But I won't be getting one any time soon. It seems that d-o-g has become the equivalent of a four-letter word in our household. The situation has become an absolute killjoy.

So instead of To help mitigate soon of my annoyance and aggravation about the situation, I decided that I would get a dog and it would be ALL mine without outside influence—or interference.

So I got an Imaginary Dog and I'd love for you to meet her!

Her name is Lovey. It was originally LuLu, but the term lovey was used to describe her and it just fit. I'd also considered Yip, but it just didn't work for her.

Lovey Ink and watercolor Canson 180º Artbook Sketchbook

Lovey is part Border Collie and who knows what else. She probably won't get very big and by way of some genetic malfunction, she is nearly blind. It's possible that she sees some shadows, but that's it. BTW, Lovey is a real dog, but she'll never by my dog. She was in a shelter a few hours away from us when I first discovered her. 

Back in 2011, I did a "Christmas In July" eClass in the hopes that I'd be ready for the holidays before December 23rd…it didn't work. All I can say is that I had my cards ready!

I've decided to share how I painted a cat face for my Christmas card from that class as a thank you to the many wonderful artists that have passed through ImaginaryTrips.com as well as for those of you who may wonder about the class set up and what's included in a trip.

Below is the video demonstration and pdf handout from the class. Obviously, we don't have a private class blog to post our work to, but I think this gives you an idea of what the classes are like.

This could be used any time you wanted to paint a cat face (rather than just during the holidays) and there are ideas at the end of the video on how to make this even more Christmasy.

I hope you will find time during this crazy-busy time of year to add or keep some art in your life. I know for me, art helps to ground me when things get absolutely nutty.

Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

Merry Christmas!

The assignment can be found here. 

Two Kittens and A Naked Tree Watercolor and Ink Stillman and Birn Bound Beta Journal 5.5 x 8.5 inches

Most of you who read the blog now know that Chris and I have been acquired by two kittens and it has had a definite impact on our lives.

One of things we wondered about was how the kittens and a Christmas tree would get along together.

This past Sunday, we put the tree up, sans ornaments, for a trial run.

As we pulled the various parts out of the box, the kittens came to investigate. Before long Moby was running around jumping in and out of the boxes, attacking anything that moved, nibbling on "branches" and in general, getting under foot and in the way.

Willis was a little more reserved and sat back to observe before deciding it was okay to launch herself into the boxes and give everything the "sniff test of approval."

But Willis couldn't outdone by that young upstart (Moby) and quickly decided she needed to be in the thick of things as well.

This, of course, lead to much chasing and smacking and attacking—in short, they had a blast.

And in case you're wondering about Joey, he was all the way on the other side of the room, tucked up safe and sound in his bed away from the bedlam.

The tree stood unmolested for just over 24 hours before we watched Willis climb up into the tree.

Sigh.

Willis in the tree

We had hoped. (Yes, we were in denial.)

This left a frustrated Moby on the ground going into attack mode. She'd swipe at any part of Willis she could reach and it became quite the game of seek and attack.

With Moby on the attack, Willis climbed higher to get out of her reach. So far, she's reach the middle of the tree, about three feet from the ground.

And that really frustrated Moby!

What's a kitten to do but figure out how to get her furry behind up in the tree?

Moby hanging out in the tree

And so she did.

More sighing.

Before the night was over, I watched Moby run around the end of the love seat and straight at the tree (another six or seven feet) before she launched into the bottom of the tree without ever breaking stride or slowing down. Just like there was nothing to it…

Shutter.

In a little over 48 hours of the tree going up, we went to two kittens in a tree!

Updated Page and Tree

Moby Cat

I would love to tell you that I haven't lost my mind, but at this point…I'm not so sure.

I would love to tell you that Chris has lost his either, but again, there is evidence to the contrary...

"You work too much! Pay attention to ME!"

The darling creature you see above is Moby Cat, the latest new Ferlita family member. She is a 3-month-old Maine Coon. She's smart, she's intrepid and she is already leading Willis (our other new baby) around.

"I'm soooo tired. That runt is just too much trouble."

Willis follows the kitten around from the time they get up until the time they crash (literally) and pass out. After much hissing and growling, it seems Willis has decided the new interloper is probably here to stay and it's her job to keep an eye on the insolent child. It's an exhausting job as you can see.

Joey, our oldest cat, was unavailable for this photo shoot as he has taken to permanently hiding out under either the bed or the treadmill. Again, much growling can be heard as he and Moby haven't had a chance to interact much yet. Kind of hard to do when you've wedged yourself into a space only a mouse would normally fit in.

