Green Glass

In which I shift into camp mode

This was the sketch that helped me make the switch from frantic prepping to relaxed at camp mode.  The campers were all in their huts and I peddled over to the sail loft and sat and really looked at the boat and bike.  I slowed down and just drew, carefully trying to see.  When I got thrown off (by the wrong placement of something) I just regrouped and went back to looking.  

Right after I finished a troupe of beautiful instructors came by and moved the boat (in preparation for a class) and chatted and shooed me off (with smiles and compliments).

This was me (during the heat of the day) trying to use the watercolorness of my paints to slowly layer the depth of the browns.  It almost killed me. Well, not really.  Let's just say it was taxing, but not fatal.

And this last one was the mode I go to without thinking.  The campers salute the flag before breakfast (when it's raised) and dinner (when it's lowered).  Everyone is in motion getting into place and I had fun trying to capture the crowd.  By the end my view was totally blocked by the mass of campers, but I got to a place I was happy with.  Plus of course that keeps me from fussing too much.

 

Looking at the three years I've been sketching, I'd say my skill has improved slightly (very slightly) but my understanding of what I'm NOT able to do has increased dramatically.  You might think that would bother me, but it doesn't.  Now that I really begin to understand (not just intellectually, but in a practical hands on sense) some of the possibilities, I can move in that direction.

I arrive

Thus beginnith my camp sketches.

I'm not showing all the pages this year.  You exhale now.  Phew.  This is the about the fourth spread in my little journal. I want to talk about journal selection, but I'll jump ahead and just talk about how un"ready" I was feeling for a week of sketching.  Since the last round of prednisone, I've been very unhappy with the steadiness of my hand and well - just not being satisfied with what I was putting down.  This made me sketch less, which I think just made me even less satisfied.  But I set that all aside for this week and just committed myself to doing whatever felt good even if it didn't really feel good.  I did some rough sketches in the car with some cooped up life models.  

One (of my many) problems is my tendency to get fussy.   A lot of this week was about succumbing to fussiness, and then trying to pull myself back.  Now, I wish I'd taken a day to try a specific style - maybe even a couple days.  But when I'm in the throes of our vacation week, time seems to move too fast as it is.  I want to sketch EVERYTHING.  I go a little crazy.  But I can see that I'm moving to a little bit different stage with my sketches - even if it doesn't show on paper yet.  I'm thinking about some choices in how I go about it.  I'm going to have to put my thoughts into practice soon, or they'll just wash away.

 

This little book is about five inches square - maybe a bit more.  The paper is Strathmore Aquarius II.  It's pretty thin - maybe 90lb, but held up very well without buckling.  I think it has a special weave.   Last year I used Arches Text Wove and it was a little soft for me.  I brought this book being willing to give it a try but without much expectations.  I brought a couple options not knowing which would work out.  Of course I could have given things a test before I went, but that's not how I do things.  

I just use some cut up board for the cover with a duct tape spine.  Then I cover the outside in packing tape, just in case the river rears up and spits on me.  Or a camper dances past with a dripping bathing suit.  Both have happened.

It seemed pretty thick, and I HATE unfinished pages, but in the end it could have been bigger.  I ran out of steam, but also, I didn't want to start anything else.  Plus I had a second journal to work in, which I'll post about.

I love having a little hand book to drag around on my fanny, that I can pull out and scribble in thought any big hoo haa.

Getting back to normal

We're back and I'm spending the day unpacking and trying to figure where I put things in the rush to get out the door with all the correct people and trunks and sunscreen and towels and sneakers and ...  Somehow the house always looks like we've been ransacked while we're gone but it turns out - that's just how we left it.  I've collected the dog and calmed the cats and banished some ants.  

When we got to camp, I took the time the first night to warm up with a sketch of our cabin.  I felt very stiff the first day, but I barreled through anyway.  I brought way too many supplies, like I usually do, but I wasn't sure what I would want to use, and I like having options.  In the end I came up with a palette I was happy with and tried out some new paint brushes, which made me happy.  I hope to have some time to scan some of my sketches in a day or two.  In the meantime I'll just have to take a deep breath and focus on all the little tasks I really need to do.  

But really, I just want to dump the whole deal and go back to this.

I'm waving from camp

We're still at camp.  We leave tomorrow.  Weep for me, I know I will.

This is the "sea" part of the camp before all the girls come down and sail off (or around, or over, or into each other). 

This is a view of some cabins but it doesn't show all the fun sporty activities like archery, golf, volleyball, tennis, lacrosse etc... 

