Storytelling

I've enjoyed making little books and stories...

so when I heard about an online class with some artists I've followed for a long time, I decided to sign up for the storytelling class in Sketchbook "Skool".  The classes are six weeks long with six different teachers. 

In the first class, one of the assignments was to illustrate a recipe. I used a recipe that we make every Christmas morning.

The next week, we drew people in action and I posted most of those last time. Here are a couple more, from the PSU Farmers Market....

One of the assignments for the third week was to draw a memory from the  first day of school.  I had memories from kindergarden, but there really wasn't anything I was interested in drawing. Then I remembered our bus driver when I was a first grader. I was very shy and didn't like to leave home to go to school. The bus stop seemed dangerous with kids giving "Indian Burns" and pelting each other with acorns. When I got on the bus though, we were in the safe care of our ex-military bus driver who taught us some raucous songs. I loved that and can still remember the verses to my favorite, 'My Gal's a Corker.'

This week, we had an assignment to draw people from photos quickly in pencil and then in ink. I'm not used to drawing from photos and always feel that it's cheating (it is for and Urban Sketcher), but I really had a good time. I drew from books in an accordion book.

Then I went to The Big Draw at PNCA and tried to draw people in action, on the spot. That was harder to do nicely, so it resulted in unfinished people and the need to cover up a mess-up with some origami paper.

It's really been an inspiring class and it makes me want to keep telling more stories!

New Year's Eve

Waiting for the festivities to begin, I finished side 1 of my accordion book...

Happy New Year, everyone and thank you for your support of my drawing journey.

May 2014 bring you all joy, laughter, friendship, and love!

Oh, Christmas Tree

I always avoid drawing the Christmas tree because it seems so huge and sparkly and full of detail--generally overwhelming. This year, I decided to go for it. 

Here's one of the poinsettias that still has a lot of petals. 

Both of these are in my Christmas themed sketchbook. I want to thank Linda http://pieceofcakesketches.blogspot.com, for the inspiration.

Christmas

On the day after Christmas, Boxing Day in some countries, I wanted to leave out all the clutter and mess to remember the pleasure we had.

Then, taking an idea from another sketcher, I decided to collect some of the memories in a sketchbook. I used the Sennelier accordion book from the Urban Sketching Symposium.  Next month, I'm going to take an online lettering class, so I've started adding some text. This way, I can see the before and after results.

I want to remember some things for next Christmas, so some of those notes are in there, too...

and I want to be sure to thank friends for gifts we've been given...

There's a lot to remember about this Christmas, but here's a start.

Accordion Book

Last spring, my friend Linda gave me an accordion book that she made for me. It was filled with luscious water color paper and with the flowered cover, it looked perfect for sketching signs of spring. This spring, I finished it.

The book is made from one big sheet of paper that is cut and folded. Here's one side...

and the other.

The other day in Heather's garden, I sketched her Bleeding Heart...

and her deep blue Columbine.

And here's some more vegetation. Yesterday, I had the fixings for my lunch and they looked so lovely, I decided to draw them first. I was hungry before the picture was done or the beets had been cooked, so I had a sandwich instead. Today, I'll eat a tasty beet salad with goat cheese.