Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which Today Was Rough

So after yesterday's ridiculous heat, I was excited that today would be in the 70s instead of the 80s. I was even looking forward to the idea of a rainy day inside, since we were supposed to get thunderstorms (which we did... eventually).

Unfortunately, pretty much as soon as I started to go to bed, someone got into an accident and knocked out power to my block.

At 1:20AM or so.

For seven. Hours.

Seven.

In the first hour or two, we still had internet, so I reported the outage to the power company (which is owned by Spain for some stupid reason... a country over 3200 miles (5150km) away from me.

The linemen are all great, though. They're local folks and they do their best with what they're given.

It's not their fault that the power was out for 7 hours.

Somehow, the freezer stayed 100% cold, though! When I checked after the power came back on, yeah the strawberry cheesecake ice cream was soft, but the lemonade bars were still frozen solid.

I don't do well when there's a crisis going on like the power being out. I prefer to know what's up, and I largely lose the ability to find out what's up when I don't have reliable internet access.

So I had very little idea what was going on, when the power would be back, etc. Especially since when the power first went out after 1, the outage map said it'd be back by 3:45AM...

I texted my folks at 6AM because they were out of town, let them know the fridge would probably be a loss and that the power was still out. Apparently the outage map had updated with a new time, which my dad relayed to me via text: 9AM

Tomorrow.

Uh...

Yeah I just about lost my mind. I don't like power outages - I'm afraid of the dark (my eyes and brain really like making shapes in the shadows...)

He'd misread the listing because his phone still thought it was the 26th. It was due back buy 9am today.

And it came back at 8:22AM.

Which I know.

Because I stayed up the whole night.

I have only slept about 20 minutes so far.  It's uh... It's a low-brain day.

So what did I do during the 7 hours of outage?

The first thing I did was make sure there was a flashlight near me. Then I snagged the book I've been reading - "Everybody Knows" by Jordan Harper.

I read the last two thirds of the book by flashlight light with a cat digging into my lap while my neighbors' generator hummed, distant machinery beeped, the train horn wailed, etc.

I finished the book...

Go read it. It's heavy, it's fast, it's hard-hitting and harder-nosed. Neon noir grit lit at its finest.

Made me set the book down mid-read and cuss at the author (in an "I'm so jealous of how well written this is! How dare you be so masterful!" way) twice.

After the book, I had plenty of time - it was only just past 4 when I was done with the book, so I went down to the kitchen, lit the stove with a lighter, made coffee without cream, and grabbed my sketchbook.

I worked out a little sketch in pencil.

the finished sketch, taken under the light of a Maglight

Once I finished the sketch, I puttered around the house before carrying the sketchpad upstairs and running primary inks with my Pigma Micron brush pen.

I really liked the way the inks looked at this stage and decided not to do colors

With the primary inks done, I set it aside, did some digging around for a non-refrigerated breakfast (pretzels, it turned out). Finally, I gathered a few more things - the sweater I'm frogging into yarn, a pair of shorts I wanted to try repairing, my sewing kit, my yarn ball winder - and brought them down to the living room, where there was more space & light. Then I took another pass at the drawing with the brush pen!

"Power Outage Again!"; ink on watercolor paper; 2023
[DEDBERT]

Once I was done drawing and inking, I set my art aside and took out the sweater, which started coming apart even better. From one section of buttonhole/chest piece and one section of bottom-ribbing, I ended up with three balls of yarn!

Which I then set aside because I was ready for a nap.

I am beat, guys. I'm probably just gonna try to go to sleep.

I hope you all had productive art weeks!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which Today Was HOT.

I am a delicate alpine bloom at the best of times, despising any temperature above 75℉(23,9℃) and melting in high humidity like so much cotton candy.

Today was absolutely not the best of times.

Today never actually got above 80℉(26,7℃), but between the sun and the mugginess, it felt like around 92℉(33,3℃).

Needless to say today sucked.

But I wasn't about to melt into the living room rug and let the vortex of the ceiling fan whisk away my consciousness like a massive hypnotic aide, no.

