A Watched Pot

 

It's been a busy two weeks.  Since my last post, I have:

• Made two trips to the vet with different dogs 
• Dropped off  an overdue library book (haven't paid the fine)
• Stopped by the hospital for a fasting blood test (I hate them, but the doctor has been insistent since the heart surgery.)
• Watered the almost-dead garden, since the predicted rain did not come
• Participated in volunteer proofreading for Distributed Proofreaders
• Assembled a new bed frame and hauled off the old one

While assembling the bed frame, I almost stepped on a tiny frog on the porch.  Before relocating it to a safer location, I took some photos.  The frog,  an excellent example of camouflage,  was cooperative and cute--for a frog.

All these activities left little time for drawing and painting.

Monday evening, I peeled and cut up some potatoes for supper.   I dropped the peeled potatoes in an old Club Aluminum pot we paid $2.00 for at a local auction. While the potatoes were boiling, I realized there was enough time to make a quick drawing.  I took my pencils, pens, and watercolor, then painted the scene in my Strathmore Watercolor  Visual Journal.

A little practice is better than no practice at all.

Vegetable Sculptures at the Farmers Market

 

My garden has produced almost nothing this year because of the heat, so I took a trip to the Fayetteville Farmers Market to buy some vegetables. I took my art kit went with me. My kit is minimal:   a mechanical pencil, a kneaded eraser, a Pitt pen, a Winsor-Newton watercolor field kit, a Ninji waterbrush, a moleskin journal, and a Canon Powershot, all stashed in a reusable black Wal-mart shopping bag.

 I wish my yard looked as fantastic as the town square garden.

 

 

 

 

There was a contest for budding vegetable sculptors.

 

The winning sculptor would receive a Chia Pet.

The market wasn't very busy, so I listened to some of the musicians, talked to some of the exhibitors, and took a some photos.

Taking a seat on a stone wall, did a quick pencil I sketch of the market.  I'm not thrilled with the result, but the more practice I get, the better the results should be.

I'm looking forward to doing more drawings on location this fall.

Things That Are Blue

Another miserable, hot day. I wanted to go out and sketch at the Washington County Fair or the Fayetteville Farmers Market, but it was just too hot to bother.  The opening game for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks is this evening, so there will be traffic jams.

Rather than risk life and limb on the highway, I collected and assortment of items of various shades of blue to sketch and watercolor. I found a Pledge bottle, a putty knife, an iridescent glass bottle, and a crocheted dog toy that the Yorkie loves to chase into the kiddie pool.

More practice in color mixing looks like a good idea.

Willdlife in the Neighborhood

Yard work has kept me from doing as much drawing as I'd like.  The temperatures have been in the high 90's, low 100's with just enough rain to make the grass grow....but not the vegetables :( .  There have been some opportunities to photograph some of the local wildlife around the house. Each photo gives me some material to use in a future project.
 

The deer really enjoy eating the neighbors' birdseed.

 

While watering the vegetables, I found this huge moth in the phlox plants. It stayed around for a series of photos.

Some Roadrunners live in the neighborhood. This one stopped by for a shower while we were using the sprinkler on the roses.