The Season For Carving

...lino blocks...

   Most of you are probably thinking of carving pumpkins. I haven't carved one for the last couple of Halloween season's. (Kids are too grown for the excitement of them.) Instead I'll stick with Linoleum Block Carving. There are several types of blocks that you can buy. I happened to have two choices in my stash. One is mounted on a block and the other is just a sheet of the Lino on it's own. 

If you look at the bottom portion of the picture, you can see the difference in thicknesses.These block are cut at 3x4 inches. Just a smidge bigger than a baseball card. Which is a size that I haven't done in a while. I think I'll stick to bigger carvings. Details are so hard to achieve in such a small space. 

I know, I always say it starts off with a sketch. I cheated this time. I couldn't think of what to carve for the swap that it's for. So I traced a drawing that I had already done. From the top left you can see the block that I chose and the drawing that I traced on to tracing paper. To transfer the image, tape it face down to your block and use a bone folder to rub it down. Before removing your tape, take a peek. Did everything make it to the block? Yeah? Good! Now bust out your tools. I have two gouges and one Exacto Knife. 

The above split pic shows the starting of my carving...then I did a no no! I couldn't wait to see what the block was gonna look like! So I used one of my markers and ran it over the block. I ended up printing this in red,...but the black stained places in the block. It ended up leaving black marks on my first prints. With that particular ink, it was hard to scrub off. 

Below is my original drawing that I trace from...It's on a paper doll.

...And here's the finished print...

Waning Art Funk

...my muse is slowly returning...

   In my last post I was pretty much belly aching about, how my muse was no where to be found. It seems that she's finally making small appearances. First it happened with a tag swap that I joined. The rules of the swap was that there had to be a bird, a fish and something furry. I did a fourth tag, which was the customary gift to the host of the swap. Here's what I made...

My favorite is the one with the bird that has a number three on it. However, it seems more peeps liked the fish and the bunny. It's funny how I will think one thing will be favored over the others, but my guess is usually wrong! LOL! It just goes to show that art really is in the eye of the beholder. 

So, next up are Two Sleeve Art Dolls. Their name comes from the fact that it takes to baseball card sleeves to cover them. It's just to protect them on route to the peeps you are trading with. I wish that I had taken pictures as I went along with my drawing, but I didn't want to stop. Here's one completed doll and another just being started. 

I got to see the blood moon eclipse. Did you see it? Anyways, thought I'd do up a doll to mark the event. 

I had every intention of showing you the progression of the second doll...but this is as far as I got...

Usually I try to make my paper dolls look pretty. However, it's sometimes fun to go outside of your norm. The monster below is inspired by Don Kenn and Edward Gorey. Some of you might be familiar with Edward Gorey's work. He illustrated the opening for the show "Mystery," on PBS. 

A lot of my work will include song lyrics or found poetry. For this monster I added the lyrics from TLC's, "Unpretty."

Below, is the whole gang...

The last one is my favorite...but let me guess. It's not yours. :) 

Art Lulls

...Muse! Where are you?...

   Gee, it's been a while since I have posted anything. I'm having a bad case of artist block. This is the longest lull that I have been through. Hopefully something will smack it outta me! LOL! It hasn't made it easy to get anything done in my sketchbook. It was suppose to be a daily...or at least some what daily sketchbook. It's probably been a week or more since anything has been added! I'm not giving up on it though. I am determined to fill it. Here is one of the last things that I done in it...

I did a face too...which I'm not really good at. I can't decide whether or not if I like it. Here's a snippet of that...

So, what does one do when they can't figure out there art muse? You check out what's new in the neighborhood. Recently a huge Bass Pro Shop store opened up here. I thought that there can't possibly be anything in there that I want. ...but hmmm, I think anyone can find something that they like! Check out the inside of this place! It looks like you're in the woods!

Some of the store made you feel like you were in a log cabin. Lot's of animal trophy's. Eek! Deer heads, Moose...other big animals. :( They also had fish, but I think they were fake. :)

I wish we could have our own individual mailboxes. I would love to have one of these fish!

They even had fish pillows! I know...everything to fill all of my fish fascination! (...and yes, they had a lot of bird thangs too!) Anyways, that's what one does during an art lull. 

A Foodie Kind Of Day

...another mini adventure...

   A mini adventure, or what my family likes to call, "Adventure Time." It's what we do, with these simple rules. Go as far as you can on one tank of gas. Drop yourself in an area that's unfamiliar to you and see what you find. Cheap lunch is a must! Pictures, pft! No brainer, take lotsa pics! Usually it's my three son's and I that go on these adventures. However, my hubby is home for a break from work. (Military) So, he took me and our two youngest kiddo's to Palo Alto and Half Moon Bay CA. 

   The hubster had us breaking some rules! Lunch wasn't cheap, but are we complaining? Nope! We ate at Belcampo Meat Co. in Palo Alto.

 It's a butcher shop that also sells some cooked items. Jonah and I had the Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich. Jeryn and the hubster had Meatball Subs. We all shared a mess of frites and downed some bottled Cola. (Well worth the rule breaking.)

Here's my fistful...

...so...we're sitting outside...and while we are eating, we spy a sweet shop. Ugh! Must we? Yes of course we must! We wander into Tout Sweet Patisserie. 

At this point I haven't even tasted anything, but the eye candy alone is delicious. The shop is sparkling white, with pops of intense colors. Yum!

The store keeper, which now I guess I shoulda asked her name, was so kind. I asked if she minded me taking a bunch of pictures. She smiled and said click away! We made a small purchase, but dang you could spend a small fortune on these sweets. I can understand why though, their goods are time consuming styled sweetness. 

