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.