Inktober Begins

Printemps, TunnelVizion, Toodles

Each September, the Inktober gang publishes an official "list" of words that people sketch or draw from in the annual challenge.  I know you can probably go back a few years in my archives to see the one I did where I actually sketched!  

It was fun and can be very interesting and useful.  But last year it became apparent that it would be almost impossible to do while traveling from Wisconsin to Florida.  So I switched to the Zentangle community's official tangle list and tangled my way through the month.  That worked.  The tangles took less time and were more portable.

This year I plan a folding accordion book hand made book with pages about 5 x 5".  I am tangling 3 tangles per page so am just posting every third day through the month.  Today is the first post for day 3.  Everyone doing the Zentangle challenge posts the same tangles done in a million different ways.  

On another note...I attended a delightful workshop on how to do alcohol inks led by Lisa Krueger. Very fun.  The workshop was held at the Manitowish Waters Community Center and sponsored by the Manito Art League.  I am wearing the pink sweater.   

Closing Up the Art Show

Took down my paintings at the Woodruff, WI show today.  I had 4 there.  Nothing sold this time.  But that's okay.  It was a fun show anyway.  This scene of the sea turtles was a painting that Kendra hung over her bed for years.  When she passed away, it was bequeathed back to me.  It was fun to see it after so many years.  But I think of her every time I look at it.  

It's been pouring rain here in Lac du Flambeau for 12 hours straight.  Hmmm.

Greg maintains it is supposed to clear off this afternoon but then...you guessed it, more rain.  I think the rain symbol is there for the next 3 days now.  Sigh.  We are glad much of the yard work and shore work is done for closing.  12 days and counting.  

Inktober starts tomorrow.  I am tangling it.  But I'll only post every 3 days in October for that as I am tangling 3 on each 5 x 5" page.

Am off to make some white chicken chili for the church chili supper tomorrow night.  

Alcohol Ink Play

This is alcohol inks (just playing in the studio) and getting ready for the workshop that will be on Wednesday. I haven't touched them for quite awhile.  

Some artists (on youtube) use canned air to help move the ink around.  Some blow with a straw.  I find that I get kind of dizzy if I blow a lot on the straw (others complain about this too) so I think I'm going to invest in canned air somewhere down the line.  

You get really interesting effect with moving the ink on glossy or non porous surfaces.  The ink doesn't work on paper.

You can use it on Yupo (plastic paper) or porcelain tiles or glass or plexiglass.   

So then I took this piece and enhanced it below:

There is something about the abstract quality of alcohol in that draws me toward putting Zentangle® on it.  These are Sakura MicroPerm archival ink pens.  I may put on more but decided to stop and look at it awhile.  I mean you can just go on forever and that might not be the best strategy.  The piece is on regular Yupo and is about 10 x 10".  It's very colorful and playful.  

For these little pice about 5 x 5, I used "translucent" Yupo Paper.

Kind of different effect.  I cut out a heart stencil out of Contact paper and adhered it to the Yupo paper to hold the ink in the shape.  (It still leaked a little under the edges.  You really have to press it down hard.)

It will make a pretty Valentine.  Also it can be hung on a window like stained glass.  You can also cut apart these abstract designs and make interesting collage pieces out of them!  

The paint is not stable so you have to seal it with a clear acrylic spray.  

The Milkweed Goes to Seed

Yesterday's walk was sunny, windy and nippy.  I should have worn gloves.  Where did I put them?  

I have been following the milkweed since spring...with the little caterpillars eating them like crazy and then off into that magic change into Monarch butterflies in August.  Now the plants are spreading their seeds again.  Beautiful puffs floating about.  

The pines drop about 1/3 of their needles each fall and they make a bright yellow carpet on some places on the road.

We are having a stretch now of VERY dark and wet and cool days (again).  Indian summer is over.  Highs about 56 today.  So I've started the humidifier in the house again.  Same every year about this time...heat and fireplace dries out the air.  

The countdown continues as always.  
Heading off to teach a little Zentangle® this morning, then a few errands in town. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Finishing Up the Drawing Class

Giving portrait drawing a little try.

