The Celebrating is about to begin!

Today I am putting up a drawing that I did last year along with the inspirational decoration. I had fun trying to get a photograph too! The sun was beginning to fade that day and the shadow is not as dark as I would have liked. Taking a picture on another day could have been an option but obviously I haven't. But that is okay, it certainly gets the point across. It was fun to draw! Bottom line is that I love to make art whenever I can even if it is only a doodle!

Yes, the celebration is about to begin!!! Although it is a wonderful time of the year it is also a stressful time especially when there are too many other changes in our already busy lives. However, we have no choice but to accept what is and get on with it! So, it is 15:27 hrs and my coffee cup is glued to my lip after only "just" getting up! There is no way that my feet can even begin to hit the floor running yet! Shockingly I received a call and I have just said no thank you to overtime for tonight! My mind can't fathom working another nightshift and I know that it wouldn't be sugarplums that I would be dreaming of once I got myself to bed again.

I"m getting excited!

I am oh so looking forward to Christmas! I have to admit it that I love presents! I love the anticipation of it all the most. I love getting together with family - the eating, the drinking and the telling of "stories". Often these stories don't come out until such occasions.

I love making my family squirm when I make them wear their hats from the Christmas crackers except my daughter who refuses to be cajoled. Of course, I will try again this year (you bet!!).

"Tis the season to be listening to Bob Dylan's Christmas album, Christmas in the Heart!

Not sure how this zentangle inspired Christmas doodle will look like on this blog due to it's nature (black and white) but here it is regardless.

Re-invented Christmas Wrapping

I'm all about recycling if I can! I was surfing on the net and found a website completely by accident that showed how to make Christmas bows using magazine pages. I'm amazed how many magazines are thrown out - at lease they are recycled these days. The bows are easy to make and just need a glue stick from the dollar store and you all set. Although this is likely considered "crafty", I think there is a bit of "artistic" flare in the way that I photographed the subject matter. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to get the image to be interesting and visually pleasing to the eye. Of course, all art is in the "eye of the beholder" so it may be that I think this is good when no one else does. Bottom line is, I'm going to please myself since this is my blog!!!

This is a nice pile of bows if I do say so myself. I like how well the bow goes with the red copy paper wrapper that we normally throw out at work. I think the effect is quite festive. It does fill me with satisfaction when a recycling project turns out well!

Wasn't so sure about the white copy paper as a wrapping paper (yes out of the recycling bin!). I think that it is too much white here but under the tree it should look just fine.

Well, I still need an army of elves to come and help with cleaning up my house (which I need to get going on any minute now). I got the tree up yesterday and that makes everything good! There is no Christmas without a tree; a place to put all of the presents that I have already wrapped. I need to finish that up as well!

Cute bottles

Not much on the art front once again as December has snuck up quickly! I always think that I am prepared when in fact I am not. I will be scrambling like crazy in the next few weeks so that I might even be close to "ready".

I have taken a minutes out from Christmas "wrapping" to take a couple of snaps of some tiny bottles of food colouring. I don't ever recall these little bottles being quite so cute before. I just like the way that they look due to their simplicity, the simplicity of their conical shape and the vibrant colour.

The Season is Upon Us

I can't believe that the Christmas season has snuck up on me once again. I am trying trick myself into the "spirit" of things by playing Christmas music. Since it is so early,I like contemporary Christmas tunes to get me into the mood!

Listening to "The Christmas Song" by the Raveonettes from the album The O.C. Mix 3 - "Chrismukkah".

Okay so the stores and shopping malls have had Christmas music on that matches with all of the Christmas decorations.
This cute display is down at the downtown waterfront at Centennial Beach.

The above snap was taken the other day while I was driving home from work. I thought I would take the photo because they have the biggest and brightest light display en route to my house. The picture doesn't do it justice since I couldn't get all of it in the viewfinder. Put it this way, it is reminiscent of the Griswald's on Christmas Vacation (love that movie!!). That isn't a bad thing, I mention it only because of being in the boonies it appears garish. I guess I should mention that I embarassed myself and drove off as quickly as possible since the residents were watching me take the picture!

