NaNoJouMo Catching Up again

Here we are on Day 14 of NaNoJouMo and I am behind in posting. We took the weekend and went away and had a fabulous time seeing the colorful leaves, the mountains, a different place altogether! We had a great time exploring Asheville, enjoying each other's company and talking about our future plans. And rather than trying to catch up with the prompts that Dawn has provided I am opting to share some of the other things I've added to my journal. I will go back to the prompts soon/later/maybe.

These are 4 small doodles I made from some piles of paint leftover from something else. I usually try to throw some paint down on the blank pages of my journal whenever I work on anything so that those BIG WHITE PAGES don't freak me out but I wanted to try and pain some of my pen line doodles that I have. 

                                              

Though I didn't post it in the weekly challenge this is the tangle that Laura Harms (I am the Diva) had for the challenge this week. Mine is a small square that is part of a larger project. I will post it when its finished in about 2 more months.

"Socc"

This is a wax resist piece (again in my journal) that I added acrylics over the top of and scraped the word "hello" into.

And this one is from just a few minutes ago and is a project I am working on for Randy. This is a design that is used for the Chief's group and one that he would like as a painting in his office. I needed to work out a sketch of it before I begin. It helps work out some of the kinks in planning to actually put it on paper. 

I don't always do this step (I paint intuitively - read "by the seat of my pants" most times)

So now I am back on track and will see you again soon! Thanks for stopping by!

Imagine - NaNoJouMo #9

Today's prompt is Imagine by None Other Than John Lennon

I had to listen to the song countless times (only because I love it) and went through every version of him performing it that I could locate online. I wasn't sure what I wanted to say or capture from the song and then thought there really isn't anything more to capture than John himself. I have never attempted a drawing of an iconic figure before so who knows how this will turn out or how long I will need to work on it but I will at least share the steps with you as I go. So far its just my facial lines and a quick line drawing.

Let me say too that my sketchbook filled with my 100 faces I've been working on was slightly damaged in this last move and it really shows up in the photo. Here is the original image:

After adding Sketch and Wash and brushing with water.

Day 7

Today's prompt is Who Are You by The Who. Today was a real struggle for me. I don't know why really. Perhaps its because I started my day with some left brain activity and was in that mode? I will tell you that I actually did 5 other attempts before finally accepting this one as is and letting it just be. Things were just not clicking despite some really valid ideas which I liked well enough and made note of for the future. Now who knows but that I may look at these ideas tomorrow and decide that they really are crap and need to be tossed! *L*
I do like this idea a lot though. What thoughts do you have on it? Is it about a particular person and wondering who she is? Is it about women in general and who they are based on what the world sees? Is it about me as an artist; multi-layered, changing, evolving and becoming more defined? Is it something else altogether? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Day 6 NaNoJouMo

“Crystal Ball” by Styx is the prompt ...so here you go!

As I listened to the song I was drawn to the idea of not knowing what direction you are headed in or where to go and the thought of feet came to mind. I did some quick sketches of feet with pencil and then began to draw figures in various directions.


I added the circle shape to represent the crystal ball. I softened edges by sketching the lines I wanted to keep with an Aqua Pro Art pencil and washing with a water pen. I knew I wanted the ball to be hazy  but the images still clear enough to tell what they are. I laid down a layer of clear gesso then went in with a diluted acrylic wash of two blues and a drop of glaze medium added to it.

 

My main focus here was to make the lines between the figures and feet to blend together as though they were appearing in the crystal ball and providing guidance yet not giving any direction or answers. What do think? Did I do it?

Leave me a comment and be sure to let me know if you are participating in NaNoJouMo as well. I'd love to see what you are doing.

NaNoJouMo/AEDM Catch-Up

Day 1 "Take It Easy"

 

Day 2 "Shine On You Crazy Diamond

 

Day 3 "Paint It Black"

Day 4 "Walk This Way"

 

Day 5 "Gimme Shelter"

 

Glasses

Glasses, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

EDM #11 Draw your glasses or sunglasses.
Quite a challenge for someone who NEEDS their glasses ON while drawing! Still fun though!

Interpreter

Interpreter, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

EDM #10 Draw your hands or someone else's.

These are my hands but that is Courtney's ring. She's our oldest. She is an ASL interpreter and this is the sign for that. This is her birthday gift. She is my gift.

Jewelry

EDM 008, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

Some days I am in a rush but still want to do at least a warm up sketch. This is one. Not that I like it much but not all attempts are successful. And that is okay too.

Monday Tuesday Journal Pages

Art Journal, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

Monday stuff on top and Tuesday at the bottom with a tiny EDM to the right side. Elizabeth Smith does the sweetest little date boxes for her entries so I thought I would give it a try as well.

Organized Chaos

Organized Chaos, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

EDM #9
A contour line sketch of my coffee table Weds morning. While I was trying to do some warm up sketching and enjoy my coffee Chelsey needed to discuss wedding plans and ideas. And somehow the dog's collar and brush got mixed in there too. I thought a contour drawing would lend itself nicely to the chaotic aspect. What do you think?

For Robbie

2010-11-05-1317-38, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

EDM #6 Draw a well-loved object or childhood toy

Lemon Curd

EDM #7, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

EDM 007 Draw a bottle, jar or tin in your kitchen.
Had this lovely jar of lemon curd sitting in the fridge begging to be eaten but it only got drawn.

7-16/100 Faces

7-16/100 Faces, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

i thought applying some of tam's ideas from Art, Heart, Healing might help me create a more realistic japanese face.
argggg
obviously an area that continues to elude me yet one i want to conquer so i can draw my family.
practice practice practice.

6/100 Faces

6/100 Faces, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

I saw a photo on snuffbox's photostream and was more than wee bit intrigued...I felt compelled to draw her though I don't think I did her justice. She has an incredible face!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sirkullay/5053493911/in/set-72157624512990580/

4 & 5/100 Faces

2010-11-05-1320-53, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

As far as I can remember this is only the second male face I have EVER done.

3/100 Faces

2010-11-02-1553-52, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

I don't care for this much but it was still an excellent exercise for me and one I need to do more often. I sketched this gal in Starbuck's in about 4 minutes (or less) and then worked on the shading as best and surreptitiously as I was able to. Happily for me she was pretty occupied with her laptop.

2/100 Faces

2/100, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

Thought it does her no justice this is my rendering of Natalie Grant as she appears on her Relentless album.

1/100 Faces

2010-11-02-1551-50, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

I decided to work on a grouping of 100 faces. Some will be real people, others imaginary. There is no particular rhyme or reason behind each face except to keep practicing portraits and facial features.

Tea time on my art table

Tea time on my art table, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

This is a quick tea time ink/watercolor sketch from yesterday. Was just trying to make sure I added something for NaNoJouMo other than d'blogala's word prompt so popped this on the page. I uploaded it to my flickr stream and when I went to look at something there today imagine my surprise to see that someone had "favorite"-ed it! (great English, no?) Even more thrilling to me was WHO it was...RobenMarie! She inspires me! So thanks for looking! Made my day!

Art, Heart & Healing Week 2 Part 2

Whimsies, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

In the second portion of lesson 2 we were to think of a childhood event (happy or not) and if it was a happy one, share it. If it wasn't happy we were to rework the memory into a happier moment. For instance, if you didn't have many friends you were create a scene where you were surrounded by many friends! Tam (aka willowing) taught us her method for creating little "whimsies". These are mine. Each of these images is actually a separate piece but I scanned them together to make it easier. Tomorrow I will post the altered book I made using them.