Days 26 & 27, and Goodbye, January!

The other day, I bought a calendar full of 1930's fashion drawings. All of a sudden I've become obsessed with vintage clothing, and here's another outlet for my obsession!

I'm very happy with the way this one turned out. She doesn't have the same tilt to her head as the original, but I didn't want a photograph! I think she's kind of cute. Wonder what she's thinking of?

This one I'm not so fond of, but I won't rip it out, either.

I should have taken 2 more seconds and given the right-hand girl a neck! Just a plain old neck would improve her appearance quite a bit. It might counteract that huge chin I accidentally gave her. Sorry about that, lady, but you have a really cute hat! Surely that counts for something?

Wow, I just finished the first month! And I didn't miss a day. Haha, I feel accomplished now! Only 285 days to go. After these first 27 days, I don't think the rest will be a huge problem. =)

I don't know if I mentioned this before or not, but a few weeks ago I signed up for an art class at the community college. I was really nervous about it for a while, but had just adjusted to the idea, and had myself all psyched up for it when they had to cancel the class. Not enough people signed up for it. =( I had just bought myself a new sketch book two days before, too! So the sketch book was returned (I'll buy it again when I need it and have a coupon), my class money was refunded, and now I shall lie in wait for another class. It's a little frustrating, but what can you do but resign yourself to reality?

Anyway, I'll see you next month!
~Laura~

Back to Normal--Days 24 & 25

Okay, so I'm back to my cheerful self again! Some days I'm just all down-in-the-dump-sie, and then it's gone again in a day or two.

SO. There are two pictures for Day 24 here, but I'll let them explain themselves.

I just added on to 23's drawing. Unfortunately, the pencil doesn't show up too well in these pictures, so you can't see the hastily-drawn sea and clouds behind the tower.
It might be Rapunzel's tower on a cliff that used to jut out from the land. But now the waves have eroded it, and the tower stands on a natural tower of stone. The Prince will have to come by boat to rescue her, and then they'll float away, watching magic lanterns gleam...

Okay, I think I'm happy with this little sketch. It could use a bit more shading, but that'll be done next time.

Anybody else have some 10 minute drawings they'd like me to show on here? Give me a link to them, and I'll post them in my Tuesday blog.

~Laura~

So yesterday I drew a picture of a tree again. I don't like it as well as the first one. BUT, this one is in color, so it's got that going for it.

It's too chunky where the branches split off. And the watercolor pencil didn't dissolve as much as I wanted it to. But what's done is done, and I'm stuck with it. ;)

Today I was thoroughly uninspired. And in a blue funk. So my picture turned out kinda...boring, uninspired, and lousy. But what can ya do? Absolutely nothing, except draw.

All of a sudden, I feel like I'm losing enthusiasm. I feel like I can't draw worth a hoot, and why bother drawing if I'm bad a it? And was this art class that starts on Tuesday, was it really such a great idea if I can't draw?

Painting I find a bit easier. But I haven't been doing much painting. You can't really paint much in 10 minutes, unless you know exactly which colors you're going to use, and have them mixed ahead of time.

Anyway, I feel dismal and dumb and dismayed at what I've gotten myself into. But I'm not quitting. Not in the first month. Not in the second month. And not in any of the other months, either. I refuse to quit, even if I hate the whole sketchbook! 

So there, Self-Pity-Monster!

I'll give it another go tomorrow. After all,

"Tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it."

Yet.

~Laura~

Pretty Drawings--Lousy Photos

The past two drawings turned out...uniquely.

Yesterday's is what it is because I had nothing real to draw. This was a fun doodle, but it didn't fill up the time. I'm going to try again sometime with colors to it!

Today's picture came about rather frustratingly as well. I tried repeatedly to draw something entirely different, but it refused to be captured. So I turned to a library book for inspiration, and finally found this butterfly costume, circa 1896.

