Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!!! 

 

I thought it was time to resurface again.    How have you all been?? I've been busy drawing, painting, and traveling.  I have a ton of drawing and paintings to scan, which I'll do a few a day.  In between traveling I came down with a nasty sinus infection that finally has gone away.

 

As for traveling...went to Las Vegas to celebrate my sister's 65th birthday.  Came home for two weeks and then I was off to Seattle, Washington for my 2-day Jean Haines workshop.  Did a lot of  day trips, most recently to Ventura Harbor to take pictures and have lunch.  While at the harbor discovered I could taking sailing lessons.  So come August, my husband and I will be taking 21 lessons on a 30ft sailboat...can hardly wait.  Learning how to sail has always been a dream, but never had the time or in the right place to take lessons.  So no more excuses!  In a couple of weeks we leave to go up north for a family wedding, maybe stop to see some cousins in Sacramento on the way home.

 

As the temperature has started to climb...can get over 100 to 115 degrees, I'll be doing a lot of studio painting with the AC on high.

 

Remember when you were a kid learning how to color with the idea of staying inside the lines, while

 I've been experimenting with painting outside the lines, which has been a bit different for me, but rather freeing.   I was looking for a way to shake things up and I'm really enjoying the process.

 

I also have taken some online class with sketchbook skool.  Some of the instructors were inspiring, sharing their tools and techniques.  Even though I love the idea of going to workshops, I've decided that taking online classes for me is the better way to really absorb new ideas and techniques.  There are still a couple of artist's that I'd like to take classes from like Charles Reid, Hazel Soan, but for now learning from their books and DVD's will have to do for now.

 

I'm still in love with bookbinding and have binding small books 3.5" x  5.5" which I use to do my pinterest sketches and paintings.  I love the access to all sorts of topics on pinterest and try my hand at attempting to draw and paint images that I like...so in a sense I'm copying, but using that only as a learning tool...kind of like what the great masters would do to learn a subject until they could refine it and make it their own.

 

So that's what I've been up too...what about you???