The first one--not so good.

The second--a little better.

A proportional divider is a device to help artists get proportions correctly.  I am also trying out a new eraser called Vanish.  

This is a very small 4 x 5" pencil sketch.  

Sketching and Drawing as Autumn Comes

You may have thought I'd abandoned my "littles".  Not so.  But I have been busy with my drawing class and other things so I did not post as often as I often this time around.  but I did complete one last night during a rain storm here at the cabin.  As you can see this one went from mid July to mid September!  But it still marks the time nicely for me with memories.  I love looking at Dean's dog, Molly, who came for a visit and being reminded of the wild flowers (like Tansies and Butter and Eggs) of late summer and early fall.  And that wild orange sunset was REALLY that color.  It was just amazing.  

I see the baby loon in the top right corner. The little loon is looking adult size now.  The parents have been teaching it all summer.  I think it is a "slow-learner".  It seems everyone on the lake has been rooting for the little fella.  I watched one afternoon while mother tried to teach it to dive and feed itself.  (It much preferred being fed!)  Now they are working teaching it to fly!  It's not going well.  They have to hurry up with this.  October is just around the corner.  (Loons are swimming birds and the flying thing is hard.  They are heavy in the water and it takes them forever to get up out of the water.) Sometimes in late September they take a practice fly because they haven't been flying all summer.  

This tiny little graphite sketch was my first attempt at using powdered graphite.  This is applied to the paper before you start drawing and then darkened or lifted out as you go along.  The birch and the road are lifted out.  It's only 3 x 5" but I learned a lot as I went along.  SO many things to learn about drawing!  I have one more class on Tuesday.  

One Last Homework exercise before Class 2 on Tuesday

The last homework lesson I quickly squeezed in this afternoon was labeled "free hand and control hand".  

What the author is getting at here is simply that he recommends that you take a pencil (or drawing tool) and with it held it at a distance from the drawing end...causing you to more freely or loosely sketch the large outer shapes of whatever you want to draw.

He suggests a bowl of flowers.  

(I just happened to have one on the table.). You can see the author's two examples above.  It also somewhat requires you to stay back a bit from the drawing surface...standing up or at an easel makes this easier.  Instead I propped my paper up on a drawing board against the table edge. 

 

I used an HB and 2B here to try to loosely pencil in the larger shapes.

I am finding using graphite to do what I normally do in ink and watercolor to be somewhat frustrating.  But trying new things is what this class is about.  

This is the same drawing...right on top of the first one.  The idea is then to re-define the shapes using a more controlled position on the drawing tool...closer to the paper.  

First off, I found that this subject matter is very complex.  If I was completely new to drawing I would be very intimated by trying to draw flower petals during the 2nd chapter!  I found making values with graphite to continue to be so challenging.  I think I'll get better with practice but I am constantly having to clean up...you have to put a paper under your hand/arm while working on graphite or it smears all over the place.  I have only my kneadable eraser and I think I need a few different erasers.  With graphite you draw by erasing it as well as laying on graphite. 

And again...trying to get the contrasting values is so difficult.  (where is my paint? 😳). I find I am moving from HB right up to 8B  (softer) by the time I am this far.  And the above is not really a finished piece..just an exercise.  I love lots of darks in a drawing.  

Good contrasts.  I do think different papers give different results as well.  

The one good thing about this frustrating exercise is that it is helping me to know what I don't know.  Dave wants to talk about what are our drawing "roadblocks" tomorrow.

Finishing up assignments before another class Tuesday

This assignment was "draw a mechanical object".  Practice squinting.  Allow 30 minutes.  I am finding that in using graphite I need to draw by "removing" graphite as well as putting it down.  That's interesting!  

I did use about 30 minutes...maybe a little bit more.
I've always enjoyed drawing mechanical things, incidentally.  
But doing this in graphite is very different for me.

I am spraying the pages in this notebook with a workable fixative to keep them from smearing all over the place.  

We are also trying to practice using "practical dialogue" with ourselves.

