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Last week I said I would show my favorite types of art.  I only had one photo on my computer and I did post that. It was a poppy mural, in progress, at my cousin's house. All my art photos are on my phone (over 2000 of them!). But today I moved some to this computer and will post them.

This is copied from a picture off of Facebook and is done in pencil. Pencil is my very favorite media. I like both graphite and color pencils, with graphite being number one favorite.  And did you know that pencils have always been made with graphite and never with lead? Amazing but true.

I recently subscribed to "Sketchbox", a monthly delivery of luscious art supplies. It is $103 every quarter, I think. I have it paid automatically so I've forgotten  exactly how much it is. In the June box I received a tin of Cretacolor pencils. 

This brand has been a favorite of mine for several years. The graphite is very smooth- no 'rocks' in the graphite to scratch the paper or leave a holiday. The set came in a tin with HB, 2B, and 4B regular pencils, an Ebony pencil which has a thick, soft and very dark graphite. Also included are three graphite sticks, 2B, 4B, and 6B with the 2B double sized.  Lastly, there is what is called a polishing cloth which is a small piece of fine leather to rub over your drawing to smooth out the pencil lines. When I was in school we used what was called a chamois and was produced from and endangered goat. I'm glad that has changed.

An old standby and also a nice pencil is the Mars Lumograph. I have many of these in several hardnesses from 4H to 6B. My full set is also in a tin.

This morning I drew my ICAD project using the Mars pencils. I chose them because of the wide variety of hardnesses. I started out with an H because, used with a light touch the lines will not be seen in the final drawing.  As it turned out I only used the H and a 2B. Patience and many layers gave me the values I wanted.  The final drawing took about two hours and is only 3 1/2" x 5". One of my professors did portraits on full sheets of watercolor paper which is 24" x 32"! Her work was gorgeous and she was quite an inspiration. I wish I could remember her name.

This is one of my Montana daughter's chickens, Buffy the vegetable slayer! She appears to be thrusting her head forward, looking around a corner for a tasty morsel.

Next time I will post my other mural and talk about either pen and ink or watercolor pencils. Or maybe about paper which is super important in the final look of the drawing.

Stay tuned!

The Overwhelming Desire to Write and Draw

After reading Artquiltmaker's blog this morning I felt the overwhelming desire to write my blog again. I was surprised and pleased that it was still here!
Last October, in an attempt to jump start drawing I, successfully, participated in 'Inktober', an ink-along by Jake Parker. Pen and ink are not my favorite media but I completed it which made me happy.
The sad thing was I did not continue drawing much.
At the time I was teaching a class in the Delta College SICL program called Watercolor/Color Theory which forced me to study, paint and develop class content. That ended just before Thanksgiving. 
Unfortunately, due to the Covid 19 pandemic the Spring and Fall classes were cancelled. I had planned to teach Beginning Pastel in the Spring. When we thought only the Spring would be cancelled I was relieved because I would have more time to develop my rusty pastel skills. I attempted that and found that the pastel dust really aggravated my annoying allergies and asthma. As soon as I put those pesky pastels back in their boxes and in the cupboard the asthma began to get better. So no pastels for me.
June and July presented a new opportunity to draw and paint in the guise of 'Index Card a Day'. The premise is doing an index card sized (3x5) art piece a day during June and July. I have been pretty successful at that and have found it has made me think about the kind of art I love to do and to wonder why I wasn't doing it.
So, do I have you wondering what I love to do? Good! Think about what kind of art you love to do and DO IT!
Here a sample of what I love to do.

This is one of the kinds of art I love to do. It is a mural on my cousin's fence. When looking for examples of art I found that I have not downloaded any of my art to this computer! So, later today, I will struggle with that and show you my absolute favorite art in my next post.

My goal is to write once a week. I'm glad to be back and as we all know we 'elderly' have plenty of time on our hands while sheltering in place to do a little writing.