642 Things to Draw #29 - A Roller Coaster

Pen and Ink with Coloured Pencil

I have always enjoyed roller coasters, from the first time being on one as a young girl. The first time I was on a roller coaster was at The Western Fair in London, Ontario back in the early 1970s.

I have always assumed that rides would be safe, therefore I never had any fear on them. Fortunately for me, I have never had any negative repercussions of going on rides (and I did not learn about the occasional accident/fatality on midway rides until well into my adulthood.).

The thrill of the ride, the pumping of adrenaline, the perception of danger is what attracts me to these rides. If my bones were not so brittle and my size prohibitive I would still be enjoying these joy rides and adventures to this day.

Every Day in June #22 - Draw Some Gloves

Every Day in June #22 (EDM #246) - Draw some gloves

Pen and Ink with Coloured Pencil


This is a blue vinyl surgical glove. You can purchase them at drug stores and use them as you would latex gloves (for cleaning around the house and messy jobs). Our son is allergic to latex so we use non-latex products in our home.

I don't use a lot of chemicals when cleaning. But I do wear gloves when cleaning the washrooms, especially around the toilets.

In the kitchen they are great when making messy meals or when you have to mix ground beef with bread-crumbs to make hamburgers or meatballs.

642 Things to Draw #2 - A Hammock

a hammock

Pen and Ink with Coloured Pencil

I drew this from memory. Well, it is from memory of seeing hammocks on television and in movies. I have never been in an actual hammock. Unfortunately, I am too uncoordinated to actually get into a hammock.

Lounging on a hammock is an activity has always eluded me. Over the years I have tried several times to climb into a hammock only to land on my backside on the ground. I cannot climb onto inflated mattresses on water, either.

Every Day in May Challenge #22

Draw an Ear, or two or three

Coloured Pencil

This is my son's ear. 

I chose to only do one ear because I did this in coloured pencil and it took hours to do. There are 27 colours in this ear, not that you would notice.  I did do one graphite study first, in a different sketchbook, but I will not share that at this time. 

This, of course, is Alexander's ear.  I had to photograph it first because he is never around long enough for me to actually have a live sitting with him. Young Adults! Musicians!

Every Day in May Challenge # 14

Draw your lunch and journal about it.

Pen and Ink, Derwent Inktense Pencils, and Watercolour

Ben Thanh Restaurant is one our favourite places to eat.  We really enjoy Viet Thai food.

I normally get the vermicelli bowl combo that comes with an extra spring roll and mango pudding.  All vermicelli bowls are accompanied with vermicelli noodles, cucumber and lettuce and are served with fish sauce.  I usually choose # 303 (Grilled Pork Meat Balls, B.B.Q. Pork & Spring Roll) because it is not too spicy and tastes wonderful.  

Every Day in May Challenge # 13

Draw something breezy - something that blows in the wind

Pen, Ink, Derwent Inktense, Watercolour

Initially I was only going to draw the flag. The image needed some balance so I threw in our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, into the mix. I agonized whether to draw the flag in photo-realism or continue with the looser sketches. The sketch won out as I am having a lot of fun with it. 

I may not be fond of Stephen Harper, but I am fortunate to live in a country where we can openly criticize our governmental leaders without fear of disappearing or being imprisoned. Also, I am fortunate to have interesting and intelligent friends that can have different political views than I, and yet, we still respect each other and remain friends. 

Every Day in May Challenge # 10

Draw an Apple

Watercolour, Derwent Inktense Pencils, and Prismacolor coloured pencils.


I decided to try something different here. We all know that I can draw a pretty realistic apple in coloured pencils, if I put my mind to it. These challenges are supposed to be quick and light. I decided to try this with a watercolour undercoat. I've not tried this before and it was rather fun. This is a technique I may explore more in the coming weeks.

This image actually looks  better in my sketchbook than on the screen. It looks more realistic in the "live" sketchbook than on screen. I may have punched the tone too much in Photoshop.


I thought of being silly and drawing an Apple Product such an as iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, but then, they would have been boring images. I love the colour red so I drew a nice MacIntosh apple... the kind you eat.

Waiting Room Sketch

I drew this while waiting for Alexander at his dentist appointment.

EDM 6 - Draw a Childhood Toy

Dollinha (Doll-ee-nyah)

I brought this tiny doll with me from the Azores (Portugal). My grandmother gave it to me. When Anthony, my husband, saw her he immediately named her "Dollinha": the English word "Doll" and the Portuguese diminutive suffix "inha" (meaning cute and small). The name stuck.

There is a whole Dollinha mythology and back story that Anthony created for this little doll. He even created an anthem for her that he and I sing at the top of our lungs. It is a march.

When I was looking for a name for my online self, I had Dollinha (the doll) sitting on my monitor, and decided to use that name. I have been Dollinha online since the early 1990s!

