though I am not nearly as good as crosshatch as the above mentioned artists). I purchased several ink pens from across the pond after I had read a post by Andrea Joseph. They have a very fine tip. I drew this in my watercolor sketchbook. I had several doodles on these pages and I wanted them to disappear so I covered the pages with gesso. The ink sat on top of the pages and I had a little difficulty with it smearing if you touched it at all. I have trouble keeping and posting pages I don't like, so I usually cover over them with collage, gesso or whatever. I have tried to leave the ones I don't like but just cant seem to do it. I think I will revisit this subject on different paper.

Behind the Lines

Textures, I love them. What can I say. This sketch is about 7" x 10". I have been thinking about creating a series of drawings all titled "Behind the Lines". It could be represented in countless different ways, both literally and figuratively. I think I may have found my inspiration for a few more pieces.

This sketch was drawn on warm drawing paper with a variety of derwent drawing pencils. Pencil is my media of choice!

I prefer chocolate! EDM #26

Again I return to my favorite medium. I prefer pencil. My hands are drawn to the sensitivity you can achieve with a simple pencil. You can create darks, lights, and various shades in between. It is forgiving and the possibilities are endless.

I like peppers (to eat) but I prefer chocolate!

Beginning again

When I started this blog I wanted the opportunity to share my drawings. Most of what I do is teaching. Everyday I teach art to around 90 high school students at varying levels of ability. This doesn't always allow me the time or energy to create on my own. But I do create. And with all that or because, I have done a terrible job of keeping this blog updated. I have a million excuses as to why but truthfully it doesn't matter so I am just going to begin again. And invite you to follow. My current goal is to post something, (anything art related) at least once a week. I hope someone will be interested enough to stop by and return often.

The drawings above are from my teaching lesson plan book. I often see an image, an interesting font, or a verse that I find inspirational. Sometimes they may not be so much inspirational but thought provoking or just something that reflects my mood for the day, I put these in my lesson plan pages. And as I look back through the years, I am amazed at what I have included. Sometimes I am bewildered as to why and that in it self amazes and excites me. So I will include more of these little snippets in my blog. I have sketchbooks but I have to look at these lesson plans all day so it only makes sense to add images to the pages. It makes it much more interesting to look at. I often start with a letter in a font that I want to remember, so I sketch it and then around it I continue to add images, typography and verses. Sometimes a theme develops and sometimes not. I have been known to sketch part of other artists sketches (just like the old masters) or student ideas, photographs, advertisements..... anything I find interesting to practice my drawing skills. These are NEVER for sale just practicing. I often find interesting textures on flicker to include. And if you haven't seen http://flickriver.com/ I encourage you to visit.

I want to thank so many of you who have truly inspirational art blogs. I follow quite a few of you. If you are interested check out the blogs I follow in my complete profile.

Thanks for stopping by!