ART EVERY DAY MONTH CHALLENGE DONE!

No, I didn't whip this little drawing up while riding non-stop in the car for 7 1/2 hours driving home today. It is from one of my sketch books. I can't resist some photo's even though they were taken by someone else. The odds were small that I would ever meet Mother Theresa anyway. Now they are zero to none.

We went back to Brent's for brunch before we took off and I did do a few small sketches but you have already seen their salt and pepper shakers, so I thought I would post this image instead.

Tomorrow is December, already! Hard to believe this year is almost over. I'm ready to finish up the year with a flurry of artistic activity. After all this black and white drawing, I am anxious to get to the water, brushes and lots of color!

BACK TO OUR FRENCHMAN IN DECEMBER!

This is one of my Frenchman simplified shape drawings. I will be using this one along with some of the others I created for the next phase of exploring the elements through a single image. Starting in December, I will be doing as many different color ideas as I can. By having my shapes established and my value patterns worked out, all I need to do is focus on color. If you want to work along with me and haven't done the shape drawings and value plans, this is a heads up. Monday starts a new month!

We went for a strenuous hike today overlooking Malibu and the Pacific Ocean. I will feel it tomorrow but we will be in the car most of the time heading home. It has been a great visit with all my children together but I am ready to get back home and into my usual routine.

BREAKFAST AT BRENT'S...THE BEST!

I want to keep my commitment to post every day in November. Just a few more days to go! This is as close as I have come to drawing anything I will be eating (which is the next EDM challenge) We went for a late breakfast at Brent's. This is a great place, the next best thing to a true New York Deli experience. Food like grandma used to make and ridiculous portions. If you look closely you can see my grandson's elbows straight and my son's to the right. I had them pose for me. I was doing pretty good until I tackled the pitchers of syrup and then it all went south!

Hope everyone had a beautiful Thanksgiving meal and get together with family and or friends.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

This is a good day to express my appreciation and thanks to all of you who enrich my life so much through your support and encouragement on this blog.

I did do a drawing today at brunch but it isn't worth putting on the blog. Instead, I thought I would post a better drawing of my hand.

DRAWING MARATHON MERRITT COLLEGE INFORMATION

It has been a very long day...we left at 9 AM and drove from San Mateo to Westlake Village down 101. It rained on and off with gorgeous dramatic skies. I took some photos from the car but I am too tired to download and post them. We stopped at husband's favorite...In and Out Burger. I did a sketch of the madhouse in there. They had a guy outside directing traffic is was so crowded. I am trying different strategies for sketching. This time I started at the top and worked down the page and the results were better getting the figures in and scaled somewhat right. Still not good but getting better. It's all about progress. The next EDM challenge is to draw what you are going to eat for dinner. I am too hungry to do that and let it get cold. Maybe I will draw a salad the next time I have one for dinner. It's already cold!

Since I had a request for more information on the next Drawing Marathon, here it is. I hope everyone who is reasonably close will come. It sounds very exciting. Thanks to Dorise for sending me this information.


Marathons

Many models posing at once:
males, females, nude, costumed, short and long poses.
Something for everybody!

THE NEXT DRAWING MARATHON

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Merritt College
12500 Campus Drive
Art Bldg., Rm. A122
Oakland, CA

Morning Session: 10 AM - 1 PM
Lunch Break: 1 PM - 1:30 PM
Afternoon Session: 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Full Day: $35
Half Day: $25
Students: $30/Full Day
Seniors (65+): $30/Full Day

No turpentine. Absolutely NO cameras!

Co-sponsored by the Merritt College Art Department

Artists can draw from several Guild models varying short and long poses, modeling continuously for six hours.

Food and drink sold

Credit cards are NOT accepted.
How to Get There

From the MacArthur Freeway (Hwy 580 - northbound): exit onto the Warren Freeway toward Berkeley, exit Carson St. (north). Follow Merritt College sign to Redwood Rd. and merge right, continue to Campus Dr., turn right and proceed to the Merritt Campus.

From the MacArthur Freeway (Hwy 580 - southbound): exit 35th Avenue and turn left. Proceed towards the hills until 35th Ave. becomes Redwood Rd., and continue to Campus Drive, turn right and proceed to the Merritt Campus.

Bus #54 runs to Merritt on Sundays.

Plan ahead. Carpooling is strongly suggested.

Still not sure how to get there? Look at Maps on www.Yahoo.com.

To receive automatic email notification about drawing marathons, please join our Drawing Marathon Group at Yahoo Groups.

