Sketch-A-Day Project

My Sketch-A-Day project is turning into my main posting subject!

Refer to my home page for updated sketches!

June 27th
Spent the weekend with a group of friends at our Annual Kick off to summer Surf Cabin Weekend.  This year we rented a house in Ocean Shores and I had a beautiful view for water color sketching.

My husband on Protection Island point

The raccoon in the painting is based off a true story.  It was quite obnoxious, especially with our little dog around.

The sun room was a great place to paint.

June 21st 

1st day of Summer

June 13th Monday Morning after a weekend of being out at the ocean

Sketching in the sand!

I use to sketch like this in my notebooks in school.  Getting ideas for an upcoming clock line.

A shed as inspiration.

I loved this little fountain.  I started out doing an exact copy, but then ended up embellishing.  Not bad for a quickie. 

June 6th

Sketching in Bed last night. Reoccurring theme that will turn into a painting eventually. 

May 18th 2011

Playing with paint markers before going to bed last night.

May 17th 2011

I have not posted any sketches lately.  This doesn't mean I have not been sketching, it means that my camera and notebook have not occupied the same space for awhile.

Here are a few done in the last few weeks that I had some fun with.

I was reluctant to post this one because I want to add color to it I just haven't had the chance.
This is the darkest I've worked lately, and I drew it while sitting in the sun on the back porch on our new picnic table.

Two stuffed animals that live on my comfy reading couch right now. 

Guess I had monsters and pinball on the brain.

May 4th 2011

I have jumped ahead of myself when it comes to notebooks.  I misplaced my sketchbook over the weekend so I started in on the next book I picked up at an estate sale.  It's a better paper for watercolor.  Eventually I need to just use water color paper for these sketches.  

April 27th 2011

Very quick sketches done late at night back to back.

The sentiment is interesting, we can live with nature, or break ourselves down then nature will prevail.

What is your take.

Not a recent sketch, but this idea I have played with in the past.
Wood block print 2006.

April 26th 2011

This last weekend was Arts Walk, and as busy as I was, I made time to sketch, even if it was late at night and I was half asleep.

I decided to water color this sketch from a previous day.  I like how it turned out.

Sketches I did over the weekend.

Monday April 18th 2011

Playing around with the new pastels with Ruby on Saturday night.

Quick ball point pen sketch as I was sitting around chatting with my Husband

Squeeze Box

The colors here turned out better

Decided to Water Color the sketch from previously.  I really wish my scanner captured the colors better.
This is much lighter than the original

Just a quick water color

FRIDAY!!!

April 15th

After getting a load of work done last night I figured I would reward myself with another chance to play with my new oil pastels.  For some reason when I pick up oil pastels I go back to my surrealist style.  I guess it's due to the fact that when I used oil pastels regularly was back in high school when I was inspired by Salvidor Dali.  Can you tell??

Summer maybe???  Pit fruit and playing in the water... who know what I think about sometimes.

April 13th

Up late last night, couldn't sleep, so I did a tedious doodle.

April 11th

I know it's been awhile since I've posted any of my sketches.  Been a little busy with crunch time for Arts Walk.

Last weekend I went to an Estate Sale and scored a full set of Sennelier Pastels for a ridiculous cheap price.  So I had no choice but to play around with them.

Such a beautiful set, and most of the sticks are unused!

March 30th

No big surprise... I'm slacking on my new years resolution.  Been to busy making clocks and printing.  But I promise I will get back to this project. 

Saturday March 12th

Bryan went out to play poker with my brothers.  I should have called some of my friends, but instead I got my art on.  I'm getting lots done and am excited to start showing off some of my progress.  But patience until I'm ready.

The view from my work bench with a water color sketch.
That black thing hanging is a piece of art that as it spins it shows a butterfly flying.  It was a gift from Bryan when we were dating.

First Weekend in March

I finished a block this weekend.  I hope to print soon.

While carving said block I started to zone into the textures I was creating.  I had previously done a quick sketch to help wrap my mind around the image so I wrote myself a little note on the sketch.

before

Later on when I was done with the block and pretty exhausted I decided I needed to play with some color with no expectations. 

after

P.S.  The smudge like shading is from graphite left on my hands after doing some meticulous rubbings from the block I had just finished carving.

Earlier this weekend I got an e-mail from a friend in Japan.  She mentioned cherry blossom season and I the clock I made her for a wedding present.  I love cherry blossoms.  So I started to sketch.

March 1st 2011

I have not been doing much sketching lately.  I've been busy transferring sketches into finished products, that and playing with new studio toys.

A rough, quick sketch.  I'd have to say I'm a bit scatter brained from the looks of this page.  Lots of projects on the work bench.  Not the greatest of pics, but I'd rather a shotty pic than no sketch update at all.

Feb 23rd

Dandelion sketch I turned into a block.

Feb. 22nd 2011

Tues. Night sitting in bed wrapped in my favorite flannel patchwork quilt you can see pictured below the sketch book. 

It was an interesting evening that had my mind spinning with revelations.

Feb. 20th

Not much sketching this weekend but I did find some time to really put some thought into an upcoming show.

Feb. 18th 2011

Art Journaling in my in-progress altered book.

I've been working on this altered book for a few years now.  I do a few pages then forget about it. 

I found it last night and decided to add another page.

There was this huge mouse sculpture at SAM that inspired me when I saw the print on the left hand page.

Here are a few pages I have done previously.

The original cover slightly embellished until I get time to redecorate it.

A few pages I added in myself

The idea was to mark everywhere I have been.  I got the map in, I just never settled on how I was going to mark it up.

The summer I bought my first kayak

I decided to add one of my own prints to the printing section, unfortunately my print got a little buggered.
No biggie, it's my personal book.

Music! Feb 16th

Sometimes I like to cuddle up in bed all nice and warm and sketch.

I hated stippling back in school, but I kind of like it when using circles combined with dots.

Valentine Weekend!

just for fun, it's been awhile since sketching with water color

My Valentine Calla Lilly.  Just a rough sketch 

Feb. 8th 2011

Last night I busted out a sketch that I'm turning into a dry point print.  Check out this post for more pics and info.

Sketch before adding book content.

Final sketch... well mostly.

close up book content

Add caption

Feb. 7th 2011

Sketches I did this weekend in between reorganizing my studio.  One really tight sketch of objects on my work bench.  The other loose and imaginary sketch with no reference.  Just for Fun!

Feb. 10th 2011
I miss school.  Not for the usual reasons of higher education, or structure or any of that jazz.  I miss having hours upon hours of boring seminar or lecture time to sketch.  I miss sketching; it is such a skill building and brain storming activity that I don’t do anymore.  I feel I have failed as an artist because of this.

So to force myself to sketch and draw more I am challenging myself to a sketch a day.  I have been inspired by a friend who is posting a photograph a day.

I may miss a day or two, kind of like last night when I had errands to run, a soccer game to go to and some catching up with a friend.  But many nights I find myself watching movies with my husband or playing Angry Birds on my phone.  These are the activities I should be doing less of and sketching more.

So my Chinese New Year’s resolution is to do a sketch a day.  I will post these sketches as often as I can.  Some post may be taken with my iphone due to lack of time at a scanner, others I will scan in for your viewing pleasure.