What do I do?  Sporty activities?  Sailing?  Motor boating?  Nope.  None of it.  I ride my bike around and sketch.

I have a fanny pack with my supplies and so I fanny myself around.

Every day I've managed to remove one thing from my pack so I've pared it down to the bare essentials.  I have two pens and my niji waterbrush, my paint, a small water spritzer (between the wind and the heat everything dries instantly here), paper towels and my glasses.  I also have a small camp stool, but I will need to revisit that because this one gives me a bit of a wedgie.  I don't notice it when I'm working, but when I get up I walk with a little waddle.  

Soccer fields

water brushWhat can I say - more soccer fields.  Thinking about how to express people in motion (stick people). Practice, consider, practice (repeat).

Camp Rewind

I go to camp today.  I    LOVE   CAMP.  Bugle calls, mess hall meals, enforced rest time.  What's not to love?

It's a girl's summer camp at the coast.  We are adjuncts - guests for a week with my husband doing light duty in the health center.  I do NOTHING but eat and nap and sketch.  Or maybe eat and sketch and nap.  Yeah, that sounds about right.

Here and here are links for the sketching I did two years ago.  Here and here and here are some from last summer.  I did videos here and here of those sketchbooks.  I had three sketchbooks last summer - I wasn't sure what I would need so I grabbed several little ones hoping I chose well and ended up using them all.  I was on a tear last summer.  Anyway, I had three and I really think I made three videos but I only have two posted. I'll have to investigate that sometime, but not today. Today we go.  We are going.  We will be gone.  And if you are thinking of coming over and sacking my house of its valuables, they are all upstairs in what I lovingly refer to as 'the art room' but good luck finding anything because it would more accurately be called 'the complete chaos room'.  So have at it.  And if you find the paint palette I put in a safe place, let me know.  It's been missing for months.

A side note

At the beginning of the week I drove my eldest daughter across the state for a summer job.  Seven weeks at a camp.  She couldn't wait to get away from me.

No one should be that gleeful when they are leaving their mother.  Except if they're sixteen and going to their first real job that involves doing the things they love best at in idyllic summer camp setting.  Then I suppose they could be a little gleeful.  But not too gleeful.  

For various reasons I had to hang around while she got situated and so of course I got out my journal.  I've been reading a book - The watercolor artist's guide to exceptional color - that I got through the interwebs recently after I saw it mentioned on a blog (Maybe Liz Steel's?)  Jan Hart (the author) discusses the properties of various watercolor pigments and how they work.  I'm all about pigment.  This was the book for me.

So I did a little sketch and a little painting.  

A book with this much information is going to need to be gnawed on over time.  I can only grasp so much and then my eyes glaze over.  But I'm gnawing.  And savoring.

I was even watching

The other day my girl went to play soccer in a pick up game.  I sketched the scenery.

And the people watching.

And I tried to sketch the players.  They look like they're taking a break, but the truth is I have a problem with people in action.  I tried.  I really did.  They kept just evolving into hanging out people.

Can you even tell they're people?  What can I say, I got a little carried away by my pigments.

My girl had a blast and so did I.  Once when she scored I was even watching.

Travel Journaling, in progress

Only five days, really, that's all I was at the beach for.  But I still have three signatures.

I drew as much as I could while I was there, everyday, sometimes more, sometimes less.  I got distracted, though, by the napping and listening to the ocean.

We went to Brookgreen Gardens, which is a stunning outside sculpture museum (it started as a private collection).  I've been before.  I never get enough time.

This time I tried to do one line drawings of some of the sculptures.  Or maybe three or four lines.

I was trying to loosen up my drawings and not get so drawn into the details.

Oh, was that a pun?

All of the sheets and towels and non refrigerated food are sitting in piles.  I headed straight to the printer and started printing photos for this journal.  Then I printed more.  

I did put the cream cheese away.  I'm not a savage.  And if I fall over the sheets, it'll be a soft landing.

I felt I was just hitting my stride (with drawing) when I had to pack up.  I plan to add more drawings from the plethora of photos I took and maybe a few watercolors too.  I'm not done with this by a long shot.

But the next couple days are full of family obligations.  Good obligations, but obligations nonetheless.  I tried sending in my clone, but it was detected.

Another vacation journal

We are about to leave for our last summer hurrah vacation.  Of course, this means I have to make a new journal.  That means, in the last couple weeks of being home, I hadn't done it yet.  But, the house is clean(ish), I'm mostly packed(ish) and I know exactly why I haven't done it yet.  This will become clear.

