Lately I have been craving fruit and fortunately, it's the time of the year when some of our favorites are in season.
Rainier Cherries are a favorite and they show up in Publix for only a very limited time. I limit myself to only five a day.
Another favorite is the Golden Kiss Melon. It's the sweetest of the cantaloupe type melons. Then there is the Watermelon and fortunately the season lasts for awhile. Both of these I weigh in at around 50 gr each a day however, I will eat up to 100 gr of watermelon if that is all we have on hand.
Normally I would get Strawberries about now but we haven't had a lot of luck purchasing sweet strawberries or with any real flavor to them. We feel we waste money on them more often than not. This is one fruit I can eat more of when I do get lucky enough to purchase a good batch.
Gala Apples are my go to apple variety and I get them regularly throughout the year. I only eat a quarter of an apple each day with just a little peanut butter for added flavor. They are normally an evening snack for me.
Taking notice of the low amounts I eat, I have to watch my sugar and carb intake so rather than do without, I allow myself small quantities just so I don't feel deprived.
And besides zucchini, kale, cauliflower, and broccoli, which I eat regularly, I've been in the mood for tomatoes. Our favorite being the ones sold still on the vine. Even though technically tomatoes are considered fruit, I view them as vegetables.
I like eating sliced tomato in a wrap or between bread with salt and pepper with a little mayo as it mixes wonderfully with the juice making a wonderful dressing.
Page worked in the handsewn journal made with old stock of Fabriano Hot Press watercolor paper using the TWSBI 580 fountain pen with #41 Brown ink.
Continuing with the theme of what foods I like and try to incorporate into my day to day eating habits, I worked this page of vegetable doodles.
Many of the dishes I create use cauliflower and sometimes broccoli. I love garlic and adding a touch of jalapeno for a little extra flavor and heat with most foods I eat. Green Beans with onion and bacon is one of my favorites along side of the Kale soup we make. For healthy snacking, I like sliced cucumber and tomato as I can't handle celery and prefer carrots (not shown) either grated in a salad or steamed. Another major vegetable (not included on page) that I eat a lot of is Zucchini either grated or spiralized.
Worked in 5.5x7 Fab Hotpress journal using TWSBI Eco with EF nib and Lexy Ink.
Tonight I was in the mood to start my theme also using graphite. Instead of a mechanical pencil, I chose to grab a regular 4B drawing pencil after a friend of mine shared his pencil sketches with me earlier in the day. One of the things I love more about a regular pencil is being able to use the side of the lead. The two big drawbacks, however, is the smudging using a softer grade pencil and the fact the lead wears down requiring sharpening.
Monthly theme for June is "My diet" sketching/painting a minimum of three to six items that might fit the theme. Not to mistaken "dieting" but instead foods I am eating at this point.....good or bad. I'm TRYING to get back to eating healthier foods as I've been on a very long binge of eating comfort foods causing some health issues I'd rather not be dealing with. It's difficult when one can't sleep and all those extra hours of being awake results in my wanting to eat....normally sweets or high carb foods such as bread and other highly processed foods.
One of the dishes I like to eat that is actually healthy is Kale...minus the bacon we use for flavoring. Although it's actually not too bad with the number of slices used in the size pot of Kale we make. We like making what some might consider a soup.
A very simple recipe using a bunch (as packaged at the store) of Kale, three to four slices of bacon, onion, and jalapeno pepper (just to add a slight kick but not too much heat) sautéed in the pan and then simmered together in about three to four cups of water. I could sit and just drink the broth.
With this latest batch, I decided to add grilled diced chicken giving the "soup" some extra protein and body. Next time we want to try using chicken broth instead of just water for extra flavoring to see which way we like best. We may also add spinach which we've done in the past and really liked.
9 x 12" Alpha sketchbook using Mars Lumograph 4B pencil.
It's been a couple of weeks since I've done any sketching. Instead I have been taking a little break I evidently needed until the desire hit to pick up my sketchbook.
Terry had brought in a premature grapefruit he had to pull as it was putting too much stress on a limb causing fear it might snap from the weight. We were supposed to remove ALL fruit this year allowing the energy to go into the tree itself. He pulled all but about 12. As I was sitting here looking at this particular one, I had the itch to sketch it...showing the size relative to my hand.