I decided, soon after waking up to an oven of a bedroom, that it was time to collect the air conditioning unit from the basement and put it in the kitchen so it wouldn't be disgusting anymore.

Now, I'm not an overly burly individual. I used to be able to do a lot more than I can now, but now I'm woefully weakened.

This is not a small AC unit. This is not a gainly AC unit.

It's not a window AC unit.

No, folks, we have one of those cabinet ones that you stick the hose out the window. The ones that are almost counter-height and weigh as much as an obstinate middle schooler and have handles that are only an inch deep and are about 3/4 as wide as the stairs while being a good 4" deeper than the treads.

So it's not an easy task.

At all.

We're talking a decent logistical undertaking for someone who has been awake for 20 minutes and has only just remembered how coffee works.

Needless to say, it must've been hilarious to watch me heave that stupid thing up the stairs. I had to go up backwards, butt first. I was literally sitting 3-4 stairs above the AC, desperately trying to hold it in place while the wheels debated sliding it away from me, struggling to get my feet halfway between the AC and my butt, and once I reached the top of the stairs, I had to practically lay on my back and scoot it into the kitchen. It nearly crushed me at least once. I nearly dropped it several times.

But I succeeded in putting it where it belonged.

I hooked it up and re-duct-taped the hose (the clips broke because of course everything is plastic and everything plastic breaks in this house), and cranked it to 75℉(23,9℃) before finally collapsing in an exhausted heap in the living room.

So of course, I scrapped the random sketches I did yesterday and instead scribbled out an homage to the effort of moving the stupid AC lol:

"The Struggle Is Real"; watercolore pencil & ink on watercolor paper; 2023
[DEDBERT]

I was tiredly chuckling the entire time I drew that lol.

I hope you guys are all holding up well during this trying time.

For now, I'm gonna go listen to some music and rest. I advise all of y'all to do the same!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which There Are Updates & Art!

First and foremost, my dad was diagnosed with COVID last week, which sucked big time. No one enjoyed that. 0/10 do not recommend. I'm pleased to be able to say he's already recovered and testing negative! Fortunately, my mom & I were masking and washing and disinfecting and avoiding each other as much as possible, so we've both tested negative, too.

Unfortunately, this is Summer in the Northeast, which means weird air quality, high humidity, and air pressure weirdness, and even more unfortunately, my mom and I have trash sinuses.

So of course, we exhibit sinus infection symptoms all summer.

Which are, of course, also largely Covid Symptoms.

Imagine my deep relief when I tested negative. It's been rough.

Since it's High Summer, high moisture, and high temperatures, I've been struggling to get enough sleep, struggling to get enough to drink, struggling to maintain my salts & minerals, etc.

I didn't like my gums' color today so I snagged a G Zero out of the fridge.

I forgot how much I hate G Zero.

I used to love orange Gatorade. Used to chug it.

Now, the sucralose makes me shudder and there's something in the mix that stings my throat (and it is just the Gatorade, my throat does not sting with water, cranberry juice, or coffee). Maybe there's some kind of melon extract. I should probably not risk it again.

So that was a low point this afternoon.

In other news, I managed to do some art!

"Dedbert"; watercolor pencil and micron pen; 2023
[DEDBERT]

I've been toying with a few other pieces today, but they're not coming together like I hoped, so I'll just table them til next week.

For now, though, I've been up since 5AM and could really use a power nap or something.

Also probably another gallon of water to get the sucralose flavor out of my mouth, eugh.

If you'd like to have a say in what I draw or paint next week, drop me a donation over on Ko-Fi with a message telling me what category (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Food, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Word) and I'll doodle something up to post on the blog!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

TFW you accidentally ruin a fairly good piece
by trying too hard...

I was trying for a fun color study today, using different crosshatches of different colors from my big box of 72 Arteza watercolor pencils. 71 colors (because I accidentally got 2 Turquoises and haven't had the brain to go through and figure out which color they replaced with the spare Turquoise) hatched chaotically across a page of watercolor sketchbook paper later, I got the bright idea to try some blending.

