Day 369

"Piano Man". Art journal, charcoal  

Tonight I went to see the wonderful movie La La Land, which featured several dramatically lit scenes of musicians. Those images inspired me to use a technique I haven't tried in a while: drawing with an eraser into a charcoal background. For reference I found a still from the movie online. 

 

Day 366! Happy new year!

I just spent more than half an hour writing a long, philosophical post, and Google Chrome crashed and I lost it all! So maybe I will write it again tomorrow. Meanwhile, here is my art of the day: a little book of resolutions in my art journal. It's inspired by a lyric I wrote one New Year's Eve many moons ago: "I'm going to turn my new leaves over one at a time instead of throwing the book at myself." 

It also has some inspiring quotes: 

 

And thus ends my daily art project.... maybe!

May 2017 bring out the best in all of us! 

Best wishes,

Karen

 

Day 365

"Chillin'". Art journal, paper collage

For some reason I took a notion to make a paper collage from one of my one-minute sketches of Kayla from Day 340. I guess I liked how the image can be made with a few simple shapes.

Day 362

Art journal, watercolour  

An attempt to capture in watercolour a scene I glimpsed near Alexandria, while driving to my sister Alison's house for a Christmas visit.  

Day 361

"Cross Bay Road". Art journal, graphite  

Today my friend Sandra gave me a unique gift: a hummingbird made of graphite, which is like a sculpture and drawing tool all in one. (See photo below.) So I used it to make this drawing, from a photograph taken by my sister Alison of a rooftop in Bermuda. 

 

Graphite hummingbird!  

Day 359: Merry Christmas!

This is not my art of the day, but a little watercolour I did for my folks to include in their Christmas greeting. 

 

THIS is my art of the day (Christmas Eve one-minute sketches):

 

Here's wishing you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Best wishes, 

Karen

Day 358

Art journal, watercolour.

After I posted the Christmas tree on Day 354, my dad (John) sent me a message:

"Did you know that the peace symbol was originally developed by Bertrand Russell to signify nuclear disarmament? The vertical line at the top is the semaphore signal for D and the two diagonal lines at the bottom are N. It was used in the first peace march against nuclear arms in Britain in the 1950s."

That was just a few days ago, before the latest developments in Trumpland. 

I guess the symbol is even more relevant now.

Day 357: Ten....

"The World, the Good Times, the Belief, and the Truth". Art journal, collage

A friend gave me some antique books to play with, and thus began this odd little piece. It also includes some pictures cut out of National Geographic, some gold leaf, a bit of lace, some Japanese paper, a rubbing of a key, and the key itself. And if you're wondering what profound thought inspired the title... well, it's just taken from one of the pieces torn from the books. 

Day 351

Title TBD. Pastel, 12 x 16"

My friend Kevin commissioned this as a retirement gift for a friend of his. These are the friend's dogs. I have never painted dogs before! I liked the composition of this reference photo, as opposed to a more traditional "portrait" -- the division of space and simplification (few details, no portrayal of setting) give it an abstract feeling.