Here are some photos of the actual doll, that I took today. As you can see by the photos she is tiny and she has been handled a lot. She was and is a favourite doll of mine from my youth.

My little Moleskine sketchbook is 5½" tall and each page is 3½" wide. That should help with sizing Dollinha.

EDM 5 - Draw Your Bed

I love my bed. It is very comfortable and I think it is beautiful. It is made of solid cherry wood and stained very dark.

We were originally looking for a traditional sleigh bed but chose this Euro-Style because I would be less likely to bump my knees against it as I walked by. I also like the lower foot-board. Alexander, who is quite tall, can inherit this from us and fit in it.

I rarely tuck in the bed-spread (comforter) like this, although it does look nice. I did it so I could show off the frame.  Normally I have the bed-spread just hanging out, all around the bed. It looks nice that way too, and is a lot less work (and a lot less scraped knuckles).

When we know we are having guests over I put on extra-fancy spreads and fancy pillows and pillow throws.

For everyday use, I just have the sheets, a warm bed-spread, and three pillows. Two pillows in dark pillow cases are Anthony's and that one pillow in a light coloured pillow case is mine. I do this because it drives me crazy when Anthony uses my pillow. I like my pillow to be "just so" and when he uses it it gets all hot (and sweaty in the summer months) and he crumples it in ways that are not comfortable for my neck and head. To be fair, he doesn't like it when I take his pillows either. He says I get them too hot as well.

Well, that is our bed.

EDM 3 - Draw your Wallet, Purse, or Bag

This little wallet is just a little bigger than my had and fits in any of my pockets as well the smallest of my purses. It holds everything I need to carry in a wallet. Often I just slip it in my pocket and don't bother to carry a purse.

The front has six slots to carry cards, including a pocket with clear front so you can carry your photo I.D..  The back has a zippered area for loose change and a pocket for paper currency folded in half. I ordered this from FlyLady's FlyShop. This was money well-spent.  I love this wallet!!!

This is the most perfect wallet, as far as I am concerned, and I am thinking of getting one for my son to carry too. He could use something that is easy to carry in his pockets without weighing him down.

Willow

Willow lives with my brother, Mylo, and his family. She is so ugly she is cute. And, she has a great personality. Willow is a very sweet and friendly dog. She steals your heart the moment you set eyes on her.

This sketch is done in pen and ink with coloured pencil.

I love Willow's face and may revisit this as a larger, more detailed, piece in the future.

EDM 2 - Draw a Lamp

This lamp is on a side table in our living room. I drew it with Pelikan black ink and Drewent water soluble coloured pencils (with water).

The base is a silver globe with little indents in it. It helps shine the light brighter in the room.  It looks really nice both on and off, and suits the table and the room.

Sitting Around Watching Television

I was just sitting around, watching television, and decided to grab my sketchbook instead of my laptop.  

Normally I sit with my laptop on my lap as I watch television. Sometimes I multi-task and work or play as I watch TV, sometimes I watch a movie or other television program during the commercials of the one I am watch live, or sometimes I look up info about the program I watching and/or the actors in the program. I love computers!

However, this time I decided to just draw. The first image, above, is just one of my generic cartoons. It is not very interesting so I added some festive streamers to it and some colour. Still, was not thrilled with the image. Then I decided to draw a "Crumb" girl. Well, sort of in his style, but not quite. Alexander (my son) draws in the Crumb style much better than I.

We watched a three day marathon of The Big Bang Theory. 

I figured I may as well try drawing one of the characters so I sketched Penny, above.  I may revisit this show later and draw all the characters. This can be decided at a later time.

One of the disadvantage of watching three days of the same show is that you end up dreaming about it. It is difficult to turn off your brain so it is like watching the show 24 hours at a time! Ugh. LOL.

Nonetheless, I still enjoy the show.

Ink is Water Soluble

Ignore my spelling please.

I spend a lot of time waiting for things. In this case, as with every Tuesday and Thursday, I spend time waiting for the Lotus Health Clinic to open in the morning so I can go for my appointment.  I usually park across from the door and wait. While I wait, I have my coffee and get caught up on my reading on my iPod. I use the Instapaper app to capture web articles I want to read then read them offline when I have time.

This day I had my sketchbook and pen with me so I started by drawing one of the icons on my iPod. I quickly got bored with that so I drew the building and entrance to the Lotus Health Clinic.

When I got home I decided to colour in the image using my water soluble coloured pencils. Imagine my shock when I discovered the ink was too water soluble! (I checked the carton the ink comes in and it does not say "permanent" on it anywhere, but I had not noticed this before).  Well, now that I know it "runs" when water is added I will have to be careful never to drop my sketchbook in a puddle, bathtub, toilet, or sink.  Also, I can use the runny quality to my advantage.

Doodle

My son had asked me to come up with an idea for an album cover for an upcoming music release. I was waiting somewhere and I doodled this. This is NOT the idea that I came up with, but it got me thinking and it helped me come up with the final idea (which I cannot share until the album is released).