So you guys know what happens when you blend multiple colors from differnt areas of the color wheel together, right?

Yeah. It went from a riot of desaturated, sketchy color to a muddy sprawl of shades of greige (that awful gray/beige tone) and unwell taupes.

It, in short, sucked. A lot.

So I had to start over a few hours ago when I'd finished the pencil art yesterday like a good blogger.

Oh boy did I have a better idea!

"Rainbun"; watercolor & Micron brush pen on watercolor sketchpad; 2023
[ANIMAL]

I really, really love how the outlines came out on this one, and the shadow actually looks pretty decent too! All told, I'm pretty pleased with this image.

Eventually I'll try to scan it, but for now, I think that's a fairly decent photo! It's just slightly brighter in real life than it is in the picture, but I think it gets itself across well enough.

If you'd like a say in what I draw for next week, feel free to shoot me a donation over on my Ko-Fi account with a message telling me what category (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Food, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Word)

Tonight is a sleepy night - I only got about 6 hours of sleep total and night before last was a bad sleep night too. It's really damp and muggy in my house, but I don't really dare to take my fan out of my window since we really need the ventilation. The moisture keeps me clammy, which is gross as heck.

As sleepy as tonight is, though, I still crave reading and writing and art.

I'll go until I fall asleep, I think, and forgive myself if I wake up late.

For now, I'm going to watch videos and relax with a book.

Go Enjoy Something,

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which It's Fanart Again lol
(And yes, there are mild spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom)

Okay, so today was gonna be some cool digital art but... I'm nowhere near done. I'm about 5% done, in fact. Maybe 7% max. This is a big project, since I'm crafting it pixel by pixel, and it's gonna take a long time. There's a reason that the file name is "da big wun" lol.

And I'm maybe playing a little too much Tears of the Kingdom for things to be good for me.

My initial backup plan was to draw you guys a couple Light Dragon shots - namely a funny perspective shot and then a copy of The Epic Moment of Awesomeness where you get the Master Sword. Seriously, that's such a freaking incredible moment, and I've never felt more like a truly legendary hero in a video game than in that one scene. If you know, you know. If you don't, and you don't mind spoilers, look up the cutscene where you get the Master Sword. It's super cool.

I cannot for the life of me draw the Light Dragon.

So I opted for something a little... simpler.

See, down in the Depths, you'll sometimes spot piles of rocks with ghostly figures standing on them. Each of these spectral people are holding a pristine weapon that goes with their race. Hylian Soldiers will hold regular Hylian weapons - Traveler's Swords, Royal Weapons, etc. Gerudo Warriors will hold Gerudo weapons. Gorons will hold Goron weapons. While I haven't seen any Rito, I'd imagine they'd hold things like Feathered Edges and Throwing Spears.

There are also Zora, who of course hold Zora Spears, Zora Longswords, etc.

I love the weird top-heavy design of the Zora. They have short legs and long arms, and you can tell they're Not Human At All, but they've still got enough human shape to seem friendly.

That friendliness is far less apparent in the Depths, because they have no faces.

Still, those pristine weapons are very nice.

So I drew one of those lonely spirits, holding their Spear, waiting for Link...

Probably scaring the life out of the Yiga who can't see them.

"The Depths"; pen & colored pencil sketch; 2023
[FANART]

I'd love to redo this picture in Krita at some point. I like the idea of it, much like I enjoy the design for the spirits. It's too hard to get the white outline with colored pencil, even having white gel pens, and I just managed to color over it when I tried to leave it open.

That being said, I'd also really like to keep practicing the Light Dragon, and I may even try to do something about the other three wandering Dragons at some point.

For now, though, I'm going to go find some trouble. If I'm very careful, I might be able to take down a Gleeok with my current armors...

And I do still have a lot of work to do on that digital piece.

I hope you guys are having good Art Days!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

(PS: The Something this week is The Moment from TOTK that I was talking about earlier, so uh, Spoilers Ahoy)

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which The Best Laid Plans are Often Laid on by my Cat...

