Thought I would pop in with an extra blog post today. I usually save posts for Mondays and Fridays but I thought, why not?

  I really have amazed myself taking on the 365 days of sketches challenge. I'm on day 56 and I never thought I would make it this far. Some days are easier than others and I can come up with an idea fairly quickly, other days, I have to sit and ponder what to do draw. Here's today's sketch.......

And a couple other ink sketches in this same

sketchbook............

  I love pen and ink drawings, with or without watercolor added. One of my favorite pen and ink artists is Alphonso Dunn. I admire his inking and he also has a couple books he's written on his techniques. I follow him on YouTube, check him out, it's worth it! He inspired me to try this quick strawberry ink sketch. I watched how he did it yesterday and tried to emulate it without going back and watching him do it again. I think I pulled it off rather well, not as good as his mind you, but at least I remembered how he had done it.

  Every artist has hers or his own style and it's okay to mimic other artists styles. That's how we learn! eventually, by learning from other artists we admire, we gradually develop our own personal style.

  I'm filling my sketchbook finally. Iv'e only owned this particular sketchbook for about eight years now! seriously, It's just been lying around in my studio with blank pages all this time. I can't remember what brand it is, It might be Crescent but I'm not sure. All I know is that the paper in it really isn't the best. I can only use graphite, colored pencil and my Micron pens in it. I tried charcoal but for some reason, the charcoal seems to slide off the surface, not good. So I'm limited with it but that's okay, as I hate to waste anything. I have other sketchbooks, much smaller and I also have a Moleskine Watercolor sketchbook as well. Those are all of a better quality.

  So let see............I only have 309 more sketches to go.....Oh my...........That's a lot. I don't know. Time will tell if I make it to 365 or not. I'm not throwing in the towel yet!

Choose Your Weapons

Today is the day!......I announce the winner of my Art-Giveaway! I wish I could give each and everyone of you a free piece of art but, no worries. As soon as I reach the next milestone, at 100 daily sketches, I will be having another give-away.

  Choosing your weapons. I thought I would blog about what I personally use to create the work I do and why. And of course, the different mediums I work in. There are a couple of different schools of thought here. One of which is the "stick to one medium and become proficient at that one".  Nothing wrong with that although, from what I have noticed, it seems to be an old view from years back.

  I think back then, it was the norm for artists to become well known, working in one medium and producing a consistent body of work in the same style. I feel times have changed. With the rise of social media, the art world has become global. There are so many artists and so many different styles of art now that we can all share together,  that the choices and opportunities are almost limitless. With that said, This is only my opinion and what works for one artist may not necessarily work for another.

  Personally, I can't stick to one medium. I never have been able to. And that's okay. I love to experiment with different mediums as well as combine mediums to see what I can come up with. My mediums of choice are, but are not limited to.............

Acrylic
Watercolor
Pen and Ink, with and without watercolor
Graphite
Charcoal
Colored Pencil
Pastel

  I started out, just drawing as a young kid. As time went on and I hit high school level, I graduated to painting, mostly using watercolor and oil. I gradually gave up oils for acrylics. I prefer acrylics for a couple reasons, one of which is versatility.  Acrylics can mimic oil paints as well as watercolor. Acrylics lend themselves well to mixed media so I can get really experimental with them. Another reason why I prefer acrylics is mess, much less mess. No dealing with mediums and hard to dispose of used, dirty, turpentine. Don't get me wrong, I love the look and feel of oil paints, I just don't want to deal with them.   Slowly I added more mediums to my repertoire till now, I work in all the above. Still, to this day,I can come up with other mediums that I would like to try and maybe at some point I will but, I am pretty satisfied with what I am doing right now. My style as well varies a bit. When I draw, such as with graphite, colored pencil, etc., I tend to use a realistic approach. My painting style however, is totally different from my drawing style. It has a tendency to lean more towards the impressionistic and slightly abstract forms. That is just how my style has naturally progressed over time.

  So.....I recently placed an online order for supplies and although some of what I bought were replacements for stuff I was out of, I did happen to pick up some new "toys" to play with. Here's what was in the box..................

  So............These are just a few of the weapons that I have have chosen. Keep in mind that there are also degrees of quality in art supplies as well. I always purchase artist quality supplies as opposed to lets say.....student quality or children's art supplies. That is my choice as well and one that each artist has to make for themselves, budget allowing.  Again, there is no right or wrong, just personal preference.

  Well my hubby divulged to me the winning number this morning so I will announce that shortly on Facebook. Possibly around noon central time. Again, it is time to get my sketch-of-the-day done so bye for now.

Art-Giveaway!

 Finally...............I have 50 daily sketches in my sketchbook. To be honest, I don't think I realized what I would be getting myself into when I decided to do this 365 day challenge. I thought, "no problem, easy peasy".....Ha!, Tougher than I thought. I have a tendency to leap before I look, it's just my nature.

  It probably would have been easier to do a themed sketchbook, like all figure sketches or all animals or something along those lines, but no.....I decided to do just random stuff, something different every day.

  It has however, forced me to really work to come up with ideas and it has also pulled me out of my comfort zone and isn't that what art is supposed to do?

  I have a lot of work to do before the show in September too. I'm currently waiting on a paint shipment that won't be here till Monday. It might be a good thing as my shoulder has been giving me fits and is making it difficult to work at the easel, so taking this week off from starting this 30X40 canvas that has been staring me down, is giving me the opportunity to heal a bit. I do have a few drawings that I am working on, one of my one-year-old grandson Ryan................

  And also, a creature on black art paper done in colored pencil is in progress so I'm keeping busy. But enough. Let's cut to the chase....The Contest!

