chess anyone?

I have had this Looney Tunes chess set since I was in my early twenties. I bought it from the Franklin Mint apparently in 1990 so that's likely when I started getting the pieces in the mail.

Each piece came with it's co-responding pawn every other month & had a small write up about the character sent. I love this chess set even though rarely play chess. I still have every piece & write up.

The white characters are the 'good guys' and the black are the 'bad guys'. I was going to draw the whole thing but that proved to be a bit much! I drew the back of the 'bad guys' instead. From left to right are: Henry Hawk (rook), Marvin Martian (knight), Wile E. Coyote (bishop), Elmer Fudd in drag (queen), Yosemite Sam (king), Sylvester (bishop), Foghorn Leghorn (knight), and Tasmanian Devil (rook). The pawn is the canon.



I will have to draw the 'good guys' eventually but not today. I was going to draw just one piece but ended up wanting to draw more of it.
I cannot scan in something this large so this is a photograph - which is why there are shadows on the paper. I only used the flash on the camera.

Here's a quick photo of the board from the angle I was sitting (more or less).

Picasso eyes

I saw an image done with either markers or paint (or Photoshop™) & I liked it. So I decided I'd do my own rendition of it. In the image I saw, the person had sunnies on so in other words, you can't see the eyes (also 100% bald). I liked mine until I put the eyes in or I should say the eyeballs in the drawing. These eyes look like eyes with no depth somehow. I added the blue shirt only because I needed the eyes to NOT stand out so much. Bit creepy otherwise.

I added more brown to the hair & face to give a bit more depth.

For fun I scanned in the B side since I can see right through this marker paper. Let me also add that this brand (Letraset™) does NOT bleed through to the page underneath it at all - which is fantastic! The stuff I bought at the rendering course I took in August does bleed which makes the next page basically garbage unless I remember to take the sheet out before I start.

B side:

I am totally trying this again! Fun with markers! The smell is a bit strong though...

practicing in circles

As I mentioned the other day (& likely previously) I should practice circles in perspective. So last night I decided I'd give it a go. On my coffee table I had my glass, some tea-lites in holders & my pencil sharpener (more oval than circular) & oh, I drew in a plant pot at the end. I really feel this dwg is quite messy all around & felt that even when I was doing it. As I slowed down drawing these items though, the circles turned out better. My glass was the first item I drew then the pencil sharpener, the tea-lite holders going from left to right then to the bottom. The plant pot was last but by then I think I was circled out.

Tea-lite top right looks the best to me. I will practice again! I'll map out the circular items next time which will help.

coffee?

So as most of you know, I don't drink coffee but I'll gladly go for tea. My sister & I went to Good Earth today for "coffee" to sketch something. I wasn't all that inspired to draw anything there at all. My sister was drawing a lady having coffee w her friend & I was looking around trying to decided what to draw.
I finally settled on this young fellow listening to music & reading a magazine. He was right across from us & not moving too much. I did a very quick sketch which I really do enjoy doing - quick with less thought. Nice change!

I cut off the legs when I scanned this in cuz they turned out weird & the table's perspective is wee bit off - which is why the legs are weird. I should practice circles in perspective...

chocolate con leche tortugas

Without question, Turtles are my favourite chocolate goodie at Christmas. Sadly (kinda) I received a box from my sister & sadly (again), I am eating them! I was already feeling sugared out & yet I still eat them. Please send help! (:

Anyway, it ended up being a great subject to draw. The box is an interesting shape (mostly the lid) and there are stripes so I figure, why not? I realize now that I didn't really shade it at all & I feel it needs colour. I may shade & colour it tomorrow which will make it a two day drawing. We'll see if I find anything else to draw instead.

joint effort

As most of you know, I use my left hand occasionally to draw with & as I determined last week, using it for watercolour may not be the best idea due to lack of patience on my part. Well, for this painting, I did use both hands - predominately my right but the left hand did its part. I found it easier to use my left when something was angled in such a way that my left hand had the advantage. I will admit, the left is a bit shakier but it certainly helps to be able to use both hands.

It took me three days to do this painting. I did not take progress shots since the quick layout I did on Friday night was too faint to capture & Saturday I ended with a really odd beige/orange colour on the left building that I knew I was changing (painting over) when I worked on it next. I finished it today. I took a day off from it yesterday (I will post that dwg next).

