100 Days - 100 Dreams: 21

I complain because I have "no time" to draw.
Today I am finding time.
Because my heart needs to Draw.

Subject: Small cast resin polar bear

Art Supplies:
Prismacolor colored pencils
Strathmore Toned Gray sketchbook (5.5" x 8.5")
Black pen

The eye and arm are tentative. Yet one must begin.

The more you look the more you see. And,  yes, I decided from the start to make notes on the drawing. This way I don't feel pressed to create something that might be matted and framed. This practice is for PRACTICE. Learning. Relearning. Sort of like a musician practicing scales and fingering.

I was listening to an interview with Pema Chodron. Her "smile at fear" was worth the time. I am not good at smiling at fear.

This is as far as the drawing is getting tonight. It is not finished. I will keep at this bear until it has no more to teach me. Then I will draw another bear. Or a red leaf. Or a fork.

The subject is not as important as the drawing.

(To be continued.)

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

Food...

Food for thought.
               Food for Sunday, January 11, 2016

Page from my Food Journal - (started 10/30/15)

A 6" x 6" page can hold LOTS of information. Much to ponder. And witness to awareness.

As with wedding vows - For Better and/or For Worse.

Ever onward. So it goes. Food..........
And, yes, that hot chocolate, chocolate-flavored vodka, and whipped cream from a can was MOST delicious...

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

Drawing in Coffeeshops

Oh, dear.
I love drawing in coffee shops.
Or small cafes.
Or the bakery - if table space allows.

Needs are simple: chair, sketchbook or papers, pen, pencil, marker, beverage, and maybe something to nibble on.

Good company can add or be a distraction.
It's great is sound system is playing good quiet jazz music and the surrounding chatter is not too loud.

The drawing to be discussed was played with while visiting Stillwater, MN's Tin Bin. This eatery is housed in the former Commander Mill grain elevator, and the folks who re-designed the place did not mess around. There are large windows for watching St. Croix River action - or non-action. Nooks and crannies in which to sit. Full bar. A counter-level fireplace for winter warming. A SCRABBLE game. Great selection of bakery. Other goodies for chomping through the day. Beverages from coffee and herbal teas  to beer and wine. Friendly staff. Live music on many weekends. Like I said - they didn't mess around. It has become the go-to place. Sorry, other local places.

As shown by date - this sketch was done March 8th of this year. A pleasant Winter Saturday morning. I went with Tara and one of her friends. We had to sit across from "our" table because people were sitting at "our" table. Tara and friend chatted about stuff. I pulled out sketchbook.

Simply started from upper left corner and worked away down the page. Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for black lines.  Worked on changing up kinds of lines.  Aimed for "loose" but relatively accurate. Didn't THINK too much. Tried to allow the brush tip "dance" across the paper. Just let the brush do what brushes do. Then added Prismacolor colored pencils (small short selection from Altoid box) for bit of color. Hmm.... room at bottom for drawing the drawing I'm drawing? That was Fun.

The black tote at right top has a "Coraline" theme. Quote drawn on table's edge is taken from bag's advice: "Be careful what you wish for." Thanks for the reminder, Neil Gaiman.  So very true - but that topic is for a different day!

No, it is not the perfect sketch. Yes, it has some perspective problems. (Don't we all?) But it holds memories of a lovely Winter morning in a warm establishment, with hot beverages and warm friendships. And a Life Lesson. Pretty good for a short time scribbling in a small sketchbook.

Daughter is now living in Southern California. California has coffee shops. But it doesn't have Tin Bin. Wish I could beam a large warm muffin your way, Tara. With two butters!

On to the day. An Art-Making Day. (Because I JUST FOUND OUT YESTERDAY that the bears were accepted for a one-month show at the art center here in Stillwater. That's a topic for a Serious Serendipity post some day!)

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

FB Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios
www.suerowe.com
www.artfairartists.com

Greetings-

First - Thank You, Veterans!!

Now, on to "lighter" stuff.

Polar On!

Taking up a page in a Strathmore Toned Gray 5.5 in. x 8.5" sketchbook and stealing a pose from a real bear's image I start with a quick scribble with White Prismacolor pencil.

Just to see how the pencil plays with the paper. Sort of "slippery" and sliding on the "medium" tooth of this surface. Not as catchy as I'd hoped, but, what the heck, let's move forward.

Staying with white pencil I blocked in shape of bear. No real thought of real finished drawing. Trying to channel polar bear. Trying to channel polar bear. These bears are large, lanky, fast, and heavily-furred. Drawing to convey bulk and weight. And design. Polar bears are very well designed for their environment. Dense, yet Streamlined. Ears lie very close to head; not the large furry loops seen on black bears. Scribble scribble.

 Now, playing with adding bulk, shape, and a bit of shading. Because I seldom want to convey my bears as realistic beings I am more concerned with getting a spirit in the piece rather than making an exactly anatomically correct drawing. These bears aren't really loose collections of bones twirling in  white fur bags - but I sort of like to think they could be. On to some color!

A little bit of this. A little bit of that. Playing with graphite pencil; Violet, Cool Grey 30%, Lemon Yellow, Olive Green, Poppy Red, Crimson Red, Coral (Prismacolor). Playing playing. Working to get sense of Warm Sun playing across right side of head and most of body. Changing shape of mouth from source image. This is one Calm but Happy Basking Bear. Scribble scribble. Starting to see where the yellow will go. Starting toward making bear's form more solid. Slippery layer upon layer upon layer.

