EDiM days 4 - 7

It's That Time of Year

Once again I am participating in the Every Day in May Challenge. I'm giving myself permission to be a little more relaxed about it though this time around, at least as far as posting my efforts goes. So it'll likely continue to be every few days I throw up what I've done in the interim. Up first Days 1-3. For my own info, I'm using a 6x6 field journal from the hand-book paper co. It's my first time painting on Fluid brand wc paper and so far I'm impressed. 

#1 - a toy. Only cat toys in my house and even though I had lots to choose from, this peacock feather is Touille's current favourite plaything.

#2 - something with folds. Thought about this one for a long time and for some reason ended up with crow's feet. Thankfully mine aren't quite this extreme yet.

#3 - a hammer. Was much more inspired to paint this Hammer than the one in my tool box. 

EDM2015 Collage

I finally finished all of my challenge pieces AND figured out how to get them into collage format so they would all be in one place. Well almost all - the photo editing program I used had a maximum of 9 photos per collage so that meant some just weren't going to make the cut.

 Awww, too bad so sad that the little painter didn't make it. That really pains me LOL.

In looking at the whole though I'm really pleased with my output - I don't even think I could pick a favourite. My top five would be the cheesecake, the peppercorns still life, the beach, the mask and the toadstools.

Will definitely be doing this next year!

Updates on unfinished EDM pieces

Continuing to work daily, here are a couple of updates of pieces started at the end of last month. The eggs I am forcing myself to leave alone, it's just too overworked already and I think I've salvaged as much as I can from it. They still look more like rocks than eggs to me and no, the random splattering didn't help LOL.

The purple martin house is only at the intermediate stage so there will be another posting about it when it's further along. I need to strengthen the shadow under the left side of the roof as well as the bottom of the house itself. And of course put the birds in!

 

9/6 - okay this is where I'm stopping. 

EDM2015 - eggs

These got terribly overworked and I'm still not happy with them. They look more like robin's egg blue stones than eggs. Have restated some lines here in pencil to see if that will help but definitely not a given.

They also would make more sense if done in a nest but that ship has likely sailed for this sketch. We'll see what I can come up with. (I'm writing this June 1st, having painted this much yesterday, the final day of Every Day in May challenge.)

I had an absolute blast participating in the challenge and I know my art is the better for it. I've tried a number of new approaches to my work, most of which I've been really happy with the results. I've also found that I'm problem solving situations with more confidence and greater speed.

Having said that I think the biggest thing to come out of this month is I've learned to slow down and be patient. Watercolour insists that I work at its pace and not my own. Accept that and all sorts of possibilities open up to me.

EDM2015 - a birdhouse or feeder

Just checking my perspective - close but not quite right yet.

EDM2015 - a faucet

There's so much more that I want to do with this but it has to be really, really dry before I move forward . Plus I need a little trial and error practice on another drawing so I can see if what I'm thinking will work will in fact give me what I'm looking for. That is the one downside to working in a sketchbook as  opposed to a loose sheet of paper - there's nowhere to hide the mistakes.

So all of that to say, this is as far as it goes today; more tomorrow. Shocking, I know LOL!

EDM2015 - a yard ornament or statuary

I wanted to do something different for today's look. These toadstools were a gift to our family from dear friends many years ago. I wanted them to be the front and centre, hence the background tree is graphite with a bit of help from my smudging fingers, just to provide an anchor to the sketch. 

   Okay, happier with that look.

Hmm, I always see much more clearly when I post things here. The right side of the biggest toadstool needs more of a shadow. Will fix that tomorrow - I'm done for today!

EDM2015 - something fuzzy or furry

Sometimes I know right away what I want to do for the daily prompt and other times I just want to throw caution to the wind and see what happens.

For this one, I decided to just google fuzzy and see what came up. This guy immediately drew my attention for obvious reasons, nevermind that any critter that wears apple green is a star in my book!

Meet the saddleback caterpillar! Funny, to me he looks like he's wearing a basketball jersey rather than a saddle LOL. I don't know where his real eyes are but mother nature sure gave him an interesting mask with the big green pair on his face. He will eventually turn into a stout-bodied much less colourful brown moth. If you see one of these look but don't touch - those spines will sting! Painted from an online image seen on a blog called the Walden Effect, using watercolour pencils and marker.

EDM2015 - a sign

 I had every intention when I started this piece to colour it in black, the way the original sign is, but when I scanned it I liked this look. So for now this is the way it stays in my sketchbook. That is not to say I may change my mind later LOL.