Art can be found almost anywhere

I seem to be lamenting about no time for art these days. Try as I might there has been absolutely no time to make art for the last week. In fact, I haven't had the time to think about it either.

The only time I had available is to take a snap of a piece of art that was in the foyer of the facility where I was taking a leadership course in Ottawa. This piece filled the foyer and would have been 20 or more feet high. The foyer felt immense so I don't really know exactly the height or width.

The piece is very beautiful and this photograph does not do it justice. The colour was much more intense and the texture of the metal inspiring.

What is important to note is that the facility is in the business district in Ottawa and I was surprised to see that there was lots of art featured in many offices including fibre art. Even the hotel displayed fibre art safely behind glassed in frames. That is somethng that we would not see at home.

It is sad that "art" has not been able to rise to the top in this conservative town. Ahhh, I think I have stated the obvious.

Actual Picture vs Photograph

Here is the first drawing that I did of a little bag that is so smooth to the touch.

The above is the next step using pastel to get a good base. I'm trying to actually reconstruct the little bag I got for Christmas last year that contained three lovely hand lotions. The bag is a smooth coppery bronze. It is strange how light can trick the eye. I looked at this and thought I was finished but when I got it up on iPhoto it looked "all wrong". It is suppose to look like man-made metallic material and not at all like rough "leather".

This still doesn't look metallic but at least is is getting closer to the coppery colour that I was looking for. I do like the way photographs can be used as a way of getting the look that you want. Sometimes seeing somthing in "real-time" isn't the way it actually looks. The eye of the camera is much more objective that our own.

Okay the real reason that I painted on the actual drawing in my Moleskin "sketchbook" is due to an ooops! I had coloured the page that followed with blue pastel and had "fixed" it with hairspray. I forgot to put something between the pages and the pastel that had become liquified with the hairspray had transferred on to the back of the bag drawing. As I have previously discussed, the pages are not meant to be used for pastel or anything other than pen and ink. That means the pages are transparent enough that the blue pastel could be seen thus ruining the drawing. There was no choice but to try and save the drawing by doing something to it - anything would be better that the way it was now! Luckily I had taken a photo of the drawing before I created the mess!

Never enough time to do Art!!

I always seem to be complaining that I don't have time to make art, post on the blog or just plain whining about something that I have not done but wanted to do. I feel that I should stop my nonsense and be happy with what I can do! Post to this blog as frequently as I can and draw or make art as often as I can.

I seem to be wishing my life away but sometimes the wishing means that I'm not "doing". Then there are times when I think too that I spend too much time on the "net" and that is the reason I'm not making art (or whatever). If I put it all in perspective, I am complaining that I have a good and interesting life and that I have lots of interests that mantains the vibrancy of my life.

Around the house

I wanted to make art and looked around the house for something to draw. I chose the clothes peg because I think that someday sooner rather than later they too will disappear along with the clothes line.

This summer I looked around for clothes hanging out on lines and I had a hard time finding them. There are two houses that I pass by on my walk who hang out clothing to dry. It is sad that I had my own clothesline removed. It was at a time whereby I didn't see the "green" aspects of drying laundry in the sun.

In the eye of the beholder

One of the girls at work gave me a orange hibiscus for my birthday two years ago. Right now it has 6 fully opened saucer-sized flowers on it. My hubby wanted to put it in the ground this summer and I said no, that I love the colour indoors, especially in the winter time! Today especially since....

I just can't believe that there is white stuff on the ground this morning, it is only a dusting and will be gone by late morning I expect. I bought a new coat last week so I am prepared! I had to laugh at myself since I seem to be governed by colour, I made the purchase because the coat looked warm, had a hood, it can be washed or dry cleaned; mostly I bought it because it was purple.

