In this happy-mail, I start off talking about art “out and about,” and end with a couple of summer lifestyle mentions. In a way, this is how my conversation with a friend on our walks goes. We touch on a myriad of topics and by the end of our walk, still there are more!
Lately, I’ve been making it a practice to take a small watercolor book and a zipper pouch with a few art supplies: mechanical pencil, a Pilot G-2 pen, a few Derwent Inktense pencils, a water brush, a small pencil sharpener, a binder clip, a tiny spray bottle of water and a folded paper towel. My sketchbook is a 5.5” x 8.5” watercolor book from U.S. Art Supply.
This was a quick sketch on the beach. People have this habit of moving! So, a sketch has to be rapidly rendered. I block in the overall shape with my 0.5mm pencil first then refine it with some detail. I add a bit of watercolor last.
I rode my bike after dinner one evening to a nearby creek. There was a lady with a flock of Muscovy ducks trailing behind her (and her bag of bread!). I said, “Good Evening,” but she only glanced at me. A little while later I saw her in the adjacent park walking with her husband. No bag of bread—just her clutch purse under her arm. I did not have my sketchbook so I snapped a picture and came home to sketch from that. It was a bit difficult to sketch from the photo because I was quite a distance from her when I took it.
In these two drawings, I attempted to get a sense of the subject - mostly in the shape and movement and not so much their surroundings. My goal is to accurately capture their physicality. I want to be quicker and more skilled at this and the only way to do it is to do it. This reminds me of the time I asked my husband (who is a very fast runner) how to run faster. At the time I had been running a couple of years and a ten minute mile was my fastest pace! Anyway, in response to my question of how to run faster, he answered, “Run faster.”
Thank ya, Baby! I’m taking the spirit of that advice with me as I sketch out and about this summer.
Oh hey! Guess what? School’s out for summer!
My last week ended with a walk by the marina, a beach day on the island and a long bike ride to a nature center.
Speaking of nature, we’ve been observing a pair of Red Bellied Woodpeckers who made their home in our backyard Pine tree. Here’s the male peeking out of their “house.”
I’ve been thinking about doing little drawings of the pair going about their housekeeping business. Of course, I’m going to anthropomorphize them! They’ve been such fun to watch. He worked on drilling a hole and after a little while he’d call her over from her hiding place in our Live Oak. She’d inspect and squawk at him to keep working on it then off she’d fly! He’d drill more and call her back, until after several inspections she was satisfied at last.
I’ve been using colored pencils (Prismacolor) more in my sketchbooks. The pencil adds an interesting texture here in the sky area but I should have used watercolor. I do, however, like the texture it added to the tree. This is an advantage of working in a sketchbook; you can try out things and discover your preferences.
Summer Lifestyle
Iced Tea
Nothing says summer to me like iced tea! (Honestly, I drink it all year long.) I prefer it unsweetened and lately I’ve been enjoying all manner of green teas and herbal teas. On that note, I thought I’d share a new favorite. Many, many years ago, Tetley made two flavors of tea that I absolutely couldn’t get enough of: Peach and Mango. Since I haven’t been able to find them in years, I’m always searching for peach tea bags. Recently I tried Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion. This one will be on my summer tea rotation! I use two tea bags for a quart sized Mason jar of hot water. I use the hot water setting on my coffee maker. Brew and cool. Add lots of ice to your favorite tea glass and enjoy! My favorite spot to enjoy iced tea is on our front porch watching the rabbits play.
My Summer Face
Each season, I like to assess my make-up routine. Now that we have reached into the 90’s and it’s starting to have that familiar we live in a sauna feel, I am going to lighten up my make-up. After sunscreen and moisturizer, my priorities are:
brows - Thank you, mid-life sparseness even though I never thought my natural bushy brows would ever thin. Ever. But here we are.
lashes - my deserted island pick would be mascara…and a machete and a pack of matches…and ice, of course. And a YouTube video on how to use a machete.
lips - lip balm & lip gloss
In addition, a tinted CC cream, a cream to powder eyeshadow (here’s what I use) and a cream blush (also what I use).
If you’re like me, you’ve got an order to doing your face. I’ve timed myself and if I’m in a real hurry, I do my 5 minute face - also a good choice for summer because with the time limit, it will be a minimal look anyway. This will necessitate not getting overly preoccupied with my brows! I have several products I’ve tried and have finally found a fairly quick and satisfactory one by Anastasia.
Less Screen - More Green
I took a break from one of the social media platforms a couple of months ago. And the other one is just for posting art and creative pursuits. I was on a break from that one for nearly a year but since I’m applying for art related jobs again, I’m asked for a site to see my artwork. Sigh…this means until I have my website up, I’m back on IG for that. Anyway, in general summer is an excellent opportunity to step away from screen time and enjoy more green time! I love being out in nature and with summer break officially here, that’s mostly where you’ll find me. All that being said, I am in the middle of the Nature Journaling certification I mentioned last month so I still need to be online for the course requirements. Happily, part of that also entails actual nature journaling so that takes me out of doors for the more green.
I plan to do more porch sitting and backyard bird watching. And of course, lots of art making at home and out & about.
What are your summer plans?
Until the next, happy-mail, friends, stay cool!
Creatively Yours,
Melanie