This time I thought I'd document the process that I am going through.

To begin with, as I have been cleaning up my art space (yes, I do clean it up although it's kinda hard to tell), I found a journal I made two years ago when we went to the same beach house.  

This must be one of the first journals I'd ever made.  I'd seen a tutorial by Diana Trout, and it worked perfectly for me.  The cover is just some thick bristol paper that I think had actually been under something I'd been working on and I started cleaning my brush on it.  I ended up liking it and sort of paint doodled and bit and then it went into my "stash".  A stash is something tucked away, and there is very little tucked in my room.  It's sort of spilling out/over/under everything.  Anyway, I threw this together last minute too, so this was what I had handy.  I covered the entire front and back in clear packing tape, because I thought there was a good chance of sea spray or rain sprinkles trying to sneak in.

This was my portrait of the house we're staying in.  There are actually other houses nearby, but if you squint a little and shade your eyes,... it seems we are alone on a deserted dune.

I was very proud of this.  Wobbly lines and all.

I spent a lot of time realizing that painting the sea is a whole thing unto itself.  The light, the reflections, the translucent waves, the shifting clouds.  Wet sand, dry sand, birds.  But of course, the point is, I had to look very carefully to notice these things, and what  a good exercise that was, even if I didn't end up knowing what to do.

I was also doing a lot of one line drawings, which was a hoot.  I haven't done that in a while, so maybe that's a good idea.

We went to a nature preserve and I tried to sketch the birds.

My daughter found a claw that was gorgeous.

I napped in this.

I doodled some palmetto trees while I sat in the car waiting on someone.

This was a little bit on the edge of one paper, and probably my favorite sketch I did.

Anyway, looking through this made me realize how much better I remember this week because of these sketches, as simple as they are.  Looking at the journal also made me aware of what worked for me.  I liked the scrap nature of it - I didn't feel like the pages were too precious to mess around on.  I also liked the size.  My kids drew in it, and I love those as much as anything about it.  So that helped me decide what I wanted to use.

This was going to be a single post, but I'm going to break it up over the couple days, since I'll be gone anyway and not posting and I am such a blabber mouth (typist?) that I am including way more than is necessary.  

Just in case you want to see the process I go through making a journal.

Camp Journal #2, 2013, flip through.

The saga continues.  Yup.  Love me some drama.

 

I really wanted to include a flip thru because it really shows the fold outs better, but the sketching isn't very visible.  So I present you with both. For your edification.  And my  egomaniacal pleasure.  Which it was in making, not so much in the scanning. But then again in the whole feeling successful about getting the video working, but not so really in the hours before that tearing my hair out.  

Mas o menos.

Comme si comme sa.

accentless, like myself

(There, I made myself laugh)

The continuing saga of journal 2

Still more from journal 2.  Will it never end?  Why yes, yes it will.  Just not yet.

 

These were all supposed to be one image.  The bottom two scans are obvious one that didn't fit on the bed of the scanner, but the first one is also part of it - only there was another page folded in at that bend and I got the horizons lines off.  Actually, I got them right, then I correct them wrongly, then I was stuck.  But I loved how the watercolor settled on this paper.  I was going to color everything, and then just stopped.  I don't know how to get a better image of a sheet this long.

This is another one.

This was on the back of the upper strip - the water made the page buckle so it's hard to scan now.  But I loved just playing with water on the page.

These are from the inserted strip on the last signiture.  The first is my favorite image from the whole week.

And guess what?  Something tomorrow that moves.  Can you guess?

 

 

 

The word for the week. And more camp.

Just in case you're worried, I haven't included all the sketches.  Some of them were just of people I was trying, unsuccessfully, to capture.  Some of them didn't scan well.

 

 

 

Again, I like a mix of people and architecture and green spaces.  Two out of three is okay. all three together is the best.

I'm not done yet.  I still have a little left in this journal, and then some singletons and maybe the first journal.  I'm not sure how it will look, so I'll scan it and see if it's worth posting.  I'd like to know what anyone thinks of these.  "Ernie", who I don't know but who sometimes pins my sketches, has a Pinterest board with some really interesting other sketch artists.  I'm always amused when I see my stuff next to their stuff.  I snort a little.  Maybe more than a little.  But I love seeing all the different styles that people use.  I plan to do more sketching at home, but right now the word for the week is - rest.