That is kind of a nice way to put it.  Instead of negative things like "no that's not right" or "that doesn't look like the angle"...you are to practice saying things like "is that line horizontal or vertical?" or "is the distance from this to that greater or smaller?".  In other words do not use negative self prompting.  I find many of students start their comments to me with "this looks awful" or "the legs are too long" etc etc.  It's a bad path to take.  And can get to be a habit!

I showed someone a drawing a did recently and they went right into the old "I can't even draw a stick man" routine.  That is surely ground into everyone's mind! Of course they could draw better than that if they really wanted to.  But we so often start out negative.

The author of the textbook tries to get us out of that routine right on the first chapter of the book.  

One other thing I "may" have time for today is the study of using the free vs the control grip on the drawing tool.  Because I generally work in a sketchbook...I'm used to working with a more controlled grip.  But the author is suggesting that I try a more relaxed grip in the initial sketches.  Having an easel is nice for more free hand drawing.  

I'll see how time goes.  It's a gorgeous Indian summer day and great to be outside sketching but also great for hanging out laundry and finishing up outdoor chores around the cabin!  

Drawing Class Homework

The theory that you can put your text book under your pillow at night and sleep on it and get to be a better drawer doesn't seem to work.  So I have to resort to the next idea which is to actually do the homework assignment.

The assignment is just an exercise in following line...in keeping your eyes more on the object you are sketching than on the paper. Looking back and forth.  

The purpose of the onion drawing is first to think about what the vegetable looks like and draw it from memory.  Then go and get the onion (or whatever fruit and veggie you chose) and draw what you see.  We often remember somewhat stereotyped versions of things.
Combating that illusion and drawing from what is right in front of us...drawing what we see (not what we remember) is the point of this lesson.  The pencils used in both these lessons is a Derwent graphic 2B graphite.

The assignment is using something with dark glass, draw shapes and highlights and shadows.  This is challenging for someone like me who is used to putting all those things in with watercolor!  Now I have to look solely at the pencil values.  In some cases in this drawing I had to "remove" graphite to get at the highlights.  This takes more time.  This was done on Stonehenge 100% cotton paper.

There are several more small assignments to do before next Tuesday.  

Day One of Drawing Class

Dave is instructing the class about how to position a photographic reference for a study on tone...or value.  

The lesson is about shapes...trying to stop thinking about this as a "hand" and more about a group of "shapes".  Drawing my own left hand.  

After doing a value study of a 2B pencil's range of dark to light...

then we all looked at this photo example and with help from "gridding" of our paper and the photo planned out a copy of the photograph.  Working hard to look and replicate some of the pencil tones.  I switched to a 6B Derwent pencil for the darkest darks.

This was day 1 of a 3-day class.  

We have some suggested homework assignments to read in our text book....Keys to Drawing by Bert Dodson.  And a few exercises that Dave has suggested we try.  Looks like a rainy couple of days up north and so good to be in the studio!  

The book has been around a long time...but has a lot of good information.  Can be purchased used for about $5 plus shipping.

Getting Ready for Inktober

Inktober, you may remember from years past, is the celebration of art involving ink for the 31 days of October.  There is a website devoted to Inktober on which 31 prompts are listed and people worldwide enjoy challenging themselves to interpret the words.  If you go to my past labels on the sidebar and hit Inktober you will come upon some I've done in the past.  Fun BUT challenging to be sure.

Since October has come to be a travel month for Greg and me this precludes a very good handle on doing this day by day.  
Last year I chose instead to do the "Zentangle® Inktober" Challenge along with several folks in the Fine Art Club in Florida.  
There is a published list for that too!  So instead of a drawing you are challenged to tangle something in some way using the tangle suggested for that day.  (although I always substitute a few if they really are not my favorite tangles).  I'm not sure if anyone will take me up on it this time around...but I hope so.

In preparation I decided that this year I would tangle in a hand made accordion folded booklet.  Pages about 5 x 5 I think.  The book has 12 pages in it...and then I used one for the cover below and one for the sample page.  So I have 10 left.  I figure I'll do 3 tangles on each page and then sneak one extra on the last page.  Black Micron pens and white Jellyroll pens are all by Sakura pen company.  

