Aquarium of the Pacific

My mom was visiting this last week and we took a drive to Long Beach to visit the Aquarium of the Pacific. It is a great place to view the wonders of the sea. I managed to sketch a few interesting bits here and there. This turtle was resting in a corner and posed for me the whole time I was sketching him.

Sea Dragons are the weirdest but coolest little guys. The Weedy Sea Dragon looks like twigs and brown leaves. The Leafy Sea Dragon just looks like a bundle of green leaves. They move around like sea horses, almost a floating dance. Jelly fish are always a favorite, as long as you are not in the water with them. I love watching the beautiful ballet they perform.

Pen and Watercolor

Robert Bateman Sketchbook

EDM challenge # 7

Tins or bottles from the kitchen.

I chose some tins from the pantry and although I liked the drawing it looked a little plain so I poured out some of the mulling spices to give it a more finished look.

Pen and Watercolor

Robert Bateman Sketchbook

EDM Challenges 3 and 35

Here are a couple more EDM challenges.

I was hoping to catch up but I seem to be falling more and more behind. I guess that's okay as I will always have something to draw. The rusty tricycle is in the art room at the college and looked interesting. I then added the gear/sprocket of a bike.

Pen and Watercolor

This is my favorite ever red leather wallet from Brighton. It is a great little size and can hold a lot.

Pen and Watercolor

The Kokeshi dolls are from an exhibit at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum. They are a form of traditional folk art dating back to about 1830.

Pen and Watercolor

Robert Bateman Sketchbook

Recent Monoprints

Here are a couple of monoprints I have done recently.
The train image is titled, "Midnight Express. This print is the result of inking and printing the plate and then manipulating it and printing again without cleaning it and manipulating and printing a third time. The train, leaves and furrows were cut from file folder and then inked and moved around with each printing.

The flower plate was painted with water based inks. I let it dry completely and then painted it again in different colors. I painted it a total of five times. As prints are pulled from the plate the colors come off in layers, giving me a variety of colors and textures.

Everyday Matters Challenges

Finally got some of the EDM Challenges done. Number 83 is a local body of water. I went for a bike ride on Saturday at the park. It was a great sunny day and there were lots of people out on the little lake in the rental water bikes. After I rode for awhile, I went back to the car for my sketchbook which I try and take with me all the time now.





Number 40 is something with folds and I decided a beautiful little fan from Japan was perfect for the challenge. Number 106 was sour or tart. I think this simple drawing could use a little more work but I like the simplicity and fresh quality is has.




I bought two Robert Bateman sketchbooks and numbered all the pages, each book will hold 100. This way, I can do all the EDM challenges and have them all together in one place. I've only done about six of them so far.....so this might take awhile.

Previous Trip Journaling

Haven't done anything big lately so decided to post some journal entries from last summer and fall. I go to Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, CO every summer for art workshops. Last year I took my art journal and did a bunch of entries. I love the columbines and the eyes of the aspen trees. These hollyhocks were five feet tall, who could resist.

The last three are from a trans-Canadian rail trip my mother and I took last September. We went from Vancouver, BC to Montreal. It was a nine day trip with lots of stops and museums and such. It was a great time with great people and fantastic food, though the cabins were really really small. Good thing we like each other! We had a wonderful time.

Sketching is a great way to record a wonderful trip.
A camera and photos are great but a drawn memory
is much more personal and meaningful and fun!

Robert Bateman sketchbook--pen and watercolor.

Moleskine Drawings

Here are a couple of drawings in my moleskine book. The old fashion gumball machine is in the ice cream parlor at the assisted living facility where I work with the residents, making monoprints. I drew this as they were busy painting. The other drawing is a modified "What's in my purse?" using the grid layout. Key bob, cell phone and eyeglass bob or necklace. I was going to add more but once I did the eyeglass holder I like the composition. Both are ink and watercolor.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers do not a have a sweet flowery smell but I thought they would be a nice addition after the skunk story. They were done in my moleskine with ink and watercolor. It is always fun to invert the colors and see what you get. I think the blue sunflowers are spectacular.

Sunflowers

Skunked! Score: Skunk 6 Nina 0

A skunk ventured into the backyard Sunday night and Nina, the lab-shepard mix, tried to get it. Again, and again, and again. They woke me up with a bang on the wall and then the smell! It was so bad I had to leave. It's been five days and the smell is still around but very tolerable. The groomers said Nina got hit six times. I used five quart size bottles of de-skunk, two cans of air freshener and a whole bottle of vanilla. Mom said the vanilla would help removed the smell so I put saucers of vanilla around the house. As the alcohol of the vanilla evaporates it leaves beautiful golden watermarks and swirls on the plates. Hopefully, Nina has learned her lesson but I know if there were another skunk in the yard, she would go for it again and again and again. I better go buy more vanilla.