The sign was a housewarming present for my sister and brother-in-law from very dear family friends. It was the perfect touch to their new home.

For Abbey, with love.

EDM2015 - an apron or coverall

Not particularly inspired by today's prompt. When I think of aprons I think of my grandmother wearing hers as part of her daily uniform. She was of an age where every day of the week had a specific purpose - bake day, wash day, beat the rugs day - in addition to her regular chores keeping house.  I doubt the routine ever varied much.

So I wanted to do something non-utilitarian; no plaids or dreary little floral prints but something with a little colour and joy.

EDM2015 - some keys

Oh, I'm struggling with this one. I'm posting this at what I call the ugly stage. I seriously considered ripping the page out (there's nothing on the other side yet) and starting over but I am persevering. And yeh, it's meant to be viewed in landscape orientation but I couldn't be bothered to redo the scan.

If I can salvage this I will definitely be patting myself on the back LOL!



25/5 - okay this is as good as it's going to get. I don't even want to look at it anymore LOL. The keys are fine but I totally botched the background. This is where knowing photoshop would be a handy skill to have.

EDM2015 - interesting detail of a building

Well I decided to do a feature from a building that I used to pass all the time in my old neighbourhood. It's the spire atop the old 'Normal School' on Elmwood Ave.
When it first opened in February 1900, it was considered to be the most modern teacher-training facility in the country.

The structure is trimmed with cut stone and its once orange-red brick has now weathered to a pale salmon colour. Several miniature cupolas, typical of its Victorian architecture adorn the roof. It has served several education related purposes after the faculty moved to new digs in 1958. I'm not sure what is housed there now but it remains a fixture at the epicenter of the Old South community.

EDM2015 - something that is attached or hangs on the wall of your house

I promised myself when I started this challenge that I would do my utmost best to post every day and to share everything that I did, no matter the results. Up until now that last part hasn't been an issue, but oh boy, did I ever want to disregard it today LOL.

Hanging in our dining room is a print of Renoir's The Small Painter. 
It appears to have been done in sanguine pastel so I tried to reproduce that here as well. Renoir has nothing to fear from me. This barely resembles the original - I got just a tad carried away with trying to blend on the paper so this poor child's face just looks like s/he got heavy handed with mom's makeup!

Back to working on yesterday's detailed piece and looking for an interesting subject for tomorrow's.

EDM2015 - a spot you regularly sit to read

This one's going to take awhile because of the style I want to use, so the preliminary sketch is all I've got to post for now. I'm hoping for it to end up like the kitchen sketch I did for SBS last fall.

I'll probably be working on it off and on over several days, while I'm continuing on with the daily prompts. Will post it when it's finished. 

ETA 21/5:  now with ink and a bit more detail added.

EDM2015 - a wallet or billfold

This one was an easy one for me to choose. My sister Kate recently brought me one of those RFID blocking cardholders from where she works, much to my delight.

EDM2015 - a cupcake





Have never really understood the current fascination with cupcakes. I mean, when I was looking for online images for this prompt I came across a cupcake ATM machine of all things, for people who just have to have their cupcakes after hours LOL.

This was inspired by an online photo showing this presentation for a sunflower cupcake. Okay, moving on!

ETA 20/5: Not sure how I ended up with this format but I'll go with it. I couldn't leave yesterday's alone so after endless fiddling with it, I think I'm happier with it. The stronger colours help.

EDM2015 - a lipstick or lip gloss

I rarely wear either but if I did I'd be sorely tempted to buy these cuties just for the container alone. I'd have a hard time limiting myself to just one colour too!

EDM2015 - something used for measuring

 

 

 

I haven't worn a wrist watch in ages but I so remember the late 80's through the mid 90's, when swatch watches were such a hot pop culture item. Mickey D's was even selling them during the transition years for the Olympics, when the winter and summer games parted company. If I were to start wearing a watch again, Mr. Parrot would be the one.

EDM2015 - ingredients for a favourite recipe

Yes, I'm cheating LOL. I actually did this sketch last fall for Sketchbook Skool.  Since I've been consistently behind this past week and feeling pressured by that - not something that is conducive to creativity for me - I'm going to sub in this graphic for Meema's slow roasted tomatoes for now.

Still would like to tackle painting Chicken Marbella, my signature dish. Perhaps I'll save that for Day 32!