DOES THE RIGHT HAND KNOW WHAT THE LEFT HAND IS DOING? I CAN'T SEE!

I am still on a mission to post every day of November. With Thanksgiving looming it will be a stretch, but I am still on target. Today I went with my husband to visit some friends in town for the holidays. I didn't get to any artwork until this evening. I decided I needed to get back to my Everyday Matters drawing challenges.

#10 was to draw your hand. I wanted to do it from life instead of a photo so I decided to do the blind contour technique. The problem is that you usually have to hold your hand in the same way each time and I have drawn my left hand many times. Tonight I added my right hand drawn with my left for my own amusement. The drawings always come out very distorted but it is the best exercise to practice slowing down and really looking and seeing what you are drawing.


#11 was to draw your glasses. Fortunately, I see better up close without my glasses. These glasses had the most interesting part on the inside of the temple. I don't understand the logic for this as no one sees it when You are wearing the glasses. I am also trying to find a writing style that looks interesting for journaling. It's coming along.




I am working with a great new book by Nita Leland called "Confident Color". Mike Bailey has 3 paintings in the book, so I got a sneak peak at his Open Studio. I couldn't wait to get this book. Nita suggests make color studies on a sheet the size of a post card. This is one of about 10 sheets I made yesterday. I normally don't do color studies but I think these will be helpful. I especially like comparing similar colors. It turns out that the Indian Red in the Hydrus line is exactly the same color as Winsor Newton's Brown Madder. If I mix a small amount of Hydrus Burnt Sienna into the Indian Red, I get Quin Burnt Orange. The traditional Indian Red is amazingly dull and muted. This is the perfect example why you can't trust the name alone.

THE BEST OF THE LOT!

Here is the drawing I liked the best from the drawing marathon. I took another photo of it and that solved the download problem.

I took a colored photo from the newspaper (It covered the entire page of the paper) and used gesso to glue it down on the watercolor paper. Gesso really isn't a good acrylic glue (matt medium is what should be used for good adherence) so part of the sheet didn't stick down. I pulled up the loose part slowly. The paper was pretty soggy. I put it down in another place on the paper . The newspaper ink started to color the gesso and created a pale beige color as I brushed over the paper. While the paper was drying I started putting thick gesso on another sheet of paper. I used a scraper with small teeth on the edge and textured the page. I then took a sheet of wax paper and brayered over the wet gesso. I then transferred what was on the wax paper to the first sheet with the newspaper on it. I hope I can create another sheet that will have this look. Sometimes lightening only strikes once.

There is going to be another Drawing Marathon at Merritt College in Oakland on Sunday, December 7th. I understand this one is even more exciting with lots of models posing simultaneously. I had better get busy preparing my papers!

DRAWING MARATHON RESULTS!

Today was a very productive day. I spent from 10 to 4:30 doing two sessions of quick life drawing studies. They break for half an hour for lunch. Not a lot of people showed up today so there was plenty of room to spread out. I wasn't too concerned with the accuracy of my drawings. I wanted to try some different combinations of materials to see how they would work. For some reason, my computer refuses to load my favorite drawing of the day. I am tired of trying to figure it out, so maybe tomorrow I will have better luck.

In the meantime, here are 3 of the half sheets that I worked on today. One has red hand painted tissue collaged onto the paper and then drawn with white ink and India Ink brushed around the figure. Interesting effect. Another is white acrylic ink applied with the oiler boiler from Tap Plastic (a slightly larger needle). I like it on the black background. When you use India Ink or Acrylic ink in these bottles with the needle in the top, have a separate bottle with clear water in it. Take the needle cap off of the Ink bottle and place it on the clear water bottle and squeeze. Running clear water through the needle this way keeps it from clogging and getting ruined. I did this after each drawing. It's kind of a pain, but worth it.

The third drawing is on paper where I gessoed it first and imbedded used fabric softener sheets plus some bubble wrap impressions on the gesso. I rubbed charcoal over the whole page and then drew with india ink. I like the effect of the last one the best where I used more ink around the figure and only lines inside the figure. I will definitely do this set up again.

FOSTER CITY SKETCH CRAWL FOR ONE!