Now just to add to the complication and challenge of the project I am also challenging myself to use a fun little experiment that recently came up in the official Zentangle group.  

It all came about when Maria Thomas (one of the founders of Zentangle) had an accident with her favorite Zentangle notebook.  
Long story short, her ink bottle leaked in an art bag and the pages in her book soaked up the ink on the edges.  OH NO.  But in true Maria fashion she found a way to cleverly use the black and white now on the pages to her advantage.  And low and behold the "ink blot series" was born.  Better known as the "no mistakes" series.  

You can even purchase an ink blotted booklet from Zentangle now to enjoy the same game!  Somehow the idea of purchasing an ink blot that I could perfectly well do myself seemed silly.  So...that is why you see big black blots all over my accordion book below...

The blots are not really ink on my book.  They are made with carbon black Golden Hi-Flow acrylic paint.  

So below I am showing the example of how I plan to do the book.
These tangles are Mooka, Jester and Ginili.  But the new list is below.  

So part of my challenge is to use the "ink blot" in the tangling switching from a black pen to white.  I'll probably do many of these in September but then publish them in October as I travel.  

If you are doing the challenge (either drawing or tangling) you can comment about it at the end of this blog post.  

Fall Flowers

Walking the Northwoods roads in autumn...the changes are so apparent.  Although the leaves have not started to fall yet...I see "tinges" and "fringes" of color in the maples now.  We don't have a lot of maples up here.  Mostly pine and aspen and birch.  They will come in the weeks to follow.  But for now the early and subtle signs are here.  

Green and brown acorns are scattered about the roads and although the asters are now gone...the milk weed pods are out and the last of the meadow daisies.  The False Solomon's Seal has gone to berries.

They are my favorite as the berries start as green and gradually turn to pink and then to a translucent dark pink with tiny dots.  SO pretty.  

I sketched these about life size.  

Here is the real thing up closer.
Poison Ivy has a pretty berry too so you do have to be VERY careful what you stoop to pick.  

Temps at night are now in the 40s and daytime highs are sometimes 55 to 60.  With the sun out we sometimes make it to 70.  I am in jeans and sweaters every day now.  It is invigorating and fun to bake cookies and make chili and bake apples.  Football starts this week and Greg has the wood split for the fireplace. All things that just do not seem right in Florida in fall. 

Speaking of which we continue to pray for Florida as hurricane Dorian bears down on the whole state!  As of Sat afternoon the predictions are that it may miss landfall and swing north but with the storm at a level 4 and moving so slow, it is going to have an impact will still be very severe.  Lots of wind and rain and storm surges.  Evacuations along the east coast are in effect.  

Julie made us dinner tonight...roasted veggies and sausage.  Wow was that ever delicious! The broccoli was from her garden and the other veggies fresh from the farmer's market.   Decided to keep THAT recipe handy.  

Been canoeing twice while she was here.  WHAT a lovely treat.  The high water in the lake this year has made our shoreline so different.  We have more islands that we used to!!!  Fun to weave in and out.  There are beaver, otters, eagles, and loons.  

Julie leaves tomorrow morning and Rick and his family arrive Thursday at lunch.  A quick turn over.  But such fun to have them.

Greg visited his ear doctor today for a routine ear cleaning.  He's one of those folks who get a lot of wax in his ears and so having them professionally cared for is essential.  I asked how he felt after they removed the wax.  He said it is "drafty".  🤪 What a goof.  

Red Pine Camp

The Sketch and Painting group met at Red Pine Camp for Girls in Woodruff, WI this week.  What a lovely spot...VERY hilly and a little challenging for knee-sensitive folks like me.  But I managed.

The camp was actually closed for the season...all the girls were gone and just the crews there beginning to put things away.  Painting the boats and bringing in the swim floats etc.  So it was quiet and nice.  

Got there late so the sketch is pretty small.  But weather turned lovely and sunny for us after a slow cold and cloudy start.  Lucky us.  There was a large group but everyone spread out and so it wasn't until later I realized who was there.  The location is about a 30 minute drive for me.  