"I said YOU are NOT paying ME enough attention! I'm much cuter than this dumb old box!"

Meanwhile, Moby and I are trying to come to amicable terms with regard to computer use. She likes it because it's warm and I have to pay attention to her. She doesn't seem too much into the negotiations. Her attitude is more along the lines of "my way or the highway."

Despite the upheaval, she's love personified. Touch her and she purrs and butts her little head up into your hand. She's gentle…she's been in the house for over a week and she hasn't scratched me yet.

"Wow, you throw away the coolest things, human!"

Moby is also a climber, explorer and adventuress. Above, she's checking out the trash can under my desk in the studio.

Which brings me to my latest thought…isn't Christmas gonna be a blast this year with not one, but TWO tiny terrors!?!

Sigh.

If you're wondering what cataclysmic events transpired that we would have not one, but TWO small (and adorable) creatures joining our lives, I'll tell you that it was simply a conversation with a friend.

Kathy, over at Catching Happiness,  decided it was time for some furry love in her life. She didn't have anyone going with her as she looked for her new companion so I volunteered. My sweet husband decided to go along to "keep me from bringing home any more 'damn' cats!" (Tactical error there, my dear husband!)

Here are the happy humans holding their new charges:

Don't they look happy!?!

 And now, all I can say is, "let the adventures begin!"

Willis in the sunshine Stillman and Birn Bound Beta Sketchbook 5.5 x 8.5 Pentel color brush and watercolor

We have a window seat for the cats in the front window of our living room and Willis, our new kitten, likes to climb up there in the late afternoon for a warm, sunny snooze.

Good time for a sketch of her, right?

Only if I'm super quick!

I sketched the line drawing with a Pentel EnerGel pen. This a relatively new pen on the market and is advertised as being unlikely to smear because the ink dries quickly. And it does. The pen tip is an 07 in size and what I like about is that it bleeds giving me lots of fun gray wash effects, but leaves a strong line even after the ink is hit with water.

However, I knew I was going to need a much stronger, larger black pen or paint to capture Willis' likeness quickly. I've been looking for ann opportunity to start sketching with the Pentel Color Brush and this seemed a great time.

I focused on the getting the kitten drawn first because I knew she wasn't going to stay in that position for long. (Animals never stay in the same position for long. They have some kind of radar that lets them know when someone is watching them!)

Before I finished with her entire body, she'd curled up onto her side and gone to sleep. It worked out because I didn't get a chance to get caught up in the details.

I then went back and added the shelf with the fuzzy cover, window details and a few branches from the outside to add a bit of depth to the image.

About the Pentel Color Brush:
The Pentel Color Brush has been around for a while, but I'm just now getting around to mess with it. The ink is not waterproof, giving ample opportunity to create fun washes and effects. It was like a very pigment rich watercolor and played well with the other watercolor I added to the sketch. I put a touch of red to her ears where the sun was lighting up the thinner skin areas.

It was a fun, quick way to get down a sketch of a kitten that is never, ever still.

It was fun to cover a lot of area quickly and created a neat monochromatic effect.

I haven't done any lightfastness tests on either product and so I can't recommend them at this time, but if longevity of your artwork is not of major importance to you in your sketchbooks, I would recommend giving either of these pens a whirl, especially if you like black and white sketching!

Last Saturday, Chris and I found ourselves in the possession of a bow-legged, bat-eared, talon-toed kitten.

Make no mistake as to who was in control of this situation.

Her name is Willis. Mostly. She's also been called Skunk Monkey, Demon, Dammit, and NinjaPuss.

Willis Ferlita

And before you ask, no her name has nothing to do with the TV sit-com from the 80's, but it does have significance to us.

Can you hear that laughter? That's the Universe ROFLIAO. You see, we weren't ready for a new kitten. Or a puppy. We weren't even sure we were going to get another one at all.

Yeah, well, put one lost, hungry and lonely kitten in my parents' garage on the day I have to go over there and poof! We now have a kitten in the house.

Playing with an oversized pipe cleaner

The lessons we've observed so far...

She knows what she wants and she goes and gets it. There is no try. There is do or do not. Or, in her case, attack or do not. Either way, she gets what she wants and she's not afraid to get vocal about it either.

She is nearly fearless and quite fierce. Anything and everything is fair game for those needle-sharp claws. So far she's stood up to the ceiling fan, my coffee mug, and demons only she can see.