I spent the morning preparing half sheets of watercolor paper with gesso texture and collage etc. Tomorrow is the Drawing Marathon at the Palo Alto Cultural Center and I wanted to try some different ideas for the 20 minute poses. I missed the water aerobics class at the JCC, so I decided to take a walk and do some suburban sketching for the day's exercise. The day was gorgeous and I had my new touch iPod warmed up, so I set out. I am so jealous of those fantastic artists on Urban Sketchers who do these near perfect architectural drawings. I think the rule on their site is no working from photographs. I am just in awe of their ability. It is very humbling to stumble through my attempts at on sight sketching. Practice, Practice, Practice! I am getting better at evaluating the perspective angles but I have a long way to go. My windows in this building are all different sizes!! It is a puzzlement how I can draw a face so accurately and the figure, as well, but buildings and mechanical things, et al are so darn hard. Drawing should be drawing, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Well, I did enjoy the fresh air and the challenge. Anyway, Life isn't any fun if you have mastered everything. It's always good to have something to aim for that is just out of reach. If it is too easy, it's boring for me and I'm ready to move on to the next thing. I think that's why I like watercolor so much. It's always a challenge and a genuine sense of accomplishment when it comes out they way you wanted. None of these watercolors rates a gold star, but tomorrow is another day.

TIME MANAGEMENT: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE!

Since everyone is always asking me how I do everything, I thought I would post the best visual demonstration of time management that I saw once at a seminar.

Picture a BIG jar sitting on the table. First put in large stones that fill up the entire space. (these represent the activities that are most IMPORTANT to YOU! ) Next pour in gravel until the jar is filled. Looks full? Next pour in sand until the jar is full. Can't get another thing in? Take a pitcher of water and pour it in. Everything fits. Now, if you filled the jar in reverse order, YOU WOULD NEVER GET IN THE LARGE STONES (YOUR PERSONAL IMPORTANT THINGS). You don't need to schedule time to wash clothes, etc. because they will always get done in and around the other things. Maybe at midnight or a load in the washer while you are eating dinner etc.

The other visual I remember, (which I have acted upon ever since) is this: A large glass is on the table. If you try to pour anything more into the glass, it will overflow and nothing new gets in. There is no room. In order to add more to the glass, you have to empty part of it out! I evaluate all my activities at least once a year, sometimes more often. I sometimes have to let go of some activities to make the time for something else which is more important to me.

We are creative people. There is always a creative solution to life, including time management. I still manage to kill quite a bit of time but even that is important to me. I don't want to live a constant harried lifestyle. I have periods of hectic, frantic pace, but not constantly.

I did work on preparing a piece of watercolor paper for the drawing marathon on Sunday. It's not very interesting to look at right now, so here is the next Everyday Matters Drawing Subject: Draw your hand. This comes from my sketch book preparation for my "Reflections on Turning 65" painting. I will draw my hand again tomorrow but til then....

TEXTURE AND COLOR EXPLORATION!

This is a quarter sheet of 300 lb hot press watercolor paper that was a failed painting. I was anxious to try some of the new ideas I have been reading in the new books I purchased recently. I spread some gesso over the ugly painting then I took some white wrapping tissue and gessoed it onto the page in two large areas and let it dry. Next I took Golden's fiber paste and a credit card for a scraper and troweled the paste over a stencil to get a raised relief image. I then took the stencil and laid it down on another area of the painting and ran a brayer over the back in order to transfer the residue paste creating a negative of the stencil. When the whole thing was dry, I used the triad of Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Paynes Gray to paint the page.

In Critique session this morning, Jane Ferguson had done a bunch of great little artist's trading cards. They are 2.5 x 3.5. I decided to divide up my page into these rectangles. If I want, I can cut this page apart and have lots of Artist's Trading Cards. As it stands now, this is a study page for some textural techniques and the range of colors I can achieve with this triad. I really like the colors and want to do a portrait with them.

This detail shows the number stencil I used and the metal stencil that I scrubbed out the color with a toothbrush .




This detail shows the fiber paste through a metal labyrinth stencil. I also used a few of the Derwent Graphite colored watercolor pencils to enhance some of the shapes.





Here you can see one of the metal stencils used in three different ways; fiber forced through the openings, residue pressed onto the page and color lifted by scrubbing with a toothbrush while stencil is held to the paper, then blotting.





Here is the positive and negative fiber paste stenciled. Looks like pressing the fibers through the stencil smooth it out. I like the bas relief effect.



This was a fun little project. Tomorrow I will try to do another 1/4 sheet with a different texturing idea and a different color scheme.

SLIDE SHOW OF THE DEMO ON TYVEK FOR ALLIED ARTISTS WEST!

