I better put my thistle up too. We were not allowed to use a pencil to “set things up” and I really missed it. It’s hard to just start drawing with a pen and end up with something where you want it. We were also supposed to do this with a continuous line…..no lifting the pencil off the paper. I’ve been buying these beautiful purple/green thistles with one orange rose because of the contrast in color and edges. What fun to draw. I hope it feels prickly.
This was hard. I had to pick a shoe to draw and there are just so many I love. I finally settled on a Reiker because it would provide a challenge. Easy to wear, difficult to draw. As usual, I get so caught up in the watercolor that I forgot to leave some white so that this patent leather shoe looked “shiny”. Instructor, Jane LaFazio, said that they looked good even if they were like suede. That’s cute. I love this class, the friendly online instruction and support from other students. More than anything (hard to admit) I need the deadline! I love having an excuse to draw and paint. Shoes were purchased in San Francisco years ago when celebrating a weekend with daughters and sisters-in-law.
Yes. I’m behind but starting to catch up. One more assignment before Friday! It’s been really interesting to observe myself avoiding drawing or painting. This last week it was the two-day book arts class I taught, which I admit took much longer to prepare for than I expected. This particular avoidance tactic is a vast improvement over ironing or cleaning out the refrigerator. Assignment #2 was to work with greens and draw a leaf. I was lucky, I would find something green outside whereas others in the class (national and international) couldn’t find anything outside that wasn’t white and frozen solid. We are blessed here behind the Redwood Curtain. So. Here is my geranium leaf plucked right off our front deck.
Assignment #3 was to start my drawing with a pen. No pencil to help me feel more secure before using something permanent—before I committed myself to something completely unrecognizable. I tried a thistle first but that felt too…prickly. I ended up with a stuffed animal who really didn’t mind if no one could recognize him. He is Hobart, given to me by daughter, Robyn, so that I could try taking care of a pretend dog before we got our real dog. Hobart was unwrapped at our Christmas in Hobart, Tasmania. His painted nose is a bit heavy and seems to drag his face down but you can tell in his eyes, that he understands that I had to commit to the nose once it was drawn. He is understanding like that.
I have been wanting to take an online watercolor class with Jane DeFazio but always missed the deadline. I’m certain this is no coincidence—I have a case of “fear of drawing” (it’s the blank page) and an irrational fear of drawing in public. What could be safer than an online course, right? The delivery of instruction (pdf files, videos, posting) is stupendous and I learned a lot from watching her videos. Still, it took me 3 hours to do the first watercolor because I kept finding things to do: laundry, another cup of tea, walking the dog, cleaning out my pen drawer, and vacuuming the entry closet. Stuff like that. When I finally finished, I was surprised that the painting wasn’t so bad and I actually enjoyed the process. I needed to give it a second go so I got out my props (lime, tangelo, pear) and supplies and headed to a PUBLIC PLACE!! No one laughed. Actually no one looked and I happily slipped into that right brain mode with my fruit and coffee latte so it wouldn’t have made any difference if they were snorterling over the lady in the corner with her table of fruit because I wouldn’t have noticed them! How liberating that was. And here I am posting it on my blog because if I can do this, anyone can. This class is Sketching and Watercolor: Journal Style. I would recommend any class of hers. OK. I’m a week behind so it’s on to drawing leaves next. Stay tuned.