Merry Christmas EDMers !

I worked from a photo by my brother,

Sumner W. Fowler in Novato Calif.

This lucky little guy was adopted the day this

photo was taken. I added some

Christmas decorations and am sending it out

Dec 1st---that'll be one thing I get done

on time in this busy season.

EASTPORT COUPLE CIRCA LATE 1800'S

Original pencil sketch which includes

The Happy Crab and The Blue Iris :

Sketch printed onto brown paper

using regular colored pencils and then

adhered in the Moleskine sketchbook :

Watercolor pencils:

I'm including the original pencil sketch where you can see the details
suggested of what it looks like on Water Street to day---to cover up and change quite a bit of the initial idea was on the daring side for me---as this was not intended to be this way at all...but, the experience was priceless I think-- I used to do this a lot---imagine the past in my work--

*****************
Once this pencil and a bit of ink sketch, was printed onto a dark paper bag type brown paper , I could not use the watercolor pencils---so I used regular colored pencils---which I did not know were so waxy to use---I found this out when I tried watercolor pencil work over the top---not gonna work...and also the biggest annoyance was I could not re-ink any of the linework with the Pitt pens---too waxy. This project turned out to be quite the experience and finally I got it to be pretty much the right color with the regular color pencils and using them to darken the lines---good thing I took a photo at this point as the next thing I did was spray the spread to see if I could get rid of some glare from pencil work---low and behold the spray (which I forgot to shake) covered the pages with a grey coat---which I tried to wipe off with paper towels before it dried.....so now it looked like it was a sketch from the graveyard---so I then used the reg colored pencils to try and bring it back and did to some degree. Whew!------I drew in some Vintage people that worked in the Sardine factory and today's Water St photo I took, which I revised to olden times in my imagination.

The last photo is the original sketch with inked lines and watercolor

colord pencils used--it has the morning sunrise suggested on

the lower left and is the lightest one.

Everybody Wave !

Here are two views of the same sketch. One was done in pencil then Pitt pen ink. The next was printed onto brown paper used in scrapbooking. It is not used with water color and stiffer than copy paper. On the brown one I used watercolor pencils (but did not use any water with them)to add color and sprayed with Matte Spray, as I did not have Workable Fixative, between added layers to build up the colors. Be sure to shake the can well and do this outside. I was going to use regular colored pencils and forgot. Right click to see better and read the words. It seemed awesome to me to be on a three masted ship in Maine on a whale watch and close enough to Campobello Island Canada to get some houses right near the water. A once in a lifetime trip for me---I have tried this with another spread and the regular colored pencils, too---the look is quite different from watercolor pencil when you use the darkish color paper...I did not like the bit of texture on the paper and prefer the Moleskine smooth coated paper.

...also I tried the colored paper to get white to show up better and it did.

This particular spread looks better in the sketchbook then in a photo..

I trimmed the sketch and adhered it into the small Moleskine

sketch journal with double sided tape--it gives the journal a

different look and lies nice and flat.

I need two pencils and have to order them--grrrrrrrrrr---no place close by

carries what I need---I better order more than 2.....

Influences

(You must left click on the photo to see

the detail and read this one)

This is a page from an interactive sketch

book I have a lot of work in with things

to push, pull or open up---thus the interactive tag.

This spread shows on the left the initial sketch

and on the right a photo of the large acrylic painting.

It's called "Influences" and has lots of

references to people or things that

have been strong mentors etc.

One of my favorite things in the

painting, is my mothers lace edged

handkerchief in the lower right.

Boss Turkey

I'll never forget the Turkey that jumped on my

car hood--making sure I'd stop before entering

my driveway for his mate to cross the street.

And here he is over on the roadside

starting to display himself as a thankyou

gesture---(oh right)

Nice feathers but.....

a face, only a mother could love...

Now and again, I bother to cook breakfast

Cooking Alone with Winna--(oxymoron?) I'm sure we've all read a delicious sounding recipe and had only some of the ingredients---this was the case here in the string shoot of Flaming Hot I Yi Yiiiii Corn Cheese Egg Somethingorother...which became "Jill's Cheese Egg Omelet"... using more butter than usual for me. I used Irish butter, two eggs, some Seriously Sharp Cheese and half an onion I had left over...I could make it again sometime and use the corn with some fiesta seasoning added--IF I get the urge. The onions cooked in butter

until very very brown made this extra good for me.

