January doodle

Found a few minutes to doodle on my desk calendar last week.  Oil pastels on approx. 17x11 inch.

The planet fitness sticker was from checking out their new gym around the corner.  It's cheap and even more convenient than the gym I have now but I would still have the same #problemchild issues that's keeping me from the gym now.

New Years resoulutions 2016

OMG, what a crazy 2015 I had taking care of Mom and Dad.  I had a plan early in the year, put in an offer on a house but then Mom lost her memory of the deal.  I didn't pursue it any further, just as well for all the problems that came up the rest of the year.

So I've gained a bunch of weight in the past couple years and I'm asking the doctor for advice.  She looks at my chart, "oh, you hit a speed bump called menopause.  We're doing everything, all that's left is diet & exercise."  Well, crap, even at my most fit time in life, I was working out 6 days a week and just maintaining weight.  So goal #1 is to get back to where I was 3 years ago.  It's still heavy but I was able to maintain that weight since I was 18.  That involves daily tai chi.

Goal #2 is to reduce more stuff in the house. Last year I did good with my room.  There's more I can do there, then the kitchen. Trivial things are going start disappearing quietly, blame it on memory.

Goal #3 is to get some art in every day, even if it's just a doodle.  Doesn't have to be shareable.

#MadeWithPaper

My favorite iPad app finally came to iPhone a couple weeks ago.  I've been trying to make art on my work breaks, whenever I can.  It's finally getting easier.

I made an Oil Pastel version of The Scream back in 2007, which hangs in my cubicle office at work.  So here's the #MadeWithPaper version as my first "keeper."  I've been using the zoomed in version as my avatar at some sites.

 

I have a panda theme going on in my office cubicle.

 

 "Blinky" my 20-year old pumpkin that I won $30 first prize in a pumpkin carving contest at work.  Judges returned it back in pieces after they tore it apart to see how it worked.

Decoration on the table at Chic-fil-a.

I've been wanting to paint this leaf from my front yard all year--finally!



Edinburgh WDE

WDE reference by Triduana

pencil in 4x6 sketchbook

I went to Edinburgh in 1985 but I made the newbie mistake of buying an SLR camera just before my trip. I'd never used one before, but I took a photography class after I got home.  I think did manage to shoot one roll of film before I left for the trip.  Anyway, I mis-loaded the film several times that trip and developed 3 or 4 blank rolls of film.  I was able to retake most of the London pics before I went home, so Scotland, Netherlands, Germany and Venice has lived on in my memory.  This reference of Edinburgh is typical of what I remember of that city as we drove around in circles, dead reckoning our way to the castle.  Traveling was so much more of an adventure before Google Maps.

The very last time I mis-loaded the SLR camera was on the Great Wall of China in 2007.  Fortunately, I got a few digital snapshots on a 6Mb point-n-shoot.  Lessons learned:  After the China trip, I went and got a digital SLR and after the Europe trip, I have always traveled with more than one camera. 

OMG, time for art!

Long time no sketch, I didn't even have time in May when I went on vacation.  Two pencil warm ups and a figure in charcoal.  8x6 inch sketchbook I started in 2013 with the intention to finish that year, sheesh.

 

Sketchcrawl #46 from Jan 31

 

Sketches made on my iPad with Paper by 53 while I was running errands with Mom in tow.  I didn't have enough time to prepare with a real sketchbook and my travel paints.  Where have I put it, come to think about it...

Sky Bison

 

It's funny how in my "old age" how much I enjoy animation.  Time Warner cable sucks because their changes have left Mom without TV unless I'm there to work the cable box for her.  So I watched the whole series of Avatar Aang the last Airbender & its sequel Avatar Korra on YouTube and she's rediscovered the radio in her room.  This fluffy sky bison just looks so cuddly.  Yea, that's the March page of my desk calendar.  I wish I could call it Appa, but it's not quite Appa.

When I was a kid, I got no comics.  Comics were for boys and my parents saw no value in comics, so even my bro didn't have but a handful.  Admittedly, the cartoons were corny, too.  Entertaining but no lessons in it -- also a waste of time in my parents eyes.  The stories which are animated now are a long way from Tom & Jerry's endless chases.

2014 was boring

Wow, only 8 or 9 posts in 2014.  That's pretty bad for me.  I really haven't sketched much this year.  None at all in the last 4 months.  After the cataract surgery I posted, I had another one done on the same eye to rotate the implant so I could actually see.  It's good enough now, but there's a bit of residual from that surgery.  If it doesn't correct itself by April, I may consider another surgery to get rid of a little double vision.  I had plans to update the 20 year old TV but other things started breaking down around that time and needed replacing:  the fridge, then the clothes washer, then the car.  There goes my savings, even borrowing a little from Mom.  There was dry spell in my side business so I went and changed my withholding at work.  Then I get an avalanche of work in December which is helping my financial recovery.  I hope I don't get a whopper of a tax bill come April.

That said, I still haven't stopped collecting sketchbooks & art supplies, dammit.  LOL.  A new Hobby Lobby moved in about a mile from my house.  Oh, so tempting!  Mom has a thing right now about buying canvas bags/backpacks.  I've been painting them but I haven't been taking pictures.  The first one was a pudgy owl.  The second was a lady bug, and I have one I attempted the "monkey selfie."  It's got some drawing problems.  I'm pretty sure I'll paint over it...if & when I figure out a subject.  I've been using my cameras more, but wide angle lenses like the Polaroid Cube or GoPro don't make good pictures of artwork because of the distortion.  I'll have to figure something out and (re)start posting to my Flickr or Picasa.  It's just that my life is boring right now, all work, little play time.  Doesn't make for creative or artistic photography...just documenting my boring life.

I finally broke down to get an amazon account.  I've always had issues about credit card security & delivery left on my doorstep.  But now I can finally get stuff I've been waiting to find in a local store-- like Noodler's Bulletproof Black Ink, my first purchase.

No art goals for 2015 except to sketch more than I did in 2014.  That's a pretty low bar, but in the back of my head, I really need to use up the growing pile of sketchbooks.

Happy New Year!

Cataract Surgery

Images from 8/7/14 cataract surgery memories.  No, I didn't take the sketchbook into surgery with me, LOL I drew this while vision was still blurry but memory was fresh.    There was an anesthesiologist behind a couple of monitors but I was awake during the procedure.  Conte in 9x12 inch visual sketchbook.

Dragonfly

Reference from Scattykat's WDE 6/16/14.  Chinese Ink applied with a BBQ stick in my 4x6 inch sketchbook.

WDE Daisy

Reference from Lisilk 6/8/14 WDE weekend.  Watercolor in my 5.5x10in home made watercolor (Arches paper) sketchbook.  The light shadows in the petals got washed out by the scanner.

Sketchbook #19 put to bed

No picture to post.  I tried a couple of watercolor experiments, then covered up the learning curve  with collage.  Nothing exciting.  On the 2012 list, it was listed as the Strathmore Watermedia sketchbook.   I'm not using up my acrylics but I'm still knocking out the sketchbooks.  Yay!