Drawing the right with the left

as you can see I drew this for the Facebook group Everyday in September.  It was quite difficult to draw with my left - I need more practice - so I painted it with my right.

Monarch and Tea Bag Art #2

Really love this raindrop that I drew with Derwent Inktense Pencil for Everyday in September.

I found the image on Google when I queried rain drop images.

I just love tea bag art and need to do more on this substrate!

New fountain Pen

I do so love this very interesting pen for its unique nib and smooth writing. I am even happier that I was able to purchase a converter for it and can use my own ink.

Missing the Sun and Sand of St Lucia

I am so proud of myself for actually documenting my holiday in my sketchbook! I wanted to do it and I accomplished my goal!

Here is a page I started and completed while we were laying on the beach on our last day!





I never think of taking a snap of the room-a hotel room is just a hotel room to me but.... I found that drawing and painting it so very different!


I really love these strange flowers - Birds of Paradise! I drew and painted it in the open air lobby at Smugglers Cove Resort, St Lucia. I had some of the employees at the resort come by to have a look and they were nice enough to make positive comments.


I'm getting a little more confident about making art in public. I just have to remind myself that this is my sketchbook and there is no intention that it be "fine art"! I simply want to document my life!

I'm so happy that I signed up for an on-line art class at Sketchbook Skool. Check it out, the course is definitely worth the money!

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My bag is packed-St. Lucia here we come!

My bag is as ready as I am to head to the sunny and warm St. Lucia tomorrow! We are staying overnight in the big city so we can leave the car and get shuttle service to the airport.

This is my very first time drawing my luggage. It was fun and challenging! I don't think I would have thought of doing this if it hadn't been for the on-line art class from Sketchbook Skool! Sketchbook Skool is Kool!

Ink and watercolour in my Moleskine sketchbook!



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Getting excited!!

My foreign currency finally arrived on Friday! St Lucia uses a shared currency with 8 other independent islands in the Caribbean. I took these images from the different denominations of bills that I received.

I think this two-page spread might be a throwback to my grade school days. A shoutout to all school teachers out there who have left an indelible imprint of curiosity to their students!


I used BIC ballpoint pen and Faber-Castell PITT brush pens in my Moleskine sketchbook.

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I love perfume

This is a drawing I did to celebrate the wonderful scent my hubby bought me for Christmas. I love it, its aroma is truly unique!


I don't know what I was thinking, seemingly I didn't have my brain engaged. I should have used a ruler and did some measuring. Then for some reason I used a different colour of watercolour on each page. So I tried to unify the page with the pattern using the same colour. I like the wonky page much better now!

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Wishing and hoping and two days early!

Some days I am running behind and then today I find out I am ahead of myself!  I thought the new Strathmore workshop was up.  Ugh, it is not until Monday.  So I will content myself with posting here and then get cracking at the postcards that I am making for the iHanna Postcard swap that I joined.  I have to get them done since it is a fact....I am once again "late" getting them done and mailed out!

Here are a few more drawings from my sketchbook.  As I said, I am making an attempt to keep at it!  I love the notion of it so I just need to buckle down and do it.  I haven't finished the one I started for today so here are a few from days past.

Kiddie toothpaste

Need to work on the tube again but it makes me chuckle nevertheless.  I am using a children's toothpaste - well - I am +8 years - so it should be okay?  Ha! Ha!  It had fun trying to get the notion across of "bristle" and the handle is a bit wonky but it is all about "the making" or rather the drawing. It is about the act of putting pen to paper.  I did it.  I filled a page with a drawing and I did my journalling in it later. 

I used the sticker from the bananas and added it to the top of the page in my Moley.  I had some difficulties that day with the banana but the paint helped.  I know we call recognize the fruit shape so that is a good thing but I was trying to capture the ripeness.  I like my bananas well past what many other people do.  I have any green parts but as you can see there was some.  However, it had "dots" on it so I ate it anyway.

I love the sound the spoon makes when I stir my coffee in my new mug!  Cheers!  It is Saturday morning and never enough coffee.  

This is similar to Danny Gregorys' video "The Art of Breakfast".  If you haven't seen it yet head over to Youtube to find and watch it.  It is amazing.  This was my breakfast that day.  

I got to go and finish some more of my postcards now.  The weather report has somewhat shifted and there might be a spot of sunshine later.  I want to be ready and head outdoors to enjoy it! 

I'm a "Sketchbook Skool" student!

I am so happy to be taking part in "Sketchbook Skool" co-founded by Danny Gregory!  I have one of his books and had glanced through it many times but had never actually had done anything about it.  I simply admired the drawings and wished that I could too.  The only way to become a better artist is to actually make art and working in a sketchbook is a "safe" way to do that.  It is my book and I can choose who sees what is inside.

 I am trying to work in my sketchbook more than once a week.  In fact, I have been exceptionally good for me that is....I started my Moleskine sketchbook on October 23, 2012.  Yup, and I only had a few pages with anything on it other than a few pages with fruit and veggies stickers.

I have signed up for Sketchbook Skool Semester 2 so that I will continue to try and complete this sketchbook and buy a proper watercolour one and yes complete it.  I love the concept of an illustrated journal so that there are some cool creative pages that my grand-daughter can look at and read.  She can read about "who" I am as a person and not just as a grandmother!

I think that is important...knowing more about a person that what they represent on the outside.  I never knew my grandmother; mostly due to the fact that we lived out of the country and out of the province for most of my live prior to her death.  I do have some fond memories of her but not really all that many.

I am hoping that I will create some different memories between Anju and myself.  I am hoping that she can become an "illustrated journal" type of gal as well when she gets older.

So here is one picture that I did as homework for Jane LaFazio's class.

At first I wasn't all that happy with the results but I got positive feedback from my fellow students. So, I am happy enough when I consider that I am a beginner!



Then I had a very bad thing happen; I lost my camera off the trunk of my car.  I drove all the way to Orillia before I realized that my camera was missing.  I drove back home right then and there and it was gone.  I had hoped that it had fallen off in our lane way but that didn't happen.

 So, I was pretty bummed out for a day and I stayed home to work on the "The Taste of Red" as my homework when there was a knock on the side door.  It was my next door neighbour; he lives on the farm in the house just north of us.  He had my camera bag in his hand!  It is a bit banged up but everything works!  I am so thrilled that his daughter figured that it was my camera.  I do have my name and address on a piece of cardboard in the bag so really it should have been fairly easy.  Regardless, I am so happy that I don't need to go out and spend lots of money on replacing it.  I guess I have better karma than what I thought or maybe I do have the luck of the Irish.

To celebrate our reunion I did this sketch of my camera.  It is a bit wonky but it is the first time that I have ever drawn a camera.  I need practice, practice, practice!!  However, I am still happy that I just dove in an actually completed another page in my book.