EDM #96 - draw something sweet

I originally thought i'm going to scan the one drawing and leave it at that - this one of the sweet n' low packet

but then upon second thought - well here's the drawing i did first -
the mini hershey bar wrapper
not quite as successful and that got me thinking about that place - the zone - that groove - you know - Danny G. talks about it in Everyday matters - others have spoken about it. I know we talked about it years ago when i was in school. That place you get to when you're drawing (or creating - whatever medium you're working in) where everything else goes away and its just you and what you're doing.
Well i definitely didn't get to that zone with the candy bar wrapper. I don't know why. I do know that i was too consciously working on those letters that spell Hershey's and i could not, for the life of me, draw them.
Totally different story with the Sweet n'Low. I was definitely feeling that zone and i'm pleased with the results. Now i just need to figure out how to spend more time drawing so i'm in that zone more often. Too many distractions the last week. I have barely blogged or barely visited anyone else's. I need to catch up on what everyone else is doing!
oh. for the record, I used my HB pencil in my sketchbook for both drawings as well as a prismacolor pencil for the candy one.

EDM #44 - draw an animal

i've been working on this one for a few days off and on. (more off than on) I really should try to start drawings when there are no other distractions - like that's ever gonna happen! - nevertheless.

i decided to try this one - draw an animal - because i cannot draw cats to save my life. i have my two cats - frankie and holly - around me every day and you'd think i'd be able to draw them.

no.

i did manage a very fast sketch of holly last week that i wasnt entirely unhappy with - fast meaning 2 minutes maybe

i like to blame my problem drawing Holly on Holly - its as if she knows i'm trying to draw her and she moves. constantly. (i have little flashbacks to one of my drawing classes in school and the model would move maybe every 10 minutes or so. I know i can do fast drawings but its definitely something you must practice and i'm sorely out of practice.)

So I thought i'm going to look around online and find a photo to draw from. something that doesn't move. See if i can actually draw a cat.

The result is above. I probably could continue fooling with the drawing some more - but i need to move on.

Other things going on here - been working on my wedding scrapbook (talk about flashbacks - almost 23 years ago - i wish i could remember all the details but then again that day - it was like being in a fog - so much swirling around me. It's definitely a good reason to scrapbook stuff as it happens if at all possible. or at least jot notes down in a diary/journal/whatever - cos' you're just not gonna remember it all!)

My sister from Arizona is visiting with my 2 sweet nephews. it's so good to have her here.

ok I'm off. hopefully i'll post again soon.

EDM #94 - Draw a spoon (and i'll throw in a fork for free)

i was looking through that list of challenges while i was drinking coffee one night. I have a habit of leaving the spoon in my coffee cup/mug (don't ask me why - I just do). I started looking at the spoon and recalled buying this set of cutlery when i first moved into my own place many moons ago. In my single days - yes that's a long time ago.

I think i bought the set at the Monkey Wards (Montgomery Wards for those of you who don't remember it - here's a Wiki link - Montgomery Ward ). I certainly didn't have a lot of money back then and couldn't be too choosey about things like my everyday fork knives and spoons. Things like that don't wear out too easily, and me, being one who doesn't throw useful things away, i still have them. They're functional.

So i was looking at the spoon and thinking I should draw this spoon and then i thought i must be crazy because the decoration on it was a little intricate. Then i thought - well of course i'll draw this spoon. You see - for all the simple stuff (design/art wise) i find myself doing - i really love intricate pattern. It was a little challenge i couldn't resist. After i'd finished it using an HB pencil i thought it might be fun to give a fork a go - but this time no intricate pattern. I did the flip side of a fork thinking that might not be so hard. Using a pen and crosshatching - well, it was quite difficult. Harder than the pattern. GO FIG

EDM #7 - Draw a bottle from the kitchen

here's a drawing i did last week. Been doing a little this and that and didn't get a chance to post it or some of the others i've been doing. regardless, i did this in my sketchbook with a Micron 005. That is a mighty fine line (i'm not talkin about the quality of my drawing LOL - but how very fine that tip is) but it seem like a good choice. I'd been doing so much crosshatching and more of a rendering of objects lately - well i needed a break. So i went for more of a simple line drawing. I was thinking about which challenge to try next and was in the kitchen rooting around in the cabinets looking for something that would be interesting to draw. I love this bottle and had forgotten about it. It's one of those Good Season's (salad dressing) bottles - but it's probably some kind of collectors item. Its an oldie (but definitely a goodie). When my mom was preparing to move out of her house in New Jersey, tons of stuff was making its way into the pile for a garage sale. I had to rescue some things :-) Silly things like this bottle - that have memories attached to them - at least for me.