I didn't stay for lunch as daughter Julie was driving up from Madison that day for lunch and a few day's visit.  

Today (Friday) it is rain rain rain.  A napping day.  And then off to an art reception this evening.

The Story Sketch

Some sketches come with natural stories attached.  Those are often special memories.  You can, I hope, read the the little bit that I wrote right on the journal page.  

Fascinating little story attached to this little bait shop now preserved by community members who want to remember.  That's the real story, isn't it.  That people care enough to remember.  That they plant flowers, repair the roof and mow the lawn.  No money is charged to come.  

And that people love to come there and feed the ducks.  They bring their children and sit on the pier and chat.  Edith and Hazel must be so pleased.  I can imagine them sitting in the shade of of that old porch facing the lake having lunch.  

The photo of the "minnows" sign is from the side of the shop that I could not see from my angle.  The articles from the "museum" inside are just a few...there are tons.  And the entrance hall has been sealed in plexiglass so that you can stand inside and see everything, but it is safe and untouched.  That took some work and planning.  It's really quite impressive.  Full of old tea pots, tackle boxes, lures and bobbers and tins.  

Keep in mind I had to drive about 45 minutes from Lac du Flambeau to Sayner, WI to find this hideaway and there is NO sign.  
You can google it and get directions on line so it's not a secret but they don't put up signs so in a way this is kind of nice that it is more word-of-mouth.  I guess it's quite popular and people stroll down or ride their bikes.  There isn't much parking...one or two cars.  Which is good.  The town is very small but there are a lot of cabins and fisherman and bikers and families who like to come to the area.  AND fisherman of course.  

I am including also a little photo of the sketch as it first started.  I like to lay in the shadows first.  The reason is that they immediately start to shift as you draw.  During the hour or two that you enjoy the sketch they are in a totally different place at the end.  I often pick the angle of the sketch based on how the shadows fall.  Because cobalt blue is very transparent, it makes a nice shadow I can paint right over.  

Sketching For Joy

A very lovely morning (and lunch) at Sandy Cashman's home on 4 acres in Manitowish Waters today.  Her bird feeders drew me in so I had to sketch them!  She and her grandchildren painted all the birds on the cross bar together!  

While I sat sketching the flowers to the right, her parrot talked incessantly to me and whistled at me from his cage on the front porch.  So funny.  She has two Bassett hounds named Ethel and Lucy who are characters and like to howl in unison.  

Lucky me.
Lovely morning around 75 but getting to 80 in the sun this afternoon.  Light breeze.  No mosquitoes this morning!  Wow.  
We were all in jeans but very comfy.  

Mid summer sketching

Stoney Creek Garden Center is south of Minocqua, WI and is one of the most diverse and eclectic one I've come across.  I could paint here all day.  I had a few hours on Thursday morning, however, and just settled beside an old potting shed.  I liked the worn exterior and the huge jungle of vines that has engulfed it!  The rain barrel and the big old jug/vase were nice elements too.  

We got some lovely warm sunshine that morning for a change!

Out front is a koi pond with a lot of fish and I had about 20 minutes left before I had to head off to fix lunch for my company.  So I just did a small sketch there in the shade near Millie.  

I've been waiting for the price on the Hahnemühle Watercolor Sketchbooks to come down.  So when they did I ordered one from Amazon.  I thought the packaging was amazing.  Made in Germany, it was sent out from Nottinghamshire, UK and then the instructions said, "if not deliverable, mail to Sweden".  A very international purchase!!!  So I glued the interesting bits into the front of the sketchbook.  

A Few Sketches on the Fly

A few sketches "on the fly" this past week during a pretty busy week filled with art shows, fashion shoes, brunches, etc.  The Fashion Show at church was lots of fun.  Everything was from our Thrift Shop!  This in my Stillman & Birns sketchbook.  

I almost always do a tiny sketch while listening to the Sunday sermon at the Presbyterian Church.  This is my little Moleskin accordion folding sketchbook 

We had a "Mystery Dinner" at church last month.  People dressed up for their parts!  Funny!!!