I've been working on a couple of pieces lately, and they're going really well, it's just... my cat, you see. She thinks it's a good time to lay on me. All the time.

Yesterday, 90% of my Working time was taken up with Mandatory Cuddles, and they absolutely are mandatory. You wouldn't think an 8lb cat could push a laptop off of someone's lap, but she can and will if she wants those cuddles.

Today at least she decided to sleep on my pillow instead of invade my personal space.

That being said, I couldn't finish either Da Big One (a 4200x4800 pixel piece) or Button Study (which is made on a button template that I had to finagle hardcore because I do not own any form of Photoshop and of course Threadless only offers templates in psd. Thankfully Krita opens that format, but I can't really use Krita for pixel art the way I do it, so uh... finagling). Too much cat, too little work.

Instead, I managed to sketch a little wandering Korok for you guys!

"I Need To Find My Friend!"; colored pencil & ink on sketch paper; 2023
[VEGETABLE? ANIMAL? (what even are Koroks...)]

Here's a lil guy trying to go on an adventure just like the Hero! It's even easier for Koroks, because most monsters and people cannot see them, and therefor, they cannot harm them.

Obviously Koroks can't get hurt.

Look what all these psychopaths are doing to Koroks in Tears of the Kingdom.

I could never! I honestly feel bad when I accidentally let them roll down a hill. Do I almost always deliver them in the longest, most difficult manner possible? Yes. Do I still do it as gently as I can? Absolutely. They're just little guys who don't get why you're disappointed by their rewards. Yes, a giant golden poo is... not a great reward, but my guess is they know you're gonna get a garden and think you could use the "seeds" as fertilizer.

This does however make me wonder if Mineru can attach a Korok onto her back? I doubt it. You can't Fuse them, after all. The meat arrow Recall trick only works because you Ultrahand the Korok to the meat arrow before you recall it...

Of course, future me now wants to draw Mineru with a Korok in a baby sling because I am ridiculous.

Yeah, it's the Big Thing for me lately, Tears of the Kingdom. I'm sure most of you who've been playing have already kicked Ganondorf in his Dragmires several times already, but I'm 1) a coward who is too scared to go into the depths and sweaty-palms their way through the Sky Islands, 2) fighting drift in both sticks now (Link, please stop WALKING INTO THE CHASM I DON'T WANT TO GO IN THERE), and 3) exploring my heart out in all these familiar-yet-utterly-changed places! Seriously, it's such a different world from Breath of the Wild. It feels way bigger than BoTW, just on the surface!

So yeah, that's been my week. I hope you guys are all having a good art week!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which Today's Art is... Prestigious

Today's art was brought to you by Z, who bought me a coffee and asked for a DEDBERT drawing! I was, as always, very excited to draw my boy, so here he is channeling his inner Zatara and performing some magic for us!

"Prestige"; colored pencil & micron pen; 2022

Dug out an old sketchbook of mine to do this. Unfortunately, this sketchbook is too chonky to go in my scanner (if the thing is works again...), so I had to snap a pic and upload it.

I love how he always looks faintly bored with anything he's doing! He's just so... mono-expressive, and yet that single look conveys so much lol!

If you'd like to have a say on what I draw next week, feel free to buy me a coffee over on Ko-fi with a message telling me what category you'd like to see next. This week's was "DEDBERT", for instance!

Available categories are:

• Animal
• Vegetable
• Mineral
• Dedbert
• Location
• Geometric
• Word

Anywho, minor self-advertising aside, I'm looking forward to sketching and writing more this month.

Yes, it's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), so I'll be working even harder than usual on my various manuscripts. I'm hoping to make some real headway this month, too.

I'm not, however, ascribing to the, frankly insane, wordcounts recommended by some people doing NaNoWriMo. No, your manuscript does not have to be 80k-100k words long for the love of God.

You're not Stephen King.

You're don't need to write 1200 words a day. You don't need to avoid sleep or food or hygiene to get your book done.

Just... write.

