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!