This is painted from a photograph I took in New York a few weeks ago. This is labelled cool building on my Flickr account. It is a restaurant on East 42 Street near where we stayed. I saw that it was a restaurant one day when I was walking on the same side of the street & could see inside (this may have been the same day I took this shot).
I only have 6 colours of paint plus white so all colours are made from the 2 reds, 2 blues, 2 yellows & white I have. Oh, I did use a silver metallic paint - used for faux finishing my living room wall - for the metal on the front buildings only.

I have the photo next to the painting (both taped to drafting board) & when I look at it from the hall, the painting looks really good & I walk up to it & it still looks good! (:



I just replaced the original photo I took of this painting. Much better!

let it dry

Watercolours take time. I know this & mentioned it yesterday. So I tried again today - but with my dominate hand this time!

I wasn't exactly original with my subject matter. Below is my new(er) watercolour kit and the watercolour brush I have that actually holds water so I can do watercolours on the go! (My sister had this brush & it's brilliant so I had to buy one too!) I added the paint after the sketch was done.
I like this. (:

blah brown

I got this brainy idea to go left handed today & what do I choose as a medium to work with? Watercolour! I realize I have little patience for the drying time watercolour truly requires but yet I keep trying it when I'm feeling rushed. Silly, I know. I need to use watercolours when I am willing to allow myself more time to really use them properly (i.e. let the paint dry as needed).

Keep the left handed stuff to simpler endeavours - pencil, colour pencil, ink & markers. For now at least.

mail?

This letter opener I have fits in your hand perfectly. It is an odd shape & it really is a work of art of its own. I have had it for years! I truly cannot remember how I came to own it. Did I buy it or did my sister buy it for me? I'm sure she will tell me once she reads this.
In this drawing I ended up cutting off the tip of it since I ran out of paper. I was using a sheet that I drew on the other day cuz in theory, it should have fit. I ended up drawing it a wee bit bigger. Oops! So the end is cut off - it comes to an actual point.

It was easier to draw than I originally thought it would be. Nice surprise! It is a very unique piece. I'll have to draw it again (or photograph it) with my hand holding it.

PS I still have some cake left (any takers?!?) & am still addicted to chap stick. *sigh*

day 100

So here it is: day 100. I was thinking I should draw something significant but why is today any different from any other day?

Today I received a very generous gift from a supplier who I have yet to purchase from. It is a white log cake - the white cake is rolled with icing to make the log (I've not baked one before so is this how they're made?).
I looked at it initially & wondered who on earth am I to share this with (living alone & all). I mentioned this to my younger sister who said just grab a fork & go to town! This seemed unheard of at the time she said that (an hour ago). I don't eat gluten in my day to day life & this is made from white flour so there is definitely gluten in it. Since I was having a very heathy steak dinner tonight, thought I'd cut just a small piece off for dessert. As I was cutting, a small bit broke away & I just popped it in my mouth. YUM-MEE!!
So needless to say, the 'grab a fork & go to town' is likely exactly what will happen over the next few days. It is easily the best cake I have had in a very very long time. Not overly sweet & utterly delicious! Pop by for a piece before it's gone! (please?)

drawing anything

Last night I decided to organize my iTunes music. What an endeavor! I was at a friends house yesterday & she was kind enough to burn some new music for me (thank you thank you!) so that's what prompted it. I needed to move my music library from my PC to my Mac anyway so I figured yesterday was as good a time as any. Needless to say, I didn't notice the time fly by as I was working away & I'm still not done! (I'm actually organizing & deleting doubles.)

It was 10p when I stopped & knew I had to draw something. This was it. Again, it's not what I draw, it's that I draw.



Seeing it now, the papers that my sketch books were sitting on are a little off perspective-wise. The books look good though.

post baking

Tonight I finally did some Christmas baking and I mean finally. I normally have something done by now but ultimately, who's going to eat it? Me. I know I have friends who will gladly share whatever I do bake but they're not here NOW when the tarts are fresh. I will admit, the butter tarts are quite delicious. I've had just a few & will not have anymore now until tomorrow.

This is the view of my sink after dishes done & tarts still warm. Yum!

Canon 7D

Sometimes I need to do a quick drawing & contour drawings generally are the best for that & they're fun to do.

This is a very basic drawing of my dSLR. This camera is great & serves me well. I am thinking of buying a plastic film camera (Diana F+) similar to the one my sister & a friend of mine have cuz I think it would be interesting to play around with film again. There are different lenses & it even comes with a flash! Keep you posted!

addiction or habit?