 

Camp Journal #2, 2013

   I didn't mean to go backward through these, but there it is.  This second journal is also a small one, just slightly smaller than #3.  It was made up of scraps from other binding projects so it has different kinds of paper in it - I'm not sure what all but some Strathmore Aquarius II also and probably Arches Text Wove, but also some colored Carson drawing paper.  I enjoyed that the most, surprisingly.  I didn't expect to, but then I did.  Which made me smile.  I love good art surprises.

 

 

There are three signatures in this, and I was very happy I'd gotten a couple sketches done that I liked.  I hadn't been doing much drawing before we left, and I felt stiff and unfocused at the beginning.  Journal #1 was slightly larger (larger for me, cause I tend to work small) and I was feeling very hesitant with paint.  I have many sketches in that first one that haven't had paint added yet.  Maybe because the paper felt better, it actually made me want to take my time, instead of this little thing which just yelled - throw some paint at me - see what happens - who cares.  

The third image is a drawing of me done by my daughter - WHICH I LOVE - I love that I have it in my journal, I love that she was willing to do that for me - and I love having an example of her style in that moment.  She's been sketching so much since then that her style is evolving even as I speak.  So this makes me extra happy.

I'm hoping that by next summer I feel comfortable enough to do something on sheets of paper, instead of bound up.  I'd like to be able to put something I drew on my wall, but I'm still too intimidated.  Silly old woman!

This is a test...

Yup. I am a terrier - just shaking the stuffing out of this whole video embedding - why won't it work - why did it work once and not now? - what did I do differently? - why can't I find an answer to my question (that I can understand)? - who invented code anyway?  Isn't that what language is for? - don't give up - insanity.

But I think I got it.  Maybe.  Please please please don't make me cry Vimeo.

(Did I say that out load?)

anyway ....

Ta DA!

 

 I actually made a note when I bound this little booklet.  It's left over paper from another binding project, and so it's small, about 4 1/2" x 5 1/2", and Strathmore Aquarious paper is pretty thin, so it's a really little booklet - perfect for carrying around all over the camp.  I took a camping stool and rode a bike around with my stool and my painting supplies and a big floppy hat and the girls just ignored me.  Unless they wanted to know the time.  Which I never seemed to know.

This was the third of three small booklets I took with me.  I had a larger one that I sketched in, but couldn't seem to paint on (I kept planning to add color when I got back to my housing, but then I'd end up talking or walking or just relaxing).  The second booklet had long strips of scraps and I enjoyed that one the most in terms of structure.  I tried all the different papers too, which was neat.  This one was the last and by then I was glad to have a small format, but I also had gotten into a flow with line and detail that I felt good about.

I showed the scanned images yesterday, but I wanted to show how they all looked in the book.  

Sometimes I really struggle with images of other peples journals in my head, and compare what I'm doing with "real" journals, but I didn't this time.  I just had fun.  Maybe because I was just doing the sketching and not planning or reviewing.  I do like and apprecaite being able to see what other people do - at its best it helps me untangle assumptions I have about what and how and where to sketch.  At worst it gives me ideas of right and wrong.  I have to keep balancing the best and worst and this summer I kept repeating, "This is MY journal" like a two year old with a toy.  

 

 

Camp Journal #3, 2013

Let us, for the moment, ignore the dirty scanner bed and the buckling paper (which apparently I did while doing this), and celebrate that I actually have gotten my new scanner software, well, not figured out, but wrestled to the ground where I'm keeping it pinned.  Hence, I obviously had less attention to devote to picky details like marks on the glass and floppy paper.

I redid the scans of one of my camp journals.  I'll work on the next tomorrow.

This is actually the third and last of the journals, about 4 1/2" x 5 1/2". It's on Arches Text Wove, which I didn't enjoy that much.  The paper is tough and thin (which is good) so I could put more pages in, but a little soft.  I happened to pick journals with this paper all summer, but that's probably because I bound up a bunch of stuff before really learning about the paper.  What's a gal to do when she just wants to bind?

(I was wrong about this.  It's Strathmore Aquarius II and this was actually the paper I liked working on.  I looked at my journals again and realized my mistake.  Sorry Aquarius.  On Arches Text Wove my micron seems to dig in and scratch the surface and I can't seem to get watercolor the way I want - the paper is too absorbant or soft or something.  But I liked the Strathmore Aquarius II.  Just slightly different but good for me.  I have actually bound several journals with Text Wove, so I'll just have to work my way through it.  Maybe I'll come to love the paper.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow I'll have a little treat posted.

Not quite good enough

I haven't quite got the new scanner settings figured out.  I need to tweak it, but after the time it took to get this, I'm putting them up.  

