Paper and Threads

We just returned from our second trip to London to visit our daughter, son-in-law, and two small grandchildren.  The foiled bomb plot in London occurred since our last visit so the Heathrow restrictions were now in place.  Each passenger is allowed ONE bag that is no larger than 45cm x 35 x 16 (18 in x 14 x 6.4).  No liquids or gels of any kind are permitted, even tube lipstick.  My bag contained my sketchbooks, journal, a pencil case with a pencil, eraser, and Zig Millenium pen, a book to read, my camera and card reader, jewelry, my wallet/passport, Filofax, kleenex, gum, and a comb.  My waterbrushes and watercolor paints were packed in my luggage, thus the JFK airport pen/ink sketch which I intend to leave that way as a reminder of this terrorist-shaped period in our lives.  It was amazing to me yesterday to see the large table full of confiscated items at Heathrow, and the number of passengers who arrived with 2+ carryon bags.  We heard that the restrictions will be lightened this week which is good, because we need to bring the Halloween costumes for our next visit!

 Back to work tomorrow so I will post some of my sketches from the trip slowly over the next week.

Posted by Shirley at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This Wet Canvas exercise in creativity encourages the artist to move from realistic to abstract in a series of 4 sketches.  I did it earlier this year using an image of household scissors.  This time I sketched a small art piece of seagulls that my now-grown children gave me on Mother's Day when they were children.  It now "lives" in the center of a round table in my office at work.  Each of these sketches were done quickly in my office because my day was full and I needed to do my "sketch-a-day" at work instead of at home in the evening.  Sketches 2-4 were done in a Moleskine watercolor journal with a Zig Millenium pen and Winsor-Newton tube paints in 3 colors (yellow ochre pale, Payn'es gray, and burnt sienna).

Posted by Shirley at 7:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I sketch and paint anywhere, and rarely use space in my very small, very crowded textile studio.  My goal this year was do at least one sketch every day and to explore watercolor washes with pen and ink.  Most frequently, I don't have time to think about the sketch-of-the-day until in the evening after work and then I want to spend time in our library with my husband.  So this half of the couch is my current workspace.  I work in journals that are no bigger than 6 x 9 inches; use both a travel set of watercolor paints and a palette with dried tube watercolor paints, Pigma micron and Zig Millenium pens, and Niji waterbrushes.   I intended to sketch more of the couch, bookcases, leather footrest and chair, but ran out of space due to poor planning.      

Posted by Shirley at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When I first read the EDM chalenge, at 5:30 in the morning, I thought that it said traffic light.  So I grabbed my camera when I left for work and took a photo of the traffic light on my corner.  I didn't want to get run over as I stood in the intersection sketching and decided a photo would have to be used.  After I sketched and painted it, I realized that Karen's email said "streetlight".   Since the streetlight is the single pole that holds everything, I sketched it too.  The height has been shortened to make the composition more compact.  There are endless varieties of street lights in my neighborhood (one light or two) and traffic lights (single and fixed to the pole or double and triple and suspended over the intersection on a long arm that is attached to the street lamp pole).  Since this is such a walking city, I also included the Walk - Don't Walk signs that are on the street lamp pole.

Wednesday night I was in mid-town Manhattan and noticed that they have much nicer lights on their poles.  Before this challenge, I never realized that there were regional differences in street lights on the main streets in the City!

Posted by Shirley at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

When this challenge was announced, I sketched an ear in pencil because I lacked the skills to paint it in watercolor.  Then I decided to take photos of each of my grandchildren and practice.  The ear on the left is Robbies and it was painted in a Super Aquabee.  The two on the right were painted in a Moleskine watercolor journal.  It is definitely easier to scan the Moleskine.  I used alizarin crimson, winsor lemon, burnt umber and Payne's gray. 

Posted by Shirley at 7:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)