Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Katie x 2

Katie x 2 by chaimann
Katie x 2, a photo by chaimann on Flickr.
I showed this little painting to T, and he recognized who it was,, so I rate this one "good enough".

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Snack time

Snack time

I wanted a snack, and I decided to draw it first, and then touch it up with some paint. I usually do pen sketches in a sketch book, where they stay monochromatic, so it took some courage to do one in a watercolor book. I would like to point out for the record that part on the right, where it looks like I lost track of the perspective? That IS what it looked like.

My needs for courage are rather mundane, unlike this guy. [Edited to removed embedded video. Man, I hate it when they start playing on their own.]

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Learning to swim

In my ongoing quest to incorporate more art - creativity - fun into my life, I signed up for a class on Watercolor Sketching. Aser signed up for it, too, AND called me out on her blog, so now I can't weenie out of doing the lessons.

I spent the first week painting color samples and whatnot in a tiny notebook, which is a nice reference, but hardly sketching. The other night, I told Aser I was afraid that if I combined my marginal drawing skills with my marginal painting skills, it would bring out the worst of BOTH skills.

Of course, I instantly realized the problem with that idea. My mother told me that when she was a child and they went to a lake, she was not allowed to go in the water because she did not how to swim. Because I was young when she told me this, she also stated the logical hiccup in this idea - "How are you supposed to learn to swim if you don't go in the water?"

Indeed. If you want to learn how to do something, you have to do, and be willing to screw it up, and be willing to try it again tomorrow. And let's face it - screwing up art is not nearly as scary as screwing up swimming.

This is all a long-winded way of saying, "Look what I just did!"

Candle

It's not perfect, but I think you would be able to pick this item out of a line-up. I am especially pleased at how the yellow background makes the candle stand out.

I tried to find a video of "Candle In The Wind" for our musical nightcap, but I didn't see one that especially turned me on. I found another Elton song, though, that I had not heard in ages.

Monday, March 05, 2012

Lucky Seven?


It's March 5, and it's my big brother's birthday. Cute little scamp, wasn't he? And dig that wallpaper! Don't blame our mom. It was a rental house.

It's also the seventh anniversary of starting this blog. How about that? I realized with some embarrassment that I did not post at all last month. Since I try to steer clear of work and politics, and the winter weather has been remarkably unremarkable, I guess I just haven't had much to say.

Here's some random dude with a birthday wish for my brother.