Monkey Friends

Just dreaming about going to Costa Rica in the next year. I will buy tickets soon even though I probably can't afford it. I have been wanting to travel again ever since I backpacked through Europe with my cousin in 2003 and have not gone due to money but I think I am just going to go for it anyway and make it happen. I was researching tonight. I'm not sure where I am going there yet, but I want to make some monkey friends....

Mural Project- Day Two

Yesterday's mural progress, day two of working on the mural. The goal for yesterday was to get the entire background covered, and we got it done thanks to everyone helping!

The wonderful librarians even got to work painting!

I sure am lucky to have a tall husband to get the areas  I can't reach!

Window area hills background covered

Hills background covered

Sharon was in charge of the coral, nice work!

"I'll get the smaller areas"

Painting with Evon

Ocean side, background covered

Ocean side, background covered

Even Elephant Yogis are Afraid of Mice

I had such a great time in yoga tonight, I love doing yoga it helps me feel centered and reengergized even when I'm always very busy and helps stretch out my back which can hurt after working long hours teaching and painting carousel horses and murals and things. A woman from my yoga class was talking about how she went to India and did yoga with about 50 yogis, one was even 95 years old! That was when this image popped into my head. This was done right in my 9x12" sketchbook with an awesome zebra brush pen from the Japanese book store. Fun, fun fun! Maybe I'll color it later, what do you think?

Super Wolf!

 This was done tonight with acrylic paint at the art studio I teach at- thanks to Miss Valerie, Leanne, and Mr. Michael for their encouragement to get this finished for my sketch of the day! Oh, and thanks to the wood people at Namm (music trade show) for donating this 6x6' piece of wood for this cause. I was driving to work today thinking about what to do for my sketch of the day and I had an image in my head of a wolf as a superhero because wolves are always the bad guys so it would be fun to have a wolf that wants to be the good guy. Luckily, I was at a stop light so I could jot down the idea before I forgot. Maybe my next one will be on scientists... they are always depicted as bad in movies and stories but they are actually quite good mostly. I have one version that is the straight up scanned painting, and one that I added words to. Which one do you like best?

Pie Panther- Sketch of the Day

Fresh from the sketchbook oven, here is today's sketch of the day. Thanks Jeremy and Spencer for the idea.

Trumpet Lady- Sketch of the Day

This is the trumpet lady that played in a group at Namm yesterday. I really liked how she sang and played the trumpet, she had such charisma about her that I had to draw her!

Namm Show- Sketch of the Day

This sketch of the day is inspired by the Namm show, a music convention in Anahiem. It was fantastic! I got to see amazing musicians perform and demonstrate all kinds of musical equipment. I think I will do a few more of these musician sketches coming up! This quick sketch of the day was done with brown verathin pencil and watercolor.

Mural Project- Day One

Here is an update on the mural project, I got everything sketched out on the wall using a projector and chalk. I thought it was really cool that as I was drawing I could look right outside at some of my reference such as the palm trees and the hills. What a beautiful place to work! This mural is going to be great! The photos are a bit hard to see, I will get better ones from the real (non-phone) camera later!

ocean side before

after, all sketched!

"Muralist at Work" hee hee

                                                                                                                               

Hill Side

Miraliste Library Mural update

 

This is the approved design for the mural I am starting tomorrow, the color is the rough and the black and white has some changes, do you notice what they are? The photo below is a view of the children's room from the other side of the library, it's hard to see the side walls too much but you can see the whole thing. I will be painting the mural on the wall above the bookshelves. Anyway, this is what I have been working on and will be working on for the next 2-3 months. Feel free to visit me at the library I will be working most Saturdays! 

Fun Paint Sketch of the Day

This is a fun, playful painting for Valerie for her Birthday which is very very soon.. about 10 minutes from now. This was done with cardboard, watercolor paper, watercolor, acrylic, and pen. She wanted "messy paint". She is an amazing artist, her website is: http://www.valewis.com/
It is fun to let loose and play with art!

Francene's Desert Scene

This freshly created sketch of the day is for Francene, my lovely co-worker who wanted a tarantula, scorpion, and baby snake having a get together in a happy desert scene. She also wanted the scorpion to be balancing a cup on it's tail. This was a fun idea. Here you go Francene! Happy Birthday!