Just sit down and write a sentence.

Will you finish your novel this month? Probably not. It's an unrealistic expectation for a world where a lot of aspiring writers work 40-90 hours a week.

Just write one sentence after another as often and as long as you can without causing yourself undue hardship. Don't skip meals. Don't skip sleep. Don't skip hanging out with friends. Don't deny yourself your life while you're writing.

Your book is in you. You're just putting it down into writing. It's not as scary or complex as you think it is. You can do that. You can write your book.

And so can I!

By the way, if you're more art focused and feel a bit of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) with NaNoWriMo, then you could try writing/drawing a graphic novel of some sort? They're usually much shorter than a novel, but that's because you're cutting out most of the visual detail in the writing process and putting it into the art process! I still recommend writing out a script for a comic or graphic novel - that way you have a plan for what you're going to do!

Heck, if you're an artist who wants to branch out into writing, you can also use Visual Storyboarding to help you work out what you'll write! Basically, just storyboard out a scene, image by image, and then try to write out what you just drew - describe it! Writing is just describing life, whether or not that life you're describing is or was happening in the real world.

Anywho, that'll about do it for me. I'm a little bran-jellied from the art and I'm gonna try to figure out my next move in my manuscript.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which A Beautiful Day Was Also Busy!

Full disclosure, I finished today's painting yesterday and the sketch on Monday. I didn't work on anything else because I knew I'd be busy today! It was a crummy day yesterday, gray and cool and not at all inviting to head out, but today has been gorgeous. I spent most of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine and 65℉/18,3℃ breezes.

First I took a leisurely stroll down to the shops where I buy snacks and bought my guy some cheddar popcorn (if you're paying more than a dollar, you're paying too much, the weird religious Brim's popcorn is just as good as Smartfood) and candy and some Cokes. How is Coke still in business? They'll lose the public because it's about a dollar more expensive in a six-pack than Pepsi! Then I popped next door to buy myself a lime Jarritos and some Lindor truffles - two milk chocolate, two dark chocolate. You can tell that the Food Service here in town serves the Asian restaurants (two Thai places, a sushi joint, two Chinese restaurants! In a town with less than 10k people!) because they sell black vinegar, sambal, Chinese cooking wine, rose water, and more, wholesale!

After my snack run, I toddled back to my place, waving to the nice City Workers who were clearing up the brush piles by the side of the road, and got the cat ready for her walk. It took very little effort to slip her into her harness and get her out into the sun. It took more effort for her to leave the neighbor whose dog looks just like my childhood dog, Sam, alone. What a silly cat!

It's a good thing we headed back inside an hour later, because the hawk, who has had extremely poor timing lately, finally caught something! It was a starling, I'm pretty sure, but it was... brutal. The cat was enthralled.

So were the crows, so the hawk vamoosed with its prize.

After that I made myself a bowl of chicken broth with a bunch of dumplings (beef & chicken bulgogi, in fact!) and settled in to correct the edges on the painting so I could present it to you!

"Cactus Practus"; pencil & pen on sketch paper; 2022

"Dream Prickles" watercolor on watercolor paper; 2022

I'm still not 100% satisfied with the overall violet effect in the background, but I learned a lot about how to blend out colors while working on the cactus itself! I'm so happy with those transitions, too. I'm learning a lot, recently!

I think my next painting will be another abstract. We'll see!

As for me, it has gotten late. The day fled before me like scream-laughing toddlers before a mock-roaring uncle at a family reunion, and now I am sleepy and cozy and quite satisfied with my work, both predrawing and painting!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which It Is A Transition Week
So I am Discombobulated

Oh boy do I get thrown off easily. I usually do my shopping (for cheap snacks and drinks) on Wednesdays, but yesterday it was pouring like a tap during Happy Hour in a dive bar in Poughkeepsie, so I stayed inside all day, hilariously tired (seriously I could not keep my eyes open for more than 20 minutes at a time), and ridiculously cozy (pajamas all the way, babies).