I have a greater appreciation for the old adage, in the eye of the beholder. When I started this little drawing, I had thought I was drawing a pomegranate, when I finished I thought it looked more like an onion! The drawing of it on the dictionary on the net shows the fruit at a slightly different angle and therefore just a bit easier to anyone to see the cues as to its essence. I enjoyed the opportunity to do a small drawing so I will stop complaining.

Expensive things for the cheap at heart

I bought myself a Moleskin notebook and thought that I'd best begin using it. Now I realise that the pages are not really conducive to drawing but my desire to own one superceded the actual design of the book. Yes, there are many types to choose from, it seems that I opted for the orangey-red colour without understanding that it is designed to be written on and not much else. However, having said that, I am going to use it as intended anyway, at least for now. It is mostly due to the expense of it. I see that many "artists" use this format to get their sketches down on paper but the price is excessive to say the least. Bottom line here is that I had "Moleskin" envy!!!

I just bought another expensive item, a Clinique lipstick! Of course, there was a "sale" or rather a free gift with purchase so I was able to justify buying it as well. When will it ever stop????

It is interesting how my focus on the object scewed the result. The cyclinder of the tube looks too cone-shaped for me after I finished it. I'm not sure that I captured the idea of textured "metal" here but I am definitely not happy with the smooth glossy finish on the top portion of the tube. I guess that is why the old adage applies, "practice, practice, practice".

One thing that I must say is that I did enjoy the process of trying to get the image to appear as if it was a thing that could be real. It certainly is identifiable although the perspective is slightly off. I seem to have some "issues" with perspective that I need to keep a handle on. However, I think I just need more time drawing as I have stated above.

The Senseless Rose

I was just over at a friend's new blog that she created and plans to use to keep in touch with her "City and Guilds" teacher. Very cool but currently it is locked and viewing is by invitation only. That reminded me that I have not posted for this month yet!

So much to do these days and so little time for art. I did take a few minutes to do a quick sketch of a rose from the banquet that my hubby gave to me for our 30th wedding anniversay on October 27th. I was dissapp0inted once again that they had no scent!! When did it happen? I'm racking my brain as to the last time I have sniffed a store bought rose! I do so wish that we could get roses that have their scent intact, hybrids are lovely but the whole point to the regal flower is their scent. So that is what I miss most and now I have to say that the "rose" is no longer my most favourite flower. It just seems so senseless! However, I must admit that I absolutely love the "wild" roses out back of our property. I'm sure that once upon a time they were domestic and pruned carefully for a by-gone farmer's wife but today they are left to their own devices. I so enjoy their scent!

All Hallows Eve

I have to work tomorrow, some time ago I had prepared some photo's I had taken earlier. Using iPhoto, I touched them up a bit to make them black and white. Although they were actually taken during the summer, I think they are suitable for the season. Just a little bit spooky.

I love my little cemetery at the corner and often walk through and look at the names of the people who had once lived in the area. I wonder what their lives had been like. What would it have been like to be a woman in the early 1900's.

Really though, I thought of doing this because I really enjoyed listening to Neil Gaiman's book, The Graveyard Book on his website. It is a fun and not really spooky story. Really it was written for children and won a prize for this genre. I just like Neil's writing so mjch and enjoyed listening to his voice on the video. It was great listening to the story in its entirety. I urge you to take the opportunity on a dark and dreary day to spend a few minutes and listen to each chapter. Go to Neil's website at www.neilgaiman.com

I have read other books by Neil and have enjoyed them imensely and my favourite is "Neverwhere".

Small ArtWork

I did this piece some time ago and was happy to see that I had actually taken a picture of it because often I forget and give the piece away without doing so. This was a fun piece that began life on a piece of cardboard. Then I painted on two canvas board pieces and using some silicone glued the pieces on to the painted canvas "frame". This was a second attempt at doing this particular "style" but I don't have a picture of the last painting.