Here is the demo painting that I did this morning for Allied Artists West, a group of very talented and accomplished women artists. It can be intimidating to work in front of a group like this, but it went well and everyone was very gracious. I enjoyed it very much and have fun when I do these type of events. Jane Ferguson was very kind to photograph the progress of the painting and she sent them to me, so I have made a slide show. I think you can see how I draw with the "oiler boiler" from Cheap Joe's to establish my image. I just draw directly and what ever happens, c'est la vie! This sequence was done in an hour. Because the paint will run uncontrollably, I am working flat the whole time. After I got the painting home, I set it up and looked at it. There are a number of small adjustments I am planning to do before it gets stored away. I was thinking of doing that this evening after I finish this post, but I need to get another boost of energy!

I always try to share a lot with the group I am demonstrating for and they often share in return. Today I learned that Tap Plastic has the "oiler-boiler" bottles with the thin needle. Wow, that was fabulous information! Of course, they don't call it that cutsie name. I headed straight for the plastic store on my way home and got 8 more bottles. Now I can load them up with all kinds of colors ready to go.

I want to put some white lines in this painting. I went all over looking for white ink to no avail. I did get some scrapbooking gel pens that make a nice fine white line, but I would like to be able to use dip pens and sticks, etc. If anyone knows of a source, please let me know.

I almost forgot....I wore two of my orphaned earrings today. They were an interesting mismatch but fun!

"ORGANIZED CHAOS"...is that an Oxymoron?

I am up to #9 in the Everyday Matters Challenge and it is "Organized Chaos". Seems like a contradiction in terms to me. I am not about to reveal the real chaos so I chose the bookcase my husband built in my office. It looks chaotic enough for me. My sketching skills are slowly improving. The straight lines aren't quite so wavy and the circles seem to be a little rounder.

Tomorrow I will be doing a demonstration for the Allied Artists' Guild in Palo Alto. This one is in the morning and then they will feed me lunch. Sounds like a good deal to me! I spent a few hours playing with an image in Photoshop Elements tonight in preparation. I thought I had figured out all the variations but I found a few new things to vary the results. I am looking forward to actually painting tomorrow.

While at Aaron Brothers yesterday getting the new pens, I found a great book on Acrylic paints and mediums. If you like to experiment with the various possibilities, check out "Altered Surfaces" (using acrylic paints with gels, mediums, grounds and pastes) by Chris Cozen. It is a small book with very clear illustrated examples of the different types of acrylic paints and uses for all those other mysterious jars of goo. One suggestion is to use airbrush acrylic paint to mimic watercolor. I guess it is even less viscous than fluid acrylics. Michaels carries Creative Color brand which is high quality. I used to get my dyes from that company.

MOVING THROUGH THE CHALLENGES!

Today was a day for drawing. I ran over to Aaron Bros. and picked up some very fine lined pens (.005) They really made all the difference. I managed to draw a jar and a piece of jewelry which was # 7 and #8 in the Everyday Matters challenges. I decided to immortalize my "orphaned" earrings. I am missing the mate to each of these earrings but I can't let go of them. I keep thinking maybe the awol one will turn up in a pocket somewhere or under a chair cushion, etc. They're small and don't take up a lot of space, so I will continue to hope. One of the earrings is a real sable paint brush hand made by an artist. I think I can talk him into making me a single one to match.

I am trying different strategies for drawing more accurately and I feel like I am making progress. Love the new pens! I also spent a few hours working on samples for the February workshop in San Diego. Everything is coming together.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

It's eleven pm but I finished everything I set out to do today. It makes me realize how much time I waste, normally. That was lesson #1 for the day. I guess we all take as much time as we think we have. If pressed for time, I am so much more efficient.

Our friends came for lunch, then we went to the Harvest Festival. You can really see the slowdown in the economy. Normally the Harvest festival is filled with high quality hand crafted items. Today, most of it was so under par, I felt robbed of the excessive parking charge and door fee. It didn't have that festive atmosphere, either. Now it will be a downward spiral as less people go because of the quality and then fewer and fewer quality craftsmen will want to participate because the crowds aren't there. And the kicker was the "No Photography" sign posted at the entrance. There were lots of interesting people about and I couldn't photograph any of them!

I didn't take my sketch setup because my bag was heavy. Naturally, I had the perfect opportunity to sketch this ancient old truck that is going around the world. It would have been fantastic to draw but no sketchbook or pen. That was lesson #2. I learned more lessons today than I would like to! Never, never leave home without the sketch book!!!!! So I took it to dinner tonight and every time I started to sketch someone they got up. It started to feel like a curse. After dinner I set up two Ott lights in the library/studio and finished the painting for Paul's birthday present. It's a fair likeness but I like the antique feeling of the image and was satisfied with the results. I'm ready to call it a day.

