More elephants

I am done with school, so now I should have more time to draw and blog. Well, I am almost done with school, anyway. Before I graduate I have to do this computer proficiency thing that is so outdated that the links that I'm supposed to click on don't even exist anymore. It really is ridiculous that someone that has completed a Master's of Library and Information Science degree has to do this very elementary computer test anyway. There's no way someone could have completed the program without knowing how to create and send documents and other ridiculously simple things like that. It's just one more hoop to jump through and I'm annoyed.

Anyway, we were supposed to get a snow storm here today, but it has been downgraded. Right now it is actually raining. Hopefully that rain isn't going to freeze. Since I don't have to go out today, I was hoping for a snow storm. I am not a huge fan of snow, but it kind of fun when you don't have to go anywhere.

Going back to the drawing above, I did this about a month ago, when I needed a break from school work. I loved my class, but reading 5 books per week left little time for drawing. I did, however, manage to sneak in some time for these elephants.

Elephants

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm back in school. This is actually the last class in my graduate program, which means I will done soon! The class that I am taking is called Library Materials for Young Adults and I'm just loving it so far. It entails reading about 5 books per week, which leaves little time for drawing. However, I wasn't feeling well today and took a sick day. After finishing one of my books this morning, I decided to do some drawing. These elephants are the result. Tomorrow is my day off, so I'm thinking that if I finish another book, I will do some painting. I haven't painted in ages!

5 Little Pigs

Where have I been all summer? I don't even know where I've been, really. It just all went by so fast it was one big blur. Summers tend to be like that. I didn't do much drawing all summer and I really am starting to miss it. I guess it could be the fact that I'm back in class and that once I have homework to do, I'll do anything to avoid it... But I don't think that's it. I think I just have really been missing it. Anyway, just to get back in the swing of things, I sketched these little piggies. Hopefully I'll do some more sketching in the coming days...

Yes, it's a cow...

As promised, I'm posting something other than a rhino. It is a cow, in fact. I do love cows. Love their eyes and their always nosy expressions. They always look like they are demanding to get in on the secret--whatever the secret may be.


It has been such a nice day today, but I've spent most of it inside being lazy. I did go out earlier and bought a pot of purple petunias. They're beautiful, but I hope I can keep them alive. I have this tendency to forget to water things. I put them right outside my living room window, so seeing them right in front of me (as I am on the ground level) should remind me to give them a drink now and then.

OK, another rhino...

OK, here's another rhino in colored pencil. I promise I'll post something different next time.

more rhinos

Well, what did you expect? I will always draw rhinos. Anyway, more playing around with colored pencil. I am finding colored pencil, once I get started, to be very relaxing. Now that I have a pencil sharpener that is working well and sharpening things wicked sharp, I am happy. The colors that I keep reaching for over and over tend to be black cherry, black grape, indigo blue, dark purple, peacock green, peacock blue, slate grey, and light cerulean blue. I guess these are my rhino colors. One of these days I'm going to try another portrait.

I'm feeling distressed as I'm supposed to be hosting the weekend drawing event this weekend and the wetcanvas site has been down for a couple of days. I did receive an e-mail from them that it should be working sometime soon, but won't be back to normal until somewhere around the end of the month. I was really looking forward to hosting and I have a feeling this will put a damper on my fun:( I did just e-mail one of the moderators and asked her if I should plan on business as usual. We'll see what happens...

A sketch

This is one of my efforts for this week's weekend drawing event. I drew it on my new pad of 6x6 bristol board. These 6x6 pads were a very exciting find. They're perfect for the weekend drawing event where you have to post your work after 2 hours. As I usually work with graphite or colored pencil, I don't get much done if I'm working larger. Anyway, as usual, the scanner didn't cooperate and I lost all the shading in face, but all in all, I'm happy with this sketch.

My first attempt with drafting film

I kept reading about drafting film and wanted to give it a try. It was very strange working on something that you could see the background of the surface you were working on through the paper. It was hard to see, at first. I did lay down color on both sides, which was also odd. Anyway, I plan on working on this more and we'll see where it goes. All in all, an odd, but somewhat pleasant experience...

Rhinos in love...