At camp I used a couple different sketch journals - all small.   I like to move around and I can only carry so much with me.

The bottom image comes from a really small journal I made with left over strips from other binding projects.  I loved working in it and will defiantly do that again but it is horrible to try to scan.  Maybe I can do a little movie.

Stepping lightly

So the scanner is back up, but it's different so I have to work on that.

At some point.

These are the last gasp sketches in my little Aqua Bee journal.  It now can be shelved with completed journals.  That's a good feeling.

This above was a graveyard.  I was going to add color but just as I got this much done the thunder gave way to sprinkles and very quickly after that a torrential downpour.  Someone came and got me just as I was wondering how many layers I was willing to bury this under in my clothing.

Someone is very kind that way.

I think I need to get away from detail, because I can get sucked into little tiny sketches with little bits of detail.  But I have a hard time loose.  I'm sure it's a balance thing, and it just takes practice.

Which is fine with me.

Working on getting more scanned, in the little bits of time.  Hopefully more tomorrow.  I'd like to get the camp sketches up.  We'll see.

Jumping around. Not landing.

We've been back from Spain for a week and a half and I've hardly had time to do anything but - unpacking, laundry, cleaning, repacking, traveling, unpacking, food shopping, organizing, sorting, paying bills, repacking and traveling again.  We are currently at another undisclosed location, having more summer fun, but I've had it about up to here with all the work of summer.

We had a few days at home where, in the wee hours of the night, I tried to work on my Spain travel journal.  I tend to believe these things have a certain shelf life, and if you don't get to them they lose their freshness.  However, after a week, this is where I'm at.

Right now my biggest impediment is lack of a table, but I don't complain. 

This doesn't sound at all like a complaint does it?

No, I don't complain.  I am actually at one of the places I love most in the world.

This is the last page spread in one of my aqua Bee journals.  It's a very quick sketch of a dock at a lake where the ONLY thing missing is a large table (where no one needs to eat) for my journaling.  Other than that, life could not be more perfect.  Except that it started to sprinkle just as I finished this, so no color.

No, I am not complaining.  All of this was my plan and choice and I'll just have to live with the frustration of too many good things to do all at the same time.

I'm happy with this spread, not because it's wonderful or anything, but because I'm trying to continue to sketch everyday and also because one goal this summer is to finish some of the journals I'm currently jumping between and try to consolidate into - well, fewer, let's say, being realistic.

The one on the left is the Super Deluxe Aqua Bee.   I've used several of these - I like the texture of the page to sketch in ink and they're okay with a little watercolor.  I started the journal on the right, A strathmore mixed media journal, and tried to focus on my pental pocket brush pen, but that never really took off.  I've decided I need to let go of that idea and just play on this paper because it's sturdier and will allow more more paint/ink/whatever whim takes me.  It's larger, however, and I'm not likely to take this along.  I like a small book to sketch in on the go.  I'll decide on that when I get home again.  For now, it's the Strathmore. 

Not jet lagged but skattered nonetheless

We have arrived home.

Actually we arrived back Tuesday night, but had to get in the car Wednesday morning for a family event.  We're still away from home, and I am itching to get home so I can work on my journal.  I want to print photos and lay out everything on my work table.  But in due time.

On our last full day, we went to the Prado.  I'd about had all the Madonna's I could absorb, so I sent some time sitting and sketching while my daughter absorbed for me.

This trip has brought home to me that I like sketching people and structures together.  I've been thinking about either doing my own sketch outs or trying to rope someone else in (I  have some ideas, but mums the word) and this helps me think about where I might enjoy going.

I also took a break outside the museum.  To places fantastic.

We enjoyed walking around the city too.  I miss it already.  We lived in NYC when I was little, and there is a part of the smell and sound of real city life that speaks to my soul, sort of the way some people feel about the smell of talcum powder I suppose.

I'm sure there are interesting vistas in my town, but I don't see them with the same new eyes.  

I'm going to try to practice, though.

Also I like the whole selfie thing.  I've become incredibly vain.

I'll get my brain collected and post again in a day or two.  My thoughts are too scattered still.

Lunes, part 2

What a good last day.  We went to the Prado.  We were Pradoed.

I accidentally took a picture of two daughters with bright blue bows in their hair.   This woman in white jumped in because she was jealous.  We didn't document when I tackled her to the ground.  Also, this in no way endorses taking pictures in museums where you're not suppose to take pictures.  It was an accident.

And below, I was not taking pictures of paintings, just of more mothers and daughters.