Yes, I might be addicted to old dresses. Is that a problem? Eh....I don't think so. ;)

~Laura~

All Gaga Over Sloths

I like to draw in the break-room at work, but Friday evening I thought for sure I'd run out of things to draw! So I started flipping through one of the magazines. Out jumped who else but Lady Gaga? I'm not really a fan of hers, but this picture was too....strange to NOT draw! 

Another time I ran out of ideas, a desperate plea sent out on the waves of Facebook resulted in "A sloth!" 

Adam, here is your sloth. =)

But I forgot to brush the eraser dust off the page before taking the picture. =P Oops. 

I blame the shortness of this post on how late it is, and the 4 hours of sleep that I missed last night by talking with my friends!

Have a nice weekend, I'll post again on Tuesday.

~Laura~

Days 16 and 17

 Everyone has a favorite candy. And everyone changes their favorite candy a few times. For the longest time, though, my favorite was Nerds. When I was 11-16, we lived in a small town with one itty-bitty little gas station store, and one thing I had fun doing was scrounging up money, and then buying Candy with it. I would hunt down pop bottles, or shuffle through the gravel driveways looking for spare change (hey, it worked! Once I found $.75 in quarters, and another time a coin from Andora!), and once I had rustled up enough I would sneak down to the store and buy Candy. Nerds were the best, because they could last a long time. And there was an advantage to the Nerds--they didn't leave telltale colors on your mouth!

My friend gave me a huge box of Nerds for Christmas, and I stretched it out for as long as possible, but caved in last night and finished it all off. =) I like Nerds. 

This next one was at the suggestion of my friend, Natalie. I was desperate for something to draw (Already! Not even 3 weeks into this thing!), and she suggested a sunset. 

Both these pictures were done with colored pencils stolen from my brother. 

That's all for tonight, I need to start getting more sleep these nights! See you on Saturday.

~Laura~

Hippos and Evening Gowns

This first picture requires a bit of explanation. Last year, my mother found a birthday card that we all fell in love with--it was just so cute! It read:

"Hippo birdie two ewe, 

Hippo birdie two ewe, 

Hippo birdie deer ewe, 

Hippo birdie two ewe!"

and it had hippos and birds and sheep and deer on it. 'Twas adorable. And now we sing 'Hippo Birdie' on our birthdays. ;)
Sunday was my littlest brother's birthday, so that inspired me to draw this.

I'm surprised, it actually looks rather hippopotamus-like!

Today I blundered about, trying to find something to draw, and rejecting multiple suggestions. After wasting a hefty amount of time on Google Images, I found This site with a 1930's evening gown. I love 1920s-1950s styles, so drawing them is fun.

I had to draw and erase the head for the back view several times before I resigned myself to the fact that it wasn't going to work. Heads are so hard to get proportionate! So I made her a mannequin.

What do you like to use for inspiration? And what are your arch art nemeses? (Mine are people. And hands. And houses.)

~Laura~

P.S. In case you were wondering, I never include the day/date in my 10 minute limit. I either do it before or after, because just jotting it down is, well, boring to me, but doing it fancy takes too much time!

First Snow of the Year

This last Thursday we had the first snow of the year. Which was practically the first snow of the Winter, considering that we've had snowflakes in the air twice since the beginning, and they didn't even stick around for more than a day. I woke up Thursday morning, and it was snowing already, and continued to snow steadily throughout the day and into the next morning. 

I guess the snow inspired me, because Day 12's drawing was of random snowmen:

The first one looks like he's out for Snowmanblood. The second....I'm not sure what she's doing? Junior's all ready for school, and doesn't look thrilled about it. The only happy snowman is the one all bundled up! Now that's a snowman after my own heart! 

The writing for Day 13 says "I went to a masquerade party in November--this is a rather poor drawing of the mask I made to wear. It has gold mesh and little sparkles on it, but how does one draw sparkles and gold with just a pencil?"

That is a good question. I'm not too unhappy with the drawing, I just wish there had been a way to show what the mask is made of. Ah well, next time I guess!

And lastly, here is another picture from Alicia. 