My "littles" have started a new page...this time called "Whatever".  I'm putting the summer books I read in one box...at least a few of them.  Currently reading Michelle Obama's biography called Becoming.

I made an effort to capture the sunset after a storm here last Friday night.  The entire lake was orange/gold.  Never seen anything quite like it before.  Wild.  

Pretty busy getting ready for a long siege of company ahead now.  Also finished up the Manito Art show and ready to hang in the Lakeland Art League Show starting July 31.  

Also below am working on a Family Cookbook that will be a wedding shower gift for my granddaughter, Melissa.  The show is August 10 but I have a ton of company before that date so I need to get things going.  Most of the recipes will come on the day of the shower so I'll have to take the book back and finish it and then bring it back when we come down for the wedding in October. 

Here and Now completed.

You've seen this page as it developed over the month.  I always like to share it when it's done.  

Wrapped up with my favorite bird...the rose breasted grosbeak.  He was at our feeder many times over the last two days along with his 4 children.  (Mommy must be off on vacation.). The youngsters present their "feed me" wiggles...shaking their wings in a pleading way.  Obviously old enough to feed themselves but like kids do, wanting to be fed as long as possible.  So much fun to watch them.

This page goes from May 26 to July 13.  (So mostly June) but I don't have any real plan to keep to a month...it's whenever the mood strikes and I feel I need to save a memory.  I keep a record of the books I read and sometimes a comment on weather.  I LOVE my thrift shop red cap (which also attracts hummingbirds!). I wear it on all my walks this summer.  And so it goes.  The next page is entitled "Whatever". 

We were off to some garage sales this morning...Greg found a sturdy small ladder for jobs that require only being a few feet up.  
And I found 3 new jig saw puzzles (3 for $1).  I couldn't resist the price.  And a new queen bed quilt that looked like it had never been used for $5.  (I actually use them as room dividers out on the porch.). Hung from clips on a rod across the ceiling they provide privacy in the cozy reading corner but more important keep in the heat on frosty mornings and evenings!  BUT when fall comes I need to remove them and store them in plastic boxes or the mice come and chew them up for nesting material.  The summer porch is not mouse proof.  

Lake Life in the north woods

What a morning we had today out on South Bay on Little St. Germain Lake! Whew.  Was about 65 degrees when I left at 7:45 am (this is really something for me to be up and out of the house THAT early!)  Greg decided he'd like to come along and see the resort and go out to lunch with us.  He plays computer games on his iPad, does his Suduko and reads magazines (and I think he naps) while I paint.  This time he did all that IN the car to keep out of the wind.  If you were in the sun and out of the wind the temp was not too bad.

But I was determined to be at the lakeside.  At least this first time there and I wanted to sketch the iconic red Adirondack chairs on the pier and enjoy the ambiance.  A lot of the artists chose to paint up the hill in warmer places.  I couldn't have done it without the wind breaker. I am so pleased I thought to bring it at the last minute.  It did warm to 71 degrees by mid afternoon and in the sunshine out of the wind it felt cozy.  Hoping things warm up more soon.  

Then a delightful lunch at the 19th Hole Restaurant in St. Germain.
Lovely menu!  Lots of good art talk.  

I have finished up my framing for the Manito Art Show next week. 
You can see a few pictures from last year's show here.  The reception for artists and patrons will be Wednesday evening and I am serving punch at the appetizer table.  This is always catered by a nice restaurant in the area.  We have a harp player and it's very posh!  The show hangs Thurs-Sunday noon.  9-4.  So it's a nice.  

So the outdoor group won't paint out next week due to the show.  
The second round of company here will arrive on the 25th so I don't know about joining the sketching/painting group that week.  Have to see how times match up for arrivals and etc.  We'll be painting at the local nursery/garden center called Stoney Creek in Minocqua. If I go I may have to skip eating lunch out with them that day. 

Our loons have a baby!
This is hugely exciting.  I wanted to be sure Autumn got to see it.
We hold our breath as we often lose baby loons to  predators on the lake and we have had very few survive.  Hawks, eagles, large fish, and turtles can all eat a new born chick. Crossing fingers for the little guy.