TODAY'S CREATIVE ENDEAVORS!

Tucked in between vacuuming, dusting, rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic (that would be my new workspace!) in preparation for a visit from some out of town friends who keep a spotless house, I managed to start the portrait of Paul as a 5 year old, do a quick sketch of my favorite well-loved object and work a few hours on my up-coming Variations workshop. I still have a silver tea set to polish, brass railings to shine, wash the kitchen, breakfast room and office floors (they all run together) start the soup for lunch and sweep the driveway. I guess I will be getting up very early tomorrow morning! The upstairs is sealed off and not available for guest's inspection. Oh Lord, I hate house cleaning! So much effort for results that last so briefly.
At least I can work on art guilt free for a while.

Here is a photograph of the Anniversary Pillow. Also a photograph of my favorite well-loved thing along with my EDM Sketch #6. This is a portrait doll of my sculpture teacher at the College of San Mateo. His name was Ray Loranzato and this was my final project. Ray originally sat in a soft sculpture fur lined teacup. When Ray talked about the Dada movement in art, you could tell how much he loved the concept. The fur lined teacup was one of the famous pieces of art from this period. Ray, the doll, has survived 3 sons and 2 grandsons who used to throw him around like a bean bag until I put a stop to it. Ray, the sculptor, is no longer living, but I think of him every time I look at his doll. I keep him hanging for dear life on top of my other most well loved treasure, my first studio easel. It was a gift from my parents for Chanukah when I was 19. I still use it sometimes when I need a big easel and it sits in a place of honor in my living room, always with a painting on it.

JUST ONE LITTLE SKETCH!

I only had time today to do one little sketch, but I am still managing to post everyday for the month of November. This is #5 for Everyday Matters challenges...my bed. I think I am getting a little better at this sketching thing but have a ways to go! Over my bed is a silk wall hanging I made from microwave sequentially dyed strips in muted blues and dusty pinks. In earthquake country you don't want anything heavy over your head in case it comes crashing down! The bed frame is almost 100 years old! Burl Walnut and old fashioned wooden slats holding up the frame. We bought it second hand from a woman who had it for 50 years. We are married 45 and purchased it in our 2nd year of marriage. The pillow on the bed was one I made for my parents for their 40th wedding anniversary. It has two soft sculpture dolls representing them on their wedding day, tucked into a heart opening. I guess this scene represents a lot of history of long happy marriages.

I will be doing something other than sketching in the next day or two. I need to paint my husband's oldest brother when he was about 5 or 6. It is a gift for his 85th birthday. Paul has to be the youngest 85 year old I have ever met. We should all be so lucky to have his vibrant, engaged, active and healthy life. He is an inspiration.

CREATIVE EFFORTS FOR THE DAY plus CREATIVE WISDOM FROM TWYLA THARP

Here are my efforts for the day. The every day matters challenge #4 (A Mug) Is fair. I used my brush pen set (the one that isn't light fast) to color it in. Those darn circles and ellipses are a bear to draw! I am thinking maybe there is a trick or technique to it. I need to research this question. I was so tempted to use a template to draw the circle but thought better of it. I actually got rid of all the odd mugs when we redid the kitchen but kept two English Porcelain mugs from our trip to London as a keepsake from a great vacation. The other two sketches are my first attempt in a long time at sketching from life. The guy with the newspaper was motionless for a loooooooong time until I started to draw him and then he moved his arm right when I was going to do that part. So, I made it up and it looks it. I captured the paintings on the wall, well, but of course they weren't moving and they were ridiculously simplistic and vapid. The second little sketch painting was done while I was gallery sitting. I used a pen on the desk. I tested it for permanence and it appeared to pass but then bled when I painted over it. At least my subject wasn't going to move on me. I can see I have lots to learn about this live sketching thing before I will be very happy with the results. I think I want to find a very very fine point pen with sanguine ink instead of black. I shall persevere.

Regarding where I found the little watercolor set: It came empty with spaces for 12 colors. I bought it at Accent Arts in Palo Alto for $15. I don't remember if it had a brand name label on it.

"EVERY DAY MATTERS" DRAWING CHALLENGES: I'M IN!