  Today, it begins. Here's what to do.  Go to my Facebook page. There you will find my give-away post,, here is the link, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1290024521011481&set=a.106350159378929.12625.100000118375087&type=3&theater  Pick a number between 1 and 500. Reply to my post with your chosen number. The closest number to the actual number wins the illustration.  The contest will run through this weekend to give everyone ample time to enter. I will announce the winner on Monday. My hubby has graciously agreed to be the keeper of the winning number. I do not even know what that winning number is.

  Please, only ONE entry per person. Respond only on my Facebook page, do not respond here on my blog as I will not see it. Good luck everyone and have a great Easter weekend!!! Eat lot's of chocolate bunnies!

My Studio Runneth Over With Stuff

Good morning and happy Monday!........I'm totally out of coffee so I'm sitting here, drinking Trader Joes,  Chai tea, which is delicious by the way.  And, I'm really trying to post at least twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays. Iv'e got to get back into the habit.
  As for having lots of  stuff in my studio, I did manage to clean up one of my work stations yesterday. I have four, dedicated work stations set up. One for my business desk and computer, one space for my studio easel where I paint standing, My drafting table where I do most of my drawing and another table where I do my daily sketches, watercolor work,  any journal writing and I use it to color in my adult coloring book. Yes I have a coloring book. Sometimes it's nice to just color in someone elses drawings. Here's a photo of my coloring book............They are fun, like being a kid again only better. Everyone should have one.

  I also needed to clean that area up as I spent a considerable amount of money yesterday buying new art supplies that I needed to make space for.
  And speaking of supplies, look at all the different erasers I own! each one has it's purpose believe it or not............

 Yep, the one on the top right is the elusive, typewriter eraser. Remember those?, with the little brush on one end.  They are still around. This one is by Faber Castell and is great for erasing colored pencil and some inks too. The big black Helix, bottom left is a battery powered, motorized eraser. I have a love/hate relationship with that one. If you get slightly over zealous with it, you end up with a hole in your paper, not good so I use it very sparingly.  The top left one is my very favorite. It is the Mono Zero eraser by Tombow. I don't use it as an eraser, I use it as a drawing tool in and of itself. it's great for tiny details like hair and animal whiskers and eyelashes etc. It has the smallest eraser tip I have seen...........see below. I love this thing and I even have a spare in case something happens to this one, like my hubby stealing it.

  I should have all my new art stuff by the end of the week. Maybe I will show it all off here on my blog when I get it. Also, the give-away will be posted on Friday the 25th. That's this Friday so be sure to check out my Facebook then if you are interested in winning an original illustration. Bye for now.

Art Give-Away Announcement!

Good morning!.........It' a wet morning here. quiet, except for the birds chattering away outside my window. I love the mornings in my studio. I had a little studio drama last night. The screen is missing from my window and an unwelcome visitor decided to drop by. A HUGE black, flying insect of some kind. There are a lot of huge, black, flying things here in Texas! This "thing",   was buzzing so loud and bouncing off all the studio walls and dive bombing me that he finally drove me out of my own studio. He was finally caught but not until he had completely  disrupted my artistic mojo.

  I do want to announce that I am going to give away an original piece of art. Why?.....well because I can but also because I think everyone, should own a REAL piece of art, not just some paper copy of a random image
   What I have decided to do is, create and give away, one of my original art pieces for every fifty daily sketches I add to my sketchbook. I am getting close to having fifty sketches now so I have already created my first give-away piece, an original illustration done in pen, ink and watercolor.
   So each time I add fifty sketches to my book, I will give away one art piece, that's one piece every other month till I hit my goal of 365 daily sketches.
   These little pieces of art will all be based on one of the drawings that I have done in my sketchbook, picked at random. This little give-away will be hosted on my Facebook page. I will be posting plenty of reminders within this next week.
   As for what I am working on now, I have started a portrait of my one year old grandson Ryan.

I know it's hard to see from this photo but I start my drawings very lightly, adding more and more darker values as I go. I love doing the eyes first, they really capture the essence of the person I am attempting to depict. I also love the way the drawing just seems to magically emerge from a blank sheet of paper, slowly morphing into a two dimensional work of art.
  I have more portraits that I need to get initial sketches of underway. Maybe I can get to one of those today. But now it's time to get my next daily sketch done. Y'all have a great weekend!
   

Life Just Got So Exciting!

  Whew!........It's a whirlwind. I know I have been MIA on this blog for many months now and I always regret it. I'm always trying to keep up with all the social media sites out there that I post on and it can get overwhelming at times but I'm trying to do better, bear with me.
  So much is happening that I don't even know where to begin, so I will just shoot from the hip. I have been offered an opportunity that is very exciting. In September, I will possibly be doing a one month long, art show in Beverly Hills California.
  This show will involve myself and a couple other artists and should be a big deal. There is even a possibility that it will incorporate some local craft beer artists as well. All the details are still being worked out but as soon as I have more info, I will post it.
  I do need to get some new paintings going for this show and I have decided to paint BIG. The first canvas I am going to work on is 30X40. I have an idea in my head and I just need to get it down onto the canvas, sometimes that's the hardest part. It is a great excuse to buy more paint and of course I always love to buy art supplies!
  So on top of all that, I am diligently working on my quick daily sketches. Today is day 41, and I haven't missed yet. I have thought about having a giveaway when I hit sketch number 50. Either giving away a free print or even doing a small original sketch. I will post more info about that here on my blog as well as up on my Facebook page as soon as I work out those details. Below is a shot of this 30X40 canvas that I pulled out to work on. I'm hoping to get an initial sketch onto it within the next couple days.
  Well...........time to get going and get busy!....I'll talk to y'all later.