Again With The Manresa Castle

Before long I'll be able to have a show of my own, entirely hung with Manresa studies.  Let's hope not. It's just so convenient when Jim is getting his allergy shots.  This time of year, I don't even have to leave the car, just re-park a little after Jim goes into the clinic, so I can have a better view.  Lord knows you don't want me to be sketching and posting the tailgate of the '67 Chevy pickup truck parked in front of our Prius.  Or maybe you do!  If I don't start posting something else, you all may just quit holding your breath for yet another Manresa Castle sketch.  But I do love making those tower contours, as well as the mysterious dark windows.  And the shadows of the stark, bare tree against the very old brick wall.  Must admit, though, I gotta get a new gig.  Maybe one day I'll check into one of the haunted rooms, and sketch!

Poppy Pods and Pebbles

I haven't posted for awhile, much shifting going on in my mind and life.  My studio is becoming more complete, along with my new laptop set up along with scanner and printer and almost all of my files (the hardcopy type), business and personal.  It's getting rather cozy and inviting in here, even though I haven't set up my tunes, yet!  

Trying out a new sketchbook currently that I ordered two of, a sweet, toned paper, hardbound book by Strathmore.  One in tan and one in grey.  I've spent some hefty money (well, not hefty, but still more than I'd like) on some new supplies, one of which is a good quality Kolinsky Sable watercolor brush I've wanted for a couple years.  It hasn't come yet, in fact that one is out of stock from Wet Paint and they've offered another, and maybe more superior one at a great sale price, too.  So Monday we will know for sure what's up with that, and it will be on it's way to me.  My inner child is actually Santa. She's so good to me in exchange for allowing her to play in my studio!

This is the first sketch in my tan sketchbook, done with Conte crayons, Faber Castel Pitt Pens, and a little Inktense watercolor pencil.  Though the Conte crayons are harder than most pastels, I think, they are still a bit messy, so I sprayed the sketch with La Tour Sennelier Fixatif before detailing with the pens and pencils.  

Poppy pods salvaged from our garden, a peirced beach stone and pebbles who came home with me for a better life.

Halloween Bash In Ashland

A fellow klassmate in Sketchbook Skool lives in Ashland, Oregon, and apparently most of the town turns out in costume (some real humdingers, too) to hit the streets and party.  This online friend and her husband posted photos of themselves enjoying festivities, while in costume.  I got inspired.  Quick sketch with a Pentel Brush Pen, and watercolor.

Stalking Jim

Poor Jim.  His back has been in pain for days, threw it out a while back. But don't worry, it's steadily improving.  But Elsbeth's klass assignment this week is to follow someone around for a few hours and sketch them in action.  Poor Jim.

Book Cover Initial Mock Up

Our current Sketchbook Skool teacher (for this week) is Jean-Christophe Defline in Paris, who has inspired me with his wonderful adventure comic covers of family vacations, based on his long-time love of Tin-Tin comics (I think his are even better).  His name for them is Flin-flin.  Inadvertently he has given us an exercise for this week that was timely for me, as my novel was put on hold for months to enjoy participating in SBS klasses.  I needed a kick in the pants to inspire me again on my writing project, and this assignment fit the bill.  He has us doing mock-ups of book covers in whatever way we like, which produced some amazing and diverse results amongst the students.  I realized that creating a mock up for my novel's cover would be sort of therapeutic, and help me to feel that it could be real, and actually be published at some point!  This is my initial effort, with much help from my wonderful husband on the printing part.  This was simple, old-fashioned cut and paste.  For a peek at parts of chapters, please check out last year's postings in October and November: http://www.elsbethmcleod.blogspot.com/2013/10/and-now-for-something-completely.html

Our Moclips Adventure

Last week Jim and I had a pleasant little getaway to Moclips, Washington. I had not been there since 1986, when Neil and I had spent a few days at the Ocean Crest Resort for our honeymoon.  Nothing had changed. Much. A new and fancier restaurant, but it did seem the suite we stayed in hadn’t been upgraded since I was there, then.  The bed was new, though, and so comfortable!  It truly made up for the choking episode the first night, when the free-standing, ancient fireplace billowed and filled the rooms with swirling smoke, no matter what we did with the damper.  How hard can a Duraflame log be to light?

The scene had gotten even better through the years...even more heart-stoppingly gorgeous, with the added patina of storm clouds and the thrashing drama of crashing breakers, the foam torn and flung by gusts of wind.  Early morning woke us with the building shaking from thunder, the lightening illuminating our bedroom constantly.  Rain hit the roof deafeningly, seemingly forever. Even so, the late morning brought sunlight and refreshed the still-turbulent waves with a rich blue.  As the unusual tide retreated back down the beach, the wet sand gave the appearance of our walking on the sky beneath our feet, seabirds flocking by us, soaring with their own reflections.

This is the drawing I dashed into my sketchbook in tiny installments through the days before we headed home again in the rain.  Almost entirely done with Derwent Inktense water-soluble color pencil wash, layered on a watercolor Moleskine book, landscape page format.  With a little Staedtler Pigment liner pen for the birds, and the foam was done partly with the Uniball Signo White Gel pen.

Haunted Girl's Room

Our current teacher for our online klassroom is very inspiring!  Mattias Adolfsson is an amazing illustrator and one of this week's assignments is to draw our memory of our first day at school as a child.  Well, my mind drew a blank for that day, though I remember the emotional memory quite well.  Instead, I drew the memory of a situation in second grade, I think, when I was just sure the girl's restroom in our elementary school was haunted.  The idea spread like wildfire, and little girls being what they are, before long we were unable to visit the room alone.  When we did (in groups), there was much screaming and racing back to the classroom.  Soon other classes had the "haunted restroom" bug going on.  It took the principal himself to step in and put an end to such nonsense.