Sometimes I use my sketchbook to sketch out ideas for final projects and sometimes to work out or on ideas for larger projects. This is an example of that.

This, particular, sketchbook is a catch-all sketchbook. There is no theme to it. I draw it in when I feel like it, when I am bored, when I am waiting, or just for the heck of it. It is a small book that fits easily into my pocket or purse. I originally got it with the intent of carrying it around with me.

The above, rather cartoonish, image is a bit of a nightmare scene. There is a snake eating itself, disembodied mouth and eye, floating in the sky, some bombs (mushroom clouds) going off, and a man, dressed like "the invisible man" in the foreground. It is all a bit cliché.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas or whichever holiday you celebrate at this time of year. May you have a joyful and peaceful holiday season.

EDM 15 - Draw a tree or trees, leaves or branches

These are more doodles than realistic representations of a tree, leaves, and branches.  I had two pages left in my Sketchbook Project 2010 sketchbook and some time to kill so I started drawing the above doodle.  I liked it in the simple pen & ink lines but decided to add colour to it with coloured pencils. I had an idea in my head, but it did not translate into reality, as I saw it in my mind's eye. I immediately regretted adding colour and hated it. So, I redrew the image (more or less) on the last page of my sketchbook, as you see below.

Initially, I liked the black and white one better.  However, when I scanned these onto my computer a month had passed between the time I had created these and the time I scanned them in.  Now, I like them both. I like the coloured one just fine.

Neither of these are in my usual, realistic, style. They are more whimsical than I normally draw. As it is, most of the work in this sketchbook, although fairly accurate representations, are not in my usual "finished", "tight" style that I use for larger pieces and commissioned work. I purposely decided to keep things "loose" and casual in this sketchbook.

For the most part, most of my sketchbooks, are filled with loose lines and raw drawings. I use my sketchbooks to work out ideas, capture moments, and relax.  I leave my more detailed, finished, work for larger pieces that are either commissioned or are meant for display at an art show and for sale. My sketchbook work is not normally meant for public display or art shows (although I do use this site to show my recent sketchbook work)

This is the 3rd to last post about the Sketchbook Project 2012. I will have one post showing all the work together, and then one last post when my sketchbook is up on The Art House Coop site, with tour dates.

Lotus Health Care Clinic Physiotherapy

Near the beginning of 2011 I woke one morning with the feeling that I slept on my arm funny. There was stiffness in my left arm, radiating to my jaw and back.  I did not think of anything of it.  I often wake up with stiff joints that get better with movement in a few hours. However, as time went, my arm was in more and more pain. It got to the point, a few months later, that I could no longer move it.  I went to emerge and urgent care a few times and was told I had a torn rotator cuff.  Pain medication was not having much effect. My doctor sent me for ultrasound. The ultrasound showed my rotator cuff was fine. I had what is known as frozen shoulder.

The frozen shoulder joint
and inflammation.
Medical Multimedia Group

Yes, I know I should have had my arm checked out sooner, but at this time my husband was going through some pretty serious health issues, himself, and it did not seem the right time to be out of commission, myself. I also kept hoping it would just get better on its own.

I started physiotherapy with Pan at Lotus Health Care Clinic. Pan is amazing. He is a very pleasant person too. He laughs at my corny jokes. The physio is extremely painful, however, it is working.

We had a set back when I fell in the kitchen two weeks into the therapy. I had been carrying something into the kitchen and my ankle gave out. I fell hard on my arm. Pan was very patient with me and quickly got me back on schedule.

I now have full mobility back, although it is still painful. I am working on strength now. My arm is still weak, but getting better and better.

The drawing of the building was done one morning while I waited for the clinic to open. I usually get there 15 minutes before they open and I sit and have a coffee and get caught up on my internet reading (using instapaper on my ipod). This day I happened to have my Sketchbook Project 2012 sketchbook with me and decided to do a quick drawing while I waited. This was done in about 15 minutes, while sitting in my car, parked across from the door.

Lotus Health Care Clinic
1225 Wonderland Rd N
London, ON N6C 2V9
(519) 473-5911

EDM 56 - Draw a Self Portrait

As much as I hate to admit it, this pretty well looks like what I look like right now.  I would have loved to draw me young, svelte, and beautiful, however, that would have been an illusion at best and a lie at worse.

One of the inevitable things in life is that we age, and our bodies change as we age. Some people age better than others. Me, I look younger than my age, but I certainly look matronly now. I joke that I look like a Portuguese mother now. Of course, I am a Portuguese mother!

The colour red goes beautifully with my olive skin tone. It is a colour I enjoy wearing.

The background is organized chaos. That is more or less what my mind and life is like: organized chaos, with little dangler bits to grab a hold of, now and again.

Generally speaking, life is good.