She'll try anything once, including jumping up on things (like human legs) best not jumped up on, jumping off things that are a bit too high (tables) to be jumped from, and climbing up things not meant to be climbed (curtains). If she fails, she either tries again or goes and finds something else to do. She doesn't obsess or freak out.

She is respectful. When the older cat came into the room, she sits still and watches him. When he only had hisses and growls for her, she ignored him and went about playing like a maniac. Totally ignored him and his unhappy vibe. She didn't get hung up with his bad attitude nor did she waste any time wondering why he didn't like her.

She plays hard. Then she sleeps. So far she has two speeds—attack and sleep. She lives to eat, sleep, poop and most importantly, have fun and play. We've laughed more in the last 72 hours than we have in the last six months.

Look at those eyes. She's a wild child.

As for the older cat in the house...

Joey staged a hunger strike under the bed for the first 24 hours. When that proved unsuccessful in removing the intruder, he attempted extreme affection and cuteness in the hopes he would prove this new trespasser was completely unnecessary.

I suspect he fears the kitten armageddon that is sure to come as soon as we turn her loose on him. Poor Joey...he may not leave the comfort of his hiding place under our bed from several weeks.

Meanwhile, I think I'm going to see if I can't adopt her approach to life...play hard and often, be fierce, be fearless, try new things with abandon and ignore anyone who doesn't want to play with me!

Elk Carcass Blues Jam © Chris Ferlita Colored Pencil and Ink Stillman & Birn Alpha Sketchbook 5.5 x 8.5 inches

(If you missed the first post, you might want to read it here before continuing.)

"I don't remember saying that," says my husband after he seeing the last Alaska post. "It sounds like something I could have said though."

"Seriously? Guess I must have just made that up," was my slightly sarcastic response.

"I remember you asking what I think of when I think of Alaska. You were trying to come up with something for the cover," he says, as if clarifying.

"I asked you what your strongest impressions from trip were."

"That was twenty years ago, I don't really remember the details of the trip," he responds.

"Yeah. Got that. That would explain why you thought you saw a bear eating an elk carcass. Because I'm pretty sure we didn't even see any elk in Alaska. We had to go to Tennessee for that," came my reply.

Again, he disappeared.

A little while later, I see him in his studio, bent over his table, smiling...

He's up to something.

I step closer to see what he's working on.

It's a bear jamboree.

Sort of.

He looks at me and says, "I know it's not real."

"Oh? And what was your first clue?" I inquire.

"Bears don't wear sunglasses."

Texas Moose Watercolor and Ink Pineapple Journal 5.5 x 5.5 inches

Chris and I went to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant the other evening and I noticed this big guy hanging over the door where the customers come and go.

I turned to Chris and asked, "Do they have moose in Texas?"

He looked at me a bit odd, but shook his head and answered, "Hmmm, no. A bit too warm there would be my guess....why?"

"I was just wondering why there's a moose over the door in what is suppose to be an Texas restaurant if moose don't live in the state," I replied. "I dunno, it just seems kind of weird. They don't even have moose on the menu."

"They don't have jackalope on the menu either," he noted.

"Yeah, well, maybe because those don't exist? Just a guess" was my retort.

Ask anyone who knows me well and they'll tell you that patience is not my long suite. Case in point is this "lovely" sketch above. Everything was fine at the restaurant. I sketched out the moose between our salads and the arrival of our entrees. I added color during the meal.

Later after we were home, I decided to put in the text. Looking the page over, I decided it would look better if there was some indication of a wall behind Mr. Moose.

I failed to wait until the ink was dry. Before it was over, I even managed to smear some of the ink.

And why?! We were already home! It's not like we were keeping the table too long.

I suppose it's the same reason I often misspell words on my journal pages—I'm in creative mode and the left brain leaves for a little while.

Or maybe it's just standing back to see what kind of mess I'll get myself into so it can say, "See? See what kind of messes you get into when I'm not around to keep you in line!?!"

Oh, well. It was still fun and it was still nice having a break from an overactive left brain!

Are you a patient kind of person? Have you always been that way? If not, how did you get there???

"The Realm of Dogdom" has been buzzing with all kinds of activity lately. Our dog Specky started to feel poorly, very poorly, last week. Scared the you-know-what-out of us as we haven't really recovered from the loss of our other dogs at the beginning of the year.
Turns out Spec had an abscessed tooth. Now, I don't know about you, but I've had an abscessed tooth and it hurts like nothing else I've ever had to hurt! As we moved through the (hopefully) healing process with her, I realized she had a few, okay, a lot of things to teach me.