My sister, brother, and I took our other brother out to see The Adventures of Tin-Tin today, since tomorrow is his birthday. I thought it was a very good movie, especially for a children's movie! I loved how it was a real action film, despite being animated, and they had a rough-and-tumble hero who could shoot a gun and knock a man out. Probably not a very politically correct movie, but I don't rate movies on how PC they are. =)

Okay, I'm going to enjoy my day off tomorrow, I shall see all of you back here on Tuesday!

~Laura~

Knives and Lyrics

Just a short little post today! I drew a knife my friend gave me for Christmas. I apologize for the poor quality photo, but I tried to sharpen it up a bit in Picnik!

Today's drawing is from one of my favorite songs by Jason Gray, "Remind Me Who I Am." (Or for the official music-video video, you can click here. I like them both, though. =)

So that's what I've been drawing. Also today, I raided my mother's fabric stash and stitched up a cover for my sketchbook. If it's going to last me a year, I need some sort of protection on there!

The back has an appliqued tree, but I forgot to take a picture of it. It's kind of a cheater-applique, because all I did was zig-zag the fabric on there, but whatever. I like the rough edges.

The inside is the dark blue with polkadots. 

It's not too fancy, but I like how the cover makes it my sketchbook, not just a book from the store. =)

And that wraps up this post! Only 301 days left in the Challenge!....we could be here a while. 

~Laura~

"Trees and Pennies", or "Days 8 and 9"

I have discovered that now I look forward to the daily drawings, instead of dreading them! I was nervous at first that this whole project would flop, but I'm enjoying it so far. Maybe I will run out of things to draw after a while, but that'll take a while!

Day 8, I drew a tree. I'm not super-good at drawing trees, but a while back I discovered this way. No, it won't end up looking like a photograph, but you can certainly tell what the picture is of!

Day 9.

I remember finding my first wheat penny when I was 8 or 9 years old, and how cool I thought it was! That penny has long since been spent, but I've always had a few around. Now that I'm working in a store, I run across them fairly often, so I'll switch them out at the register. No, they aren't worth much. A wheat penny is supposed to be worth $0.03 due merely to its "wheatiness," but then there are a few that can be worth $0.15, or even a few hundred dollars. I have yet to run across a $100 penny, though. ;-P

Even with their lack of value, I like collecting them, and arranging them by year, and counting them. Simple pleasures, eh?

And here is a guest drawing! This is by Alicia, age 13.

Isn't that nice? I didn't know before that she was doing the Challenge. The other pictures she's shared are cute, too. =)

I'll talk with you on Thursday!

~Laura~

In which I display art from days 6 and 7...

I've done better pictures than in the past few days. Day 5 was rather lousy, and 6 isn't too much better.

It comes from a bit of an inside joke--I said I was going to go make money, my friend took it as counterfeiting, not working at the store. So I told him I'd make him some $5's, and here is one. I could pass that off as a real $5 bill, right? ...Right?

I have a 'bad' habit of mooching off my Dad's coffee. He'll make a pot in the morning, disappear to the basement to work (He works from home. How awesome is that?!), and resurface a few hours later to discover half the pot of coffee is gone! 

I like to make my own cheap 'mochas,' with hot coffee, a bit of sugar, creamer, and hot chocolate mix. Not quite as good as the real thing, but tasty just the same!

It's a little funny because I didn't like coffee at all until about a year ago. I still prefer the flavored kind.

---------

As you can see from the pictures, I have a hard time drawing anything big! Filling up a whole entire page is a bit daunting. Does anyone else have that problem? I draw teeny-tiny pictures, most no larger than 2-3 inches. But on Monday I'll be doing a full-page picture, so I'll have to make it big.

That is all for tonight. I'm taking Sunday's as my day off from the Challenge, so I won't be posting here until Tuesday. Have a great weekend, and come back inspired!

