Ship in a Bottle

The mini of Month 4 Bootcamp
class is Ship in a Bottle and all things nautical. I really love the water, the beach, a boat ride but nautical isn't
my go to drawing subject. I put it off the first few days. Today was a beautiful day though so I brought out some scrap paper and watercolors and just played around, I think I'm starting to find some joy in this.. It's just hard to start sometimes..

It's just a matter of getting going.

I did pages of these and had a great time. It's good to venture into subject matter
that doesn't initially excite and explore it. I wonder what the assignment will be next Monday?

Beach Sketches

My favorite time is our week away on the Cape. Relaxing,
reading, swimming, all those great summer things.. I spent time
painting the bathers at the beach, They are moving around so
much the sketches are really quick gestures, just trying to get
down my observations.

After a few days I moved onto color and birds. I picked up
an old bird reference book at the flea market there and got
some info about the birds.

and this last one I just loved the name of this bird..Dowitcher.

and finally just a few doodles and alphabet for fun.

Enjoy the remaining weeks of summer!

Off to the Beach!!

I'm so excited to take a week at the beach with my family next week.
My son will be leaving the next week back to college, he was so busy
this summer with work and friends I barely saw him. This will be the time
for all of us to take a well deserved rest. Of course I have big plans.. We
will all paint something together, I will sketch a lot, I will read and write.
Who knows, I may just sleep in the sun the whole time.. and that will be ok
too.

This painting is of my Mom many years ago, I found this great old picture
in my stash.
Here is a shot of the painting in progress. I messed up the eyes a little bit
and I don't have time to fix.. But that's what happens sometimes when you
paint..

IF-Identical

I was having blog withdrawal.. It's been so many weeks since I even
visited my own site. I managed to get in a weeks vacation on Cape Cod,
get my son off to freshman year at college (WashU in St Louis) to study
architecture, deal with the nasty migraines, and happily juggle a ton of
work. But I love drawing these little doodles for illustration Friday.
So much fun! So the word is identical... When you see yourself, what
do you see? Just something to ponder.

A Week Away

I usually spend  my vacations in an amazing city, running around,
seeing sites and never slowing down. This time was in Antigua
in the Caribbean. It really reminded me about the importance
of slowing down and just taking things as they come.
I used water soluble crayons for these and as I sat out they were
melting.... the shapes get getting blob-bier, it was fun
to see the result.