Sketch Of The Day

Hi gang!
I have got away from drawing and painting for a few weeks and I have no idea why - but I have to fix that.
Today I am starting a series of projects (one per day). Now each of these will either be a sketch or  a drawing and painting.  I miss sitting down and creating.  By my own rules, photos do not count.
So, here goes......
Day 1 - simple pen and ink sketch

Once I finished it, I decided to put it on a card front for Darcey's birthday (hence the black paper and the button you see).  I cannot ever remember drawing a "real" animal before but I think he turned out OK....although his head is a little fat.
Stay tuned until tomorrow to see what I can come up with.
Thanks for stopping by!

Pumpkin Art (sort of)

My pumpkin family is about twenty years old.  They were such a simple yet fun project to do.
My dad cut me a log and then here are the steps:
I de-barked the log (not an easy thing to do) basically by roughly cutting and then sanding the post.  
Then I cut it into sections with a chain saw.  I made the sections all different sizes.
Now for orange OUTDOOR acrylic paint - several coats.
Drill a hole in the top and glue in a dowel you painted green.
Draw and paint faces once again using OUTDOOR paint.  
And you are done.  Every year they will weather a bit more and you will find that everyone loves these permanent jack-o-lanterns.

A little story about my pumpkin family:
You will see from the photo that there are nine left in my little group.  There once were twelve.  I gave one to my daughter for her own front step when my grandson was tiny.
The other two kind of walked away.  About ten years ago, a little boy stopped by my home a week or so before Halloween, rang the bell and asked if he could have one.  How could I say "no"?  And then a few years ago, a little boy was trick-or-treating and when he was leaving, he just picked up the littlest one I had.  His dad told him to put it down and he started to sob.  As a result, that pumpkin found a new home.
Just like in a real family, apparently my pumpkins sometimes feel the need to leave the nest.
Happy Halloween.

Raspberries and Seed Pods

I love taking photos of plants and flowers. To me, a great photo is also great art.  Now, I am not suggesting my photos are great -- but they sure are getting better and I LOVE taking them.

My Raspberry Bush

amazing that there are still ripening berries.

I tried really hard to capture the ripe berries, almost ripe ones, ones that will never ripen and the various colours of foliage.

And I am very happy with it.

Seedpods on Our Back Fence

Two different stages of progression - the first is much newer than the bottom photo.  The bottom one is just about dead.

On the top one, I like how the vines crisscross in front of the pods.

In the bottom one, I focused in on the pod so the leaf in front is faded.  I am so happy that I am learning about focusing.  It is trial and error but I see how my skills are evolving.

Let me know what you think!

Fungi Continued

I was walking in the park again yesterday and found these fungi on a big old tree.  They were dying to be photographed.

Fungi Photos

Hi everyone!
I had to take these photos of some fungi in the park.  I love taking close-up pics with my macro lens.

To me, photography is one of my favourite forms of art.  Let me know what you think.

Day Of The Dead Addiction

Good day everyone!
I am soooooo loving painting these Day Of The Dead girls!
Here is my second one - acrylic on canvas:

I learned a lot doing her.  The large flower on her forehead makes her face look way too wide so I either should have made it smaller but - better yet- should have shown a hint of her other eye.  I painted in her eyelashes but they get lost in the embellishment around her eye.  Next time, I will do as Megan did and do a circle around her eye and then embellish.  The other thing I would change is the two tiny flowers beside her nose.  I just do not love them.
I know I sound very critical but over all I really like her.
Thanks for visiting.

Day Of The Dead Girl

This 12x12 canvas is done in acrylics. She is a Day of the Dead face based on the class I took by Megan Suarez. I think the black flourishes in the center of her face are a bit heavy but other than that I really like her.  She was so much fun to do.