Out of my league

What kind of pencils is this fella using, and where do I buy?
Wow.

Terry Miller, sketch in progress



This post is censored

I'm working on a wedding gift for an old friend. She's a former event planner and plans to embed the ceremony -- and my art -- in a multimedia showcase!

This post USED to say -- and show -- way more about this project. But Jeff-my-husband says my friend might appreciate a surprise gift. Hopefully she didn't see this post already.

Where I'm (not) drawing from

When I'm lucky enough to get the time energy to do art at home, this is my art-doing spot.

Brush and ink

You should see what I started with

January 11 and 12, 2011 

It might surprise you to learn how difficult it is to scan pencil drawings. The initial scans are very faint, and require tinkering in picture editing software. I did a bunch of Internet reading before settling on my current method. (Desaturate, then darken midtones, sometimes a little brightening. ... I wonder if it might be easier to photograph my sketches instead.) 

The problem seems to be peculiar to pencil work. Over the years I've scanned acrylic paintings, watercolor painting, ink drawings, whatever, and the results generally resemble the original.

I wonder what the difference is? Does the graphite in pencil lead reflect light in a weird way? Hmm.





Oh my gad they've also got Photoshop

The staff at the resource centre have started looking at me quizzically. But I figure after a few more visits they'll be so used to me parachuting in for 5 minutes that I'll become just part of the scenery...

That makes me think of a cool name for a blog: the "Diveblogger," as in Divebomber. Hmm, let's look it up. Aha! There IS a diveblogger. "Investment professional by day, dive blogger by night." He loves to dive wrecks -- which is so odd since I am currently reading this -- and it's a beautiful blog. Undersea pictures enthrall me. Sadly, not updated since 2008. 

January 13, 2011

Spent twenty-five delicious minutes on this sleepy devil. We got off at the same stop. Contemplated fabricating a reason to talk to him so I could see his face from another angle. Resisted temptation.

Drawing at the post office beats the bus

I'd almost forgotten what it was like not to have to allow for a bumpy ride!

January 11, 2011

Turns out when you draw a shorter person who's standing in front of you... you get a really big head on a wee tapering body. So later I went over the initial sketch in ink and re-sized her head. (She had the neatest haircut, all different lengths.) Plus I cropped out the tiny feet. They were kind of creepy anyway.

Detour



November 2010



For months I've been weighing going to art school against keeping my day job, or dreaming up scenarios that combine the two, all the while conducting serious consultations with my husband on the topic of trying for a second baby. Sometimes I feel like I've been at the art vs. job crossroads for years, never getting anywhere. Other times I feel I've been making incremental, steady steps in the direction of my goal of doing more art more often, and that that is good enough.