1. It's okay to let someone spoil you. Especially when you don't feel good. It makes you feel a little bit better and it makes the other person feel better too.
2. You have to trust that everyone is doing their best even when their best doesn't seem to be cutting it. 
3. Even if you have a lot of history with mean people, give a new person a chance until they prove they're not to be trusted. If they come at your nether regions with sharp, pointy things, they are no longer trustworthy and should be treated as such. Warn them to leave your nether regions alone. Bare your teeth and/or growl. If this fails to slow down the sharp, pointy thing or the person holding it, then by all means, introduce them to your own sharp, pointy things (teeth).
4. Forgive them if they do not heed your warning and insist on sticking you with the sharp, pointy thing (see #3), and don't hold a grudge because they might be holding a treat (see #1). 
5. Try not to be grouchy and if you are grouchy, because let's face, abscessed teeth HURT!, stay as quiet as possible, say as little as possible and take frequent naps. If you say as little as possible, chances are good you won't hurt anyone's feelings and you won't have to apologize as much later. 
6.  If someone makes special food or treats for you, show them how good they are and how much you appreciate it by wiggling, whining, and getting excited all over. Be sure to lick the shine off the bowl to show your sincere appreciation of this special treatment (see #1). Who knows, you might score a second helping. 
7. Don't be a pill about taking your pills, especially if they're wrapped in peanut butter. 
8. When you feel better, be sure to let those taking care of you to know by being extra sweet, snuggly and slobbery. They'll appreciate it. 

We call Specky our teflon dog because nothing seems to stick. No matter what, she's always Spec with a stronghold on being happy, loving her humans, and giving everyone a chance or a warning bark. In case you can't tell from the image, Specky is 5 or 6 different shades of browns and reds, hence the name.

In truth, I think she's probably kevlar, teflon, tutu and love all rolled into a speckled coat. Despite being in a highly abusive home for the first part of her life, she's as sweet as she can be....unless you have something sharp and pointy in your hands with an eye towards her nether regions. (Can't say as I blame her for that one!)

If you have a four-footed furry friend that has demonstrated some much need life lesson(s) for you, please share. I think we could all use some "feel good" stories today.

I recently upgraded to the Lion Operating System on my Mac laptop.

Sigh.

I've been having all kinds of "fun" trying to figure out how to do things that used to be a breeze, and in my humble opinion, didn't need "upgrading" or changing.

But Apple didn't ask me.

And so I struggle with simple things. My address book used to be alphabetized by first name rather than last name. I rather liked that. It worked well with other programs that used the same method. I "know" people by their first names, rather than first and last.

It often takes me three times as long to find someone now compared to the old way. And, yes, there may be a way to change it back, but I haven't yet made the time to find out how.

I thought it might be good for the gray matter to learn a new way of doing a task. So far, it's just aggravated the dickens out of me.

However, there's always a few fun things to play with when you make these types of changes and one of them is a program called Photo Booth®.
This isn't a new program....it was on the last system I had, but rather than play with it, I just deleted it off the dock and ignored it.

See the fun I was missing!?!
Tucker was not wild about the computer and was doing his best to get away from it. We'll have to try again when he's a little more mellow.

Technology is a wonderful part of my life. It makes it possible to play out in cyber space, but upgrades are something I do not look forward to in general....however, if they continue to throw in toys like Photo Booth, I might be more likely to upgrade a little sooner next time!

Andi, Gatlin and Susie Possible Painting Thumbnail

Let me tell you a story about a couple of dogs named Gatlin and Andi.....

Gatlin was a mountain dog. When Chris and I met her, she was homeless and wild. Scared wild. She was so afraid of people, no one could get near her. We were on vacation up in Gatlinburg and had been visiting some friends on the Artist's Loop, when our lives collided.

We told our friends that if they caught her, we'd take her. We tried before we left, but she was too smart for her own good. Fast forward three weeks. I was on location in Atlanta, on a Friday, due to fly out that afternoon. I received a phone call—they'd caught the dog! Did we still want her? Yes!

I turned in my rental car at the airport, rented an SUV and drove to Gatlinburg that night. I picked her up the next morning and started the 12-hour drive home. By myself. With a dog I didn't know. Let's just say it was a memorable experience.

It turned out that Gatlin had been abused by her prior owners. Badly abused. She was terrified of people but wouldn't so much as raise a whisker to defend herself. She had the most expressive eyes of any dog I'd ever known.