Just in case you are wondering, I didn't use acrylic paint for this painting which I think was 8" x 16" and using 4" x 6" canvas boards for the actual picture. I have a small collection of nail polish that I used. I truly did enjoy doing this piece except for the smell; very toxic! I used paint as a "primer" only so that the polish would adhere to it without much problem. It took some time to dry and it took what seemed like forever for the smell to disappear. I would only do small works because the brush that comes with the bottle is only meant for nails and therefore virtually useless. It means that your art must be constrained and limited to something small. It was an experiment and I did have fun so I think that it was indeed a success.

It is a fun piece and even now when I post this, it still makes me smile!

Fall Splendor

I am so happy that the weather has been so much better these last few days because it makes me appreciate the beauty of fall! I can never get bored with the sights that surround us! Nature continues to astound me. I often filter what I see into what could make a picture worth taking and a picture worth painting. Of course, if I actually had the time to paint. I am only whining a little bit here. Really, I am the author of my own busy schedule and need to take ownership for my lack of leisure time.

That is one reason why I love photograpy and at my simplistic level. I love my new camera because it is still a point and shoot and I love taking "snaps". I make an attempt to "frame" the subject matter to the best of my ability while "out and about" or "in the field". Of course, I have the use of iPhoto later at home to improve upon the orignal. I have only forgotten a few times to duplicate the photo first before manipulating it through the software because sometimes I do overwork the modification process and the photo is not quite so pleasing to my eye. Sometimes it isn't all that much that can take a great photo and make it into a photo that is obviously overdone. It is quite possible that this is a personal critique only since the the viewer will not know what the original photo looked like in the first place.

I like these two because I did not manipulate in any way, I like them just the way I snapped them the other day! I am so glad that the weather has been so compliant these days. I love fall but I hate the rain!

Giving Thanks

I have had to throw out my oldest pair of walking shoes into the garbage can. When I was taking out the laces they looked so very furlorn and naked that I had to take a picture and "say goodbye" to a pair of "old friends". They have done me well and I have worn them summer and winter. I'm the sort that would wear them even now if the instep didn't push up into my foot making walking very uncomfortable.

The weather was a bit frosty this Thanksgiving weekend but no complaints from my quarter. My hubby was able to attend a meeting of the Oro Rate Payers Association and found out that the township has had to pay upwards of $260,000 per year to pick up garbage that is thrown on to the side of the road. This amount is up substantially from 2006 when the cost borne by the tax-payer was only $43,000. This dumping problem has been created from the garbage bag limit here and from the neighbouring city of Barrie. People don't want to have to pay to get their junk removed. I don't really think that this is so unexpected really since we live in a world whereby everyone wants "something for nothing". I must move on or I will get stuck on this issue and I really shouldn't go there.

My daughter came home for thanksgiving so I got to go for a nice walk with her in the east end of the city. I had an opportunity to take some pictures. Have I said how much I love to take pictures!!

The Epitome of a Donkey

Fall has officially arrived with the frost warning last week; all of the fleshy veggies had to be brought indoors. I thought that I would try my hand at capturing the essence of the beefsteak.

When I was in Ottawa, I made an art purchase and bought myself a new Lamy pen. I haven't had the guts to try it out yet, I'm still a bit shy about my drawing abilities in pencil. I want to keep trying the pencil medium before I move on to something else. I think that pen is an extension of the pencil and I shouldn't be overly concerned about the trial and error process that ultimately occurs.

My hubby and I are angry! We hate it when uncaring people throw their garbage, especially when it is on our concession, because they are too cheap to pay the fee at the dump. These midnight mauraders continue to dump a short distance from our house. Earlier this summer it was garden hoses and plastic containers and such like. Now it is this cheap freezer and to add further insult, they left a pop can too. However, their bad behaviour will in fact be rewarded since I will e-mail the township and have them remove the thing. It seems that this pattern of behaviour is not specific to my area and seems to be prevelant elsewhere. I read a letter to the editor in the local newspaper and the writer was complaining of the same thing. She even said that she was going to go through the garbage bags and if she found a name she would deposit the garbage back on their lawn. So right. I hate numpties and donkey's alike especially when they are dressed up as human beings. I think they need to be spanked like little children and made to pick up after themselves. Okay I feel better, my rant is over.