Then, because I can only see poor Jesus posing for so many portraits, I took a break and went out to the park, which has a lovely name if I could remember it.  And painted an awful scene of a pretty view.

But much later, when we were all done Proding, we went and had sorbet and I sketched some more.

Then we walked a long way to the Plaza Mayor and had tapas of pesto lasagna and mozzarella on tomatoes which we ate before I could get the camera out.

Then we came home.  And that was the day.  And it was a long day with many good parts.  Tomorrow we get on a plane and fly home and I get to hug semi-little people and a big person and we will be all happy together, and I will have my journals tucked away to get out and share and add to.  Not a bad day either.

It will be a little while before I can post again.  See you in a couple days.

 

Lunes, part 1

After my siesta, we went out and I saw this,

so I drew this.

But before that I saw them,

so I drew them.

That's what I do.  

I was inspired by the brunette's daring Madonnaesque undergarmet reveal.  The heat does that to the women here.  We all become daring.

A good day

I am in love with old men.

I love the way their clothes fit.  I could draw them all day.

Kids will do in a pinch too.

Ponytails and braids get to me.

And this dog. What a dog.  I should have done a zillion photos so I could draw him forever.

My journal is taking shape.  I wasn't sure it would.  There is still a lot of blank, but I have learned that I am okay with filling it slowly.  I'll go back and add photos and do more larger drawings.  In my head I have other people's journals, and this doesn't look like anyone else's journal, so that's a bit confusing.

I finally realized that I don't want to write on the paper I bound.  First, because the texture is rough and I don't enjoy the feel of it and second because it's watercolor paper and I want to use watercolor on it.  So I have accepted that, although it's my journal and honestly I could do whatever I want, what I want is to not write on it.  So I've been doing a little journaling on postcards and adding them in with tape.  

I am slowly letting go of the ideas of what I thought this would be, and slowly finding what I like.  So I'm also practicing patience and listening to myself, neither of which come easily.

The night before last was our last evening in Salamanca, so we went walking.  We ended up at the Plaza Mayor with the rest of the town.

They were celebrating our departure with food and dance.

The next day we traveled through the picturesque countryside.

Just kidding.  It was beautiful.

What we didn't get a good picture of were some of the gardens surrounding a home in with rich green vegetation stuck in the middle of a field like the first one above.  I'm not used to this color soil for farming, so it was all a little unsettling to my brain.

Last night we walked around Madrid and finally decided to go see a movie.  The latest Star Trek.  In Spanish.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much I completely understood.  Not of the Spanish, of the plot.  I may have watched way too much Star Trek.   But what was most interesting to me, was that when we went to buy the ticket, which I navigated smoothly, I must way (I got my daughter to do it), she when asked us a question which neither of us could figure out.  There was a fair bit of repeating and staring.  And then I finally thought I got it, and said, "SI!"  She was asking us where in the theater we wanted to sit - "Antes?" (in the back?)  so apparently in Spain you purchase a specific seat, like real theatre (I'll give it the posh spelling) in the States.  I thought I had asked for a middle seat, but we were in the last row, so I guess that shows what she thought of us.  We bolted for the middle as soon as the lights went down.  Those Americans, the Spaniards were muttering.  Except for the Spaniards who bolted for the middle with us.

Then we went to the hotel and slept.  But between those two things my daughter gave a one sided discourse on why it was so fantastic to see Benedict Cumberbun (not his real name) not just in English but in Spanish and all sorts of other things about him, but I was fading and just nodded my head and tried really hard to be enthusiastic and teenagery but nodded off in the middle of it - at least mentally.

This morning we leapt out of bed - at ten - and went to an open air market.  Which I thought was going to be a flea market, but turned out to be a young and hip and cheap market, but we managed.

It's siesta time, and then we're going out again to sketch.  This is a good day.

And that's all I have to say.

I've been practicing taking selfies

On this trip, I brought two bigger journals that I had bound myself, because even until the last minute, I wasn't sure which one I wanted to use.  Now that turns out to be good because I am quickly filling up the one journal and will need to jump into the next this week probably.  

(first bigger journal - three quarters full already)

I was focusing on the size and heft of the journal and not thinking about the number of pages.  I'm going to have to consider this going forward because I like to have it has a sketch book going around with me.  I may just make pamphlets the next time and then bind them together later, which is what Mary Ann Moss did for her last trip. 

(bigger book #1 with little sketch pamphlet)

At the last minute I threw in a little scrap pamphlet to bring along, and I'm glad I did.  As small as my "bigger" journal is, this is even easier to throw into my purse.  

