All I want for Christmas

I've decided I want some good markers and a nice calligraphy pen.... Now to just figure out what brands and types, exactly.

Here's what I'm looking at, so far:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/prismacolor-premier-illustration-marker-sets/
http://www.dickblick.com/products/koh-i-noor-nexus-studio-pens/

More Interesting Reading

http://makingamarkreviews.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-federal-rules-for-product.html
http://makingamark.blogspot.com/2009/12/reviewing-art-in-2009-1-art-blog.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MakingAMark+%28Making+a+Mark%29

http://www.makingamark.co.uk/how-to-sketch.html

Blog posts worth a long look

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/12/1000th-post.html

International Fake Journal?

http://officialinternationalfakejournalblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-is-international-fake-journal.html

While I'm at it; here's some more

Here's my last finished painting.  I don't like it very well, as the values are waaay off.  The air space was supposed to be light blue, but as I was painting it in a glob of magenta pigment got caught up in my brush.  As I dragged it across the paper, it actually scratched the paper, and of course, it's staining, too.  I tried to scrub it away, but that just made it worse.  Finally, I washed the whole area with a mix of the magenta and peacock blue, which made it darker.  It would've been okay if it had been a bit moodier, but as it is it appears flat and lifeless to me.   I hope to revisit the subject, but I didn't save a seperate drawing so would have to begin all over again.  Maybe it will happen, maybe not.

And, here's the unfinished drawings on the front page of my latest sketch journal.  This will be the cover and the inside flap.

Better late than never, right?

Pictures of the w/c box, all cleaned up and ready to fill.  I still haven't decided just what to fill it with, but it's ready when I am.   One of the little ceramic pans has a tiny chip in it, which I might have done myself.  Otherwise, it's in excellent condition and I expect it will last many years.  I couldn't be happier with it. :)

I took the pictures

Now I just have to wait for DH to get them off the camera for me. 0.o

Andrew Loomis

I have several of Andrew Loomis' books as .pdf files I downloaded; and one more that I bought on eBay.  When I read through them, his methods make sense.  His drawing technique seems to flow from one step to the next in a logical, useable fashion.

Until I try it.  Then, I just can't seem to wrap my head around the various parts of a head and where they go.  I'm especially lost when I'm working with a photograph I want to copy, and trying to build it using his methods.  The model's face never matches the proportions of the ball, and I get completely confused.  The eyebrow line seems too high or too low; the space for the nose seems wrong, the lips don't appear to be where he says they should be.

I'm off to work on it some more this evening, as I'd really love to learn to make it work for me.  I don't want to spend my life just copying photos; I want to be able to draw from life and from imagination and I don't want to spend hours on each subject.  But I want to be able to do it in realistic style, not turning the model into some caricature or modelling distorted features.  :( 

Also...I really don't like that so many artists idealize human forms by making them taller or longer-legged or wider.  I see slenderized feet and tenderized curves and mechanized muscles...and kinda shudder.  I'm more interested in depicting reality realistically.  I'll save the heroes and the impossibly endowed for the day I take up cartooning.


Meanwhile, I spend more time fighting with Explorer than I do reading or anything else.  I have to restart every page over and over and over every session.  I open one too many tabs or try to navigate to another page or open a document...and the whole thing crashes so I have to restart it all. :(  And the "restore last session" is a joke.  If the last session crashed it, it will attempt to restore it errors and all. :(

I feel like kicking it out and reinstalling the older version.  And I would, too, if I wasn't so darn convinced that it would just automatically update itself again. :(

A Common Place Book

I spent most of my day trying to rescue some old copies of Artist's Magazine.  I've had these things since the 90's and have done my best to keep them in good condition because there's so much good information and so many beautiful works and talented artists represented.

But...over the years they've really deteriorated.  And, one of our cats peed on the whole stack once, so many of them were ruined and all of them smelled.  I packed the salvageable ones in a bag with some baking soda and left them for a while.  But I kept trying to think of a way to rescue what was left.

So, today I took a 3-ring binder and started making my version of a "Common Place Book".  I've taken apart several of the magazines, saved what I thought was worth saving, and dumped the rest.  I either punched the pages directly and inserted them in the binder, or took the relevant parts and pieces and glued them to copy paper, then inserted both layers as one page.  In some cases I just clipped out a favorite piece of art and glued it over the ads on other pages.

It's not a work of art.  It's not going to become a fancy journal someone will want to read and sift through.  But, it will preserve stuff for a while longer that I've found useful or inspirational, and that's the point.

The scanner is on the blink, and I still haven't gotten around to taking any photos. :(  I intend to; but life just keeps happening and before I know it the day is done and I'm just not in any mood to fiddle with it any more.

Commonplace-book. Formerly Book of common places. orig. A book in which 'commonplaces' or passages important for reference were collected, usually under general heads; hence, a book in which one records passages or matters to be especially remembered or referred to, with or without arrangement. First usage recorded: 1578.

                                                                                           Oxford English Dictionary:
http://www.diyplanner.com/docs/commonplace1
http://diyplanner.com/docs/commonplace2

Celtic Knots

I hope to learn to draw celtic knots.  I love seeing them used for borders, page breaks and design elements.  And I've seen a few outstanding examples of them used as elements in art works.  Here's a few links I hope to visit often:
http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/knots/index.htm
http://www.thinkythings.org/knotwork/knotwork.html
http://www.wallace.net/knots/howto/

Downloads I intend to save

http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/articles/free_digital_kit

http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/articles/paper_carving_templates

Freebie Images:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Christmas-images


http://picasaweb.google.dk/silmara.marian

http://picasaweb.google.com/rigedyk

http://s29.photobucket.com/albums/c251/Kazren25/

http://picasaweb.google.com/brendageneral

http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d130/Craftypixiedust/

http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r125/madjara/SHEETS/

http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o29/majse/

http://picasaweb.google.com/heljellens/3dSpecificAges#



http://www.freecraftstuff.co.uk/
http://digital-inkco.com/
http://digital-inkcochallenge.blogspot.com/



http://creationsbyjj.com/Forum/

Ugh! Was busy all day

I had to drive into town today, and didn't get back 'till almost 6pm.  So, no pictures, no painting, no journaling...but, I did buy some supplies.  Nothing special, just some more drawing paper and cheap-o markers for my little journals, and some stuff to help  organize my space a bit (always needed). 

I was too late to bid again on the watercolor boxes, so I lost both auctions. :(  Maybe next time.  

I did spot some linen thread at the quilting shop that I think might be good for bookbinding.  I wasn't sure of the sizes, so I didn't buy any.  But I plan to go back to pick up some of the 30/3 (medium) stuff.  It's a real pretty grey-brown color that I think will look terrific against watercolor paper.

It's all cleaned up!

Antique prussian blue is a real mess! It took hours to get it all washed out, as it just refused to dissolve. Yuck!

But, I managed to get the whole box cleaned up, and didn't even destroy the little paper insert that told what colors were originally in it. It looks good, and now I just need to take some pictures and decide what eight colors I'll use to fill it for the first time. That's the hard part, but also a lot of the fun. :)

Here are the "before" pictures that were on the auction listing.