Adding Black to the mix, and fun with Derwent Metallic pencils - Yellow and Purple. And. gasp!, Crayola Sky Blue. Why Crayola? Because it was the first medium blue my fingers touched while searching through pencil bag. (In addition to the pencils stored in the beautiful cloth pencil holder our daughter stitched up I have a few stashes of pencils kept in gallon-sized plastic bags. And two small stashes of really short pencils in old Altoid boxes. (Focus, Susan - back to main topic!)

More layering and pondering. A touch here a wonder there. Knowing that head isn't drawn EXACTLY correctly, but practicing not caring too much. Layer Layer Layer. Longer strokes. Shorter strokes. Experimenting with subtle areas. A few darker marks to lips, eyes, and ears. Lots more Yellow. Lots more White. More shorter strokes. Think "Thicker Fur. Thicker Fur." Trying to decide what my mission is which this bear. Words and sentences come to mind, but I do not add them to the drawing. Hmm. And didn't write them on a scrap of paper or in a notebook. This was probably a mistake. Always try to have a blank piece of paper nearby incase THE Idea strikes. I know that three or four useable sentences floated in and out of the brain. Bye bye, Ideas. But if you care to come back, well, this time I've got paper.

Here is what I decided was the finished bruin:

And, as with so many of my sentences, the above is a lie. Now this "final" photograph shows clear areas that can be improved. And they will be. but not right now. The day holds many other tasks. But this was Fun And Educational to me. And I hope that you learned something, too!

Here be Pencils (sorry, you few that got left out):

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

FB Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios
www.suerowe.com
www.artfairartists.com

Pork: Pre-Bacon.

Hogs, pigs, swine, porkers. they always leave me with mixed emotions.

THEY ARE SMART.
THEY ARE DELICIOUS.

In art school days at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls, I was known for my pig drawings. The reason I DREW pigs is a long short story for another time. Faculty members purchased my pigs. Classmates and teachers would leave pig-inspired gifts in my studio space. It got a little weird.

After graduation I did not draw anything for many many years. Really. Then the bears happened. At an art fair several years ago a customer asked if I ever did any other animals. "What do you have in mind?," I asked. "I really like pigs," she said.

Done and done. But only a few and only as card designs. (Time passed.)

Today it felt like time to draw a  porker.
Yay for State Fair photographs!

Here is a blurry model from this year's Minnesota State Fair:

Yes, I wish I'd spent more time focusing. (That's an issue in way more of life's areas than photographing livestock...) Yes, that is it's tongue.


One of my many 5" x 7" spiral-bound sketchbooks was hunted down. A plain old graphite pencil got sharpened. Let the drawing begin!! Yes, I was listening to a football game. Football? Pigskin? Just the way it goes.

Here is the somewhat finished drawing.

Yes, those are eraser marks. No, the sketch isn't perfect. But it sure was fun. I might go back and re-work some things. Or, I'll probably simply do another drawing.

Tomorrow holds the start of putting up our booth at Roseville, MN's "Peggy's Holiday Boutique. This show does take a crew over five days to create, but once it's open - What a place to shop!

Now it's time to publish post,  have a sip of tea, and be glad this pig had such a lovely glint in its eye.

Try not to lose yours - Glint on!

And Fare-thee-well,
Sue

www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

P.S.: No, we probably won't have bacon for dinner. But for breakfast tomorrow - most likely.

Breaking in New Sketchbook At Tin Bins

New sketchbook. Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and Prismacolor colored pencils. Started with the paper cup. Worked counter-clockwise around subjects till top portion of page was filled. Sipped more tea. Sticking with ink, started on lower portion - surprised to find that the space allowed/forced the drawing of the sketchbook drawing! Sipped more tea. Added some color. Carrying an Altoid mints box filled with tiny almost used-up colored pencils is a good thing.

Tara's friend had the black tote pictured. I asked her what the quote on bag read. They were words from Neil Gaiman's book, "Coraline." Words? "Be careful what you wish for."

I wish for more sketchbooks, a fresh cup of tea, and more time to draw.

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

P.S. - If you need one of our bears, and are visiting the Duluth, Minnesota area, please check out their new digs at Art Dock Gallery. Yup, after Blue Lake Gallery closed we were lucky enough to have the bruins invited just across the street in Canal Park. YAY!!!!

New Sketchbook

Greetings - We did the Centennial Lakes Art Festival in Edina, Minnesota this past weekend. Windy Saturday, lovely Sunday.

Crowds seemed a bit off, as were sales, but it's still a lovely show, and the staff keeps us artists too-well supplied with hot and cold beverages, excellent doughnuts, and chocolate chip cookies, which they deliver to your booth.... Or, if you need the exercise,  you may visit the artist reception room on the lower level of the show. This will but  you in the tempting area of the Dick Blick Spin-the-Wheel-for Stuff booth. One year I won a tee-shirt - good. Last year I won a pack of pencils - ho hum. This year it was sketch book choice. I have enough medium-sized books scattered around the house, so chose the cute little 5 1/2" x 3 1/2" mixed media cutie. Haven't counted pages but there enough for more than a few adventures, and the paper is slightly textured. It could fit in almost any purse or backpack, along with a small pack of drawing/painting materials. So, Thanks!, Dick Blick! I'd wanted a new toy, but didn't NEED a new toy.

Now to find time to scribble between Autumn art fairs, trying to freeze some squash (today's garden adventure), and still trying to solve the mystery of the constantly chiming head (Mayo Clinic - here we come?). Will there be time today to play with a few pages? I don't know. Have to get back to the altered book garden journal, too.

Packers lost, Vikings won. The man  of the house will be happier than the ladies of the house - at least for this week. GO PACK, anyway!

Fare-thee-well, It's back to the squashes -
Sue

P.S. - Find some way to play today, O.K.?