Mouth Planter

EDM Challenge #53  Draw a mouth.  I went for a walk while I was thinking about which mouth to draw for this challenge.  I passed a dentist's office that had a mouth on the sign, but I didn't really feel like drawing that mouth (and all those teeth!).  I thought about whether to draw my own mouth, or my son's mouth, or one of the cat's mouths.  Then I walked into a garden center that I've been meaning to go to for ages and saw this planter.  Well, it was too perfect to pass up -- it had to be the mouth for this challenge.  It's a rather large planter, and very striking, but I'm not sure I'd want it in my garden.  It would be like a huge, bizarre Chia Pet.

I used charcoal -- it seemed appropriate for a concrete subject.  Plus, I really love drawing with charcoal!

Tootsie Roll and Rover

EDM Challenge #52  Draw a dog.  I don't have a dog, but my mom and step-dad have a lovely one named Tootsie Roll.  We had a chocolate lab named Tootsie Roll many years ago, and when they got this Chesapeake Bay retriever/lab mix from a rescue shelter, it was impossible to call her anything else.  So now this Tootsie Roll is the second of her name.  Rover the cat is so called because my step-dad tends to call every cat Rover, so they decided to make it official.  Rover has been kneading Tootsie Roll ever since he was a kitten.  Now he's an enormous cat (not fat, just big) and kind-hearted Tootsie Roll keeps putting up with his pummeling.

I used gouache today, and am happy with some things and unhappy with other things.  I like Rover and the tail end of Tootsie, but I had a tough time with her front end and face.  Still, I'm happy with it overall.  The blue sofa was an afterthought -- I realized that drawing the sofa protector wasn't enough because it looked like they were just floating in mid-air.  I didn't want to do too much, so the sofa is barely there, but at least it gives some context.  Also, their sofa is not blue.

Sherlock

EDM Challenge #51  Draw your TV and favorite show playing.  I've had a very busy time at work recently and haven't been able to draw at all for the last couple of weeks -- I've missed it so much!  This was a really fun challenge to come back to.  I don't know what my favorite show is, but we've been enjoying watching the BBC Sherlock series, so I thought Benedict Cumberbatch might be an interesting person to draw.  I also drew part of my TV, but I was more interested in depicting the character in the show.  The challenge also states that I am to journal about why I like the show.  Well, I don't know much about journaling, but here's what I think. I like the Sherlock Holmes stories, so I tend to like adaptations of them, as long as they're done well.  This modernization of the story works particularly well, in my opinion -- especially the use of technology.  I think the writing is great, the acting is great, the music is very effective.  The only thing I don't like is that I've now watched all of the shows that have been made so far and I want more!

I was also very interested to do this particular challenge because I've been wanting to try my hand at more portraits.  I'd love to get better at likenesses.  I didn't quite nail it with this one, but I think the idea comes across.  If you've seen the show, I hope you recognize the character, at least by the scarf and coat!  I used charcoal because that's the only way I know how to do a portrait right now.

Homecoming

EDM Challenge #50  Draw your home's entryway and journal your thoughts and feelings about "homecoming".  Here's what I wrote on the drawing:  "After walking in the front door, through another door, and up a flight of stairs, this is the first you see of our apartment's front door.  I had never noticed the orange walls before.  Looking now, I can't believe I missed them!

"Friends of ours had a baby today - a little baby boy - and I remember the first time we brought Simon home.  We had left our apartment a couple of days before, and we came home completely new people, with a completely new person.  That is an amazing homecoming.  I'm very excited for our friends as they start their new life at home with their new little person."

I used oil pastels for this.  Not for any particular reason.  It just seemed like it would be fun and I wanted to celebrate 50 days-50 drawings by doing something a little different!  I'm going to relax a little bit now that I've reached 50.  I'll still try to draw something each day, but I might not worry too much about doing one of these challenges before midnight (I still have 40 minutes!).

Three Drawings and I'm Caught Up!

It's been a busy week!  Very long work days have meant no time to draw.  Today, though, I did three quick drawings, and now I'm caught up!  I wanted to do 50 days--50 drawings.  After that, I'll be more relaxed!

EDM #47  Draw a challenge from the past 1-46 that you didn't try before.  Challenge #26 said that I could draw anything I'd like, or a vegetable.  I drew an ocarina then, so this time I drew an eggplant.  This was shortly before I cut it up and roasted it.  Roasted eggplant is lovely!

I used pens today!  I've never done anything quite like that, and I'm not sure it entirely worked.  It was fun, though!  I think I'll check out some tutorials online that address cross-hatching.

EDM Challenge #48  Draw something that represents your new year's goal or resolution.  This photo is awful!  Here's what it is:  a messy bookshelf on the left, a neat bookshelf on the right; boxes and mess on the left, a nice corner to read in on the right.  The words in the middle are: "Having a baby, no child care, and working from home has really not helped us have an organized house.  Simon will be two soon, though, and it's time for us to get it together!"