*************
The reason in the first place, to take the photos was for a sketch spread

****************

Below the basic ingredients laid out

"NO SPOONS"

First I bought the plate because it made

me feel good to use something cheerful

looking. Then, I liked all the fork challenge

drawings---I looked at, and in the back of my

mind was "Do It"---but I ignored this, until...

there appeared the fork with the shadow on the plate

and "Aha!" came to mind--this is IT---I strongly felt the

need to do the challenge

Mr Fix It

My brother, Sumner, posed for this

Mr Fix It photo. Makes me laugh!!!

Nifty Nest

I guess the people that live here like the nest

as much as I do--this is the 2nd year I

photo'd it and see some plastic wrap has been

stuffed inside to keep it waspfree--It's

not close to photo (on an upper Eastport floor)

and to get this much detail

was a thrill and a half.

Art Supplies The Soul

Here's one of the main things I love about sketch journaling--the supplies are
easy to carry around with low maintenance.
A big idea I had years ago was to do
a sweatshirt design that some art supply
business would clamour to buy the rights from me
with a sweet contract that would keep
checks flying to me. So I did such things
as you see here and several more around
the yoke of a bright red shirt and made up the slogan, Art
Supplies The Soul...then I wore it to the store I
thought would see how great it was and immediately
buy it right off my back. Well, I slunk back to my
car for the ride home, my dreams crushed with the
owner's dismissal remark of "That's nice..."
The woman on the lower right is from people shots
I take in many places to use later in some sketch. The colorful
pen with Egyptian type designs is old and does not
have any ink--but a beautiful ceramic point that works
best for any transfer of work I may do and that's very little
I mostly like how it looks--it even has Nefertiti on it!

*************

Of interest, may be the fake (bought for some

Halloween years ago) hand that I laid the supplies

on to draw them---it is so real looking I must be

careful not to startle myself when sliding a draw open

where it may be kept.
.

Ropes On Board

(Every Day Matters Challenge #196 Ropes)

On a whale watch in Eastport Maine

I spent time taking photos of the

different ropes and there were

plenty of them. Only when doing

this EDM challenge did I notice the color red

on the rope and think it must

be some sort of measuring mark.

Some ropes had black instead of red. A

sailor out there, might know the

reasons. As the Moleskine sketch

book gets fuller, it becomes harder to lay it flat

for a photo, so my hand will be in the

journal photos from now on, maybe.

Seacrets of Pisces

This is from a series of 12 Zodiac signs

I created on tin ceiling tiles. That

became a set of 2. I did

not get any enthusiastic reactions to them and

went on to other things, thinking they were darn

unappreciated for sure. I sold the Gemini this summer

to an intelligent, handsome and great buyer.

Now the Pisces one still hangs on the wall

amongst a few beeswax collages done

in a technique learned from Claudine Hellmouth,

a wonderful teacher of beeswax workshops

if you ever get

the chance to take one. The fish in the collage

is one of my imaginative ones and the word

is all about the Pisces trait of being able to

keep secrets and the sea influence.

It hangs by my own paintbrush with

my DNA all over it.

Influence Symbols

we might as well see the humor

in how mixed up most of us were,

as we started to become adults....

UConn Ages

I was driving around the UConn campus

which is not too far from home, and

had time to get a photo of a student at

at stop light--her pom poms dancing

on her boots were so darn lively.

I had already taken a shot of the

old barn which always looks new

as they maintain it so well, and

to combine the two made

the sketch interesting to me.

UConn started out as an agriculture

school back in 1881. This is where

my husband went after his

stint in the Army--which resulted in

a partnership with his brother in a dairy

farm which was a darn good place to

raise 5 children.

Now I am

such a fan of the girl's basktball team

I plan my life around their games!

The Talisman Watches

You'll have to left click to read this..

I sketched this two days ago while

sitting in the car waiting for the

PT session to be over--I had already been

up in Sean's room, (My grandson who suffered head

injuries in a car accident).

I coud not help but see Kimpossible hanging there

from the rear view mirror over the dashboard

---I do not know the

story of this character on TV , I think---all I

know is, it gives my Kim hope and so I

drew it to strengthen that which helps her.