Even though I recently started a new blog, solely for my rhinos, I will still post them here from time to time. This colored pencil drawing was started several months ago and when I was recently looking for my tax forms, I came across it, and started working on it again. That's one of the only good things about spending time looking for things: you often come across other lost things. I did even find the tomatoes that I blogged about a few posts ago. Anyway, these two rhinos are from a Sumatran Rhino sanctuary in Indonesia. It is not a public domain photo, but I just could not resist snatching it and drawing it. There are no public domain photos of Sumatran rhinos (well, very few, anyway), so that's one of the many reasons why I need to take a trip to the Cincinnati zoo--so I can take my own.

I am really enjoying playing around with colored pencils. I am finding that I am drawn to the same colors over and over. I don't know too much about color theory and should probably read a bit more about it, but I'm finding that a lot of it is kind of personal preference and somewhat intuitive. If I was going for total realism, the theory of it all would be more important... The problem I have with finishing a colored pencil drawing is fear that I'm going to ruin it.

Just a sketch...

Here is my "just a sketch for the day." I am sitting here with my fingers crossed (which makes it awfully difficult to type) that my T-1098 comes in the mail today. I have my taxes all prepared except for that part. This is the form that gives me a bit of a break for being a student and can add up to a few hundred dollars. I'm going to e-file today whether it comes or not, but please let it get here! You may be wondering why I am waiting for it today on deadline day. Why didn't I have it before? Well, I lost it. That's sort of the story of my life. I'm always losing things: my glasses, my keys, papers, etc... I actually spent about 10 hours this weekend looking for one of my w2s (found that one finally) and this particular form. If I could get a dollar for every hour that I spend looking for something, I would be obscenely wealthy. Anyway, I thought I could relax last week after finishing my class, but no, tax day was coming and I still had the big w2 hunt of 2008 to look forward to. But tomorrow it will be over and I will rest on my laurels!

Moo to you...

Good moo-rning. Sorry, could not resist that. Anyway, here is the start of another colored pencil drawing. And a start that cannot be worked on more, for now... Why may you ask? Well, another electric pencil sharpener seems to have bitten the dust. This is getting ridiculous. What has it been? A month? I think I mentioned that I had bought the extended warranty, but I don't even think I have the receipt, so who knows if that will do any good. What is it with me and electric pencil sharpeners? I think they all have it in for me...*grumble grumble*

Three Dancers (not dancing)

This is this weeks effort for the weekend drawing event at wetcanvas. I'm pretty slow with colored pencil and this is where it is after 2 hours. I'm hoping to work on it a bit more. If I do, I will post the update.

On another note, we were supposed to get a big winter storm here last night and today. Fortunately, it seems to be sticking to rain. They were predicting 6 to 9 inches, so I'm very glad that it is raining. I'm ready for spring!

Queen Phoebe's Dance Mix

Yes, I know this is my drawing blog, but I just wanted to share the video that I made of my cat, Phoebe. This is one of her favorite pastimes.

It's raining...

Or it was raining yesterday. I haven't looked outside yet, but according to my little weather icon, it is snowing. This is not unusual for April 7th, so I shouldn't be surprised. I'm sure it will all melt right away anyway. I did the above sketch for the weekend drawing event at wetcanvas, however, as I was swamped with homework, I never even got around to posting it. Yesterday we got out of class several hours early (at 11:30 for a class that was technically supposed to go until 5), but I just needed the day to recover--both mentally and physically. So, I didn't do any drawing or anything else for that matter. I took a sick day today as I was feeling very run down and had a bit of an upset stomach, so I'm determined that today is going to be a drawing and painting play day. I'm very excited to get started.

Just a sketch...

I am just going to pop in and post the sketch I did this morning as I haven't done much more than sketch lately. My class meets for the last time this weekend, so I'm frantically trying to finish all of the assignments that will be due. That's the danger with this classes that meet one weekend per month--I save everything for the last minute. I have been doing everything in my power this morning to avoid homework (the danger of having to use the computer for homework is that the Internet is there with all of its glorious distractions). Anyway, time for me to buckle down. I did take the day off from work, so I could work on this homework, so that's what I need to be doing. Another thing that is making it all difficult is the fact that spring has actually arrived. It is 49 degrees and sunny outside and after a long, cold, snowy winter, one just wants to go outside and do a little spring dance, but in my case, one must stay inside and type type type...