I love drawing and I absolutely love looking at other people's drawings, especially the illustrated journal type of work. I put the Urban Sketchers blog on the side of mine so I can track it every day. Some truly amazing stuff. The illustrated journals and Urban Sketchers are working from life, not photographs. I have been like a fly on the wall, jealously admiring this creativity. I finally decided to take the plunge. I think I can work it in because I can draw relatively quickly and I want to challenge myself to draw from life more often. I don't like that I am so dependent on photographs. I signed up for "Every Day Matters" a few days ago. If you click on the blog title, it will take you to Danny Gregory's blog page. He is the fabulous artist who started Every day Matters. He has some wonderful books that are so encouraging and motivational. Today, I went to the bookstore and bought a small 5" x 7" sketch book that can take watercolor and a Moleskin Watercolor Book also 5" x 7". The first book is for the challenges that Danny Gregory has started. They are up to 197!! I figure I can catch up eventually because they post a new challenge each week. I can do several a day. It's not a race, anyway. I did three today and had so much fun. I am going to make them as detailed and intricate as I can, just for my amusement. I picked my favorite pair of shoes (visually...no, not my Crocs!) and found an interesting lamp that got cut off at the knees and neck! because I need to improve my skills at estimating distance and size. I decided to do my Laurel Burch tote bag because of the wonderful designs and used some watercolor to jazz it up. Anyway, there is a list of all 197 challenges which I printed out. Tomorrow I will be sitting at the Rose Shenson Gallery at the Triton Museum for the SCVWS show so I will get a few more drawings in. I posted the cute little purse size watercolor set I put together. The metal container is palm size and holds 12 colors. I used Stephen Quiller's suggested colors and put the compliments across from each other. I marked the names of the colors in the space for the little brush. The Koi water brush comes apart and fits perfectly in these little set ups. Not of caution: Maimeri watercolors don't seem to dry very much...same for Graham (which are made with honey). I hope I don't have a runny mess problem as I used 3 Maimeri colors.

The Moleskin Sketch Book will be used for Urban, Suburban, et all sketching from life. Tomorrow I will break it in!

DEMO FOR FALC (Fine Arts League of Cupertino)

I had a great time painting for FALC last night. Here is the finished painting along with a slide show of images from Nava and one from Jane F. Everything is reversed because they were actually photographing the overhead mirror image. I wanted to finish the painting so I spent about an hour before dinner working on it. While I was painting, I realized how much I love working on this surface. I was lifting back and repainting, changing some of the colors and the paint just flows so effortlessly. My new little squirrel brush is ideal on the Tyvek. I thought I was finished with it but noticed one little spot I need to correct. Looking at it in the computer has the same benefit as viewing the painting from a distance.

My husband and my son surprised me with an early Chanukah present. They bought me an ipod Touch and couldn't wait for the holiday to arrive to give it to me! I am very excited. It has my calendar, address book, e-mail plus actual music! Also I loaded some photos. I think I can actually work from them while I am out. The viewing screen is pretty large! It is an amazing little gadget.

FRENCHMAN DISTORTED SHAPE: VALUE PATTERNS

As part of the process of creating lots of variations, it is useful to have a variety of value patterns to choose from. I did these four very quickly yesterday. I ran out of time, but I plan to do more.

Tonight I had lots of fun at the FALC meeting doing a demo in about an hour and 10 minutes. I want to finish it before I publish. Nava was busy taking pictures of me, so I will probably have a little slide show to go along with the painting.

POOR FRENCHMAN GETTING MORE WEIRD BY THE MINUTE!

I decided to draw with a sanguine pen today. Got to mix things up! I found each time I drew his face it became increasingly strange. I am letting go of the photos more and more....creating lines where I want them based loosely on his. I could do this all day long and get years of workable images but I am close to moving on. I simplified one of the faces and really liked what happened, so I spent some time making a few value patterns for this one. I will create some additional simplified faces from this group of distortions and then work up lots of value patterns. Once I have this motherlode of material, I can do all kinds of color, texture, pattern and line ideas quickly.

I am saving my value sketches for another post in case I have a day I don't get any art done. I want to fulfill my pledge to post everyday for the month of November. So far I am on track.

I received an e-mail today from Connie Michael telling me about a great website for creativity. www.milliande.com I watched a u-tube video of cutting a rubber block for printing. I already have all the materials, just haven't ever done it. Now I can visualize a Frenchman image in this process. I need to go back to this site and see what else I can find. Connie has started her blog back up, so check it out and give her some encouragement. conniemichaelart.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow night I will be doing a demo for FALC (Fine Arts League of Cupertino). It should be fun. I am taking a break from the Frenchman and will go through my photos and find a new face to do. If anyone needs additional information, go to the FALC website or send me an e-mail.