This meant that I had to go outside today, and today was, as the memes say, heckin wimdy. Gusts of like 35mph at time windy, in fact (that's 56,3kph!)

But I went out! In a tank top and a sweatshirt! And I was fine! Because I only walked to the nearby uphill-both-ways shops I go to on the reg and back, which is about a 1 mile round trip lol.

That only took me about a half hour total, I'm pretty sure, and when I got back, I cracked open a lime Jarritos and a bag of locally sourced potato chips (sour cream & onion!) and got to painting!

"Dream Bunny"; Watercolor and Micron; 2022

I'm really happy with how this little experiment turned out! I didn't draw anything, just started laying down little dabs of color with those brush pens I got a while back, then blending them out instantly with a clean water brush. I chose the colors at random using a number generator between 1 and 24 (which is how many colors there are in the set). I might try this again with my other sets and other animals!

A Dream Menagerie sounds nice, these days, doesn't it?

So that's this week's art!

I would chat some more, but I'm actually working pretty hard on the crochet projects I have right now, so I should probably get back to those...

Even though I really want to try to paint more dream animals...

;)

Go Enjoy Something, guys!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

Sketches Are Fun!

It was incredibly gorgeous yesterday. I'm talking 60℉ (15,6℃), sunny, breezy and gorgeous. I took a long walk downtown and wandered from shop to shop hoping to pick up a not-too-expensive sketchbook the size of a small hardcover or trade paperback. I wasn't successful with that, but on my way back I stopped at our local library, a massive granite building partly funded by Carnegie back in the day, and sat on a bench in the sun to sketch in the big sketchbook I brought with me.

Instead of continuing the Happiny saga, I ended up creating a character!

"Cooper"; graphite & Pigma pen, 2022

Cooper is a new character who doesn't quite have a story yet. I know some things about him - he's missing an eye and has various glass eyes he likes to wear with fun pupils or weird colors, he's unselfconscious about his scarring, he likes to wear incredibly fluffy jackets and faux fur, he's a mechanical engineer, and he dresses as a ridiculous copper-colored marabou velociraptor named Copper for fun.

I'm 99% certain he's gonna end up in one of my modern Steampunk-esque stories about sentient automatons from Wales. If I can figure out a way to simplify his characteristics, I'd also like to draw comics of him!

Now as for why I brought up the weather earlier... it was 16℉ (-8,9℃) and only got to about 24℉ (-4,5℃). Tomorrow we'll have snow (up to 18" or 45,72cm) and it will be maybe about half as warm as it got today. That's why I'm currently wearing an outfit made of wool and fleece and all of my blankets are on my bed lol. It's also why I am planning on taking all of tomorrow to make more art!

We'll see if I actually follow through, though, because I'm notoriously lazy as heck on snowy days!

Anyway, that's today's sketch/drawing. I think I'll work a little more on him later :)

Go Enjoy Something!

And Stay Safe.

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which There Was a Delivery And I Drew!

Today was very very busy! The other day, I got a delivery of art supplies - my Buff Titanium watercolor stick from Daniel Smith and a paint box by Emooqi - and since then, I've been looking forward to testing them.

Unfortunately for me, I don't paint well while stressed, and with Evie the Wondercat going to the vet's tomorrow for her annual tooth cleaning and polyp check, I'm pretty stressed. I knew painting was going to have to wait.

Here's what I got, though:

This box is cardboard and has a magnetic flap as a closure!

I'll be honest, I just bought this set of 48 paints to put myself over the free shipping limit, but I was so pleasantly surprised at the quality! It really is worth every penny on Amazon (I'm not affiliated in any way, I'm just impressed!). I've never heard of "Emooqi" but if this is the kind of stuff they put out, I'll have to keep an eye out.

A swatching card for the paints!

Watercolor paper! Two Water Brushes! Three Fineliner Brushes! A Drawing Pencil...
A Fantastic palette! (Plus the Daniel Smith watercolor stick I also ordered)

I expected, when I picked this up, that the palette would be cheap plastic, but as soon as I picked up the package I was surprised by its weight.

