george

In Peru, finger puppets are sold in the 'touristy' areas wherever we went. I was in Peru in 2008 to hike Machu Pichhu. I bought quite a few puppets & I have them scattered around my office - not sure why only in my office but that's where they are.

When I bought this one, I immediately thought of Curious George & had planned to give this finger puppet to my friend who has Curious George as some sort of mascot due to his name. I have seen Curious George items around his place. Of course, once I got home & considered passing it on, I could not. George is just too cute & he reminds me of Peru. George actually covers the chap stick I have on my desk. Another friend of mine was over (long while ago) and I picked up the george covered chap stick & he laughed. He didn't realize why I was putting george near my mouth. (: Perfect disguise.

sticks

On Sunday, after my girlfriend ran the 10K in the Calgary Marathon, we were in Eau Claire for a bite a Buffalo Cafe then met up with another friend to wander around since it was gorgeous outside (finally). Eventually we ended up at Paper Roots card shop & I saw this fridge magnet that had two stick figures drawn on it with one missing the vertical line representing the body & the other stickman was holding this line at the end of what would be his arm. The magnet said "I got your back". Made me laugh.
This same girlfriend is a nanny & is opening her own business for advice from a nanny to parents who are having questions on how to deal with issues or just how to go about doing something with their children. We just bought her domain name and I figured I'd help her at least get a landing page set up. We spoke about what she would want for a logo & she mentioned stick figures of children so I drew a few last night. I did them with my left hand as to make it a bit shakier.

I had lots of fun drawing these. It's been awhile! I added some animals (kitty & doggy) on the second page as well as a hopscotch. I actually had to check to be sure I had the hopscotch drawn correctly. When was the last time you drew a hopscotch?

I wonder...

...if I might be done with the drawing/creating a day. Mind you, I do have a cold & am frustrated by that so perhaps that's the reason I'm thinking that today. I rarely get a cold & I also rarely admit it (as to not give it any energy) but I had to at least hint at the possibility of being under the weather since I was picking up U2 tickets from my girlfriend (who has a new born) & I didn't want to hang around & chance her or her daughter getting any sort of illness. I'm on the mend but I'm still annoyed.

I drew an extremely fast drawing last before bed. I am finding it challenging to find things to draw in my house so I'm thankful the sun is out & I can start sketching outside again. Maybe I'll do that tonight.

I bought 2 fans the day we went to Playa del Carmen which was easily the hottest day when I was in Mexico. Oddly enough, I didn't end up using the fan after buying it. I'll eventually hang it on a wall somewhere since it is beautiful. One I may gift to someone but I'm (again) not sure yet.

polish

I used to love nail polish. I stopped using it years ago for my fingernails but occasionally use it on my toenails. For some reason, I have recently wanted to paint my fingernails again. I have very strong natural nails that grow really well. I have always liked my nails. So that's what I did last night; painted my fingernails.
As I was painting my nails, I saw my left hand painting the nails of my right. So my drawing ended up to be just that. My fingers/thumb are a bit off to each other but I used a 6x9 sketchbook so I'm not surprised.

Perhaps all the fingernail painting is why I can draw fairly well with my left hand.

growth

A few years ago I took a piece of a plant from my girlfriend who lives in Edmonton. I've taken a few plants from her actually but this one had only one leaf on it for quite some time & then had only two. It has remained with just two for easily half a year. Suddenly it's growing. I have a new leaf opening & another on the way to opening. What happened? No idea; I haven't done anything differently. I guess it's happy.

I have drawn one of the leaves in November of 2010 - day 67&68 and it turned out rather well.

Last night I had an idea to use watercolour & do a somewhat free flowing painting. Just lines mostly.

I fixed it a bit this morning with watercolour pencils & it looks better. I needed it to dry last night but I was too tired to wait.

caught up

Finally, I caught up after taking Sunday off. It doesn't normally take so many days to catch up when I miss a day. I wonder how this summer will go with this project...

When I was on the beach the last day at the resort, I was looking around at all the rocks near the beach. So many of them are fossilized & are very cool. I took two home with me - not sure that I was allowed but they are just rocks after all. Since I seem to be focused on Mexico & what I did there, I thought I'd draw one of the rocks I picked up.

Here is the image I took of it:


My drawing was done quickly. I used the sepia light lead for something different. I may try again with watercolour. That may be interesting! Do it more abstract.

lucky

Elephant figurines with their trunk up are supposed to be good luck if they are gifted to you (or steal them??). I was told this at the little shop we were at in Playa del Carmen. The fellow there gave us two elephants each which are made of some sort of stone. I really thought he also said you can steal them (you cannot purchase them for yourself). Why on earth would you steal them? Steal a good luck charm. Seems wrong. (:

In any case, I had the initial two that were given to me by the one fellow & then the owner of the shop ended up giving us a small bag each of elephants (7 in the bag) and they gradually go down in size. You are to face 4 to your front door & 3 to the rear. I haven't taken those ones out of the bag yet but did take out the two small ones & have them facing my front window on my coffee table. They're quite small & cute.