Gatlin was an old soul.

We started working with Gatlin, to acclimate her to her life. Turns out, she didn't know how to play and she really didn't know how to interact with humans—nice or mean. Finally, we decided that maybe another dog would help.

Andi entered our lives.

We rescued Andi, our second dog, from a no-kill shelter two months after we brought Gatlin home. The two became fast friends. Andi taught Gatlin more about playing (by example) in two months than we would've been able to in two years.

Andi was a kind-hearted dog who had also seen some abuse in her life prior to coming to us. She loved to chase squirrels, to play, to pull the stuffing out of toys, out of balls, out of beds, out of anything! Andi was as high-key as Gatlin was low-key—the (mostly) perfect yin and yang.

The years slipped by and one day we learned Gatlin had cancer. It was deep inside her throat and it was inoperable. She left us in 2006.

Andi missed her friend, but by then, she had two other playmates, Susie and Specky (both were rescues and deserve a story of their own).

Again, the years slipped by.

As you know, Susie left us on December 30th. We lost Andi this morning.....

Travel safe, girl, and know that you'll be missed!

The image above is a very rough idea I have for a painting....of Gatlin greeting the two latest arrivals at the end of the Rainbow Bridge. I know she'll show them the ropes and help them get settled in.

I'll probably wait to do the painting until our last pup leaves us. For now, Specky is healthy, just very, very lonely.

On a different note, many of you have sent well-wishes for my niece.....who has recovered from her seizure and seems to be just fine. The doctors believe the seizure was brought on by a fever. She's teething right now and having a devil of a time, so it makes sense. It would also seem that these seizures are quite common in toddlers.

Again, thank you for the kind words of understanding as we do our best to cope with our losses and concerns.

Oh, my.

Splattered. Splotchy. Fuzzy thinking. Long periods of staring at nothing.

That about sums up the last two weeks of my life.

I seem to have missed that time of year....that transitional period between ending and beginning, as if time is paused, so I could get my new year off to a great start by laying out plans, goals and dreams.

The ending of 2011 was a tough time and the beginning of 2012 is not off to a stellar start....

We lost our sweet Siberian Husky, Susie, on December 30th.

She had been sick for a while now, and it was touch-and-go during the holidays.

We then took Andi, another of our puppies, to the vet on Monday as she has been feeling poorly.

She has lymphoma.

Andi has a very limited amount of time. It depends on how she responds to the meds we're giving her.

Yesterday, my 15-month-old niece was taken to the hospital after having a seizure.

The baby was moved from ICU to a regular room and we're hoping she'll be released today. So far, no conclusions on what caused the seizure.

As I said, not a great ending nor a recommend way to start off a new year.

What I'm learning.....is that life, and that mythical thing known as balance, is a very fluid thing.

In my case, most of the fluid of life has shifted towards my pets and family. The blog has been (too) quiet, my work hasn't been getting the normal attention I show it, and daily chores haven't been kept up as normal.

I've decided to give this time to myself, as a gift and that it's okay.

To take the time to grieve, to let the new year take off without me being in a happy, celebratory mood, to put family first.

WITHOUT guilt.

Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, I'll be back.

Full throttle.

Right now, I need to heal, to be close to family, and to spend time with Andi.

I hope you understand.

I wish you the very best of the new year.

She fought her way to Chris in a torrential downpour because she wanted to live.

She was feisty and she was willing to fight for what she wanted.

She was little, maybe 5 weeks old, soaked to the skin and cold as ice by the time Chris picked her up.

We didn't know if she'd make it home. She did. She was chewing on my metal jacket zipper pull before  long.

We had no idea she was white until we cleaned her up. She looked to be grungy gray at first sight.

It didn't take long before she had us both wrapped around that furry little foot.

You seldom wondered what her opinion was because she was only too happy to share it with you. And she always had an opinion.

She was vocal about what she wanted. She'd put others in their place (vacuum included) if they dared to cross her.

She could be temperamental and if you were going to be around her, it was best to learn the signs and give her wide berth when she was in a mood.

Her love for us was bottomless.

Her spirit was so incredibly strong....over 20 years strong.

However, her body was not. It simply gave out on her.

We have a cat-shaped hole in our hearts, and yes, we grieve.

Still, we're so glad she chose to spend her twenty years with us.

Booger June '92 - October '11

Bye, Boo Girl, you'll be missed for sure......