Anyway I'll be posting some more drawings this week. In between reading. As you recall the book (Harry Potter #7 of course!) arrived on Saturday. I gave it to my daughter on Saturday afternoon. She'd finished her school assigned summer book (actually she's got to read another but i wasn't going to be that mean and make her wait to read Harry until after that one too!) and set off to begin Harry. Saturday afternoon I was tormented by her squealing out loud a number of times! She read for about 4 hours and then had to go to the park for the play she's tech-ing for. She didn't get home til about 11:30 pm Saturday nite and I know she went to bed around 2 pm. She is a fast reader - and she had that book finished before noon on Sunday. Really. I thought she was still reading and when i returned from the grocery store Sunday morning she said oh yeah i finished the book and then she got this HUGE smile on her face. and she squealed again. I told her to stop it. She's a cutie that one. Off I go... things to do.

EDM#30 - draw a chair or anything else you feel like

i was a little antsy the other night while watching television. (More often then not i take up my sketchbook and pen/pencil and start doodling or drawing while 'watching'.) The television is in the family room in which there are three places to sit - the couch, a love seat and this - which is slightly smaller than a loveseat - so i guess you can call it a chair. So here's my chair. It's a rather soft cushy chair - that little item at the corner of the pillow is one of my cats toys. That toy finds itself all about the house - usually wherever i am (i think they believe its like a dead mouse - they present it to me quite often as a gift - you cat owners will know what i'm talking about). Anyway I think the drawing looks better IRL - holding my sketchbook at arms length. however you can't exactly hold your computer screen away at arms length now can you (unless you've got a laptop i spose)
I should mention that i wasn't sure i was done with this - i kept on holding it away - looking - adding more - then finally decided i better stop.
Oh yes - before i forget i wanted to say thank you for all the kind words on my previous post. it means a lot - the positive feedback is so very encouraging and i appreciate your taking the time to say it.
ok.. hoping to post some of the ATC's and cards i've made recently later today or tomorrow. have a good one.

EDM#1 - Draw a shoe

well in this case a flip flop
(when i was a kid we called them thongs but that's another discussion entirely now isn't it)
i decided i'd give this one a whirl as my flip flops were right there - just waiting for something to do. I also decided i would like to give crosshatching a go - it is one of those techniques i admire so much but have yet to master. I've been admiring (no, actually i've been staring at with drool coming out of my mouth - remember tracy to shut your mouth) the drawings of andrea joseph for a while now. She does such lovely pen work - the cross hatching is something else! dareisay it... yes, awesome (i hate that word when its not used properly but in this case it is theee only word).

so i set out to give the cross hatching a try. i think my problem is i get antsy - trying to finish and then i get sloppy. Regardless i enjoyed the attempt. its not my best - but that's ok. gives me plenty to shoot for. And i thought i'm gonna be brave and show stuff i'm not absolutely thrilled with - i have to get over my shyness when it comes to showing my stuff, right? (if you all knew how i agonize every time i put something i have done on here... you'd laugh.)

oh yeah. the drawing is in my sketchbook. i used a Sakura Micron 01 pen.

Drawing #32

what's this? I'm trying my best to fit drawing in everyday. I'd joined the Everyday Matters group a while ago. If you're not familiar, check out the Everyday Matters blog.But it was hard to keep up. I'm going to do my best this time. We'll see how it goes. There is a list of items to draw to as a challenge. (And we all know how I like a list. )

So here's my first drawing. Probably not the smartest choice - drawing something metallic but I had out my Quickutz Zoe font on Sunday to make that card. The tin was still sitting out on my drawing table yesterday and there you are. The drawing has a few problems. I could sit here and pick it apart but you have eyes, right? LOL All in all, however, I'm pleased. I haven't been drawing in this manner for a while. I posted that drawing I'd done a while back (see my Picnic post and it made me want to get back to this level of my drawing. Ok.