ffyrebird

EDinM 5. Draw a fir tree

I can't resist a pun...

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Zombie

Some days you feel like a zombie!!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Chase

I saw this fire hydrant wearing a 'hat' at the car dealership and it just screamed cartoon.

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Avastin injection

Today was the third shot out of four in the initial bid to dry up a bleeding blood vessel on my retina.  It looks like it is working and the bleed is drying up along with the blood vessel shrinking.  I don't think it will leave much of a scar in my vision,there is just a tiny blurry bit if I shut my right eye.  With both eyes open it is in the nice area of overlap and my brain picks thge clearer image from my right eye to use.  Thank goodness  for the new antiVEGF injections. They sound nasty and painful to get in your eyeball, but before this about 30 percent of the people with PXE lost their vision through a process similiar  to wet macular degeneration.  With the injections,  there is the hope of slowing down or stopping the loss of eyesight.

 

EDinM2012 Day2

One of these days I'm going to wise up and refuse to make a New Year's resolution...

Experimenting in a New Journal

I wanted to get a feel for my new journal from Useful Books on Etsy, so I did a little experimenting on the last page.  I love the way the journal is constructed, but I've never used the Magnani Velata paper that it is made of and I'll need to get used to it.  I've been using sized Fabriano Venezia books or Aquabee's for so long going back to unsized paper is odd.  It stood up well to watercolor without buckling and there was just the faintest ghosting on the reverse with the really heavy black marker.  Even though it felt like I was really roughing up the paper when I erased, it didn't seem to cause any problem when I went back in with watercolor in those spots. The mad scientist rates this experiment a success!!!

 

I had fun printing a drawing I'd made of our travel  trailer being pulled by our 'Shark' of a truck and putting it into the cutout in the journal's cover...

ID4 for July 4th

Toady. we stayed inside to avoid all the smoke from the neighbor's fireworks since it aggravates half the family's asthma.  Usually we go park a long ways off from the city park and watch the display, but they did it Friday while we were busy so we missed it.  To celebrate the Fourth we broke out a DVD of ID4, our traditional movie for the holiday.

Venting

I was soooooo angry with R2's baseball coach tonight!!  Thankfully, I had my sketchbook and gear in my bag and vented with a little cathartic cartoon violence...  Grrrr!!!!

AJF Finale

I had sooo much fun in theis class, Artful Journaling Foundations by Laure Ferlita!! It was amazing!!

ffyrebird is Three!!

Yippee!! The blog is three years old today! Cyber cake and cookies for everyone!!

I tried to knock out a quick ink drawing so I could post and go to bed but when you draw at warp speed in ink you get warped drawings............

 

The Great White and Wrought Iron Leaf

A great white and a wrought iron leaf, not much in common except that they were my drawings today.  After reading through Irene Brady's books and blog this week, I was encouraged by the fact that she finishes some parts of her travel journals after the trip.  We had been too busy on our Rocky Mountain Park trip hiking and too exhausted in the evening for me to sketch in my travel journal while we were there.  So, my trip journal has been sitting around unfinished waiting for me to add the drawings I had wanted to put into it.  Well, I guess it is never to late and I did promise R2 to do a drawing of a shark pulling our travel trailer.  Our F-250 Super Duty Crew Cab, besides being a mouthful to say, is huge and a tad intimidating, plus ours is white so the kiddos nicknamed it The Great White Shark.  Like I said, R2 requested a cartoon of The Great White pulling our trailer so it made the perfect subject to pick up drawing in the trip journal with. (Sorry Alex for another shark drawing! I just read your shark comment when I got on to post this. Hope you find this shark a bit friendlier. ;) )

The wrought iron leaf is from a table we have in our sun room.  I was looking for something to do a direct ink drawing with for today and the table whispered that it wanted its story told...  It was the table DH's grandparents set up house with and we were given it when we got married.  Once upon a time I believe it was black wrought iron with a glaring yellow top, but it has been redone several times over the years.  When we got it, DH's dad had painted the iron cream and put on a soft peachish marble top to match our kitchen and we refinished the chairs in upholstery fabric that was mainly peach with slubs of sea foam and cream.  That was over 20 years ago and now it sits in our sun room for the kiddos to work on.  Some things just last forever. 

Blown away by the Blizzard

Well January is finished and so is the journal of daily drawings that I made for the month.  I really like the book I used, The art of watercolor, 180 gsm A5, 5.75" X 8.50".  It took a pretty wet watercolor wash with little to no buckling and the paper was thick enough to prevent show through of dark colors. The only draw back to working in it was being limited to one type of paper and format, although I did like being able to make two page spreads across the gutter.  I think this month I'll just do maybe a drawing or so a week in a journal so I can use other papers for the rest of the time.  I did todays drawing in a new journal, the Venezia by Fabriano 90lbs , 6" X 9".  Unfortunately, it doesn't quite fit onto my scanner.  I've run into this problem before and am thinking of researching a new scanner since mine is ancient anyways.....  Any recs for a larger format scanner?  The good thing about mine is that as a flatbed, it tucks away into the computer keyboard slide out tray of the rolltop desk where I let my laptop and printer rest.  I can pull it out to scan and then tuck it out of the way when i'm finished.  Do they even make flatbeds anymore?  R1's new set up is a big cube shaped all-in-one.

