Days 24, 25 and 26 of the Creativity Challenge

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Rainee for introducing me to the 30 Day Creativity Challenge

I’m continuing to do a page a day in my sketchbook using words and drawing of things around me. The thing I’m not very good at is posting my work on a daily basis. 091391EE-1FE0-49CF-9316-26F326FE2FDE_1_201_a 3FC96E68-1385-4671-BFD0-E1ED73A5E1AC_1_201_a

One of the places where I’m getting my inspiration for these drawings is from children’s picture books. On day 26 I went to visit my granddaughter in Hamilton and I brought my sketchbook along. One of things I let her do is draw in my book.

We were going through one of her favourite books where she can make faces using the stickers from the back of the book. The faces are taken from all kinds of objects like fruit, vegetables, leaves, acorns, dishes, toys, etc.. One of the faces I enjoyed from the book was the leaf so I drew one in my sketchbook. Winnie chose a geometric pattern that she tried to replicate on the next page to mine.

We enjoyed making dialogue balloons and making up things that the object might say. I went from a leaf to acorns and the page started to come together. Winnie enjoyed the process so much that she wanted me to redraw some of the shapes on a clean page so that she could add her own details using a pencil and blending stick. The blending stick was new to her and she loved the effects of smudging her lines to create shadows (her words). Here are results of our time together. 28F4F5F3-8B68-4B63-AF17-BEAE5C1D2BEC 48D49571-01DA-4A55-9FFE-AD0E9404C281 5DDE9588-FB21-4992-82F5-20AC8172E880 47E1F2EC-A267-4C5E-B0CF-4856E0261256

Creativity Challenge – Days 10 and 11

Posted on January 12, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Rainee for hosting the 30 Day Creativity Challenge

Rainee has completed her 30 days but you may want to start your own creativity challenge. I’m starting to make some simple drawings in my sketchbook again. I’m using mostly ink right now and taking inspiration from Lisa Congdon over at Creative Bug.

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Portraits of Two Fine Gentlemen

Posted on July 23, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..days 136 and 137 of 365 Days of Art

Yesterday I posted some portraits of older men that I found photos of on the internet. Two of my followers, Ivor and Derrick, made some nice comments about my work so I decided to try and draw them. I hope they won’t be offended at my attempts.

I found a photo on Ivor’s site Ivor.Plumber/Poet which I attempted to draw. The glasses were a bit tricky because there was a glare on them and I drew them slightly off kilter.

Derrick’s photo came from his profile picture. Sorry Jackie I left you out of the drawing. Check out the countryside where Derrick lives.

365 Days of Art – The Remote Control

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..day 70

As I was looking for something to sketch I picked up the remote control and decided that it had some interesting possibilities. When I finished it I considered drawing the other remote control next to it since there was room but instead I decided to play with some more of the circles that I had cut out last week. I added text and a little bit of line work to add more interest.

Day 68 – Pen and Ink Study

Posted on April 8, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…..trying to get into the habit of sketching every day

Scribbles

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Mama Cormier

…..when a scribble is art

If you had told me a few years ago that scribbling is a viable art form I would have scoffed at you. Today, however, I have a new profound respect for the scribble. It started a few years ago when a well renowned artist introduced me to the art of scribbling. He thought that my students might like the activity. After trying it myself first and finding that it wasn’t as easy as it looked I put it aside and forgot about it.

Flash forward to the on-line year long art class that I’m taking right now. It started in January and every day Carla Sonheim posts a video with a quote, interview, photo assignment or drawing assignment. Some of the videos are very short, only 30 seconds or less and others are a little more detailed with actual instructions.

On day 56 we were given as assignment to take a pen and start scribbling. It was very addictive. I loved it and want to do more. I tried it with pencil but it works much better with a pen or fine tip marker. Give it a try. Start with just a random scribble and see what you come up with and then darken areas with more scribble to bring out what you see. After that choose an object and try to copy it by scribbling.

Walking, the Bike Show, Drawing and More Walking

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….Saturday was a great walking day

The temperatures are starting to rise but not enough for the snow to become a slushy mess. That will happen later today and definitely tomorrow as we head into double digits above the freezing mark.

Saturday was perfect for a long walk with the dog. Frances loves the snow. We did walk through the field with her but for the most part we stayed on the paths where the snow had been shovelled or had already melted away. It was a fun morning and I was able to play with my new camera. We came across a sad little snowman and I tried shooting it from different angles.

When we got home I checked my fitness device and discovered we had walked about 6000 steps. Not our longest walk but it was a good start to the day. I made us a hardy breakfast that I knew would sustain us through lunch and then we got ready to take a trip to the bike show.

Every year at this time, The Toronto Bike Show takes place at the CNE grounds. It’s a very busy show and we had to park a fair distance from the building but that was okay because we knew we were going to rack up a lot more steps. My husband was a little disappointed in the show. He felt that there wasn’t as much to see this year. The show certainly is quite large and if you’re in the market for a new bike there were some deals to be had. I think because we had been at the show last year it felt like there wasn’t as much in the way of new products or at least things that were significantly different from the year before.

There were lots of bikes with large attached carriers, Dutch style, fat bikes, racing bikes, electric assist bikes, bicycle accessories, booths promoting bicycle tours and races and bikes for the littlest of riders. We came across a little boy (11 months old) who was checking out a bike that he could be riding in a couple of years.

As we walked back to the car my Jawbone Up signalled me that I had reached my goal of 10,000 steps for the day and it was only mid-afternoon. We rang up our oldest daughter and found out that she was home and happy for some company so we headed over to her house. We had a nice visit with her. At one point I suggested we go for a walk in her neighbourhood but my husband was content to just sit for a bit.

After a couple of hours, we continued on our way home and arrived just in time to take the dog for another walk. Correction…. I took her for another walk. This one was considerably shorter and I would be doing this at least one more time before I went to bed.

We enjoyed a simple supper of left overs and then started watching the new season of House of Cards with Kevin Spacey. I can only do this for couple of hours before I need a change of scene. I made my way to my sketch books and art materials which at the moment are on my dining room table. I watched a few more art lessons on my computer and then I cracked open my sketch book and got my ink and pen ready to draw. I came across a photo of a cow on one of the blogs I follow and decided that would be my subject for the day. I’ve always wanted to draw cows so today was the day.

After posting this sketch on Facebook for my daily sketching challenge I took the dog for one last walk and then did the dishes. I can never leave dishes overnight so no matter how late it gets I end up cleaning before crawling into bed. I checked my walking progress and was happy to see that for the day I had taken 14 270 steps. Ten days in a row now I’ve reached my 10 000 steps/day goal.

How was your weekend? Did you reach any goals or do something interesting?

Time to get ready to visit our other daughter in Hamilton. We’re babysitting today. Yay!

Day 4 of My Sketchbook Challenge

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….and adding doodles around my Warhol sketch

Today I added some colour around my Warhol sketch during my art class with my grade twos. I was hoping to show some of their work here but they need a little more time to finish their portraits.

Yesterday I bought a couple of new pens and some coloured ink. I was really looking forward to playing with them and when I got home tonight I was able to do just that.