Bottle Opener and a Giveaway

So as I mentioned before, Patti Quill is talking about me today over at the Chronicle Books blog which I am super excited about. We weren't connected before I started doing this, and I'm not receiving any kind of compensation from them. I really just enjoy the book and the challenge. Also if you're not reading their blog I highly recommend it. There is a lot of good writing and fun guest posts from authors. Plus, it's very informative if you like artsy crafty and/or organizey things. (Which I do.)

Some things about the blog and me that won't be in that post because I forgot to tell Patti about them are the fact that I'm currently revising a YA novel (Isn't everyone these days though?) and that I do have some rules for myself besides just working through the book. Partly, this is an exercise in taming my inner critic/perfectionist/nit-picky jerk. To that end, all sketches must:

1. Not involve a ruler

2. Be done in one sitting (unless said sitting is interrupted by a short crying person)

3. Have minimal eraser use

I strayed when sketching the sandwich because it was a lot more complicated than I thought, but I copped to that. In any case, here's the latest product of these guidelines.

I chose the fold up pocket bottle opener because my dad always used to carry one around and it brings back fond memories of picnics and Coke's in glass bottles.

I will get back to the string quartet but I'm probably going to stick with simple things for the rest of this month. My life tends to have a nothing nothing nothing ALL THE THINGS pattern to it and I am currently in ALL THE THINGS mode.

Anyway, thanks to the good folks at Chronicle Books I can now present to you the first ever SIE contest!

For a chance to win a copy of 642 Things to Draw, simply comment answering one (or both in one comment) of the following questions.

Choice A: (Inspired by an episode of House and in the spirit of finding some time for yourself) What is the biggest lie you ever told just to get some alone time?

Or if you're the honest sort,

Choice B: What is your favorite PG-rated alone time activity? Why?

Just enter your answer(s) in comments below. I'll enter the number of comments into a randomizer to pick the winner because I have an unhealthy need to be liked. Contest is open until February 6th, at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time.

Bubbles, Mushrooms, and Luminescent Plankton

I'm not thrilled with any of these to begin with. It's made worse by the face that I'm apparently taking these from inside a freezer. I just could not take a steady picture despite multiple efforts.

Here's my bubbles, although they look a good deal more like wonky marbles. I've tried before to draw bubbles and I just can't seem to get the lightness of them. I think this is a subject best done in watercolor.

I couldn't decide between real mushrooms, and the Nintendo toadstool that pops in my head whenever mushrooms are mentioned so I did one of each. I think I made toadie look subtly malicious.

Last but not least, I give you luminescent plankton. I've been a little obsessed with bioluminescence ever since I was a kid, so I got a little distracted researching this. In then end I think this is more sardine/rabbit hybrid than luminescent plankton but it has it's own distinct charm.

Fin.

Ottoman, Sandwich, Van Gogh's Ear, and Chronicle Books

Okay. So, I've been feeling mostly like myself again for a couple of days but I've had to use that time to try to make a dent in the piles of filth that mysteriously sprang up during my convalescence. I am skipping the string quartet page for now because I'm going to try to knock some easy ones out this week while I'm still playing catch up everywhere else in life as well. Also, I want to get some more content up because I'm expecting guests from the awesome Chronicle Books blog where Patti Quill is going to feature my poky little sketching blog on Friday. Hooray! They have also been kind enough to offer a copy of 642 Things to Draw for me to giveaway on Friday as well so I'll have to think up a fun and exciting competition for y'all.

Sorry again, for the crappy shots. I'll be getting back to using a real camera by the next post, cross my heart.

Van Gogh's Ear

The envelope was a last minute decision. Can you tell? I really thought this was fun. I kind of have a thing for ears and I've always had trouble drawing them so it's good to get the practice in and have an opportunity to focus solely on the ear without any pesky heads or faces to distract me.

Sandwich

I was totally wrong when I classified this as an easy one. Lettuce is kind of hard to draw and a monochromatic sandwich caused me way more problems than I thought it would. Overall it took me about three times longer to do this than I planned, but I've never drawn a sandwich before so I think it's pretty good for my first time.

Ottoman

I'm also pretty sure this is my first ottoman. It was by far the easiest of the three but I actually like how it turned out. I'd like to work on my fabrics in the future. I'm always impressed by people who can make things appear to drape, especially when it is done in sculpture.

All in all I'm glad to be back in the saddle. I've been drawing for over ten years and I've never even tried to do two out of three of these things. I'm usually a houses and flowers kind of girl so these really stretched me which is part of what this whole project is about.

Desk Chair

I chose this chair from a google image search because I liked the simplicity of it along with all the interesting shapes.

Now I'm going to take a break to do some acrylic on canvas for Christmas. I'll be posting them soon imaginary readership!

Skunk

So when I got the outline down, I thought it was going to look like more of a skunk-o-saur, than a skunk and I almost started over but then my cooler side was all, "Shut up! There were skunks in the mesozoic era. Prove there weren't." So pressed on and...

Tada! I think it's a pretty friggin' impressive skunk. It was fun to do, I never fail to be impressed by how using negative space turns out.

Anchor

I think I'm getting the hang of this loose sketching thing. No ruler and only used the eraser once. I'm pretty happy with the results.

The Hammock

I tried to be a lot looser this time, so I didn't use a ruler and I told myself I had to finish it in under an hour. There are some things about it that drive me nuts but I think doing things this way has made the whole activity a lot more enjoyable for me and are going to help curb my inner nitpicky jerk.

I actually did have fun doing this one. Mostly because I have a soft spot in my heart for hammocks. I slept on one every night for a week and a half in Mexico and it was the best sleep I've ever gotten.

I hope these aren't too dark, but the flash really washes them out. I'll try to control for that in the future.

The Rolling Pin and Discipline

So the first suggested object in the book was...

...the rolling pin! I'm not off to a very good start I must admit. I thought this one would be really fun because I kind of have a love affair with wood grain and normally I love drawing it, but I had a lot of trouble getting the proportions of the pin right and so by the time I had a decent outline of the structure I was so sick of it that the details were not appealing at all. I pushed through, but grudgingly I think it's evident in the finished product.

I think this whole thing is going to end up one long hard slog, and I'm probably going to have to intersperse it with more entertaining projects along the way, but I WILL finish! I know this will be good for me. I need to crawl before I can walk and I have the unfortunate habit of skipping steps in every area of life, but especially with regard to this. I always hated having to do X amount of sketches in a sketch book for the art classes I took because I didn't like to just sit down and draw something just because. I would go months without drawing anything before an idea would pop into my head and fill me with an all-consuming desire to draw or paint or whatever and then I'd stop again and not touch anything art-related for another long period of months. The obvious problem is that I have stifled myself this way by not practicing I can't make any noticeable improvement.

By working my way through this sketchbook I'm forcing myself to practice more regularly and I'm hoping that practice along with drawing a lot of things I likely never would have on my own, will show marked improvement in the projects I really am passionate about.