Sketch of the Day- Thank You Cards

This sketch of the day is based on today's event of starting to send thank you cards from our wedding out, they are probably late but better late than never, right? I'll share the design once they get sent. Now that I am feeling organized-mostly- I am starting to do the things that have been on hold for a couple of months like the thank you cards and my website. This sketch is done in ink and watercolor and 2.5"x3".

Rainy Day Sketch of the Day

I wanted to do a rainy day sketch since it was raining tonight. This was a request from my husband who explained that cats don't like going in the rain and that I should draw one hesitating to go outside in the rain, all bundled up. Sounds like me also! It looks so much warmer inside...

Nemo Fish

"Nemo Family"

Here is the Nemo family sketch for Anavie. This is a fishy week for sketching! She did face paintings for Halloween on her and her husband and daughter with nemo characters on their cheek it was so cute, her daughter Ever still talks about it so here they are displayed as a clown-fish family as requested. This was done in ink and watercolor.

Sea Creatures

This is a painting for my dad for his birthday, he has been wanting a sketch of this, it is an inside joke with him and his friends. This is done with pen, watercolor, and digitally touched up. I feel like the sea creatures are not quite balanced in color yet so I will work out another one, but this will do for today's sketch. Happy Birthday Dad!

Sketch of the day- Cat Teacher

This quickie sketch was for Leanne who I have been friends with for a long time and have been teaching with for a couple of years. She is doing so well with her photography business that she had to leave art classes but we will miss her! Check out Sargeant Photography they rock! http://www.sargeantphotography.com/

Sketch of the Day- Owls Playing Videogames

 

"Night Owls"

This sketch of the day is done in pen and watercolor, is about 4x4" and may or may not be based on a true story ;o)

Sketch of the Day- Knitting Llama

This sketch is based on the Llama that lives next door to my mom's house in Sonoma. Here is the photo and the sketch. This sketch is done with watercolor.

Sketch of the Day- Star Trek

This one I felt a bit out of my element even though I watched the original star treks and now I am watching next generation, I don't feel like a real fan yet at least. But this sketch was for Brandon and he is a real star trek fan, he chose my sketch topic today because it was his birthday. I hope this is sufficient to his request: Worf and Data in a paddle boat. Here you go, Brandon!

Sketch of the Day- Bon Voyage

This card was for Chris Smith to wish him a Happy Trip around the world. I can't wait to see where his adventures take him!

Healthy Turtle and Rosie French Bulldog

 Thanks to Holly and Patti for helping me with my free draw sketch ideas of the night. These are done between 10-20 minutes each and were created with pen, watercolor, and the turtle has a digital border. More to come!

Healthy Turtle

Rosie French Bulldog

Soccer Flamingo

Free Sketch Fun!

As my husband and I were talking about things we want to accomplish in the new year, I mentioned that I really need an extra push to get my artwork done. I know that seems silly since it my favorite thing to do but it is so easy to get distracted so he had told me he would give me an assignment every day or every other day that would help me keep drawing. Today, I asked him what my assignment was and he said "Draw a Flamingo playing soccer" so here it is.

Soccer Flamingo

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 2012!

Today is January 1st, 2012!! Yippee! Time to start the new year! What do you want to do this year? I am looking forward to completing my last bit of teacher training for my clear credential in teaching art and getting closer to my goal of illustrating children's books! The mural project is the next big project I am looking forward to-  bringing the beauty of the surrounding nature in Rancho Palos Verdes into the children's room at the Miraliste library. I still have much organizing to do, especially on my computer- it has been having trouble even to write this blog! I have a Mac Mini and it doesn't have much memory left.
I am actually really excited because yesterday I organized my book collection, now all of my books are accessible and I can actually see what I have now. I have many books that I have enjoyed as a child, and I want to keep looking at these books to rekindle the spark of what I liked about those alive in my work. Also, in the storytelling workshop with Marshall Vandruff, he explained that the first step to creating your own story is to look at stories you love. I'll talk to you about my favorites another time. In the meantime, let's get ready for 2012!