Buddha, Left handed

Left Hand Drawing

In Jane LaFazio's Sketching and Watercolor, Journal Style workshop we were asked to

draw a continuous line drawing with our left hand.  I decide to draw one of my Buddha statues.

The drawing only took a little while, but I kind of liked it.  I was surprised, however, when

people in the class remarked that it was "so full of emotion".  Hmmm I can see it but guess

the directness of my left hand drawing came through.

In week 6 we were asked to draw a man-made object.  I found that I just didn't want to

draw kitchen appliances or the like.  So I did a right hand drawing of my statue.  It was easy

to draw the upper half of this statue but I kept on erasing and redrawing the bottom half.  I

still wonder about some of the details.  The color, which began when I picked up the wrong

colored Sharpie Pen actually turned out to be a happy accident.  I have always loved images

of the "Medicine Buddha", the Buddha depicted as being blue.

So which Buddha do you prefer?  I am always looking for comments about my posts.

Sketching Kitchen Leaves

Bay Leaves
Pencil sketch with Koi Watercolors

It's a cold February day and I don't feel like venturing out. So drawing bay leaves.

Loving daily sketching and feel like I've found a daily practice that makes

 me feel skillful and like I'm developing my drawing skills and also my power

 of observation.  

 This brings together so many of my interests and passions: 

1. The Plein Air art of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionists
2. Landscapes/drawing from nature
3. The sacred quality of Nature and the value of of closely observing Nature
4. The Denver Botanic Gardens and Botanical Illustration
5. Visual Journals

 All this also informs the classes I teach through Colorado Free University.

 I have my Impressions of the Gardens class which I have had the opportunity

 to teach for a couple of years and one I am going to start soon: Botanical Art Journal.

 Like Plein Air art with simple supplies and a sketchbook.  I've also just become

 aware of the  Urban Sketching movement. Feel blessed!  Now, if I could only

 figure out how any of these endeavors could pay the rent.

Stencil Crazy

"Mother Earth Tile"
MaryBeth Shaw "Tile" stencil from the Stencil Club, Balzer Design Stencil.
Watercolor with Gelly Roll pen accents.

"Orange"
Just A Trace stencil "Garbo" stencil.  Watercolor, Derwent Watercolor Pencil,  Sharpie pen.

Detail, 3 Peppers with Stencil

3 Peppers with "Stencil"
I used the cardboard waste from punch out letters as a stencil in this one.
I've used this window-like "stencil" again and again.

Orchid with Stencil
This is a blind contour drawing with stenciled elements  and additional lines added.
Koi watercolors.

I've always loved the rich patterns often found in paintings by Matisse and now I have a not so secret
secret about how to create that effect in my work with fewer tears.  Stencils!!  

This is how it happened.  Element 1: Libby Unwin from Just a Trace was a guest speaker at the first
meeting of my Visual Journaling Group, Colorado (see meetup and facebook)at the Super Good ArtStuff 
art supply store in Denver, Colorado, in the Tennyson Cultural District.  She brought stencils
for us and we used spray ink to create journal pages.  Fun!

Element 2:  I started an online class with one of my favorite artists Jane LaFazio: "Sketching and
Watercolor, Journal Style".  I love Jane's journals and so great to learn some of her techniques.  I'm

working on emulating her way of keeping her whites and sparkle, working quickly and not overworking.

Element 3: I joined Marybeth Shaw's Stencil Club and joined her related facebook page. This means that
I get a packet of three or four stencils each month (large, medium, small, smaller) and have access to

a related video with techniques for using the stencils.  The facebook group is great too--very inspiring to

see how creative others use materials.

So Jane's course assignments ended up with stenciled backgrounds and I'm crazy about the effect.

How I did it:

1. Draw your still life in pencil
2. Ink with a permanent marker
3. Erase pencil lines
4. Draw a square or rectangle around the drawing
5. Lay down stencil and use pencil to draw in a patterned background
6. Watercolor the whole thing

Looking forward to making some paintings in acrylic and getting my Matisse on!