And I like working on a small scale.

I'm trying to challenge myself to practice faces since I have such a block about that.  I don't mind drawing 'faces' - just a particular face.  My hands have just enough of a tremor that a small slip can totally put off someones nose.  I don't know why it's the nose, but it always seem to be the nose that gets me.  When it's not the lips or the eyes or the chin.  And what about those eyebrows.  Deep breath.

This was the biggest palette I brought with me - another challenge because I'm trying to learn to mix colors - I would say better but ... well, just trying to learn to mix colors.

But this is what I bought.  And I've already used it.  Premixed colors - what a luxury.  But now I've found I'm a bit of a pigment snob, and already started thinking about which colors I would swap out to put more single pigments in.  

(random selfie, still practicing)

I used my new paints to paint this.

And then this one.

From this, one of my favorite photos so far.  This is our street coming home.

I fully expected to do more sketching outside, but did not anticipate 1) temperatures hovering just under 100 and 2) how much I want to walk when I'm out. So mostly we're taking photos and then in the evening or early morning I'm sketching from the photos.  Which works out fine.

So that's me and my travel journaling progressing.

(selfie photobombed by someone with cute toes)

And lastly a shout out to someone on their birthday eve.

We keep turning corners and seeing things

These sights are becoming familiar to me.

If many of the shots seem like I'm looking up a long steel hill, that is only partly true.  Some of that is the lens of my camera.  Some of that is that I have more time to think about things while I am walking up long steep hills, and more inclined to stop and take pictures.

This view is just around the corner of our apartment.  I love walls and the feeling of just about to arrive home.

And the best part, is that in this historic city, this view...

is moments from this...

Tomorrow I won't be posting.  It's a national holiday in a country where I am not.  I will enjoy not being in a country celebrating a national holiday.  I'll get up, go to class and perhaps eat tapas for dinner.

I have been journaling, by the way, and I finally thought to take some pictures.

I haven't kept this kind of travel journal before.  I see how I might do things differently.  This was one of the first journals I bound myself, and I didn't make a note of what kind of paper I was using.  Plus I don't have any pockets.  Pockets are an except idea.

I love having a place to make notes, and collect little bits.  This town is not good for scavengers - this is the cleanest town I've ever been in.  We are constantly seeing street cleaners.  I saw a man in coveralls embroidered with something I understood to mean - pavement inspector.  He was walking, scanning the pavements stones. This has nothing to do with the garbage collectors, sweepers, scrubbers and general atmosphere that if you are inclined to drop your wrappers, you might not ought to visit this town.

And this morning I painted this peach, because it beckoned me and because I am tired of straight lines and perspective.  I wanted something wobbly and luscious.

And now I have homework to do.

 

Two bloggers, one computer

If you want the real lowdown skinny on this vacation, you need to jump on over to my daughter's blog 'the editing process (of a teenager'.  I'm just saying that she gets more computer time (big sad eyes, hands held out) and had better pictures.  We're sharing a camera, so I'm not exactly sure how that works.

First, let me start with yesterday, which is already a bit of a blur.  I didn't sleep on the plane (did I say that already?) or not longer than an hour or so which doesn't even count as a nap in my book.  But we did very well with my biggest triumph being the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel.  This was a triumph because 1) I let myself NOT take the bus/metro/lug the bags around when exhausted and 2) I have a native New Yorker's pathological fear of being ripped off by taxi drivers.  I know of no other reason for my dread and fear of this particular situation.  But we arrived unscathed (i.e. unripped off) and my other pathological fear (losing my child at the airport) abated for now - after all, she's fifteen, she could still wander away when I'm not being vigilant enough.  Actually, after two days of travel I can see that is not going to happen.  As a matter of fact, she seems to have a pathological fear that I might wander off, and that is far more likely.  As she points out, when my brain is working, my mouth is often shut (as you can tell by the fact that when my mouth is working, my brain is often shut).

Note 1 - People speak enough English here that I can manage, but not so much that I'm not inspired to try to speak Spanish.  Thank you Spanish people of Madrid.

Note 2 - My daughter is dragging me around to historic building and museums.  I would much rather sit in a cafe and sketch.  Thank you daughter's Spanish instructors.

Note 3 - Why were these people lined up outside this shoemaker's store?  I wanted to ask, I thought about asking, I was afraid there was something nefarious going on and tried to look away but took a picture by accident instead.

