Esther, Again

Happy Thanksgiving to all. It's been awhile since I've tried painting Esther. I want to get good enough to give a painting of her to my friends. They loved this cat. One of these days...... 

My latest attempt was last night. It's getting better, but still not there. I've been having difficulty with eyes.

Here are three earlier attempts back in May to June. I enjoy comparing my latest attempts to earlier ones.

Hershey's Kiss

For my drawing challenge, I may not post everything and I may not do the blind contour drawing part. Today, the juggling Hershey's kiss on the shelf caught my attention.

My viewpoint was slightly higher than the picture. I thought was doing okay on the proportions, but in the finished drawing, the proportions are off.  Oh no!  My kiss was too short! I finished up practicing the outline of a Hershey's kiss. It's hard to get the two sides the same!

Better Now

I have the day off and I am in housewife mode, planning, shopping, and cooking for the two Thanksgiving meals that we will attend. After I was done making a garlic broth, I saw Ella sleeping and I wanted to try and do a rough sketch of her. First, I tried to see different shapes that would help "build" her into a cohesive whole. After that I drew a rough sketch.

After this morning's drawing, which quite frankly did not feel good, this one does.

Sketching Anxiety

At the last painting class, two people shared some of their sketches. Their sketches were really lovely. I especially liked when a partial or entire scene was captured and also when a sketch was finished even though the object (a cat) moved.

In painting or drawing, I mostly focus on one object at a time. At some point, I need to start working with more objects and also address composition. For now, I leave that to the future. At present, there are basic drawing issues to address. Outside of a narrow comfort zone, I'm wary of drawing and sketching. I'm most comfortable with either drawing something to paint (from a picture or using a viewfinder) or blind contour drawing.

Last night, I tried to draw my back door and door jam. The door has panels and a window. I tried using my pencil to measure and compare the different pieces to themselves. It was a bit too much to tackle.

Since the best way to learn is to do, I am going to start another 30-day challenge for myself. My goal for the next 30 days is to select one object and blind contour and sketch it. In the book, Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner, there are some good exercises and things to think about, which I hope will help.  Also, I signed up for a four week beginning drawing class that starts in early January.

This is a kendama. It has a lot of different shapes. It's not a great start, but it's a start.

Truck In Woods

This one is finished! This is an 6" x 6" on paper. I like it better than the 8" x 10" from awhile back. I like this picture a lot, so I'm sure that I will revisit it.

Final Painting Class

Yesterday was the final painting class of the six sessions. It was good to retake this class. In the first set of lessons, it was all so new. I took in the information that I could. This time, I picked up on different things, including

• Taking a short break mid-painting.
• Working on the entire painting rather than focusing on one area until it's done and moving on to the next area.
• Better paint strokes. 

The first one seems as though it should be simple to do, but it's not. Especially if a painting is not going well, the harder it is to walk away from it, even for five seconds. 

The other thing that made more sense is trying to capture an accurate impression of reality. This made more sense with being able to look at the same thing that Kat was painting, watching her paint, and seeing the finish product. In the moment, I could see the reality and part of her impression of the reality. Plus, her accuracy is pretty impressive. When she would outline an apple or a mug, it truly was that exact apple or mug. Watching her, it looked easy, but I can assure that it's not! Noticing this type of stuff, thinking about it, and trying to find the words to describe it is part of what I enjoy about all of this. It's a new way to look at and consider the world and I think with the processing of learning to create art, it's a never-ending journey.

We worked on landscape paintings yesterday. I cheated and worked on one that I drew ahead of time. I didn't get as far as I wanted. Hopefully, I'll find time to finish it today.

The Leaves Are Leaving

The fall-like weather ended yesterday. When I went down to paint yesterday afternoon, I looked at the pile of leaves that I collected this fall and thought it's probably time for them to go into the compost.

Before that, I selected one leaf from my own personal pile and painted it.

Goodbye to fall.  Hello to winter.