The Dreaded Dentist Visit

Over three years ago one of my back molars broke below the gum line.  Although it hurt for several days, the pain went away and I've gone all this time without any issues.........until last week.  After a week on antibiotics, this morning was the dreaded trip to have it dug out of my jaw.  That was NOT a pleasant experience and especially since they couldn't get me numb enough to make it tolerable.  Rather than being rescheduled to try again another day, I told them to do whatever and get the tooth out of my head.  The last thing I wanted was to put it off any longer.

While in the waiting room, I started the sketch of a girl sitting across the room with her parents and brother.  I was called back shortly after I started so didn't get very far.  Then while waiting for the first injection to start working.......then the second..........then the third..........I tried sketching the xray drape hanging on the wall.  I tried to sketch hoping it might help me relax a bit but I was shaky and struggled maintaining focus.  At least I did manage a little sketching.

Stillman & Birn Beta journal and Micron 01 pen.

Sketch Crawl Event December 19, 2016

Right before Christmas our group met up at the Spanish Springs Square at The Villages for an afternoon of sketching.  Unfortunately, I didn't make it.

Spanish Springs is one area of The Villages I had been to before taking a few pictures but really wanted to go back and take more so I could sketch about the event I would have liked to have participated in.  Terry and I drove out on Christmas Day, which was wonderful because there was very little traffic and businesses were closed.  We walked around taking lots of pictures.  We actually made an afternoon of it driving to various locations taking lots of photos for sketching ideas.

The first subject I chose to sketch was the statue of Harold Swartz........founding father of The Villages.  And with this statue I decided to try working a different way than I'm used to as if I were on location and wanting to speed up a bit (eliminating the pencil sketching to save time).  The idea is to use brush and paint first capturing the shape or blocking in and then fine-tuning and detailing with pen and ink.  Not sure this method is for me but it's early yet to really know for sure.  It takes me just as long if not longer to work this way but probably because it's a new concept.

For my example, I chose not to use pen and ink but instead dry watercolor pencils for line detail (until later when I went back in with a few light ink lines).

To complete the 2 page spread, I chose what stood out the most in my photos.  I used my normal method of quick pencil sketch, followed by pen and ink, and then dry watercolor pencils as the ink I was using is water soluble (as seen with a little shading taking a damp brush to the ink).  I would have preferred to use watercolor but wasn't thinking when I grabbed the pen to start inking.

Hand sewn journal with Fabriano Artistico WC paper, Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils, and the Sailor Fude 40 degree bent nib fountain pen.  Ink is what came with it in cartridges.

Desert Rose - Still Hanging in There

You remember the post where we received a desert rose that was damaged?  Well it actually bounced back and was growing really nicely until several leaves developed rust spots causing several leaves to drop.

Still trying the save the plant, I brought inside hoping the dryer air might help.  It's been so humid outside and the plant was already sick when it got here.  I've placed it in the Sun or Florida room with southern exposure.  I can only keep my fingers crossed now hoping this helps and not do it in for good.

Thought I would try something different after viewing a couple videos.  One was mixing color pencil and watercolor and one was about slapping on color loosely and then adding details and some texture using color pencil.  Well this is neither, actually, but tried a few concepts from both videos using watercolor and watercolor pencils.

With this I used a water brush loosely (if you can call it that) blocking in the main shape without much fuss.  The idea is to capture things quickly.............suggestions for those who go out and sketch and paint in the field like sketch crawls and urban sketchers.  Well..........I can't say I actually managed to be any quicker.  In fact I found myself working at the same pace or possibly slower (maybe because the concept is not one I normally follow).  I will probably have to practice this more before I can say it helps to speed things up.



Worked in my hand sewn journal / Fabriano watercolor paper.