A Fresh Set Of Challenges

You can accelerate your development by

giving yourself a fresh set of challenges,

or the same set viewed from a different angle,

every day. Explore a different path.

If it's a dead end, explore another."

~ Paul Foxton

July 1- 9 2019 Sketches on Yupo using alcohol ink

 I went back into some of these sketches and added to them and changed a  few things.

You can see the sketches individually on our Drawing Everyday facebook group.

"I do my best work and have the most fun when I'm not sure exactly where I'm heading." ~ J. Cohen • #DoItOnYupo The process of discovery IS exhilarating! Come let me share my discoveries with you. To help celebrate the grand opening of a new #blickartmaterials store at 401 Park Drive in Boston, MA, ⁣I will be giving a free demonstration using #alcoholink on #YupoPaper from 11-1 on July 21st, sponsored by our friends at Legion Paper! I would LOVE to meet you there! 💖

Stay Inspired and Productive My Friends
Join me for a summer of sketching everyday! 
 

X ♥  O

The Summer of S A N D Y - 2 0 1 3

"Perseverance is not a long race;

it is many short races one after another."

~ Walter Elliott

Dancing Daisies SOLD • "Just picked it up, it is even more lovely than it looked online!  Thank you so much!" ~ Annette

Dancing Daisies

SOLD •

"Just picked it up, it is even more lovely than it looked online!  Thank you so much!" ~ Annette

The symbolism of the daisy is

friendship, loyalty, love, beauty

and perseverance.

It's The Summer of Sandy and I'll need the perseverance of the daisy. The next three months will be spent rebuilding websites, revamping my business plan and of course, painting.

Perhaps I'll be back at DAILY DRAWING and blogging about it next summer! Check back here and on my art blog from time time over the summer. Because you never know ... because I never know ...  where the art spirit will lead me next! 

I now proclaim this the Summer of Sandy!

Have a great season and proclaim your summer now!

Check out my blog:

Sandy Sandy Art

for Year Round News and Art! 

2012 Chatsworth Cranberry Festival

The 2012 Cranberry Festival Booklet Cover

and three inside pages are done!! YAY!!!

I decided to stay with the flat tire painting this year,

but finished the other one with the couple too.

(That'll be backup for next year.)

Here's a sneak peek . . . 

Each year I add something fun to the book.

Designing a crossword puzzle was a new one for me!

Do you ever get started on something and have second

thoughts, wondering where you get these bright ideas?

It was a little scary at first. I never do crosswords myself.

Keeping it simple, the challenge was met

and it actually ended up being fun!

This new JD image is now available here on iStock.

Got any Jersey Devil stories?

I'd love to come up with a special theme for next year!

It'll be the 30th Annual festival.

(Please Send me your ideas.)

☺

Here's my new ad for this year's book, using

one of my best selling images on iStockphoto.

What do you think?

It just seemed natural to share these pages here.

Most of these were posted this summer as drawings.

Sometimes it's nice to see how images evolve

and a variety of ways they might be used.

X ♥ O

As always, your comments are most appreciated!

P.S. Be sure to go to my other blog and see how

I sweetened the pot of the Fall Giveway!

Kitten Helpers, Jersey Devil, Halloween and Elephant Sketches

Wordless Wednesday . . .

Howdy Hoo from Cat Mom Do

Cheshire Kitten
 #1 - 5.5 x 7.5", watercolor on 140 lb. Arches, matted to 8 x 10"

Anybody who doesn't care for cats (if that is possible) can probably skip reading the next few posts. I'm currently catatonic over my kittens. I can't seem to be interested in anything else. So you can expect LOTS more drawings and paintings of little kitties here this summer. You have to do what you love, right?

This is Opie. OMG, he is precious and so photogenic!

"God made the cat in order that man might have the pleasure

of caressing the lion."  ~ Fernand Mery 

Ginger Kitten
#2 - 5.5 x 7.5", watercolor on Yupo paper, matted to 8 x 10"

Most cats want to turn away when the flash goes off, but not this little fur ball! Wow, did I luck out or what, with this adorable new model in the house!

