The cafe was PACKED this morning. When we first got there, we couldn’t even comfortably stand inside to wait for a seat. So we walked over to the studio and goofed off for a while. When we got back, they were still very busy, but we got our favorite seats at the counter. We ordered a piece of coconut cream pie first thing so I could draw it while waiting for our food. Isn’t that THE perfect excuse for coconut cream pie?
My new Student grade sketchbooks have arrived! I needed something to hand out to my student(s) to work in so that I could keep track of (t)he(i)r daily progress. I needed something that would be portable, comfortable, and high quality. I needed it to not be made in China. So, I decided to have some made. I will, of course, make these available through the website, but for right now, they are just for my student(s) and the folks that volunteered to test drive them for me.
They are not really for wet media, but I wanted to try a quick watercolor on them. I zipped over to Illustration Friday to see what this week’s theme is, and found it was cravings. The first thing that popped into my mind was pickles and ice cream. So I thought I’d splash that out real quick just to demonstrate my favorite feature of these.
These have a 70# (103.6 g/m2), super white (brightness 96) paper in them and are perforated to be torn out in such a way that the final sheet is 4″ x 6″, or the size of a standard 35mm photo. That gives you a pretty neat way to keep track of the ones you like. Just slip the finished project in a sleeve of any photo album and whamo, instant portfolio.
That makes it perfect to keep on your desk, show off to your friends and family or give to your dad for Father’s Day. It’s also a very convenient way for my student(s) to keep track of (t)he(i)r progress.
I only have the one student right now, but I am STOKED about getting more.
It is time once again, the last week of every month, for the Virtual Sketch Date! At the VSD, they post a photo reference every month and you are supposed to give your rendition of it. It is open to any artist in, I believe, any medium. You are given one week after the photo is posted to put up your version. The only sort-of rule is that the first image needs to be related to the reference photo. That is, draw/paint/sculpt this image before you begin your abstract fantasy sci fi masterpiece. 
I did mine while watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Girl2. With all the jumping around and Mutant Ninja action, we had a mishap that included Girl2’s foot, my elbow and a PITT pen. For the record, you can’t really scrape cheap paper.
On that, I met with my printer yesterday and the new sketchbooks will be ready by next Friday. It really took some doing deciding what paper, binding and even the cover cardstock I wanted to use. But we finally agreed and the first set will be rolling off the presses Friday! If you would like one, I’m sending out a few to my artistic friends so that I can get some feedback before I end up with 1000 of these in my garage.
E-mail me with your mailing address and, if you’re one of the first 25, I’ll send you one!
Ah, a three day weekend. Plenty of time for rest and relaxation. Time to do the things that I have put off doing for myself like sunbathing, or taking a rest or… Oh, apperantly I’m supposed to be doing chores. I am apparently supposed to take care of the yard maintenance, the vehicle maintenance, and any other “honeydew” my lovely young bride has in mind to make our humble abode more pleasant. I pulled the lawn mower out and saw how 20+ days of rain have affected our yard and thought, “What a great painting that would make!”
So, I ran into the house and grabbed my sketchbook. I put the lawnmower just the way I thought it should go and walked around it for close to 30 minutes looking at it from different angles and configurations. This was when my wife caught me.
It’s not so much that she was mad at me, she really wasn’t even frustrated at me. She just managed to give me a look of disbelief. One of those looks that makes you feel guilty that you’re not doing what’s expected of you. She brought me a hat and my mini-sketch book and said, “That would make a nice painting.” That’s just one of the MANY reasons I love her.
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Finally, I broke out the mini-sketch book to make this color study. As I was finishing it up, I could hear the thunder. I looked up to see scattered clouds on an otherwise gloriously sunny day. I grabbed my camera phone and snapped a photo of the final layout. Ten minutes later it started raining in what we call locally rain-shine. That’s when you’re standing in direct sunlight and still get a soaking. I probably should have mowed the lawn at some point. But I believe it will make an EXCELLENT painting.
This week, I did manage to get out of my rut a bit and do just a little sketching. I had some nasty business to take care of at the local courthouse and brought the sketchbook along to help kill some time. Every other time I have done ANYTHING at the courthouse, it has been an all day affair. This time, I showed up and within fifteen minutes was doing my court thing. Then there would be a five or ten minute break and bam, right back in there. Then there was lunch and it was over. If I had not brought anything productive to do, I would probably still be there now. I did, however, get to use my trusty little brush pen.
I also made a couple of treks downtown, about a five minute walk from home, to do some sketching with the Pitt.
I still find it “scratchy” to use and am trying to get the hang of shading with a static line. I do like the consistency of the ink flow. Still getting used to it though. I actually dragged the family out for our evening walk to do the Sheppard Supply store after dark. In the dark, the shading made the brickwork look inverted so in the drawing the columns go in instead of out. I didn’t even know the difference until I went back today in the daylight.
This afternoon, after noticing the Sheppard Supply gaffe, I had a sit down with the old Washita Theater. The last movie we saw there was Star Wars Phantom Menace. It was in decline for years before that. It is a community theather now where they perform stage plays. It’s had a pretty nice face lift.  30 years ago, they closed in the balcony to put in another screen. I believe that’s been opened back up for the performances. I can’t wait to get inside and see what they’ve done to it.
