I asked for suggestions for naming the quilt I completed last week and received many ideas. I particularly liked the suggestion of Branching Out from my friend Carol Larson. Capturing the obvious (a tree branch) and the allusion to my trying something new with the quilting hit the spot for me. The on-line class I’m […]
Jane LaFazio
Another Drawing
I worked parts of several days this week on a page intended to introduce me to collage. Yesterday I was so unhappy with what I had that I tossed it out. I may or may not go back to that lesson and see what I can do with it. Meanwhile, I sketched and painted another […]
8 Techniques, Page 2
Skidding to the finish line of this week, I have completed a second page using the 8 techniques of focus in Jane’s Sketching & Watercolor in a Mixed Media Journal class. A week always seems like plenty of time to complete several pages for one lesson. The problem is that I’ve never mastered the art […]
This and That
Where to begin. There are many things in progress here. After all, it’s July — the height of summer. Our side yard with the succulent plantings is filling in nicely. Here’s a close up of one panel The male oriole and his entire family — 2 chicks this year! — visit our feeder regularly. He […]
8 Techniques in 2 Weeks
Whew! This is week 3 with Jane and she’s really ramping up our game. The assignment: divide a page into 8 sections and complete assignments using 4 different techniques. Don’t worry about where you start on the page or how you divide the page. . . just get going! So here I am so far: […]
More Everyday Objects
It’s the end of the week with Lesson 2: Everyday objects. I’m always optimistic that I’ll get several pages of sketches done in a week, I certainly intend to. I feel lucky to have completed 2 pages! Here is the first page of objects from the dining room: And here is the second page with […]
Lesson 2: Everyday Objects with a Tombow Pen
This lesson introduced a new tool: a Tombow pen. This nifty pen uses water-soluble acid-free ink and has 2 ends: a brush and a fine tip. The fine tip is great for drawing the outline of a final sketch. The brush end is handy for getting more ink on the watercolor brush for darker shading. […]
Sketch/Watercolor with Jane
I completely enjoyed the class I took with Jane LaFazio in early 2012 — Sketching & Watercolor, Journal Style — and regret that I haven’t made use of my new skills beyond the class. So I decided to get back into a class with Jane and take it to a new level. I’ve never done […]
Lesson 6: Machine Made Objects
Last week was the sixth and final week of my on-line class with Jane LaFazio on Journal Style Sketching and Watercolor. We turned our attention to objects made by machine. The issue here is symmetry. Jane suggested choosing something that you really like and TAKE YOUR TIME with it. Good advise because getting these drawings […]
Back to Sketching
Last week I fell very short of my goals for sketching flowers. The trip to San Diego was worth it, but I will have some making up to do! I managed only two sketches — I look forward to doing many more flowers this summer. I simply adore sunflowers. And my hellebore in the back […]
Lesson Two: Green
Let’s face it — there are more possibilities for mixing the color green than I can assign a number to. Understanding that means it’s no mystery why Jane devotes an entire lesson to just doing that. For this weeks’ sketching exercise I selected three different green leaves from the yard. After sketching each leaf, I […]
Another sketch
The Buddha Hand may have been a bit ambitious of me. Who am I kidding? It was very ambitious of me. I’ll have other chances to come back to this fruit. For now, Jane is moving us on to lettuce. This has been a fast week!
Skill Building
Last month I posted a question to the members of Postmark’d Art about which pens they liked the most for writing on fabric. The conversation became quite lively as members shared their experiences with a number of pens. Sarah Ann Smith said she was quite happy with a set of pens purchased for an on-line […]