*Sigh...look at those lil beauties!

After our foodie obsessed session, we drove over to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve near Half Moon Bay.

We were a little bummed...it was high tide. I was thinking of all of the things I might find in the tidal pools, but hmmm...a little tough to do when they are underwater! LOL! 

No creatures, but I did spy some stacked rocks. What does it mean? Who know's what it meant to the first person that started it. Some think it's to symbolize patience and balance in life. Another theory is that, it's a prayer. In other cultures, it's a trail marker or cache. All in all, it was a grand mini adventure. :)

Oh Really?!

...a daily sketchbook...

   I've said it time and again, that I can't complete a whole sketchbook. I have maybe three...hmmm...or more sketchbooks with only one or two sketches! I am determined to see at least one of these books through. So far I made it to day four. Haven't gotten to today's sketch, but the day is still young. :) 

   Sorta weird, but I think some of my problem is that I start on page one. The front of the book. It makes me feel like, gosh, look at all of the remaining pages that I have to fill. So I decided to play a Jedi mind trick on myself. A way to take away some of the anxiety of blank pages. This time around, I am flipping to a random page and art'ing it out there. When I'm done with the sketch, I number the page and date it. I think in the future, leafing through the pages with random days in order, will be a more interesting read.  Yes, reading a sketchbook! I can't help but to add found poetry and quotes. Below is my first sketch...

Had to start with birds. It's what I love to draw most, next to fish. Might as well start with the King, no?

Drawing #2

I'm not too happy about this one, but I did try to go outside my comfort zone. I don't recall ever drawing a deer.

Sketch #3

This is my favorite of all the sketches so far. I was happy that I could fill a whole spread. 

Finally, sketch #4

Queen Annes's Lace...I love the look of the real flower. Some consider it a weed, but I love it's delicate beauty.

Anyways, fingers crossed that you see more sketches...that'll mean that I'm on my way to finally filling a sketchbook. 

Out going mail and a Big 'Ol Oops!

...my apologies...

   First, why an apology? If you've been browsing my earliest blog posts, you might notice that some of the pic's are missing. I recently upgraded my phone and it's an android now, instead of an Iphone. My new Samsung uses Google...which for pictures uses Picasa as a backup thang. I wanted to get rid of the pics on Picasa, from my phone. It backed up e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g....including mistake photo's and photo edits. From my view point, it looked like I was successful at removing unwanted pics. In reality, I was deleting them off of my blog! I still don't know how or why....the kicker...everything is STILL on my phone! I talked to two techs...one from Samsung and one from Google. Both couldn't help me! Wah?! I give up on that front. So, please forgive me while I slowly get those posts back to normal. 

...okay, that was long winded and boring...let's get on to some pictures. ('Cause that's all peeps really wanna see. Right?!) Here are some pics of what I've been up to as of late...

Those who know me, know that I lead a monthly swap. (Envie Addicts Unite!) Here is the August Envie that I did. My partner just so happens to like daisies. On the back I added the poem, "Daisy Time." click the link to see the poem. One of the lines suggests that Daises are stars in the grass. It's why I tried to make my Daisies shine like stars. 

I was in another swap that was for "found poetry." It had to be a dark themed poem. Here is a small 4x4 inch piece that I did...

The poem "Dark Truth," is by Robert William Service. Click the link to read the complete work. 

My friend, Donna Hicks, told our group about an envelope art contest that's going on. It's for the Edward Gorey House. If you don't know who Edward Gorey is, you might have seen his work on the PBS series called, "Mystery!" The link on his name will give you a little bit more info on him. Here's what I will send in...

So, I pulled a dumb move...I read the instructions a while back, before doing the art. I forgot that it was suppose to be Halloween themed! When I started this envelope, I had only the slug and lady sketched out. It was a take on Edward's art seen here. To make it "Halloweenie," I added the top, which was inspired by this. I liked it better without the Halloween addition, but whaddaya gonna do?

Finally, I played around with some cheery colors for this piece. There was a request for art on our AFA site. The person that requested the art, is making a book for a younger friend of her's, that thinks she has no friends. From what I see so far, she will have a very big book of artist friends. AFA peeps, have big hearts! 

3 Marker Challenge

...bird postcard...

   My arty friend, Tracy Anderson, challenges our art group every so often. This time, she's asking us to try out the 3 marker challenge. According to the rules, you can use three different color markers and a black and white pen. Here's how I started. 

I'm using two Spectrum Noir pens. One is a brown color, GB10 to be exact. The other color is a Navy Blue color, BT9. The last color is from a Prismacolor pen, Violet Mist, PM-60. I also get to use a black and white pen. I'm using a black Pentel Pocket Brush pen. For the white pen I'm using the Uniball Signo Broad pen.

I'm using water color paper, that has been taped around the edges. My brown pen is really juicy, but argh, my blue is dry. What's a person to do? I've already used it. So I try to make the best of it. (BTW, at this point...I wanted to throw it in the trash!) I really disliked the color combo. 

Still not too happy with it, but I keep going. What have I got to lose? Right?

I'm starting to like it at this point. After I had colors flatly applied, I try to think about texture and shadows/highlights. To make the appearance of texture, I added hash marks, stipples...some random "hairs" or "fibers" coming off the bird. I almost quit here...but I couldn't stand that white background. I was afraid that I wouldn't have enough ink in my pens, to out right, color it in. 

I went with my old stand by, "rays." It just seemed like it gave it that last bit of umph! :) 

Here's the finished work. I added a few more stipples on the bird and flowers. The tape has been pulled off as well. :)