 

Dell Knows Best

I had a fun time on the phone for what felt like hours arguing with the Dell rep.  I just got in R2's new laptop and they had messed up on it.  He ordered a KC Royals Fan special imprint for his laptop-- a KC Royals logo on a royal blue background.  His computer arrived with a lavender/purple background.  When I called Dell they said it was not a Dell error since I had ordered it online without a salesperson helping me.  (I'm still trying to figure out what that has to do with the computer being purple instead of blue.)  Who cares if the paint job is not the same as the one they show online, they say it's my fault not their QC dept.  If I wanted it fixed, I had to pay a 15% restocking fee, the computer is over $1000 -eeek!  This after paying extra for the custom logo to begin with!!!!!  Grrrrr, I'm still frustrated!

 

The Lord is my Shepherd

Today our sermon was on Jesus as The Good Shepherd.  I'm in a fluffy mood, so for my drawing ewe get a chibi sheep.  (I know baaaaad puns!)

 

Diagramming Daze

Judging by the look on R4's face, I think I was talking a bit fast when I explained how to diagram a sentence.  Don't worry, he got it eventually and cranked out his homework, LOL!

 

It's Snowing!

We've had our first snow for the year.  R1 and R2 went out and shoveled the drive to surprise DH when he got home. I guess they hadn't gotten enough of the snow, because after DH got home they grabbed him and R4 and went out to play.  Meanwhile, R3 and I stayed nice and toasty warm inside.

Salt Truck

It had snowedthis morning and more is expected tonight.  Driving was still OK, but the trucks were on the job.

Yoga fun

Yesterday the kiddos were downstairs when I did my yoga tape so I got a little extra 'help'.  R3 kept me talking and giggling during tree so that I got all wobbly, much to her amusement.  Then in crow, R2 came up behing me and gave my tush a litle push and I tipped over, next while breathing in half lotus with my eyes closed R4 snuck up nose-to-nose with me to surprise me when I opened my eyes.  We all had a laugh during the time when you are supposed to be saying Om.  I sub in what we jokingly call the 'pirate' mantra, rrrrrr, to fit my faith and sense of humor.  R4 started pirating then the rest joined in and it quickly degenerated from there.  It sounds like they were a distraction, but it was actually quite fun and we had a lot of laughs.

January 2, 2011

Day two of exercising and sketching.  R4 took a break from homework and watched me draw my little chibi alter-ego.  It's always fun to draw with the kiddos.  They help me to problem solve and I think they get a good idea of the process of drawing.  One of the kiddos asked if every drawing in this book will be a chibi in a yoga pose.  I dunno but, for today it's Warrior with braid loops.......

 

January 01, 2011 SketchJournal

A New year, a new beginning.  It's been way, way too long since I've exercised.  Once upon a time I was really into it, but then one overextension in a lunge and my knee went Zing!!!  After a long recovery, everytime I tried to get back into the habit I would either over do it and get my knee to yell at me or get horribly sick.  This year I am forcing myself to go slooooow.  Today was a yoga tape that once upon a time was so easy I almost got rid of it.  I'm glad I kept it because it was perfect for today not so easy any more but not too hard either.  I can't believe I've lost so much flexibility.  I used to be hyper-mobile and could literally flop into Chinese splits, no problem.  Gee, it is so easy to lose things bit by bit and never realize how much you prize them until they are gone.

Monkey business

I can't stand the paper in my Reflexions Journal so I don't feel bad just playing around in it.  It is only fit for dry media so most of my ballpark doodles are in it.  I also was toying with a little manga-type monkey character.  I filled up tons of pages in that journal working on him.  It was fun getting the kidddos input in creating him.

Working on faces, one of a zillion pages...

A few of our prototype monkeys.....

R4 was sitting doing his homework with his book resting on his feet, he looked like a little monkey!!

This is the version of the monkey that I've finally settled on. (Ithink)

2010 EDinM #5, 6 & 7

My EDinM entries for the fifth, sixth and seventh are doing double duty.  They are my contribution to an art journal round robin that I am playing in. Planning and drawing for the round robin has been keeping me pretty busy, so I'm going to let them stand for my EDinM entries for the days I completed them on. 