I drew them in my incredibly small sketchbook since they are incredibly small.

shakers

What are those things called? The shakers you buy in Mexico that are colourful & usually have something Mexican painted on them? I've asked two people & I don't know if what they called them is correct. I called them Maracas & they said something totally different (which I don't remember). I just looked it up & I was correct. Maracas. (:

I bought two sets of Maracas at the airport. They had such a great selection & I could have bought more just cuz they're fun. I bought a few more items at the airport too - vanilla was one item. Yum. The best vanilla in the world (from what I understand).

This is the set of Maracas I am keeping for myself. I may gift the other pair at Christmas since I see my family this year. Who knows though. I always find it tough to part with little things I buy that are fun & colourful. I painted them in a regular sketchbook since I rested them on my moleskin watercolour sketchbook. I drew the sketchbook in after with graphite 4B.

where I belong

So the weather here in Calgary is shit (am I allowed to swear on here?). I got back on Saturday & it was lovely outside - a nice 20C at 6:30p. Sunday was also nice; had the roof down on my car. Happy. Then it all went downhill from there. Sad. Needless to say, my tan isn't going to stick around with no sunshine.

I was a day behind from the day I got back. I had a baby shower to go to on Sunday & at the end of the day after some socializing with friends, I was not interested in drawing anything so I took a day off and have been trying to catch up ever since. I have also been spending lots of time organizing images to get the Mexico posts up. They are all complete as of last night. Yay! Now to catch up with this week.

I used my manikin to get a feel for how this would be drawn. The right arm/shoulder is out as well as the left hand/arm. Oh well. I tried. I had this vision in my mind as to what I wanted to draw & this isn't exactly it.

The next day, I decided to colour it with watercolours & it does look better. No idea who this gal is waving too. She must be blocking them. (:

last day w 2 days worth

On my last day, I was going to go to Tulum but decided against it & just relaxed on my own at the resort. It was lovely. Not everyone was around & I really didn't run into anyone very often either (not that I was avoiding anyone).

I grabbed by sketch books, watercolours & S95 in the housing & headed to the pool then the beach. Very relaxing all around. Exactly what I wanted to do. I did two paintings since I knew I had a very long travel day on Saturday so for once I was actually a day ahead.

Here is the other area.

And this is where I was when I took a photo of the painting.

And the final painting. I started with felt ink pen then coloured it in. Fun & loose.

cenote

I booked my dives for Thursday since I was busy doing other things and when I woke up, there was a crazy wind so after some waiting around & closures, we had to dive in a cenote. I am not at all qualified to dive in a cenote since there is an overhead - basically cave diving. I wasn't all that sure about it when they suggested it & now that I've done one & was frustrated with buoyancy, I am in no hurry to ever do another one. It was fresh water so they took too much weight off of my belt & I had trouble staying down! Plus, you are supposed to use your lungs only when in fresh water (or perhaps she meant in a shallow dive?? Who knows. Not the best dive I've ever done (and I have not done many) but at least I did a dive. Good little refresher - not that I really needed a refresher, just good to have a dive logged in my book. Not tasting salt water was a plus, no question.
Needless to say, my photos were not ideal. I need to either use the diffuser that comes with the underwater housing or buy an external flash. External likely best.

Not that many fishies in fresh water. I knew that - even though they said otherwise.

tortugas & more

Since we still had the car the next morning, a few of us went to Playa Akumal to see if we can SEE some tortugas. I was bound & determined to see them. There were two of us who went snorkelling initially & I said to my friend (a mom watching her kids) that if I saw some, I'd come back & let her go in too - I'd watch the kids.
I saw at least 5 of them. They're tagged so that's why it's known to see tortugas at Akumal. It was great. The other fellow who went out at the same time, was taking way too long to get his gear on so I went without him & headed for where all the other people were snorkelling. Logical? I'd say. He didn't see anything & got frustrated & went back to shore.

Once I got back to shore myself, (I ended up down the beach quite a bit) I told her to GO and take that fellow with her (her brother-in-law & my room mate). I told them where to go & guess what? They saw tortugas! They didn't bring a camera with them, silly people.

Doesn't really look like we (the turtle & I) are under water.

Love this shot!

I have more of one swimming around but two is enough for the blog & Flickr.