I used a pencil, and it was so frustrating not being able to make anything dark!  Soft lead from now on.

EDM #49  Draw your refrigerator.  Our kitchen is not made for a refrigerator.  Or counters.  Or running two appliances at once.  Here's what's written on the drawing:  "This refrigerator does not fit in our kitchen.  We can't open the door all the way because of the heater closet.  you also have to squeeze past the dishwasher (bottom left) to get in there.  And it's better than the previous refrigerator!  I am grateful, however, to have working appliances in a nice apartment.  Even when the lights dim every time I boil water for tea.  Magnets: Bagpipes, a piano that plays The Entertainer when pressed, a bunch of tiny Vermeer paintings, Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny!" moment, and magnets from the vet and various restaurants.  And a key."

I used charcoal, then went over some lines with a charcoal pencil to get a little more detail.

Happy Holidays!

EDM Challenge #46  Draw something holiday themed (Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice).  When the original challenges came out, this challenge happened in December, so it would have been natural to have chosen one of the subjects they recommend.  In September, though, it felt a little odd.  I had left on a shelf a couple of wooden ornaments we had gotten for Simon for his first two Christmases (one each year at the Christkindlmarkt in downtown Chicago), so I decided to draw those as my Christmas-themed drawing.  But then I thought, you know, I work at a synagogue, and Rosh Hashanah is just a few days away.  I should really be drawing something for that holiday!  Drawing number two is apples and honey, the traditional treat symbolizing the hope for a sweet new year.

I'm much happier with drawing number two.  I would have thought that flat wooden ornaments would have been much easier than an apple and a little honey jar, but the ornaments turned out kind of bland, and I really like the apple and honey!

Medicine Cabinet

EDM Challenge #45  Draw your medicine cabinet (the inside of it).  I'm afraid I didn't feel terribly enthused about this particular challenge.  I'm sure it's because I just don't care about my medicine cabinet.  It's the place where I mostly throw things that I need to look for when something has gone wrong.  It's not well organized, everything in there is tippy and rolls into the sink if I so much as look at it, and it's impossible to open without getting a smudge on the mirror.  So, with that as my introduction, here is my drawing of the inside of one of the sections of my medicine cabinet!

I used watercolor pencils -- I didn't think I'd be able to get any detail with gouache.  I think I'd like to have used pen and ink, but I don't know how yet (a future project!).

A Day at the Zoo

EDM Challenge #44  Draw an animal.  It was a beautiful, perfect day today, so we took Simon to the Lincoln Park Zoo, a favorite free city activity of ours.  I had SO MUCH FUN!  At first it was scary to take the sketchbook out of my bag, but once it was out and I was drawing, I had the absolute best time.  I'm kind of getting into this drawing in public thing!  I told Shawn that if he ever needed to get me a present, it would be a day at the zoo (or some other place, but the zoo was perfect) where I get to draw and he and Simon have a great time looking at animals.  Plus lunch.  My present should involve lunch, too.  Then Shawn came up with the idea of doing a sketching scavenger hunt at the zoo, where you roll dice to determine which animals you find and how long you sketch them.  It sounds like a great time, I think!

Because I was doing this so quickly -- it was basically gesture drawings of animals -- I used charcoal.  The only problem is that no matter how carefully I turned the page, it still got smudged.  I cleaned them up a bit when I got home, but is there a way to avoid the smudges?  I didn't want to bring a can of fixative and start spraying things at the zoo!  Any tricks and tips out there?

My Celebrity Flower Pot

EDM Challenge #43  Draw something china or ceramic.  This is a flower pot I got when a movie was filmed at my workplace.  They brought in a couple of plants to brighten up one of the offices they used as a set, and then they gave the plants away after filming.  I don't think this flower pot actually made it into the movie.  I also have the other one, which actually was in the movie, but it's not as pretty.

I started with waterproof pens and then filled in with watery gouache.  I didn't know how to show the dirt that's clinging to the inside and bottom of the pot, so I just put brown splotches!

Shawn and Simon

EDM Challenge #42  Draw something you are thankful for.  I am thankful for my family -- for their love, support, good humor, and sense of fun.  I've drawn my husband and son, but I'm thankful for my entire family -- I'm not sure I'm up to drawing everyone, though!

I'm so happy with how this turned out.  There are little things I don't like, of course -- the water around Shawn's head, the fact that the paper started to dissolve in one place where I got it too wet, the flatness of some of the colors -- but overall I'm really, really pleased.  It actually looks like Shawn and Simon!  This was from a photograph I took this summer when we went on a whale watch in Boothbay Harbor.  It was a beautiful day and we spent a good three hours out on the water.  No whales, unfortunately, but they did give us vouchers to come back.  Perhaps next summer.

