Last weekend I decided to tackle a portrait based on a reference photo that was posted at Wet Canvas. I need a lot of practice drawing people before I start going to life drawing sessions, so I decided to give it a try. I loved the look of this gentleman’s face and dreds, but […]

Yesterday, after we finished scrambling up and down streambanks and walking over gently sloped hillsides covered with pine straw, my husband and I headed back to the car. He had walked on ahead a few yards and was turned around in my direction when he saw a slithering not far from me. Experienced Boy Scout […]

We returned again today to the Angeles National Forest, and wound our ways through canyons and cliffs to find an abandoned camping area slightly off the road. I found an old cut-off stump in the shade and looked around for an angle that might be inspiring. As I am always fond of backlit scenes, […]

Today we drove up into the Angeles Crest National Forest to hear some music at Newcomb’s Ranch Inn … the only restaurant/road house in the vast national forest. Specifically, we drove the 45 minutes or so from our home to hear bluesman Barry “Big B” Brenner. We met Barry several years ago when he […]

As I continue to work with watercolor in my year-long commitment to paint, I occasionally challenge myself to try a portrait, which is considerably more nerve-wracking than drawing plants or even some animals. A branch or twig can be in the wrong place and no one would notice. Put the nose in the wrong place […]

“But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I’m getting older too”
–Landslide, Stevie Nicks
I was consolidating and cataloging some digital photos and came across this.
Today … Mike just turned 21, and Rip’s almost 8.
Bulldog puppies don’t get that characteristic jaw until they mature. When they’re this age they look pretty much like other puppies.
A more grownup […]

Ripley, getting her beauty sleep. More fun with burnt twigs.
I try to draw our animals when they are asleep. It’s easier that way because you can’t make eye contact with an awake animal and expect to get any kind of drawing.
Make eye contact with a dog and she will run over to […]

I ruminate too much about having the right drawing tools. Maybe I ‘ll read an article in American Artist about having a certain type of crayon, or the right type of dip pen, or the perfect color of ink, and I obsess that if I somehow get said perfect crayon/pen/ink, my drawings will be automagically […]

I’ve been having a discussion with some net friends about drawing in public. If I use a pencil or pen and a small Moleskine, I’m pretty much invisible. But all I have to do is take out a piece of watercolor paper and a portable palette and I might as well send up flares. People […]

I had been thinking of an image to represent motherhood for this weeks “Draw something Mom” prompt when I came upon a beautiful reference photo of a mother swan and two cygnets at Wet Canvas for the Weekend Art Event.
Although this wasn’t a picture that I took, I felt very strongly attracted to it, […]