Kitten and Yarn Watercolor and Carbon Black Ink BFK Rives 175 g paper

With the upcoming trip to New Orleans getting ever closer, my search for a sketchbook paper that makes me happy is picking up pace. The kitten above was sketched in carbon black ink and then painted with watercolors.

The BFK Rives is a printmaking paper and accepts watercolor well. The paper has a very soft finish to it that allows for wild and varied results from the pens I normally use on location. (It always pays to check how your favorite tools act on a new paper!) I finally used a flex nib fountain pen with the Carbon Black ink to sketch this. My Lamy (with the same ink) bled and feathered to the point of distraction. Not pretty!

I've also found there isn't too much correcting on this paper. If you click to enlarge the kitten, you'll see I had difficulty with his mouth. I like the paper and I think it would work well on location, but I'm still searching!

I also tested out Cartiera Magnani Acquerello watercolor paper and knew as soon as I started out with my color swatches I wouldn't be taking this paper. The paper has a very distinctive pattern to it that become very evident when I put down my washes. Not unpleasant, just not what I'm looking for in my sketchbook!

Tombow Lightfastness Test

Autumn arrived in Florida on October 1st with much cooler temperatures and lower humidity! I didn't need much more of a reason than that to get outside and get in some sketching.

Osprey Drive Park Stillman & Birn Sketchbook Watercolor and Ink 7 x 7 inches Click to enlarge

I didn't get a particularly early start, but it didn't seem to matter. I went to one of our local "no-name" walking/biking paths and set off with my sketch kit....and the requisite travel mug of coffee!

Lots of people were out with the dogs, getting some fresh air, roller blading, biking, running or just sitting on the benches to enjoy the day. I wasn't hopeful of spotting much wildlife with so much activity and figured I'd working on capturing a landscape.

I wasn't more than an eighth of a mile down the path when I noticed the Anhinga doing his thing up in a tree by the pond. More of a bush really. He bobbled and bounced as he went through his grooming process.

He seemed to have a very itchy neck! He would start scratching right above his chin and then work his way up to to as far as he could go. His neck would get longer and longer with the effort.

The bird was quite busy moving around, but every once and a while he'd just freeze as if he'd seen a bug floating by. Or a ghost. I didn't see him snap at anything so maybe he caught a smell of danger or .....who knows!

Further along the path, I just happened to catch a small movement out in the left field of my peripheral vision—it was the swamp bunny! I totally missed his shape, but this was drawn from mostly memory because as soon as I took an interest in him, he took an interest in leaving—two hops and he was gone!

The little Downy Woodpecker was about 15 feet up a palm tree. Unfortunately, I couldn't see his face in either of the fuzzy snapshots I took of him, so I must assume it was a Downy rather than a Hairy Woodpecker which is similar in plumage but larger in size. The body shape isn't quite right...like most critters, he was busy going about the business of his life and didn't have time to pose for me!

A glorious morning altogether! And I'm off to do it again today!

Preliminary Sketches of Cecilia DeBearvoire Permanent Ink Click to enlarge

My apologies for not posting the preliminary sketches of Cecilia in the last post here. Her face is actually much more accurate in these sketches than in the painting. She looks a bit, ummm, grouchy. Or maybe she's just mad. Either way, her face is not a "happy face."

Something else I was having trouble with was her body proportions. She doesn't really have shoulders and her arm are longer than her legs. Working out proportions on this page gave me a better chance for succeeding in my painting.

I've got a few more critters in my collection that I think I'll be using for practice as well. They're light and small if I want to carry them with and they usually have such endearing faces that they're fun to sketch!

When I get more sketching done in my "junk journal" (see prior post), I'll post them here!

Happy drawing!

Cecilia DeBearvoire Watercolor and ink 5 x 5 inches Pineapple Journal

How often do you draw?

I'm talking about a piece of paper and pen* for the purpose of JUST drawing rather than drawing something to plop paint on top of later. Once a week? Once a month? Ever? Never?

If you answered hardly ever, you're in good company. The majority of artists I know only draw when they want to create a finished piece of art, be it a painting, sketch or plein air work.

Can you image what the NFL or pro golf would look like if the players didn't practice the very basics every day, for long hours?

A very unorganized circus flits through my mind. Maybe the Keystone Cops.

So why do we, as artists, think we shouldn't have to practice our basic skills? Regularly?

Let's face it...drawing is the foundation of most art. Values, shadows, form shapes, proportions and use of line are some of the very things that trip us up if we don't practice them.