Pritzker Pavilion

EDM Challenge #41  Draw a landmark of your city.  It was difficult to choose a landmark -- Chicago is full of them!  Finally I decided that I would draw the concert hall and lawn where we have spent so many hours enjoying amazing music.  This is the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, and the criss-crosses hold speakers so you can hear even if you sit at the very back of the lawn.  The pavilion was designed by Frank Gehry, and it always makes me think of the Simpsons episode where Marge hires Frank Gehry to design a concert hall for Springfield (he's inspired by a crumpled piece of paper), which closes, declines, and eventually is turned into the jail.  The character Snake then escapes the prison by sliding down the walls, yelling, "No Frank Gehry-designed prison can hold me!"  I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be about Disney Hall in L.A., but it makes me laugh all the same.

I dug out my old vine charcoal that I got for my figure drawing class many years ago.  It was fun to use it again.  Now I need to see if my fixative still works -- does that stuff expire?  It's been over ten years....

Folded Frog

EDM Challenge #40  Draw something with folds.  I met my friend Naomi at summer music camp many years ago.  One of the first things I learned about her was that she was obsessed with Monty Python (also a passion of mine) and frogs.  She's also very good at origami and she taught me to make these little jumping frogs.  We made so many of them that summer, and I have continued to make them occasionally over the years.  When I started working at a synagogue several years ago, I made dozens of them as place cards for the congregational Passover Seder.

I used gouache today.  I'm very pleased with how some of the shadows turned out, and less pleased with how sloppy the back left leg is.  I like the background, too -- I needed to add some color, or else it would have been a terribly boring drawing.  I did make a mistake in the writing (I was thinking ahead and skipped a word) and I tried to cover it up with paint, but it just didn't work!  Oh well -- no big deal.

Toothbrushes

EDM #39  Draw your toothbrush.  Years ago we were at a new music event that had a silent auction and drawing.  You could sign up to win different prizes, and we put our names in for a Sonicare toothbrush.  It had been donated by a dentist, and she was so excited to give it to us when we won!  We both used that toothbrush for a long time (there are removable heads...we weren't sharing a toothbrush).  A couple of years ago, though, Shawn went to Tanglewood for a couple of months and I bought a cheap toothbrush to use while he was away.  I guess I got back in that habit, because I've bought several more since then.

I used watercolor pencils today.  I think gouache is much better for bright colors, but for more muted colors like these, the pencils are nice.

Pumpkin

EDM Challenge #38[1]  Draw something related to Halloween.  I make pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, but not usually at Halloween.  If you show me a pumpkin, though, I'll think of fall apple picking and Halloween before I'll think of Thanksgiving.  So I don't quite know what to make of this pumpkin pie dish--perhaps I should start using it at Halloween, too!  This was a gift from my step-mom a few years ago, and I like it very much.  It's a very pretty way to serve an otherwise unremarkable-looking pie.  There's a typo in the recipe in the next to last line -- "pasty" instead of "pastry".  I contemplated fixing it for the drawing, but decided to copy it faithfully.

I used gouache for the painting and then charcoal pencil for the recipe.  I wanted to use pen, but I still need to buy a black pen, and it wouldn't have shown up if I'd used brown.  I need to get around to an art supply store!

Drawing at a Museum

EDM Challenge #38[2]  Draw at a museum. Today's challenge did not go as expected, which was not a bad thing!  We went to the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago -- it's closing on Monday and I love his stuff and wanted to get in to see it.  It was an amazing exhibit.  Very well curated, as always, and I learned a lot and got to see some of his paintings up close.  I went through the whole exhibit and then went back to the one I had chosen to draw.  It had a "do not photograph" sign on it, but I thought that was to do with the camera, not with copying it.  There was a bench right in front of it, too.  Anyway, I got my stuff out and the guard came over and told me that I wasn't allowed to sketch that painting.  Did she really think I was that good?  And it's not as though there aren't photographs of it in the world.  Here's the link to the wikipedia file: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Little_Big_Painting.jpg

Well, I'm a shy person and I hate being yelled at by guards, even gently, so I apologized and basically ran away from the exhibit.  Then I went into the modern wing and sat down to draw a sculpture I like.  I had just gotten my book and pencils out when I was approached by someone.  At first I thought, "what is this, a moratorium on sketching at the Art Institute today?"  But no, it was a student at the Art Institute whose project was to draw his own portrait, and then be drawn by a few different people.  I guess with a blank sketchpad in front of me, I looked like an artist!  I said sure, and did a little 10-minute line drawing for him.  My hands were shaking!  It was so cool to be asked, though, and to be a part of this kid's project.  It was such a unique experience.  This drawing in public thing has really opened my eyes.  There's a plein-air painting group in Chicago -- maybe I'll look into joining them!

So I didn't get to keep the drawing, of course, but I asked if I could take a photo of it.  I'm incredibly pleased with the fact that in ten minutes, with shaking hands, I managed to do a drawing that kind of actually looks like the kid!  I think drawing every day for 38 days has started to sharpen my eye.  I need to do a few more portraits and see how they feel.