A Few More Quick Sketches

Just a few quick sketches I've done recently.  I've not had time to do more than a few sketches.  But I want to keep practicing a bit. 

This little wren is a quick study to try to keep loose.

To be honest, I don't remember what typed of bird this was gonna be.  If I had to guess, I'd say a robin.  But agian, just a quick sketch and trying to stay loose.

First attempt at a butterfly I was thinking of doing for an art challenge.  The butterfly is  too yellow and the flowers are too solid red.  It's all good, like I said , its just a quick sketch.

Enjoy them.

New Geek, Tech Clock (for sale on Etsy)

Here it is, the newest clock from Dabfly Arts.  I seem to be putting them out at the rate of one a month.  The interesting feature on this particular clock is that you can rotate the 6 computer hard drive seek arms.

If you've lost it, here is the link to my Etsy store.  Sorry, the clock is the only thing I have up right now.

Weekend Painting with a 5 Year Old

Painting with my daughter this weekend.  For Christmas, I had gotten her some glittery watercolors.  She loves them.  I've never used them until this weekend.  The actually are watercolors, and as they dry, the glitter in them starts to shine.  We spent some time painting flowers for Mom on Saturday morning.  Olivia wasn't sure she could paint the flowers, so I quickly painted some for her.  

These are the roses I painted for myself.  Between hers and mind, I probably spent all of 3 minutes painting these, but they do still look cute.

I also painted part of King Tuts mask.   Painting with Olivia usually only lasts about 1/2 hour, and mostly I spend all my time running and getting her fresh water, new brushes, extra towels, etc...  

As always her paintings are better than mine, but we always have a great time.  Enjoy.

Library Flowers

Thanks to my friend Jessie, the library on campus was hosting a stress break/painting break for faculty, staff and students today.  He organized a get together in the center of the library atrium and provided live plants, reference books, watercolors, paper and brushes for anyone who wanted to take a break from their normal day.

I used my own materials,  and had a great time forgetting for an hour that I was supposed to be at work.  What I give you is a small representation of the flowers that were in front of me.  I've no idea what kind of flowers they are.

I didn't draw the flowers or the vase before I jumped in and started painting.  With simple things like this, where I don't have to be exact to paint a flower, I like to do it all freehand.  I't not like painting a building or a boat or something where if I get an edge crooked, the whole painting looks off.  I guess I cold have screwed up the vase, but seem to have done ok with that.    Looking at it now, I wish i had given a little more time to defining the leaves, especially where they all come together, but all in all, not too bad.

Jessie is hosting another get together next Wednesday, so, barring any tragic events, I'm gonna be back there next week.  In fact with spring and summer just around the corner, I'm gonna be able to get out and paint more and more.  Hopefully, I'll keep with it and have plenty of paintings to post.  Thanks for the views.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Painting Metal Flowers

I just had to get outside to paint today.  I made up my mind early, collected my materials, and when lunchtime rolled around, it was out the door.   We have a lovely little arboretum on campus, and though it is a bit of a walk, I wanted to get up there to paint.

As it turns out, I might have been just a bit  early to get there.  Though it is near 80 degrees today, the flowers don't quite think spring is here.  Most of the plants are either still dormant or are yet to bloom.  So, I had my choice of colors to paint: brown, green, grey, or some combination of the 3.  Well, here is my lunchtime story.

A 13 minute walk up the hill to the arboretum.  6 minute walkthrough to find that there is no color yet.  20 minutes to draw and paint (thus the simplicity of the paintng).  A 12 minute walk back to the office.  9 minutes to scan the picture in and write up this quick post.  

I settled on this rusting metal sculpture of some flowers.  I've no idea of what kind of flowers they are supposed to be.  They were in the shade under a few California (Coast) Live Oaks.  I sat on a footbridge over a dry creek and painted.  A little vitamin D and a little exercise for the body and soul, and I'm ready to tackle the afternoon.

Valentines for kids

Ok, these are terrible pictures, but I think you get the idea.   Instead of buying valentines cards for my kids, I decided to paint some for them.  Since my son wouldn't like anything overly gushy and warm, I went with the default front end loader.  I mean what little boy doesn't like big construction equipment.








As for my daughter, she really likes Monster High.  The dolls certainly aren't really for me, but since she likes them, she got one.

Yes I know the message on them isn't really heartwarming, but since only my son can read at this point, I thought it was ok.

Random Doodles

So I've got a few random doodles to post.   The first is my kids at the park attempting to climb the swingset.  I love to take paper and pencil to the park.  The kids mostly keep me playing and I don't have time to sketch, but every now and again I can take a minute or two to get a quick sketch in

On Monday morning, my daughter and I took a few minutes to paint.  She's very creative, and we both like to make up stories about out pictures as we paint (something I picked up from watching Bob Ross while I was growing up).  We both decided to paint Morro Rock.  










While I was watching the olympics, and being bored to death with NBC broadcasting seemingly nothing but figure skating, I decided to paint the plant next to the television

I don't really know why these two got on the same page.  My coffee cup at work and an exit sign?   hmmmm.  go figure.