Alpha sketchbook with mechanical pencil and .7 lead.
After the big disappointment with the Magnolia, I decided to redirect my interest in other things to sketch.
One of the days I went out to check on the Magnolia, these Ibis were in the back near the tree. I was able to move around a bit without scaring them taking pictures. These guys seldom come to the back yard so it was a surprise to me to see them there.
Terry went to get some ice cream for us and knowing I'm trying to watch my calorie intake, he found these mini cones. Nestles makes mini drumsticks and I have always loved their large cones but Publix was out of them. So he decided to get these from Blue Bunny for me to try.
Last month I worked a watercolor sketch and a digital sketch of my orchid at the bud stage. I wanted to work another digital with it in full bloom and got a bit carried away. This took me hours starting yesterday morning at 10 a.m. and worked it off and on until 4:30 this morning. Then I picked back up on it at around noon and finished this afternoon. Today's work was fine tuning after a few hours of sleep and fresh eyes adding deeper values, blending and smoothing edges.
Well, the jury's back............cross-hatching is proving to be my least favorite thing to do...at least with ballpoint. If I have to do this much cross-hatching to fill in a subject, I prefer digital.
As mentioned in a previous post, one doesn't have to worry about ink pooling resulting in ink blobs working digital. You don't have to worry about constantly wiping the point on tissue which I find is disruptive in workflow. One can set the opacity rather than totally relying on pressure holding a pen. With the Apple pencil, you can use both to your advantage. And due to the fact you don't have to rely on pressure, it's easier on the hand.
Not sure I will actually produce a portrait using cross-hatching as it would probably take me days versus hours to complete but that might change. In comparing the two below, I do like the results of the pepper worked in Procreate but not sure I have THAT much patience to work something as complex as a portrait. We shall see. I do admit that this can be therapeutic....very relaxing (if not having to constantly worry about blobs).
Just for fun, I took my original and added color blending mode layers to produce the following.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have finished two journals with a third journal almost finished (two pages remaining). Wanting to work larger, I ordered two Stillman and Birn 8.25 x 11.25 journals......one Beta and one Alpha.
After finishing one large Beta journal, I decided to start working in the Alpha and this is what I did to break the sketchbook in...a banana flower and small bunch of bananas cut down yesterday from plants we have in the back yard.
We may actually have eatable bananas this year. Those sketched were a small group of immature bananas on the stalk along with another larger bunch that were much bigger and fuller. My husband had thinned the plants earlier in the year and fertilized heavily resulting in more and larger bananas.
We didn't know until this year we needed to cut the bananas down while still green and hang upside down to start the ripening process. With all the varieties out there, we have no idea what type these are. Will be interesting to see how they turn out once they turn yellow.
Alpha Journal using Staedtler Mars Lumograph B pencil
Most often it has to do with the color of the shadows never turning out how I like. Either too blue / too lavender, etc., too stark or streaky looking. Personally I prefer subtle shadows over bold.
Terry does most of the food preparation and a great deal of cooking; although we both cook since we eat very different things. I prefer to clean the dishes than to cook.........most of the time........ha ha. Neither of us get into making elaborate dishes keeping our meals quick and easy to lesson the time spent in the kitchen.
This is a star fruit (or starfruit - not sure on the spelling) our neighbor gave us. I had never seen nor heard of it before so I was looking forward to trying something new.
What inspired me to try these inks was a dear friend of mine (Fay) told me about and shared a little sample she was working on using the Graphite color. When I went to order the one color, I ended up with eight colors in my cart and had to apply some self discipline to cut that order, at least in half (for now.....ha ha). Colors waiting in my wish list for my next order will be more in the line of the three primaries and a dark brown.
As mentioned in previous post, I have decided as one of my yearly challenges to work 75 ink only sketches but not necessarily in 75 days. Some days I feel like working more than one sketch and some days I can't or don't feel like sketching. OR, I may want to work any given day in another medium. This will not include the Inktober challenge in October where we sketch in ink for 31 days.
Several days ago I stopped at a Church where they have pumpkins set up from an Organization called The Pumpkin Patch. Proceeds go towards the Church and the Elementary School nearby.
Yesterday my sister shared where her Kroger's grocery store had a fruit display set up offering kids free fruit. I thought that was a fantastic idea generating my desire to sketch about it.