Does the mere mention of these things make you cringe and want to flip to the next blog? I understand. It doesn't sound like much fun. But when I realized that my lack of knowledge and how to create values, shadows and use line was what stood between me and enjoying the creation of my art, I decide to learn.

And it wasn't hard. It just took being willing to try and acknowledging that I was gonna look bad some of the time. I had to keep putting marks on the paper. It took willing to do a really lousy job. Again and again until I finally got to something I liked. Did that mean it was perfect? Nope! Far from it. It just meant I could live with it.

Working in a junk journal** took all the pressure off from me. Since the paper was lousy, I wasn't expecting a masterpiece before I ever put pen to paper. Using pen made me look more closely at what I was drawing because I only had one shot at getting it down accurately.

I'm often asked "how do I learn?" or "where should I start?" and here is my very best advice:

Grab a junk journal and a pen. Doesn't matter what kind of pen or what color. Sit down anywhere and begin to draw what is in front of you. Doesn't matter what it is. Draw. Draw badly. Draw for 15 minutes. It is your choice whether you stop for the day or if you go for another 15 minutes. Come back the next day and do it again. And again. And again. Once you start getting the hang of your chosen scene, move to a new one.
Too intimidating?
Start with a cup, a box, a glass, a vase or some other simple structure. Draw it for 15 minutes every day. Change your perspective by looking up to the item, down into the item and then turn it on its side or at an angle. Once you've mastered that item, add another. Play with lighting to give you shadows. Draw. Every day. Draw, draw, draw.

These drawings are not for creating finished art though there may be some good candidates. They're to help you learn to see, to help you develop eye/hand coordination and to help you demystify drawing.

We're talking 15 minutes a day here. Surely, you have 15 minutes a day?

Classes help, but you don't have to wait to start with a class. Start where you are, use what you have.

Agree to do it badly so that you can improve. Be honest, but not brutal, when you look at your work. This is right, this is not. Done. Turn the page and do it again.

Look through some drawing books at your local library. Look at children's color books and draw what the artist has drawn. Not to steal their idea, but to learn how they created the image using just lines.

There is no magic pen, pencil, brush nor paper that I know of to make us morph instantly into the artist we all want to be. Just some practice learning the basics.

Now, how often do you draw?

*When we use a pen, we eliminate the possibility of erasing/correcting and so therefore we learn faster because we observe more closely. Without that eraser, we give up our safety nets. Our observation skills improve much faster.
**A junk journal is a cheap journal/sketchbook of blank pages. The paper is cheap junk. It's not good for much more than pen and ink. It may bleed through to the other side. It doesn't matter. It doesn't take color, washes or anything else. That's okay. It's simply a tool for learning. Once you're skills start improving, using the "good stuff" (read that the "expensive stuff") won't be nearly so intimidating.

A couple of weekends ago, hubby and I headed up to Ocala where they have two stores that Tampa does not—a Gander Mountain and a Hobby Lobby! Something for everyone! It turned out to be a nice day away as Ocala is horse country with lots of rolling hills and gorgeous oak trees. We managed to get "lost" once and didn't even bother to turn around because we were enjoying the views so much.

Anyway, while wandering the aisles of Hobby Lobby, I stumbled across a Sharpie® Liquid Pencil. Hmmm, I thought. I gotta give this a whirl. I mean liquid pencil—would it smear like regular pencil? Would this eliminate the problem of broken leads let alone having a sharpener? I could see potential here so I chucked one into my basket.

A few aisles over, I stumbled across the Chatterbox Journaling Genie which is a fancy name for a stencil. A stencil used to draw lines quickly on the journal page so that your text will be straight! These have apparently been around for the last 10 years, but I just found out about them.

I liked the idea of a quick way to get lines on the page without having to get a ruler and measure each line, especially for when I'm traveling. What I wasn't liking was the full page of stencils. So, I did a little surgery.
I even rounded some of the corners so they wouldn't scratch me and I could use the shape of the stencil as a  template to draw boxes on my journal page. The last thing I did was to glue an envelope in the back of my sketchbook so I could stow the templates and take them out as needed.
As for the Sharpie Liquid Pencil? Don't bother! It looks and writes more like a pen than a pencil. It leaves an indention in the paper with even the lightest of touches and it requires an even amount of pressure to get the liquid "lead" to come out.
The stuffed puppy on the right is a baby toy and he barks when you squeeze his tummy. For some reason, he reminds me of my sweet cinnamon girl, Gatlin, that I lost to cancer a few years ago. You can see the stenciled lines in action over on the left with a Copic® gray marker.