Note 4 - (This was from today, but could be any day.)  When you are traveling with someone young and gorgeous, try to brush your hair before you go out.  And think about unfurling your brow.  Unless there are young men lurking, in which case, keep furling.  But with neater hair. 

Note 5 - In my next life I will live in one of these glamorous apartments which will match my glamorous lifestyle.  I will pass my former self on the street and think, 'that woman needs to brush her hair more often'.   Clearly, I won't like my future self and when I'm past, I'll make a funny face behind my back.

Note 6 - If at the end of the day, you find yourself in a glorious garden with a wonderful companion, count your blessings.

I did.

But I"m going to have to arm wrestle for computer time tomorrow, so we'll see when the next post is.  Thanks to every one.  Oh, and yes, I am sketching.  But none of those till I get back.

Yikes!

I'm here!!!

I traveled with my lovely companion.  She was a fancy pants and got the vegetarian option so I had to sit and smell her food on the plane.

I'm not saying I had a spaz attack before we left.  Some things are better left unsaid.

We couldn't check right away (red-eye flight) so we walked around a bit.  I feel like I'm traveling with a model.  I should be dressed in black with a big cross around my neck and a constant scowl on my face.  Except I have the scowl because, like I said, I'm not the best traveler.  But we have arrived, napped and this is my experiment to see if this whole international internet thing works.    I'll post again if I can.  Thanks for your warm wishes.

We are now interrupting the regularly scheduled program...

I had plans.  I have plans, but not the same plans.

The plan I had was about what I would post and, boy, were those good plans.

One of three journals I worked in, this ws the smallest and had foldouts.  It was leftover strips from when I tore my paper to make other books.

The plan I have is to get on a plane tomorrow.  So here's the lowdown skinny.  My daughter, who was at a nearby boarding school (which means I saw her during the weekends, which is not nearly enough, not nearly) last year, and I will be traveling to Madrid tomorrow.  We're there for a couple days of sights and sounds and then, BAM off to Salamanca we go, to study spanish and soak in the culture and take siestas.

I'm terribly terribly excited.

I had a blast with this binding.  Super super easy and fun.

Except that we just got back from camp and a week of sketching and more sketching and just a little watercolor so I am unpacking and wanting to scan and trying to remember where I put the passports to keep them handy (it only took me three tries) and cleaning out the frig which somehow got unplugged (but luckily I'd cleaned it out a good bit knowing it wouldn't be seeing much action -for once on the right side of that kind of fiasco).  So no scans and no big write ups, for now.  But hopefully when we have arrived and have internet service and a little time (right after the siesta but before we go for our pramanade).

Boats and more boats.  Little watercolor boats.  The black dots are buoys, but I wish I'd left them out - I think they look like mistakes.  I actually painted this upside down, which irks me.

So only these hints of what I've been up to.  

I finally finally did a coptic stitch binding.  Not sure how I feel about it but feeling very accomplished is a good thing, right?

Soon

A week from today, I go on vacation.  

A really long extended multi section vacation.

So, first, this is notice that during this summer, I won't be answer comments (not that I've been doing that a lot).I've prepared a bunch of posts to continue while I am "away".  Just images of what I've been working on.  Nothing too exciting- just something to keep the blog rolling over.

What will I be doing on vacation?

(canoes, sketched the first year I was drawing)

Well, the first things will be CAMP.  One of my favorite weeks of the year, we go as a family to a girls camp where my husband acts as one of the camp doctors and I do NOTHING except nap and sketch and watch girls be active, while I sit in the shade.

I love doing nothing.

(the complete and total chaos that is the dining hall but which means no cooking or washing up)

After camp, one daughter and I are going on a trip.  A long exciting trip, with just the two of us.  Will she murder me before we return? (Yes, I am that annoying, and a terrible traveler to boot)- we will see.  More on that later.

In which I try to draw some feet

 When I went to the place and I saw those people, I did a little series of quick sketches.  I don't usually do that, but I thought, why not work on feet, since they were hanging out all over the place.  

Plus I admit the attraction was the tube.

Maybe I can just have her hang out on the tube in the back yard.  It doesn't have to float does it?

I saw some people

Last weekend when we went to the place, I was with some people.

I kinda like the guy above.  But the little one below looks like I laid him out cold.  Actually he was just drying in the sun.  Soaking up the rays.  Not comatose.  No matter how comatose he looks, I promise you there was response to sound happening.  He could grunt.  And shiver.  Surely people don't do that when they're in a coma.

And then there was the Bear.  Not a ponytail, but a bun is almost as good.