~Laura~

Days 4 & 5 (Laura)

Here are today's and yesterday's sketches. I like yesterday's, but I really, really don't want to put today's up. =P It's ugly. I can't draw people. I shouldn't have even tried, but I did, and now the ugliness is penned onto the paper and spreading over the internet. *sigh* I KNEW I should have used a pencil!!

I'm pretty satisfied with this one. Like the note says, it's a continuous line drawing. I didn't pick up the pen until the very end! No, not quite as nice of a continuous drawing as some people create, but it's fun to do! And then I added watercolor pencil and water. I ended up pushing the 10 minute limit to the very last second, but I got it all done in time. =)

WARNING: EXTREME UGLINESS FOLLOWING! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Today's picture:

I don't even remember what it started out being, but it looked all wrong, so I made a hobbit-like person and Smeagol. I like the way Smeagol's head attaches to his neck, but I think that's about it. Like I said, maybe I shouldn't draw with pen anymore. =/
(Even though it's a really nice pen! I 'stole' it from work, replacing it with a ballpoint pen that writes just fine but is mediocre quality. ;)

I also have the pleasure of sharing several that the Challenge's Facebook fans drew! This one is from Heidi. She has some very lovely drawings from this challenge. =)

So pretty! 

And this is from Lee.

 

I like the colors she used, and the way the wine looks like it's splashing into the glass! Lee has such a neat style to her art!

Great job, folks!

~Laura~

Days 2 & 3 (Laura)

I've decided to share my pictures here every other day, so you'll get two per post from me.

Yesterday, I bought a 99 cent McCall's pattern at JoAnn Fabrics because I liked it and hey, how can one pass up a 99 cent pattern? Whether I'll end up making it or not is a different story...

Both days I made sketches of the pattern. I didn't draw nearly as much of the picture as I wanted to, but I think I like today's better anyway.

Day 2:

Day 3:

(whoops, forgot to sign it!)

In other news, 312in366 has an official Facebook Page now! It's www.facebook.com/312in365ArtChallenge. Head on over there for more pictures from other participants.

Lee has done some very pretty pictures on her blog, too! (Along with a link to a challenge that I am trying desperately NOT to do! It's really cool--designing a postcard from a different country each week, and putting it all in a book--but too much for me to tackle right now.)

I'll see you all again on Thursday!

~Laura~

I must have something wrong with me. Both of my pictures look so depressed! I'll try to make the next one happier.

I'm afraid they took a lot more than ten minutes each, but I only took pictures of the final results. Considering how long it took me to draw them, it's probably for the best. :)

We were at my grandparents' house when I finished drawing this one. My mom said she had a "Prince Charming just walked by, but didn't notice me" expression on her face. My grandpa laughed and added, "So I had to trip him!" I found that amusing.

I found this little guy in "How to Draw Cartoons for Comic Strips" by Chris Hart. This is my own variation.

 

This one's Kirsten's. It's a "Regal Chariot Llama".

Let It Begin!

And now the Challenge has officially begun. I'm still feeling a bit "Good grief, what have I done?!?," especially since I sat down tonight with very little inspiration. Somehow I wanted to doodle all through the church service this morning, but when it is actually the time and place for drawing, half my creativity leaves.
Hopefully this challenge will help combat that.

Now, I don't plan on blogging my pictures every day, but I thought it would be a nice way to kick off the New Year and Challenge together with a picture, you know? This is my sketch from today:

It's nothing spectacular, but once I add some color on there it shouldn't be too bad, right? (The original, of course, does not sport that stylish copyright notice, but I figured I'd put it on most/all my pictures on here, just to be safe. Don't want anyone stealing my 'masterpieces,' now do we?)

In Other News:

My dear friend Emily will soon be joining on here and helping me keep up with the posting. I believe that both she and her sister will be participating, so that should keep this blog fairly hopping with new posts!

And finally, my email address is on my profile. If you would like any of your Challenge art pieces published on this blog and/or Facebook, please email them to me.

So that is all. Happy New Year, everyone, and happy Challenge Kick-off, too!

~Laura~