In the afternoon that day, the mom above as well as another lady went to Playa del Carmen. It was easily the hottest day we were in Mexico. It was great to leave the resort & go somewhere else. We took a taxi there (got a great deal) and the bus back. All worked out great & I bought a new gym back. Yay! (It's only been 10 years+).

My friends on the left side.

Playa del Carmen

My new gym bag! (It's a wee bit big.)

Once back at the resort & when we headed to our rooms for bed (we were all in the same area), we saw a few critters which we don't see very often. Pretty cool.

mixed bag

We went to Cobá on the Tuesday. We rented a car instead of doing an excursion from the resort. Less expensive and it gave us more freedom. Only 7 of us went. I was the driver (not everyone brought their driver's licence with them). It was an hour away from our resort & we had planned to go to Tulum on the way back but that didn't happen.

There were some ruins there that were once used for a game. From how I understand it, the game was in teams, each having a captain, where they threw a ball (made of what, I don't know - maybe it was a coconut) through this hole - see image below - by only using their knees. The victorious team captain was awarded the privilege of chopping off the head of the losing team captain. Yikes! Not a game I'm interested in, thank you very much.

Cobá has the only ruin left (in the area at least) that you can still climb up. This is a decent shot showing the angle of the steps. The day was HOT & I took a couple breaks as I walked up.

Not as easy as it may look. I think the rope was for the down not really for up. It was quite steep & the feeling of falling forward on the way down wouldn't be as bad by holding on to the rope since it was braced.

On the way back to the resort, I saw this woman cycling. Thankfully she had to stop at the same traffic light as we did. I had to get a shot of her on her bike in her 4 inch stilettos!

all about fashion, darlin'

It was Mexican night at the resort. In other words, the buffet had primarily Mexican food & there was entertainment in the lobby & there were vendors (like street vendors) so people could shop. It was all very colourful. (: Spanish people & areas are great for colour!

mostly coral

Here is the second day on the beach snorkelling. I got the hang of the camera more on this day. Less blurry shots & the colour of some of the coral is awesome. Better than where I snorkelled in Costa Rica (I was on the Pacific side in Costa Rica - not sure if that's an issue though).

These are out of order on my Flickr account since I realized I forgot a day when I was uploading. Oops. Likely due to having the bikini painting and photos on the same day (two posts though). I'm kinda a day ahead.....

school of fishies - they were everywhere

I like this one around the rope

great colour

like an aquarium

under the sea

I've had some trouble getting on here tonight. Odd.

As I mentioned before I left, I bought the Canon S95 as well as the underwater housing. It worked great for snorkelling. I did only one dive & I'll talk about that in a later post.

Below are some images I really liked from the first beach day. The water was gloriously warm (not like Costa Rica though) and the water visibility was pretty good considering.

I took many shots of this little guy. I wanted to be sure I got him.

Some of the coral was lovely.

Quite clear & he's big! Very happy.

Almost like they're dancing...

This day is actually the same day I drew the bikini so there's some overlap to ensure I did something creative every day.

wardrobe

What do you wear when on a warm holiday? A bikini (or the equal for a man). After a great day of being out on the beach, I was back in my room getting ready for bed & noticed my bikini on the edge of the jetted tub. I thought of drawing it there but moved it to sit on my bed & again used watercolour paint. I was really enjoying using paints instead of my usual medium.

Of all the paintings I did when I was away, this is my fav.

in the dark

My first night in Mexico & after a long day of traveling, I realized I need to draw something before bed. I hadn't taken my camera out at that point (from what I recall) so drawing was in order. That evening two people in the group took a dip in the pool & I drew the area of the pool where they were swimming. It was poorly lit so I was basically painting in the dark (more or less). For some reason, I was in the mood for watercolour. It was fun trying to see what the heck I was doing. Almost like painting by candle light but worse!

Turned out ok in the end. You can sort out where I was. The structure on the right is the swim up bar. I drank there only once on the second last day. Mostly since I hadn't & felt I should!

pot?

The evening before we left for Mexico, we stayed in a hotel in Leduc, AB. The room was basic at best & after dinner, I spent the evening in my own room watching Toy Story 3 on my laptop through Movie Central. I didn't finish the movie until today though since I was too tired to stay up & there wasn't any wifi in Mexico.
I did manage to draw that evening too. I was wandering around the room, looking for something to sketch & noticed the coffee maker. I wondered where the pot was. As I was sketching it I realized that the coffee it made directly into a mug - of course. Silly me. I don't drink coffee so hence my momentary ignorance!

