Sketchbook Challenge - Opposites

The Sketchbook Theme for the month of February was Opposites. I say "was" because today is the last day of the month and as usual I'm waiting until the very last minute to post. I'm really giving thought to my procrastination habits. I actually did the sketch way back on February 16th, but I think because of my lack of security in my sketches I wait until the deadline to post. It's not a good thing, and really creates a road block for myself. Oh well, I eventually get past it and keep moving forward eventually.

Here is my Opposite Themed sketch - Life and Death. I think that's the ulitimate opposite and one that everyone must face. I love the scripture that I've highlighted on the sketch and really take it as one of my life verses. God very clearly lays it out there for us. He gives us a multiple choice question and then in such wonderful God fashion He goes ahead and gives us the answer! CHOOSE LIFE! God's desire is that we would all have life and specifically eternal life!

I've lost several spiritual elders to physical death in recent years, but the wonderful good news is that because they all believed in Jesus Christ and that He is the Son of God, they chose life and I have the wonderful hope that we will all be reunited someday very soon!

It's not too late to participate in the Sketchbook Challenge. Go to the button on the right side of my blog and click it to find out about the details. You say you're not an artist. Um... check out the entries and you'll see that drawing is not a requirement.

So "get busy living or get busy dying." Shawshank Redemption Movie

Caught with His Hand in the Cookie Jar (Tin)

So when it gets unusually quiet while I'm typing a very important work related email and my granddaughter is occupied with her one cartoon of the day I got suspicious! uh, worried! And as I thought, my grandson had helped himself to the cookies that I had specifically told him "no, you can not have them until after lunch!"

For the record. After I told him no again and explained he was not to eat cookies before lunch again. He did drop the cookie he had in his hand back into the tin. At least he didn't finish eating it.

Then I told him that he'd have to sit in time out and he went to the nearest corner. Evidently he's an experienced time out sitter. But we relocated to the appointed step at my house and he voluntarily faced the wall.


One minute for each year of age according to Super Nanny I think is what she said and he sat there very still for 2 whole minutes. So his lesson was learned for the moment. At least he didn't head back into the kitchen for more cookies. And my lip is bleeding from biting it so hard to keep from smiling and laughing. I could barely make it through the episode in tack without cracking up! It was just so adorable, his expression at being caught, his dropping that cookie back into the tin, and then marching himself off to time out. We've recoverd and as I post this he's upstairs dumping the soft foam letters off the side of the stairs. Bye for now, we're off to another adventure!

Sketching on Location Lesson Two

This is week two of the Sketching on Location class through Joggles. Jane LaFazio is our instructor and she is fantastic! Rather than being overly critical about my piece, I decided to critique the experience and piece listing what I liked or didn't like about it.

I went to our local Panera Bread store and it was really dark for me. I chose a place with as much light as possible, but that cast funny shadows on the subject that I wasn't use to. Also I was under a time limit because I was due to meet friends for dinner in about an hour and half or so. That's plenty of time for most, but for me, no, not enough time. Or at the time I felt a tad rushed. On the other hand, having a time limit did force me to get something down on paper as quickly as possible. I tend to delay and busy myself with prep work in an effort to not face the daunting task at hand. Maybe when I gain confidence in myself I'll jump in faster.

Also I was a bit distracted by three teenage girls at a nearby table. My, is it really that bad socially in high school, who said what to him, what he thought, what she said, etc... oh wait I know many adult conversations that sound very similar!

Ok so back to the sketch. I think my subject matter was a bit difficult. Maybe I bit off more than I can chew (pun intended!) I chose a Cinnamon Raisin Bread Apple muffin thing. Very irregularly shaped. It smelled really good, but was a bit disappointing in the taste department. Too dry and dull. But anyway. I liked the way the label on the cup of Hot Chocolate came out. I am very nervous about doing logos and/or print on art, but I surprised myself. I left it as my location label for that sketch. Then I liked the cup and lid as well.

I did not like the muffin itself. Our instructor strongly urges us to sketch and paint from real objects rather than pictures. After I looked at the picture that I took, I realize that I should have sketched the overall shape of the muffin itself as a whole rather than tackling each bump and crevice of the muffin. Also I had a hard time with the shadows of those bumps and such. Again, I should have squinted and tried to get an overall sketch. Also I didn't like the way the right side of the plate turned out. The left side was pretty good, but it was about the time I was working on that when the time suddenly ran out. (I had set an alarm on my phone, but when it went off, I did't recognize the sound. I got a call from my husband trying to find me.) Anyway, I didn't get a chance to sketch the rightside as carefully at the left. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
I was disappointed with the icing. I tried to leave the paper white in those areas, but it was too flat and just didn't work. Then I tried to color it a bit and the adjacent colors bled into the areas. Oh well.... Well I guess that's enough analysis for now.

The original muffin and hot chocolate.


My rendering. (Note: This is ink and watercolor on 5x7 white hot press watercolor paper)


Ok, so I just keep telling myself, it's just a sketch, don't stress!