Do you ever have one of those non-stop, running til you drop into bed kind of days? I was having one of those a while back. After I put the kids to bed, all I had the energy for was to climb under my covers. But then I remembered that I wanted (and needed) to say my prayers. All I could think of was the things I hadn't gotten done and so I lay there apologizing for my inadequacies. I don't usually get much from these late night prayers, but this night I did. I felt ... encouragement ... and this thought, if you fall into bed exhausted every night trying to be better, than you are doing something right.
Anyway, this drawing is from one of those nights. I was staring at the carpet trying to muster up some energy and I started seeing a funny old man in the patterns of the rug. I drew him one night and colored him the next. I didn't spend very long on him, but I kind of like it. Maybe I'll give him a name.
Obnoxious is the word of the day. Stupid obnoxious flip-flops making my life more difficult than it needs to be. They show up everywhere they shouldn't be and never end up where you need them to be. They are always left in the car (or at least one of them is), under the bed, or in a closet. The six year old they belong to never seems to be able to find them. They were in the living room tonight and right before I tossed them downstairs I thought, those sure have some obnoxious colors. Which of course is perfect for more irregular shaped objects practice. I have to get in ten of these. Two down, eight more to go.
The Process: I couldn't even find a pencil tonight, so I sketched these out with a light colored pencil. I love these lessons because he doesn't start out telling you all the supplies you need to buy. All you need is a pencil (or colored pencil), eraser, and copy paper. That I can do. I learned from Mousetrap to leave more white space and I had a lot of fun trying to make them look dirty.
This is from the game Mousetrap. I was picking up after the kids went to bed and set this one on the table instead of the toy box. It was a new experience looking at their toys as potential drawing subjects. The colors didn't turn out quite right, not sure what I'm doing wrong, I think I need more color options in my box, I just poured out all the pinks and oranges on the table and blended them somewhat randomly - so fun.
The Process: As you can tell, I have moved on from box shaped objects to irregular shaped objects. I drew pages of spoons, but none of them turned out great and I really wanted to try out those colored pencils again. This little game piece was super bright and obnoxious, perfect for experimenting with colors.
This is the box containing all of my canning supplies. It is sitting in my front room taking up space while my tomatoes rot in my garden. I wish I had time (or energy or motivation or ... whatever) to use this box, but for now, I am going to draw it.
The Process: I had a drawing book that I tried a few years ago. The first lesson was circles, the second lesson was squares, the third lesson was a walnut. By the fifth lesson they had you on highly textured things like stuffed animals. I lost interest pretty fast. Ctrlpaint.com has a nice easy pace, easy enough that I am a little bored, so I am trying out colored pencils on top of my drawings. Mark has a bunch of art quality colored pencils stashed in the garage that I am trying out. I love them! Brushes are intimidating, but colored pencils - colored pencils I can do. Mark showed me how to blend crazy colors for a cohesive whole and I learned that if you put the last layer on really hard, it gives it a nice polished look. This week, I am working on box shaped objects.
This is my life...
I'm on the right. It is crazy. Twins are crazy busy. A newborn is crazy busy. And I'm at the helm. I am exhausted most nights. But getting the most out of life is about prioritizing right? God first, my family always, I need to work on the country part, but I pay my taxes, yet something still feels lacking. What could I add that would be beneficial? I decided to start drawing to decompress at the end of the day. Now, I'm not an artist, but Mark (the guy on the left, the other one who gets to steer this crazy course with me) showed me this website ctrlpaint.com. I just started doing it ... and I loved it! Love it. It was the beginning of something. I'm not sure what, but this is a journey that I want to document. These first few are not going to be good, but this process is enriching my life, maybe it can enrich yours too along the way. - Liz