The theme of the round robin is Journey to the Imagination.  Any time I start a drawing project my children ask if I am going to be drawing chibis.  No matter what I draw, they like the manga the best, especially my chibis.  So for the first spread I did my little chibi alter ego reading the book, The Scarlet Pimpernel and imagining herself as the heroine, Marguerite.  The text is from the Gutenberg Project. I played with it in Photoshop then transferred it onto an inked spread in the book using Sheer Heaven paper.  I added in the colored chibis then finished off with some Twinkling H20s paints.  I wish the scan had caught how the Twinkling paint shimmers and shifts colors....

 

On the sixth I worked on a spread that was inspired by a poem that I love, The Stolen Child, by William Butler Yeats.  I borrowed a line from the poem and changed it a bit to issue an invitation to an imaginary realm.

For the last entry, I drew a firebird since I'm fond of firebirds (obviously XD). and because flights of fancy are imagination in overdrive.  I did this on crumpled masa and pasted it between the other two spreads.

Lent March 31

 Daniel 6:16-23

   ¹⁶ So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!"    ¹⁷ A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel's situation might not be changed. ¹⁸ Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.    ¹⁹ At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. ²⁰ When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?"    ²¹ Daniel answered, "O king, live forever! ²² My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king."    ²³ The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Lent March 25

 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.               Ephesians 6:10-18

Lent March 16

David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Lent Feb 28

I had fun with this one, my youngest son helped pick out each color....

Lent Feb 25

Clyde the camel has a dilemma.........

Lent First Sunday Feb. 21

I can't help it, I looove Shaun the Sheep.  He's such a baaaad boy!

End of baseball season

The kiddos' baseball and softball games are finished and DH had us making his usual end of season treat for his team.  Each year DH coaches a team, he makes a set of baseball cards for his guys with their photos and stats of all the team members.  R1 makes up the design on his computer and we take the templates to the copy shop and make up the baseball cards.  This year the team was called the Bombers.  When it came time to make the logo for the cards, R2, who was part of the team said, "Mom can draw up a baseball bomber for us!"  Kids-- gotta love 'em...

 R2 and I brainstormed for awhile and came up with this idea

I simplified it and added watercolor to get this

We didn't think that would show up well on the grey background of the card so R1 took the scan of my original drawing and colored it with Photoshop

Here is how the cards turned out, excuse my rotten scans and cropping..

EDinM 12

 Had to toss in a little manga doodle.  I need to tweek my scanner setting for pencil drawings, they don't show up well on screen........

Belated Blog Birthday

I was having so much fun doing Thing-A-Day in February that Iforgot my blog's first birthday on Feb. 19th!  Actually, I'm horrible with birthdays or any date.  Thankfully, my family humors me and loves me anyway.  Maybe that's because I bribe them with CAKE!  Enjoy some cake and celebrate my blog's birthday a bit late with me!!

 

 

TAD19

  I was bored waiting on the kiddos to finish at the library so I started this manga and finished it at home.  I knew I couldn't do TAD without throwing in at least one manga drawing!

Ironing leaves

After the pumpkin patch, we went to one of our favorite parks to gather leaves.  That was a lot of fun for the younger two, while the older pair got bored and a bit rowdy with Dad.  After we got the leaves home came the drudge work of ironing them between wax paper to help preserve them.  Master procrastinator that I am, I tried to put it off as long as posssible.  Finally fears of all the leaves being dry and crunchy forced me to the ironing board late one night.   A few scorched fingers and a roll of wax paper later and my house is full of leaves smushed between sheets of wax paper.  Now I have to go unearth the construction paper for the kiddos so they can start their art projects and I can quit waltzing around leaf piles.

A visit to the Podiatrist

I had to take my oldest son to the podiatrist a few days ago.  He had an ingrown toenail that just refused to heal.  While we were waiting to be called I started drawing to keep from being bored to death.  A few days later, here is the finished sketch:

My son ended up having surgery to fix the nail, poor guy.  He is such a stoic young man that he didn't even flinch or say a word during the surgery despite the anasthetic not having fully kicked in. (Yes, I did have a talk with him about communication and patient resposibility after I found that one out.)

Omm... Occasional manga mania

OK, I got hooked on drawing manga figures during the Every Day in May challenge.  My twisted version was May Manga Mania, go figure.  However, it seems the mania didn't end in May.  I hate waiting in restaurants so I doodle.  Oddly,  most of the doodles end up being manga-ish.  It seems they are very comforting fun little characters to doodle and play with to pass the time.  Soooo, I thought I'd add a new category to my blog to stash these little folks away in.  Here's one from a visit to the California Pizza Kitchen a while back..........

Travel journal snippets

I can't believe it, I made a travel journal for our week long trip to Florida and it ended up filling a Handbook completely!!  Of course, I pasted in tons and tons of clippings from brochures, maps, tickets, etc. collected during the trip.  I also added a few pages from my sketchbook.  To make room for them I took out the center page of each of the eight signatures in the book.  Here is a hodgepodge of pages that gives an idea of where we went and how I journal...............