Palm Springs, CA

View from the room at Palm Springs Tennis Resort.  I've had no time for sketching/painting this year because I've been burning the candle in 5 places in April!  Another one of those wicks will burn itself out by next week, thank God!  That's two down.  It took all three days (that's all the vacation I could spare) for me to de-stress so that I could get anything down in my sketchbook.  This is Inktense blocks in my 6x8 inch "2013 sketchbook."

I'll draw on anything!

I've had these "tattoo sticks" (gel pens by papermate) for at least 13 years--in a drawer.  I guess I've seen enough of those tattoo cover-up shows I finally "get it."  I've only ever used them for line drawings before and they always looked like crap.  I liked this enough (to share).  I've never been so attach to an image or phrase enough to get anything permanently inked into my skin.

10 minute quickie

I felt so bad that I bought another sketchbook when I've barely done anything in my 2013 sketchbook and 1/4 of the year has already passed.  I am determined to fill this one up by December 31.  I've been crazy busy, no time to sketch.  I hadn't done graphite in so long, my soft pencils & stomps have run away to another dimension.  I had to buy new ones.

Inspired

I've been busy with lots of work, wanted to do something loose.  I found inspiration at Ross (store).  Acrylics in the Smash journal.

"Hot" iPad sketch

#madewithpaper --  I'm still getting used to the sketching/painting apps and stylus but at least I'm not getting cartoony results like I got with programs on the PC. 

Damn, I'm still thinking "2012."  I had to correct my (written) journal and some entries at work the same week I sketched this.

Still trying to convince myself...

Nothing has to make sense!!!  I'm too logical.  I need to have a story. Trying to break out of my comfort zone.

I'm supposed to be working for a new custormer.  Nothing makes me want to do art more than having a monkey on my back.  Damn.

Sketchcrawl #38 from Behind Bars

The bars are the wrought iron fence that surround Mom's house.  My life is not my own.  I was  the chain gang all day, fighting bouganvillas and weeds.  I was resting inside the garage when I sketched this.  Oooo, my truck actually came out well and so did the car, although the perspective between the two is wonky and makes the car look like it's parked sideways.  (graphite in my new 2013 sketchbook)

I caught a cold

I've been trying to think where the time is flying to.  Yea, I caught the crud that's going around.  I have a remnent cough left.  The iPAD is taking up my time, still hunting for apps.  I ran out and got a $15 iTunes card because I still don't trust the internet with my credit card.  Then I remembered my credit card points can pay for a gift card.  Cool beans, it's arrived!

It's been too cold down at my computer to work/surf into the night so I've been cuddled up in my bed with the iPAD.  Not alot to sketch up in my room, but I had an idea I've been developing in my head based on crash test dummies, LOL!  Okay, I still don't get how illustrators manage the same proportions over and over again.  I can make an image I like but I can't repeat it.

another iPAD sketch

I wasn't happy with this "Oil Painter" app because I don't like the color choices, they're all too bright, and not happy with the tools.  They're too childish, and I think that was the original intent of the app, made for kids.  So now I've tried something more serious with it.  I think I can make it work with more practice to learn to pull more detail out and mix the colors I want from what they offer.   There isn't much choice for oil painting, this probably the only "free" app.  I've tried ArtRage free for a PC, not free for iPAD. Parrot from this week's WDE reference.

iPAD sketches

These are made in Paper by Fifty-Three, references from a book I've been meaning to use for 3 years.  I upgraded to get the watercolor tool, which acts like the thin, unsized paper I use for Chinese Brush painting.  Didn't get the color mixer because you can layer the watercolor.  Didn't seem that useful.  It's the only app I've paid for to date, the only one I've been 100% satisfied with (does everything I want it to do.)  Oh no, what will become of my sketchbook goals?

Productive weekend

Cold, rainy weekend.  Plans were to be elsewhere but weather cancelled those plans.  I baked!  The pot pie came out great as did the bread pudding.  I was too busy with the art to do biscotti today.

I knew I had alot of sketchbooks started and I knew I had alot of acrylic paint. I have alot of paper, too. After taking that Color & Design class in 2008, I went a bit crazy with the paint purchases.  They're getting a bit old now.  The earth colors/browns just aren't holding up.  I was taking stock.  OMG, that's alot of paint tubes. Half are the small, skinny tubes but I recently bought a color I thought I was out of--whoops.

So I filed away another sketchbook, #15.  I started the day with the three film canisters of left over paint from that 2008 class.  I get to end the day with just one--blue.  I made two new sketchbooks, actually they're reused/repurposed old notebooks.  I'm going to need more Mod Podge, hehe.

My art goals in the past few years was to (2009) use up paper, (2011) to use up sketchbooks, and to use up paints.  Okay, two goals for 2013:
  1.  To use up all the skinny paint tubes plus Galeria.  The Galerias were my starter paints.  I guess I have to learn to paint thick.
  2.  To use up all the sketchbooks that were on my 2011 list plus "Julie Sketches 2013."  They're the ones with the checks and list how many pages I have left to go.

Sketchbook #15 put away

This is the end of my first homemade sketchbook.  Mixed media.  I've been wanting to do orange & blue, I've been wanting to do circles.  I've been wanting to finish this sketchbook and put it away.  This also makes half of my 2011 goals list of 10 sketchbooks, I finished off five in the last two years.  Unfortunately, I'm such an addict I seem to start two for every one I finish.  What's up with that?

Just this morning, I've started making another home-made.  I had an idea while I slept to take one of my wire notebooks which is going nowhere and glue pages together with Mod Podge.  Then I glue drawing paper on top of that from a pad I don't like.  It's going to be my next "smash" book.