The one thing I will say for the liquid pencil was that I was able to erase most of the lead after the watercolor was complete. I tried some more tests with it on other types of paper and different paints, but did not have similar results. Oh well! You don't know if you don't try!!

Two posts back (here), I laid out clear goals for the new sketchbook...keep it LOOSE and leave lots of WHITE SPACE. So what did I do? I promptly blew one of the goals!

Spot Watercolor on Handmade Paper in bound journal Art size - 5.5 x 5 inches

I knew I was in trouble shortly after I started this. The vision of this art in my head was much, much looser with just some detail around his eyes and nose.

I did not take into account the paper. Or all those wonderful little details just begging to be painted with patience and precision!

So. Fail. At least with regard to the goals.

The dog belongs to "superheroine" Lani Harmon, whom I recently met (in person) at the Uplevel Your Purpose retreat. She said that Spot was so exhausted after they came home that all he wanted to do was sleep—he couldn't even be bothered to follow them around the house! Lani is a very talented photographer—check out her fabulous work here!

Full page view of Spot Page size 8 x 8 inches

Two things really surprised me about this....one, this was quite enjoyable to paint. I s..l..o..w..e..d down and consciously chose to get lost in the details. Second, the paper is proving to be a lot of fun to paint on! Who knew!

I've looked all over the book and its packaging for some idea of who made it because I'm gonna want another one now and there is NOT the first clue as to who made it! Drats!

Still, I'm sure I'll find it or something similar when I go looking.

Now, what "mistakes" or "epic failures" have you been creating?!!

Chris and Booger No Name Fountain Pen with Unknown Black Ink In Junk Journal

A comment from Monday's post by Cris from Cris, Artist In Oregon fame started me thinking about why we draw, why we draw in a journal...and why it can be so difficult. She wrote the following in response to my question at the end of the post, do you draw regularly:

No, I dont draw regularly Laure. I was in the garden this weekend trying to draw something and what a mess. I NEED to do this regularly. But I find excuses not to. Groan. Number one excuse is WHAT to draw and TWO how to put it on the paper. Should I do it in an order etc. I am so looking forward to my new Northlight Artist journal workshop book coming that deals with these things

Pondering what Cris had written, I realized that many artists (and on occasion, myself) get hung up on what to draw, should it be in order, should it be pencil, pen and ink, watercolor, colored pencil, some combination of mixed media, and then we wonder if it should be a vertical format, maybe square, or horizontal maybe! Oh, wait! We remember we just got that new journal with the handmade paper and we can use our Cray Pas crayons in it! No, wait, the new walnut ink, or maybe we ought to just stick with something simple like pencil......

Sound familiar?!

And so, we draw nothing. Held captive by the overwhelm of choices and possibilities. My response to Cris was simple:

Cris, this is going to sound odd, but it really doesn't matter what you draw if you're drawing for practice. It's more important that you simply draw!

Like most things, it helps to have a clear idea of why we're undertaking a task in the first place.

Are we drawing to improve a certain skill set? How to draw with a certain media type? Or how to draw roses? Or watercolor or pen and ink? Or just plain, old practice?

For me, drawing is the foundation element of all art. To be good at drawing only increases my ability to put something on the page I'm going to really like. I want to be able to draw anything, anywhere, any time. Am I there yet? Heavens, no! But the fun is in the trying and you can bet I'll keep trying!

The sketch above is poor with regard to the perspective, shading and so on. That's okay. It records a moment in our lives of our 20 year-old cat curled up on Chris' pillow. She does this every night. I sketched this in under 5 minutes because Chris was waiting for me to get in the bed and turn the lights out!

I couldn't have done this if I wasn't willing to fail. I couldn't have done this if I hadn't been practicing quick sketching in a hurry. Since Booger's health has begun to fail, I can't wait until I'm good enough. I have to do it now or the chance will be gone forever.

Failing is as much a part of learning as success and what I've learned is that it's okay to fail. In fact, fail gloriously! It means we're learning something! How else can we learn if we don't fail?! Success is not nearly the teacher that failure is.

Cris wrote back, saying:

Thank you, Laure...What you said in your comment to me seemed to free me. I have been drawing something every day. They aren't the greatest drawings and it's in an old torn sketch book, but I am drawing. It feels good to just do something that means nothing but practice.

Sometimes, it really is just that simple. It's practice. It's making a mark on the page. It doesn't matter how,  the paper, the book, the order....it's about the practice.

So I ask, what's holding you back from practicing your drawing skills?