Right now I'm listening to Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) sing with Emmy Lou Harris, they make a good duo. I'm not much of a country buff but "Red Staggerwing" is quick paced and toe tapping. In the car this last little while, I've been carrying my iPod along and listening to podcasts: Classic Tales, Sherlock Holmes, and other tales of horror. Such fun!

Packing Again

Visting my friend in Kemptville Ontario and the drive here on Wednesday was brutal! For close to 50 kms, the rain was pelting down so hard I couldn't see the road and my wipers couldn't clear the windshield. Abruptly, I came up to the back end of a vehicle that did not have lights on and was going 30 kms below the speed limit! What a donkey!

My friend and I had a good time shopping yesterday in the States (yup had to pay $39 worth of duty)! I picked up lots of stuff that we can't get at home!

When I first arrived here my friend hadn't yet returned from a meeting in Toronto so I had a couple of hours to kill so I drew a picture of a paper Tim's cup. I can't believe that I have never tried to draw that particular "still life" before! Especially since I do drink gallons of the stuff. Odd that there are times where I don't see the obvious. Yesterday, I had time to quickly draw a glass because I thought the square shape was interesting (and yes extremely appropriate) since I had consume way too much the night before. This is my second attempt at drawing glass, I think the drawing might have looked better if I had put some liquid in the glass.

We will be leaving here sometime today and heading into Ottawa (40 minute drive) to stay for the weekend at the Best Western. Since we are meeting up with three other friends (one from B.C.) tonight for dinner. It has been a fun trip so far! However, I will bring my drawing utensils but I doubt that I will have time to draw anything with four of us in the hotel room. That being said, I'm not complaining.

Travelling again

I am leaving today for Kemptville Ontario to stay with a friend there, then we will be making our way to Ottawa to meet three other friends (one of whom is coming from B.C.). It should be fun as always, this is my newest "annual trek" to Ottawa.

I'm looking forward to taking some photo's with my new camera. It is a Nikon CoolPix P90. It can still be used like a "point and shoot" camera but has many more really neat functions. I especially wanted the great zoom feature. I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of images that I can capture. Unfortunately, the long range forcast is rain in Ottawa so that might put a damper on my picture taking but I might try to see if I can get anything interesting nevertheless.

I am hoping that I can load up the car in between rain showers. I'm not fond of driving in the rain because everything appears to be just so "dull". I always take the long way just so I can see something interesting and check out any possible photo taking spots.

In addition, I am planing to stop off at Mrs. McGarrigle's store in Merrickville. It is a lovely little village and I love making my purchases from the "independant" store owner.

This photo that I am posting is one that I took the other day on my walk. As is now my habit, I carry a camera with me. It is surprising just what you might see that sparks an idea of how a photography might turn out. was lucky to get this snap because she decided to roll under the head of the flower and virtually disappeared. I grabbed the snap and continued on my walk.

And ....

This photo was taken when I was on my way back home and I then stumbled upon these wild turkey's while walking by a laneway on my concession. I had not expected to see them and only caught a glimpse of something moving out of the corner of my eye. It actually frightened me at first until I realised what they where. Usually I don't see them until winter when the snow is on the ground. They like to eat the seed from the bird feeder.

Watermarking Photo's

I have finally figured out the program called "iWatermark" that can be used for free for the first 30 days as a trial period. It took me a bit to figure it out but I am satisfied with the result. What I like about the program is that I can move the watermark where I want for the individual picture.

So, yes I know that doesn't mean that people still can't steal them but it makes it more difficult. These sorts of people can steal "ideas" even if there is a watermark on them. I think that there is a "balance" that must be met between the fear of theft and not participating at all. There is some pictures that I hold dear and I don't think that I will post them "just in case". When it comes to my drawings, I want people to see my progress in my artistic journey. It is a hard descision to make. I will continue to post my simple works and I will not watermark all of my photo's in an attempt to stop cheats.

Office Equipment

This piece of equipment was done completely by "eye" only; I didn't use a "straight edge" to draw it. Not recalling my "lessons" from an art class that I took at the local college became obvious when I looked at my completed drawing. I had forgotten about that all lines that are parallel must remain equi-distant to each other as well. Therefore, as you can see, the perspective is slightly off. I have never tried to draw something that is quite so angular since my one and only art class that I took last fall. I was mostly concerned with it being realistic enough that it would be recognisable as a piece of office equipment.

I haven't figured out how to add a "watermark" to my photos, drawings and other art work yet. That will come, it is my next project

The Glorious Poppy

I decided that I should try something different. I love a poppy. I think that it is a fabulous flower in it's own right. I have thought that I would love to do a "picture a day" but know that that is not reasonable but I do like to post the odd picture drawn with the simpliest of mediums. That does not mean that it is a lowly medium than all of the others but it is one of the cheapest to purchase even if you don't purchase expensive paper. This means that the 2B pencil is the most accessible in the world today where as paper is quite possibly the hardest to come by.

Happy Birthday Wishes go out to my Dad!

Sometimes doing things mean that you have to do a little bit of learning along the way. I don't have a manual for this MacBook but I don't really need it because "eventually" I find my way and I am able to complete the task. So here is a quick drawing that I did the other day. Nothing fantastic. I continue to maintain that the face is the hardest to draw. I have not even attempted to draw someone that I know to see if I could master the "recognition" factor. I honestly don't think that I would be all that successful at this point. However, I do enjoy the process of trying to make soft round edges appear on the paper.

I went for a walk today and finally had the guts to go up to the abandoned house that is at the end of my concession. Whoever the people were who lived there they left the end of May or so! I use to wave at the woman who would mow the lawn. I am stoked because I finally had the guts to go up and take pictures of the house.

I love the shape of the spindles on the roof of the barn. I don't know what they are actually called but they are visually interesting.

It really is sad that someone would walk away from the house and strange that there is no "for sale" sign although there has not been anyone living there for many months.

I brings to mind all of the exploring that I use to do as a kid. Some of it was just in my "minds eye" but it was always fun. Today was exciting to say the least. I had not antiipated that I would ever see an abandoned house that

is in the early stages of decay. I will have to keep an eye on it to see what kind of damage occurs as it deteriorates.

It really is a good house and it will make me sad to see it go. The barn has stood for many a year as well. I wonder how long it will take before it too goes by the way of the rural mailbox?

Vist to Toronto

I love my point and shoot camera! There are times where it does not rise to the challenge, early yesterday morning was one of them. I tried to get a photo of a blue heron that I saw on my way home from work. I might try some photo editing using iPhoto and see if it can make an improvement. So I thought I'd post these instead.

My point and shoot camera can't be beat based on it's ease of use and it's lightweight portability. I am using a Panasonic Lumix 10X zoom 10.1 m.p. so it is quite untilitarian and really quite satisfying overall. I can't afford a new camera at this point so I must be satisfied with the pictures that I can produce with what I have.

I also love visting Toronto. This trip, I got to stay at the Harbour Castle hotel which was a first rate hotel and a first time for me as well. The room was excellent and the view the harbour spectacular! I had to get a picture of the tall ship!

I had a chance to visit one of the Toronto Islands - Hanlan Point and got a chance to take some snaps of the city skyline. It was a perfect night. Surprisingly there were still misquito's buzzing around but they didn't last long. We had a great evening on my friends boat! She really likes it there and thinks that she might spend her holiday there again next year.

There is something about the CN tower is that eye-catching. I like the sci-fi look about it. Especially this snap with the violet sky. A great photo opportunity! I have seen this scene so many times as a postcard and now I have my own version.

Pencil Drawing

Some friends of mine mentioned that I should keep practicing drawing the human face. Although it is one of the most challenging aspects of drawing, it really is an enjoyable exercise. The challenge is to make the face recognisable if you are drawing someone you know! I have not been able to achieve this as of yet! However, since I am mostly self-taught (for the most part - I have had only one drawing class at the local college!), I am happy with the results so far. This face is the forth face that I have done so far. I don't like the flaws that have shown up in the picture here but they are in the original pencil drawing. Since things can't be helped it would seem!

It never seems to amaze me how busy our lives are and how time ticks by us so quickly! I really must endeavour to produce more drawings and other art forms that I enjoy.

Having said that, the next 6 months or so will be extremely busy and I really shouldn't be spending time doing leisure arts. However, when I don't I can feel myself getting antsy and even at times grumpy because I have not had that creative outlet. Art therapy so to speak!

The photo here is not the best but you get the general idea! I think that the real thing is always better than what can be seen using this medium.

Now I'd like to do

another test! I want to see if I can add another picture here and see if I can position it in a certain way. So here goes!! Yes, I was able to get this on and put it "almost" where I wanted it. Very good! I have attempted to manover it even more but without much success. It seems blogger wants to have a few words above the picture whether I want it there or not.

Well, I am shocked about how much time that I have been on the internet this afternoon (have I said just how much I love the internet!!!). I shouldn't complain really since this is my first day off and I don't really accomplish much anyhow.

The Thrill of Memory!

I'm not exactly sure what it is about it but I can't seem to help myself; I always feel compelled to buy this gum wherever I see it!! I know that it is a childhood thing. It isn't that it was my favourite gum because it did taste like soap! Having said that it is a fond memory. From what I understand, it is the strong taste that in fact brings back our memories (the good and the bad). Taste and smells are forever imprinted in our brains.

One thing that I notice about the the gum is how little the package has changed. However, I don't recall that the colour of the gum itself was quite this dark, not quite this "dioxazine" purple as I would think of it today. I believe that the gum actually did look more like the picture on the front. Is there a reason for the more saturated colour? Is it a marketing ploy for the current generation? Or, is it because my memory is not as accurate as it once was? One thing that I do know for certain is that it tastes the same!!!! What fun!

I just realised that I have to flip my calender over! Oh my, where has the summer gone? I don't feel that I have had a real opportunity to enjoy it this year!

On vacation

We just returned home from a weekend up in Bracebridge, Ontario (what a nice downtown!) and I actually got time to do a drawing. Since I had already experimented with the female face I chose a photo of a male face. There aare some things that I'm not that thrilled about the drawing, however I have learned that I need to use quality paper only when drawing; large or small. I couldn't erase what I wanted to change because of the poor quality of the paper that I brought with me.

The next thing that is certainly a learning experience is how to manipulate the picture so that it will show the best on the computer screen. That is the tricky part, scanning the picture, cropping and otherwise enhancing the picture so that it looks good on-line. I think the original drawing is much better than what you see here but this is as good as I can get it.

Back to the Basics

I have been negligent of late with posting and I am so disappointed that I have not had much time for making any kind of art. The other day I felt the compulsion to do "something", anything! So, I got out a piece of paper and my favourite woodless 2B pencil and drew a face that I found in an old magazine. I took the page and scanned it into my computer. I do love the free Canon printer that I got with my new Macbook. I uploaded the drawing to my Facebook page but it lacked depth and her facial features were not visible. So I have tweaked it slightly using the enhance button in iPhoto to see how it will look here.

I should be outside, you know it, I'm here! I wish I didn't love the internet so much. To that end I started a quick painting yesterday. I thought that I could finish it but I should have known better. It is a painting that I needed to get my mind back into a creative mode, it is an exercise to limber me up and awaken my creative spirit!