"If we treated everyone we meet

with the same affection we bestow upon our favorite cat,

they, too, would purr."  ~ Martin Buxbaum 

This was done in my sketchbook on Sunday.

I just love this pose. Can you tell?

I've got big news happening here

with the kittens this weekend!

I'll be

"letting the cat out of the bag"

 with new kitty photos and more art on

my other blog.

As always, I love hearing from you!

Hugs and Purrs,

P.S. Which  do you like the best, so far, #1 or #2?

The Owl and The Pussycats

6-25-12 - Today's watercolor painting of a Northern Spotted Owl on Yupo paper was done from yesterday's contour drawing. It was inspired by one of the many environmental organizations' "calls to action" that I get in my inbox everyday.

6-24-12 - I found this photo on Wikipedia that is copyright free and in the public domain. I added some words and made this poster with the image. Please follow this link and take action, yourself!

6-23-12 - I've been following a wonderful blog called the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee. They are currently doing their 2012 FUNdraiser! Laurie and her cat, Charlene Butterbean, have fostered over 150 kittens and each and every one is more adorable than the next! They do such a great job! Your contribution is tax deductible, so go and see all the wonderful things they will do with your donation!

6-21-12 - Another contour drawing of an adorable kitten!

The photos, videos and commentary at The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee is EXTREMELY entertaining! I now look forward to my almost daily cybercat cuteness fix. It's a must see and a "follow" for all cat lovers!

6-22-12 - Thursday's baby came to life on Friday with the sketch redrawn in black Prismacolor pencil and then rendered in watercolor on Yupo paper. What fun! This piece was done in under twenty minutes! And don't forget, June is adopt a shelter cat month!

Open your heart to art and kindness!

Greetings from Hummingbird Heaven!

One of Many Happy Hummingbirds

5.5 x 7.5" - transparent watercolor on yupo paper, matted to 8 x 10"

This morning I redrew yesterday's sketch

on synthetic, nonabsorbent Yupo paper with a black pencil

and did this 20 minute challenge painting in watercolor.

I love doing these quick yupo paintings! There's no time to get tight!

Here is yesterday's pencil sketch.

Happy Summer Solstice!

FYI - I've just posted the first two hydrangea paintings from my personal contour drawing challenge on my web log.

Bears and Crows in Pencil and Watercolor

Spirit Bear

This morning, I decided to do another painting on Yupo paper. I set my alarm for twenty minutes, thinking I might submit it to the Twenty Minute Challenge.  I redrew yesterday's sketch on Yupo paper with a black Prismacolor pencil and then painted quickly and boldly with transparent watercolor.  I have been thinking about the mystical Spirit Bears up in British Columbia ever since I saw this National Geographic video.

I have been practicing contour drawings which made me realize that I don't draw the interior of my subjects enough. Contour drawing should be about exploring and expressing the shapes inside of the outlines. This was done from the bear photo I posted.

This bear figurine has a lot of shape and texture which I really got into and overstated. In drawing, I try to practice, improve, learn, grow, push my boundaries and not to be too concerned about the end result.

Two minute gesture drawings are a great drill and help you to see the big picture without getting bogged down in the itty-bitty details. This is a plastic toy bear that I have sketched many times. I kept turning it a quarter turn after each 120 seconds. See more sketches and a photo of this bear.

These two minute gesture sketches of a crow are done with a 3B pencil. When each two minutes is up, the crow (a Halloween decoration) is turned 1/4 turn, the same way as the bear above. I strongly recommend this exercise! Remember everything is sketchable.

I'm not the only one sketching bears these days! YAY!! Thanks Susan!

Susan Bronsak posted these adorable critters on her blog here and here.

I hope you are getting inspired and your summer is off to a great start!

Thanks for reading and as always, I'd love to hear from you!