Guys, that tri-fold palette is METAL!

You read that right, the palette is made of metal, has a hanging loop on the back, and holds at least one water brush (or multiple traditional brushes). There are wells for holding wet colors and trays for mixing colors, and it's just... it's fantastic. I'm in love with this big, heavy palette.

Now let's talk about the Buff Titanium watercolor stick

I have, ever since beginning to follow Nianiani on YouTube, wanted to have Buff Titanium. It's a soft, warm beige color, and she uses it for *everything*. We have a lovely art shop on our main street in my hometown, and they have a gorgeous collection of various tubes of watercolor in every single shade... except Buff Titanium.

So I looked on the interwebs and Amazon had me covered. I could either get a half pan for 7 dollars plus 7 dollars shipping or I could get the stick from Daniel Smith themselves for 10 dollars or so and free shipping if I got up to 25 bucks.

Believe it or not, I didn't fail economics. I passed. For me, getting two useful items for 29 dollars has greater worth than getting one useful item for 14 bucks. 

I've never used a paint stick, though, so I looked up some videos and it turns out it's a lot like a watercolor pencil but since there's no wood coating, you can just use the stick like a pan and brushy-brushy, you're off to buff-town!

I also used that swatch sheet:

The Swatch matches the order in the palette
plus that lil Buff Titanium swatch by itself

I managed to do all that and then I realized I didn't have time to make a good painting.

So I decided I'd combine three things I love - Australian Animals, Autumn, and Drawing.

"Down Under Harvest (unlined)"; colored pencil & graphite; 2021

"Down Under Harvest (Lined)"; colored pencil, graphite, and Pigma Micron PN; 2021

I wasn't sure which look I liked better at first, but I have a definite favorite. The animals are, from left to right, a Quokka holding kale, a Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat perched on a pumpkin, and a Bilby with an apple.

I freaking love drawing wombats. They're such expressive, chubby, adorable creatures. I just want to cuddle them all but I know they'd nibble my face off.

They're biters.

I love them.

Anywho, that'll about do it for me today!

Go Enjoy Something!!!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which There Is A Lot Of Cold and Cheese...

I've been hard at work drawing today! Feels good to get something I said I'd do done. Which is a horrible sentence, but hey, I drew! I don't care!

And what did I draw?

Well, a couple of things, to be honest.

See, it's suddenly freezing (literally) cold again. It was all of 31℉ (-0.5℃) when I got up, and there were these horrid little flurries coming down. The birds outside were very confused.

Someone else was furious...

"What the Heck, Spring?!"; colored pencil on legal size printer paper; 2021

Poor Dedbert is not happy that his nice warm days have suddenly been interrupted by fluffy white nonsense fluttering down from a gray, dreary sky!

Thankfully, though, the snow isn't sticking around, and we should get back to springtime sooner rather than later!

Now, my other piece is somehow even sillier, and it also has to do with something white, though this something is delicious rather than precipitous. In fact, it's so delicious, it's begun to infuriate my partner with its awesomeness.

It's cheese, guys.

We're both obsessed with cheese, to be fair.

My partner is also obsessed with wombats - the adorable furry tank of a marsupial that digs burrows in Australia and whose closest cousin is the adorable, yet incredibly dumb, koala.

So I combined those wonderful things :P

"Triple Cream?!?!?!"; colored pencil and gel pen on legal size printer paper; 2021

This is Wommie. He is 100% obsessed with how perfect and delicious brie is, and he's just discovered triple cream brie - which is, in his opinion, overkill. I mean, he's still gonna eat it, don't get me wrong, but he's a bit overwhelmed at the thought of that much cream!

A minor disclaimer here, though - 99.999% of the wombat population cannot and should not eat brie, since they're herbivores and tend to have a hard time digesting dairy. Wommie is special. He's downright magical.

He also has a hard time with his R's, but that's because of the way his mouth is built. It's made for eating roots and grasses, not pronouncing silly human words!

Anywho, I'm ready for a break! If you've made something today, go ahead and tell me about it!

And Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk: Year End Birb

 

In Which I Got Art Supplies And Made An Art!

At long last, it's the final day of the Year of the Dumpster Fire. I'm not going to get all hopeful and say that 2021 is gonna be any better, but I'm glad that this year is finally closing out. So today I made some art to celebrate the final day. Dang, if I was a more thinky person I'd have made a Majora's Mask-based image. Instead, I just bring you something I made with my brand new art supplies!

The Supplies in question!

Both metallic and glittery gel pens!

I haven't used gel pens since probably 2008? So after 12 years of not fiddling around with them, I'm pretty thrilled with what I came up with!

"Farewell to 2020"; gel pen on sketch pad; 2020

I'm pretty pleased with how that worked out! And I can't even see the worst mistake - a blob of black ink got stuck to my hand and smeared on the bottom of the banner where the first 2 of the 2021 is. That's why I included 2021 lol.

I'm really pleased with how the plaid came out, and I think I should thank DrawingWiffWaffles on YouTube for that, since she draws a lot of plaid on her awesome illustrations, and that's what gave me the courage to try it! I think it came out pretty cute, especially considering that I initially just scribbled it in with the metallic red and layered the glitter red and glitter black on top lol.

I hope to use these pens more often in the future and try out some of the cool challenges I see on the internet (though don't expect greatness from challenges, I'm still learning how to control my flabby fingers lol).

I hope that the year did not crush your spirit, that your creativity is intact no matter what your medium may be, and that over the next twelve months, you're able to create and share and sell your art. I want to read your books. I want to see your art. I want to hear your music and poetry. I want to walk into the buildings you design or decorate. I want to try your patterns and recipes. And I want you to know that whatever you created this year? It was worth the effort you put in! Even if it was just the outline of your novel or the barest sketch, I'm proud of you. Even if you were only able to think about your art for five minutes a day, I'm proud of you, because it was hard this year, and everything you tried artistically was important!

I love you all!

Happy New Year!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk: Witchtober Wk 2

 

In Which It's Another Week of Witches!

So, I have a lot to explain for today.

Firstly: I was absconded with on Monday, hence no Fiber Monday. I did succeed in getting a few new pattern repeats done on some projects, though! 

Second: I was busy on Tuesday with both writing and art and also doing a lot of juggling of household stuff, so no Talk About Tuesday. I got some writing done, pre-gamed with my art, and cooked some noodles. It was a very good day.

Third: Yesterday was the worst day I've had in a while for motivation. I could not get anything done. Nothing. I didn't even bathe. It was bad. BUT!

Today, I:

Drew a bunch of pictures of witches that I skipped like a lazy butthole

Wrote a paragraph of my novel

Wrote a comment on a Tweet about the lady authors I read as a kid while obsessed with dragons and Margaret freaking Weis LIKED IT!!!!!

Cooked dinner (cheddar sausages with pierogi!)

So without further ado, here's this week's Witches for @A_Ginger_Witch's Witchtober list on Instagram (which I don't have, like, or want, so I'll hashtag it on Twitter like the dork I am).

"Alys"; 9. Wonderland Witch

"Audhumla"; 10. Zodiac Witch (Taurus)

"Timothy & The Captain"; 11. Tea/Coffee Witch

"Rachel"; 12. Demon Witch

"Xue"; 13. Academic Witch

"Cadhla"; 14. Pinup Witch

"Kara"; 15. Candy Witch

I always forget after October what a grind a daily picture can be. I'm proud that Kara's prosthesis looks believable, and I like that I drew one of Cadhla's shoes dropping from the sky, and I'm so proud of my cute lil demon-summoning bow-loving Rachel, but I think I'm most pleased with sweet lil Timothy pouring a cup of love potion coffee (it's just a magically delicious cup of coffee, exactly what you wanted, every single time). A close second to Tim is Xue, with her frustrated look, and the fact that she may look like the oldest witch on here!

Anyway, I'm going to try to keep up with the blog next week, but if I miss Monday & Tuesday again, don't panic! I'm probably just busy lol.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC