Golden Owl

My thanks to Dawn Vander Stoep for the fun tutorial in Life Book taster session.  I totally enjoyed spending time today on this page.

I drew the owl freehand from the printable reference.  I used what I had available for my owl: my Blackwing Pearl pencil, couldn’t find a blending stomp but I was able to dig out a tortillion, and the ever versatile kneadable eraser. I used craft gold paint and black gesso.  Oopsie, I forgot to leave space for the stars so I used my trusty white Gelly roll pen. 

I think this would have been easier to work on if I had used a larger sheet of paper.  I used my Royal Talens Art Creation sketchbook. 

My Advisor

We are in the big city with the family, I hadn’t anticipated that we would be here this early so I had made a date with my bank lady.  I decided I liked the meeting to be over the internet so I kept the meeting date yesterday.

When I showed her my drawing she was surprised as she thought I was taking notes.  Well, I did that too but wanted to capture her in my book.  I know that had I seen her “in person” I would never have done this!!  I finished my page this morning. 

Root canal and Perle Cotton

I drove into town yesterday to have a consult with the “root canal” specialist at my dentist office.  Little did I know that he would have an opening later in the day.  In many ways, I’m glad to have it over with.  I took 2 extra strength Tylenol half an hour before dinner (my hubby was kind enough to make soup and a sandwich for dinner).  I had a good sleep and although my mouth is still sore, it isn’t too bad. 2 more Tylenol’s with lunch before physio. 

I’m glad I filled Bertha’s gas tank the other day at $164.9 CDN a ltr because now it’s &170.9!! Yikes! Clearly winter is coming so they alway raise the price in time to gouge us once again.  

Really happy with my find at the used “this and that” store since the Perle cotton is brand new! Yippee for me! 

Stubby colourful stripes

Sometimes I don’t feel like journaling in my sketchbook.  I really enjoy seeing all the colours I mixed from my 3 chosen primary paint colours.  They were, Aquarius Yellow, Quinn Red, Phthalo blue (GS), all Roman Szmal paints. This shows me that these 3 paint colours didn’t produce fabulous purples but I really like the golden ochre colour and of course the greens.  Still, I like the way all these stubby stripes look together on the page. 

Vintage thread

I started a stitching project awhile back and thought I would pick it up again this morning.  I wanted to use this muted blue colour of thread so I had attempted to unravel the skein.  An exercise in patience that I apparently lack.  No matter, I will use the thread somehow some way regardless.  But I’ve had to put this knotted mess aside for now.  I wish I knew the secret to opening one of these twirly skeins so it won’t knot.  The worst thing is I’ve lost the end in that maze and I finally had to just give up.  I’ll try again another day.

Spruce Hummingbird

This just happened and I was so excited I forgot to draw in some leaves.  I went out to draw my Dad’s Rose of Sharon, so happy to see that it has survived and is blooming once again.  They are small blooms this year.  

I got quite a thrill when a little spruce hummingbird was feeding from one of the flowers.  Her beak was actually well into the centre but I was do stunned to be so close I just started moving my pink pencil where I was.  Then along came a mean old hummingbird and swooped down several times to stop her/him from feeding.  I expect they’ll be heading south very soon as our night time temperatures drop. 

This page isn’t anything fantastic, I just wanted to record my delight! 

Anjulie reading

When we were visiting our family last week, I tried yet again to draw my granddaughter.   We were sitting together on the front porch; silly me, I thought that since she was reading she might remain still. Nope, never going to happen it seems.  I managed to get her top and bottom halves stitched together but it wasn’t easy.  I had to laugh when I realised that she has what we call the Maloney bump in her nose; I have it, my daughter has it and so does my granddaughter!  She is really happy at how long her hair has grown over the summer.

Visit to the Junction

Last week we drove south to Canada’s largest city to stay with our granddaughter.  She is 11 years old so she is too old to “babysit”.   Our son-in-law had the day off on the Friday so we took city transit to a neighbourrhood called “The Junction”.   It was my first time using a streetcar and a bus since my operation.  Nothing bad happened but I must admit I didn’t enjoy the jerky moments of getting on and off. 

However, I enjoyed my first beer since February (I’m not really a beer drinker) and making an entry in my mini “away” sketchbook.  The red coloured beer is the one my husband had. 

Holy moley Batman! It’s 29C here today and more of the same for tomorrow.  We don’t have A/C so all our windows are closed and curtains drawn to keep out the sun!   Time for a popsicle!!