EDM #13 - Draw your telephone (land line, cell, old fashioned?)

Uh yeah, I haven't been keeping up with the everyday matters challenge recently but in my defense, the original challenges were weekly. I think in that case, I'm not far behind. My cellphone is pretty boring so I decided to use the land line as today's inspiration, however standard it may be. 

I've been in Australia for two months now and needless to say I don't get phone calls, there's barely anyone to text. Thankfully I have a pre-paid plan so I can keep the funds for however long it lasts. 

Of all the callers, the one I'm really hoping for is someone who wants to hire me.  Until that time, I guess I'll have to be content with relative silence.

Why So Serious?

The Dark Knight Rises comes out this Thursday so they've been showing old Batman movies on TV the past week. Having liked The Dark Knight, and dismissing the fact that it took me 3 tries to get through Batman Begins, I'm looking forward to its release.

Naturally, then, Batman has been on the brain. So to stave off the boredom I've felt the majority of the day I did a quick sketch of the caped crusader early this evening. I can't take any credit for coming up with an original drawing, but until I become an anatomy aficionado, copying will have to do! Besides, it was fun.

More found drawings

I was digging through some boxes I had posted to Australia from Israel and rediscovered one of my old pocket moleskine notebooks. I mainly use them for jotting down notes but I did find some drawings that I did during my lunch hour a couple of years ago. Perhaps some of my early 'urban sketcher' experiences.

EDM #8 - Draw your watch or other piece of jewelry

A couple of years ago I went to Italy with my now husband and in-laws. Everyone I talked to who had gone there before had glowing reviews of the place. For whatever reason I was initially a bit skeptical but once I arrived, I quickly discovered what everyone was talking about. We spent some time in Rome, Venice, and Florence. Each city had its particular flavour, all of it enjoyable. I got this necklace when we were on the island of Murano. Located just outside of Venice, its famous for producing quality glasswork.


The watercolors don't really reflect the purplish-blue color of the necklace but I guess this will be my interpretation. Done on Langton Prestige watercolour paper and outlined with the dip pen and ink set I also bought in Venice. 

Pen and ink: the beginning of a beautiful friendship?

I haven't gotten into the habit yet, but I've been doing a lot of research lately on fountain pens and various inks. I've never committed myself to trying calligraphy but it might be something I'd like to experiment with. I recently purchased a Lamy Safari fountain pen from eBay to get started, and at the very least it'll be a decent drawing pen. It generally gets good reviews. What other kinds of things are people getting into these days? 

Before the Weekend

Husband napping on the couch

It's getting kind of late here in ol' Haifa so it seems fitting to post this drawing. It's been a laid back sort of day. Earlier this morning I headed out towards the port, mainly in search of a particular art store but also as an excuse to get out and enjoy the weather. It was a nice change to walk around a different part of the city and to get away from the renovations that have been happening in the building all day. While I did find the store in question, I couldn't decide on much of anything to buy and wasn't too confident in my ability to convert prices from shekels to dollars so I more or less came away empty handed. Alternatively, I found a new location to stalk. Results of the day's sketchcapades to be posted later.

In other news I think I'm fairly satisfied with the current blog layout. What do you think?  Adding things as I think of them and trying not to go overboard in changing something if I don't need to.

Hope all you folks out there have a good weekend :)

A saturday sketch

I went on a little walk Saturday afternoon, looking for another location to draw. I thought it might be good practice to do one longer drawing per week. Nothing was particularly jumping out at me so I chose a location based off of whether or not there was a decent place to sit. I got a bit impatient with the process this time around. I prefer to start out in pen if that's what's intended but because of its permanence I have a tendency to go slower, particularly when it comes to drawing scenery, which I'm not as confident in as other things. After awhile I started to do the rest in pencil, to trick myself into going faster. After filling in a sufficient amount of details, I took a photo of what I was drawing and finished the rest at home.

Maybe next time I'll be a little more patient but I guess it's all part of practicing discipline.

"It is only by drawing often, drawing everything, drawing incessantly, that one fine day you discover to your surprise that you have rendered something in its true character." Camille Pissarro

obligatory cross legged "I-was-here" shot

Illustration Friday - Return

This week's Illustration Friday challenge is "return".  I've been doing a lot of reading on the Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog, which was recommended to me by an illustrator I had an email exchange with recently. It mainly features commentary and interviews with authors/illustrators about children's books. I like looking at the different styles and hearing a bit about their techniques. One of these days I'll be a little more equipped to coloring things digitally but for the moment I'm continuing to do as I've always done!

Boots and All

  

 Quick sketch of my boots. Knowing that I'm actually putting this out there, I would have afforded myself with multiple opportunities to get it just right. One of the things about having a daily project is  you don't always have the luxury to fret about the final product. Just get it done.