For as long as I can remember, I have always used chap stick. There are tubes in my car, my junk drawer, my office, my bathroom, my pocket (occasionally I put it there since I don't carry a handbag) & it never seems like I don't need it. Drives me crazy!
I have decided to get off it - easier said than done. It's like Crack! Or what I think something as addictive as Crack would be since I have no idea. I also have no idea what is in chap stick to cause it to be so addictive but there certainly is something. My friend said it's alcohol - is there alcohol in chap stick? Is lipstick also addictive? Or is it the moist feeling on the lips that causes people to continually use chap stick?

Whatever it is, I need for it to be gone! Good luck Nance!! (:

Here are a few that were in my junk drawer. I set them up on a piece of paper since the black granite coffee table doesn't always make it easy to draw from. Yes, I could move I suppose.

Ampelmännchen

My ex-boyfriend took me to Berlin for my 40th birthday - what a city! Already I want to go back (along with so many other places I haven't been yet - and some I have!).

Two fun items you see in Berlin are the walk symbols - both red (don't walk) & green (walk). In Europe, I find myself saying 'green guy' when the light changes & I'm about to walk across the street since the 'guys' are coloured both red & green - I walk lots when I'm away. Obviously I'm with someone & I'm not talking to myself! I started doing this when I was in Paris in 2009 without really noticing - I was just stating the obvious. I was told to pay attention to the 'green guy' by my ex's cousin-in-law (we were in London before Berlin). They crack me up. The red guy seems as though he's trying to give you a hug not stop you from walking across the street.

I have a shirt & 2 coasters that show these guys - there are Ampelmann Shops just to market them. Apparently they were the walk symbols in the former East Berlin during the cold war (proving that someone had a sense of humour). I read that there was a start to change them to the boring western walk symbols but were greeted with an uproar. Thank goodness! These are just too much fun not to keep around. Germans can be quite serious you know.

Below are my coasters. The black thick line is the dark reflection they make on my granite coffee table (I needed the black background for the actual 'guy' to really show them properly. They are made of thick felt & are basically decorative in my house. You can see christmas ornaments in the online store (which would be the cut out part of the coaster I have).



Here's a photo I stole from another site so you can see what they actually look like - I took photos but this is darker & very specific.
See, doesn't the red guy look like he wants a hug?

vice

I often wonder why I buy stuff. I was at Costco the other day & came across the Brookside Chocolate covered almonds. I recall that they were out for awhile so when I saw them, I just grabbed a bag without much more thought than that. The problem is, that when things like this are in my house, I eat them like candy - oh wait, it is candy! Self control seems to be elsewhere. I know that I could just buy a SMALL bag of these things somewhere else but the true Costco mentality is really quite evident when you're there ..."but it's so much cheaper if I bag a 1.5 kilogram bag than if I buy a snack size...". So you talk yourself into it. Doesn't take much to be honest. Who can resists? Well, once they're in my house, I cannot. If there's anyone out there who CAN resist these delicious little morsels, let me know how you do it.



I did not allow room to write the description en Français.

fruit

Somehow I ended up with all this fruit. It is rare that I have as much as I currently do. I bought a small box of oranges ('tis the season) and picked up some ataulfo mangos for myself & a friend (easily the best mangos out there - yum yum). Due to this abundance of fruit (there are pears, apples & bananas in there too), I decided to actually put it in my ceramic fruit bowl. Looks great & proved to be an awesome subject (yay colour!). I was going to use watercolour but I knew I didn't have the drying time. I sketched it then added coloured pencil. I added the shading with both pencil & brown coloured pencil.

If I still have some fruit left in the bowl by the weekend, maybe I'll paint this too.

I could buy more fruit to replenish the bowl but do I really need this much sugar again? (never mind the chocolate that seems to appear in my house too - 'tis the season dammit) (:

chair & a half

I decided to draw this candle holder I have so I took it out from where it normally rests. I basically put it right in front of me as I sat on the sofa & realized it would be too easy to draw just the candle holder & be done. Instead, I started drawing what was behind it (my chair & a half) to give it some sort of context even though it is never in the place I just put it. It, of course, evolved into what this drawing is now. A candle holder in a weird spot in my living room (if you've been to my place, you'll know this to be true). I even sketched in the Looney Tunes characters on the pillow.

Perspective turned out ok all around. Needs colour - as I keep saying when I do quick sketches. Is it all the beautiful art I saw in New York causing me to want colour?!?