Anyway, as mentioned, I have been doing a lot of these quick pen sketches lately. When you don't have a lot of time, its a good way to get a little drawing in. It is also quite liberating to not be able to use the good ol' eraser as you just go for it and maybe observe things a little more closely and carefully since you don't have your eraser friend to fall back on. I should also mention that I would love to do what this boy is doing (well, perhaps I would sit rather than stand). It is a dream of mine to ride through the jungle on an elephant's back.

In Search of Lost Drawings...

Like Marcel Proust, I am in search of something lost. While Proust may have been looking for lost time, I am looking for a lost drawing. And as Marcel's volumes are known for their extended length, my search is also known for its lengthiness. In my search, I have uncovered many other drawings that were lost, but not this particular lost drawing. The drawing I am searching for is the above drawing of tomatoes. I would like to finish it and give it to my mom for her birthday, but I can't do that if I can't find it. I'm sure Marcel Proust (well, maybe not now as he is no longer with us) could come up with a lengthy prose passage on these tomatoes, but I don't know if I have it in me to embark in another lengthy search for them. Anyway, on a positive note, I did find the elephant drawing that I had been looking for (these guys here).

In the continuing saga of electric pencil sharpeners, I took a trip to Office Max last night and I bought a new one. And going against my "never buy the extended warranty for anything rule," when the guy asked me if I would like to pay an extra $2.99 for an extended warranty, I jumped on it. This will guarantee it for 2 years. Considering the fact that all of mine have died on me in about 6 months time, this is a good deal.

Another Portrait...

One of my creative goals for the year is to complete a colored pencil portrait. I had started a colored pencil portrait before, but got frustrated and quit. I have done some tiny ATC sized colored pencil portraits, but those are so small I can't count them as a full portrait. The reference photo I used is one of the many wonderful selections from this weeks weekend drawing event. The picture was just begging to be done in color. I would like to work on it more today, but my electric pencil sharpener isn't working and I have had to use a hand held sharpener. One of the colors that I need to use just doesn't want to be sharpened. It breaks off whenever it approaches sharpness. Frustrating! I feel like throwing the sharpener and pencil across the room! But what good would that do? I guess I will paint this afternoon instead. I haven't hauled out my paints in awhile. And then there's the matter of homework... The class I am taking this semester only meets one weekend a month, so it's easy to get lazy. The last weekend is March 5&6 and all my assignments are due that weekend. It could get pretty miserable towards the end if I don't get things started soon!

Another sketch...

Here is another sketch, this time, straight off the press. The ink is practically still wet. Who am I posting this for? Who knows? I just know I like blogging and I want to continue to blog on a public forum. I love to draw portraits. In fact, most of the time, when I do a drawing for the weekend drawing event, I choose a portrait. I think because I draw portraits and because I have spent a lot of time studying faces, I have a different idea of what constitutes beauty than the average person. For instance, I don't usually like to draw people that are considered to be traditionally beautiful as I find their faces boring. Flaws create interest in my book. Yes, the above portrait is of a beautiful woman, but I do find something very interesting about her face. Go figure... I guess I should just accept the fact that I like interesting faces and whether they are beautiful or not, I guess that's not the question.

Another Weekend Drawing Event Sketch

To the person who had to pop into my blog anonymously to tell me that they didn't find my blog at all interesting (and I certainly never claimed that this was the most interesting blog in the world), I'm still waiting to get a link to his or her blog, so I can judge the content... And once I do get this link, I will judge it on its merits and will not reply in a cowardly anonymous fashion. And your remark is not enough to stop my blogging. So, if you come back (for whatever reason, since my blog is so boring to you), it's still going to be here to bore you. Anyway, here is another one of my two hour sketches. I have many more of these as I participate in this event just about every weekend. And who cares? I don't know if anybody else does, but I enjoy doing these sketches and as this blog is just something that I also enjoy creating content for, I'm going to carry on...

A Sketch

I thought I should pop into my poor, neglected blog for a visit. So, here I am. Hello blog! I have accumulated lots o' drawings since the last time I was here. I am going to make a proposition: I will post on this blog at least 3 times a week. If I don't, seek me out and yell at me. Today, after a few days without drawing (I've gone to a lot of movies and watched a lot of movies this week), I finally got back into this drawing thing today. This was done for the weekend drawing event at wetcanvas.com. I spent about 2 hours on it (that is the time limit for weekend drawing event drawings). Anyway, here I am again world and here is my drawing!