I certainly became so absorbed in the

sketching and also the inking in my small

Moleskine (that I turned around to get

a vertical view ) that the time flew and

it seemed just as I added the last pen line the

car door opened and Kim and Siobhan

(Irish for Shavon) were climbing in for

the ride back home.

Saving a Page

This small Moleskine spread was

the result of sketching a page

in a light thin pen line that

bothered me to no end---I wanted to '

to tear it out of the book but

that was not an option I could

accept--so decided to show my

frustration with it and made the spread.

I guess that's me inner self and

her quirks. While I may like

something in another's work, it

does not feel right to me in mine.

I will lay it to blame on being the

second and middle child and needing

to "show up" more to not feel lost....

Sapphiresaki ?

this beautiful color caught my eye,

with the sun making it look like a

good sized jewel on some one's lawn.

Who do you think owns it?

Golden Sunset

When I was in Jessica's class and an assignment

was to photo skies with different lights, we never

had any sunrises or sunsets that particular week.

This sunset was last night and a long time

coming for sure. I am able to go out

on the back porch to get a quick shot where there is

nothing to silhouette against the glory of

the sky. A V formation of honking

Canada geese would

have been nice and I

heard them in the distance....

and anxiously waited for them

but they must have

been headed elsewhere.

Time Changes

Posted for David from an old guitar

player and back problems artist, now

loving the sketch journal life---who finds

his blog brightens my day. The spread is

about almost twenty years passing, but

each day can make such a difference.

Please know we all stand together with

good wishes for you.

(Left click on photo to see it larger.)

Katy Doing ?

I love this photo by Sumner W Fowler
in Novato Cal. (my brother)..
he managed to get the Katydid
preening himself---herself?
Sumner is my mentor in photography
and has helped me all along the way.

Old Timers

Here's an extra for today---I saw these two old

Model T's when I went down town and made

a note to photo them on the way back --they

are in such disrepair but look great sitting there to me.

Of course coming home I forgot then

remembered so I stopped and doubled

back and got this shot I liked---I could work

out the roadside fence but it

adds to the sense of place I think.

I'd like one on the front lawn at

Christmas time with maybe

a big wreath on the door

RED SHIRT HANGING

(Left click on the photo to read the words )

Driving on a road I was not supposed

to be on, according to a warning

sign, I saw the weathered house

with the clothesline and I do love

hanging clothes, so it was take

a quick photo and go a bit

further to see what was around

the next curve and down a hill...

and then I saw the place the big

boats load and unload cargo,

turned around and got out

before I was thrown in the brig.

********
21 watercolor pencils used---

I know it doesn't look like it,

but tis true and I have no idea

what the names were as I choose

them by their shade and

then put them all back in the end.
*********
Note of interest:
Eastport is on Moose Island

is which is the the largest,

with Carlow, Dog, Treat, Burial,

Spectacle, Matthews, Goose,

Dyer, and numerous islets making

up the remainder

of the islands in the Bay.

Kid Brother

I did have a kid brother in 1949, but he was

younger than this perhaps 9 year old...

thinking about matters of concern to him.

I think my generation was the last age of innocence

and my brother thinks his was---- I base my summation

on no drugs on the scene except for some Hollywood

star getting caught smoking pot. We did live in a

dark brown house with brick foundation and not shown

is an incredible attic. My brother will want to

know why I didn't have his really snazzy hightop

sneakers showing and the answer is, I wanted a

horizontal spread----you do see the tops

of his jeans where the really wide roll

up of the pant leg shows---better than
falling off I say. Before I put the watercolor

pencils away I counted I used 17 for

this spread.

Sign your work

. Fellow Art Journalists,

I don't know how to show you what

I mean without posting this

photo to show how to sign

with the c (artist's copy write) in the

circle by your signature....I have been

remiss with the sketches and signing

this way--I will add it from now on.

"Its" a good thing...

A friend came to visit and left her

hat and Miattabroom. I thought the

hat looked like "It" on the Adams

family (?) when I put it on

the rabbit that is the official

greeter here, sitting there in

shadows with a breeze moving

the hair ever so slightly while the

cock is crowing in the distance,

calling out his every morning

soliloquy on companionship...he only

has about 6 in his harem at the

moment.