I did not site this so the perspective is way off.

both

Ok, so last night I was home after 10p and still hadn't drawn. I was frantically working all day since I had to take the next day off due to the drive to YEG before the flight to Mexico Saturday morning. Nutty day. Plus, my neck went out & I have no idea how. So between work & chiro & dropping off drawings then scramble to make dinner before my meeting & seminar at 6:15...crazy day. Makes me tired just typing about it. (:

I hadn't moved my sandals from where I left them thinking I'd draw the other one eventually. That didn't happen. Instead, I did a quick watercolour in my moleskin sketchbook.

This was done rather quickly but I like how loose it is. I should draw things this quick more often. It's fun & relaxing. Never know, that may happen in Mexico! That or photography.

sunhat

Last night I started packing for my trip to Mexico since I have a seminar tonight. In all the traveling I have done, I have never been to Mexico before. Should be gloriously warm! Cannot wait.

The actual travel part is unfortunate though. The group I'm going with booked their flights out of YEG since initially most people going were out of the Edmonton area. That is no longer the case but the flights are already booked so sadly, we have a 3 hour drive the night before to fly out at 7a Saturday morning. C'est la vie.

For this trip, I bought a new sunhat. Last night I wanted to draw it but ended up using watercolour instead. So in the end, it basically turned out to be the pattern of the hat & it's tough to tell it is indeed a hat. I still like it though - the hat & the painting.

only one

I had this brilliant idea to draw my sandals and call the post 'it's time'. I drew one & that was enough for now. I will say that it is about time I can wear sandals and not wear boots. I haven't been wearing socks since Easter since that's when the warm weather basically started (and not even that warm).

Today was a great day. I had the roof down by 10:30a. Yippee!

Anyway, here's my one sandal. The right one. They are made by Cydwoq. I also have another pair in a different style in brown. Their shoes are designed to form to your foot. The designer is a former architect.

The siting is a bit off. The toe opening should be slightly closer to the tip of the sandal. Made everything else ever so slightly off too.

do not disturb

I had a friend from YWG in town Sunday to this morning. He was here for a conference all day Monday. Nice to see him. I don't see him often & it's nice to have someone in town who's known me longer than the 10 years I've lived here.
We did a lot of catching up & I realize I forget stuff! Or at least I have. I remember most things since I left Thunder Bay. Not sure what happened there. Leave my old life behind perhaps...

In any case, he stayed at The Fairmont Palliser Hotel. We were hanging out last night & I still needed to draw. I looked around the room he was in but nothing really out of the ordinary jumped out at me. The rooms have nice old lamps & stuff but still somewhat ordinary. It is a beautiful hotel, don't get me wrong. I'd stay at a Fairmont hotel in a heart beat. The rooms are just rooms though. I guess we could have gone down for a drink & I could have drawn the lobby or something in it. Next time.

This was tougher than I thought with the chain. Fun to draw though.

hidden

I have this small bird house hidden in my ficus tree by my door. I was going to draw it over a week ago but ended up doing something else. I needed a quick sketch (as usual!!) before I left the house for the day. A friend of mine was in from YWG yesterday & I knew I'd be out late.

Overall, I like it. Totally looks like where it is in the plant.

beside my bed

Every time I go to bed, I look at my lamp near my bed since it's typically on. I bought it from Ikea years ago & matches the floor lamp I also have in my room. I don't have an overhead light in my bedroom which I always find odd.



Nothing much to say about this sketch. It was tough to draw laying down holding up the sketchbook while I looked over.

colouring collaboration

Thursday was a friend of mine's birthday. We (a group of us) typically go out for something to celebrate whether that be drinks, dinner or an activity of some sort. Since it was Friday the next day, we went for drinks at Ric's Grill. We generally get there pretty early in the evening & I generally leave early since I get up so early in the morning.
Last night a couple brought their 2 year old daughter so Ric's staff gave her an activity book & crayons. She didn't do much with it aside from scribble on the last page. Once they left, one girlfriend started colouring the "Color Me!" page in the book but then left it aside. I picked it up & ended up colouring most of it when another girlfriend said "that can't be your drawing for today" and after some joking around, I reminded her that it's MY rules so I can do whatever I wanted to do. (: I then passed it around the table so everyone else could add to it too. The birthday boy added the sun in the upper left corner cuz he had to draw outside the box. The other fellow there added the face to the burger and my other girlfriend just coloured part of the burger ingredients. All around it was fun. I finished it to what it is now & by the time I left there, I had a terrible stomach ache so I decided that yes indeed, this is my drawing for day 237. Seems like a bit of a cheat but I likely spent more time colouring than I do on some of my sketches. I also did the colouring left handed.

Two of us also did the word search which we found challenging! We couldn't imagine a 10 year old being patient enough to finish it without getting frustrated.