Jelly belly

I've been wanting to draw or paint one of the photos I took of the polar bears in Churchill. I like the shot I took of the female I saw who came up to the buggy quite often. She was nicknamed Jelly belly by the tour company.
She was quite 'friendly' if you want to call it that. She stretched up the side of the buggy - which is how I was able to get the photo I did get. I posted the photograph back in October on both the blog & flickr.

This shows how she stretched up:


Here is my watercolour of her. I think it's a bit over worked (being that I should have stopped the painting sooner).

new toy

When I was in New York, I went to NYDC (New York Design Centre) and there was this area where things were for sale for quite cheap. It was very picked over all around & I really didn't have room in my luggage to take anything home but I did run across this little guy. He put me over a whole 54¢ & I even debated over buying him at all - silly since he's so small & really cost nothing. I didn't buy very much in New York & this little green guy will sit on my desk & smile at me every day I sit there.

Worry Dolls

I received these worry dolls years & years ago - I think I was a teenager (wow, I keep things for a long time!). Worry dolls are used to tell your worries to so you can sleep. I was told that if you are having trouble sleeping, you should open the container they rest in, tell them your worries & spill them out (onto a night table or the like) & they will work on your worries as you sleep so you don't have to.

Traditionally, I guess they're for children (& they are to go under your pillow) but I think if you can pass your worries to something else, go for it! They're quite cute & small. I seem to have 4 women & 2 men looking from how they're dressed.
I keep them beside my bed but don't use them. I sleep pretty soundly all around.

This first is a watercolour. I must admit that I can have little patience for watercolour at times (the fact that it must DRY before I continue). This ended up being more abstract than I first started out. The worry dolls are laying in front of the container. I staged my spill of dolls on my coffee table.



This next one really shows how small they are. Granted, my hand should be slightly larger but you get the drift.
I like drawing & having only the focal point in colour.

back to dwgs

Since I returned from New York, I dove right back into drawing. Being creative in what ever capacity is great regardless & photography is definitely important for me too.
I am not posting these on Flickr since they have all been pretty quick sketches.
My phone below is quite LONG compared to how it actually is. I use a headset at home cuz I'm all about hands-free & my neck doesn't like it if I hold the phone between my head & shoulder.

This is my little massager that I really don't use. His smiley face sits on a shelf in my bathroom. Smiles are always great to surround yourself with - even if they are on inanimate objects!

NYC

I was in New York City last week. I haven't been before - what a city! Love it, love it!

I did not draw while I was there due to time restraints & I really just wanted to BE there. When I was in the museums, I wanted to just be with the beautiful art which I have never seen before. To just enjoy where I was without obligation to do anything but enjoy & be there. I (already) cannot wait to go back!

Many people talk about being present in the moment. When I am in a place that has this type of art & history, I cannot help but be present. It's such a great feeling.

Below are some shots from my trip. There are many many more on my Flickr site (as well as on my computer). There is at least one per day (my creative outlet was photography while I was away).

I found myself taking many vertical shots. New York is all about looking UP!! Awesome!

November 30 - 365 day 80

lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Plaza

December 1 - 365 day 81

walking after seeing Wicked

December 2 - 365 day 82

Very cool building on East 42 Street (near hotel)

December 3 - 365 day 83

NY public library

MoMA












top of the Rock








December 4 - 365 day 84

Rockefeller Plaza & top of the Rock again

December 5 - 365 day 85

Brooklyn Bridge & Bobbles on 5 Ave near Rockefeller Centre

on the plane

I forgot that I did this drawing on the plane to Toronto on Tuesday night (LATE!). Nothing fancy but I wanted to draw something. I was sitting in an aisle seat for a change so I was drawing the older fellow who was sitting one row ahead & opposite me. I darkened the dwg once I got home since it was quite light.

looking down

I was desperate to draw SOMETHING & couldn't decide what. So I looked down my stairs & thought it would be a great perspective. Stairs are not the easiest to draw but all around, for a very quick sketch, it turned out pretty well.

Maybe I should colour it....
Should ask my sister how to do that in photoshop.

zoom zoom

I was away last week & didn't have a chance to upload the last 2 dwgs I did before I left.

This is a toy car that I have sitting on my desk. I have easily had this since I was around 17 years old. Crazy.

I started this with watercolour but it was too washed out. I added colour pencil on top of it once it dried enough.