Snow business...

for one day only - Thursday - and then a return to the beautiful weather we've been enjoying.  To note this little weather blip, here's a bit of word art OPI that came to mind:

Mixed media - from my art journal.

Until then I am keeping the windows open and luxuriating in the perfect autumn weather.

Creating abstract patterns is relaxing; it feels like my brain is coasting along while also being completely absorbed in... something :-)
Here is one for today:

More mixed media - from my art journal.

I might as well go completely "art journal" and include this little quick little lion face doodle:

Graphite.

RONA

which was and remarkably remains my acronym for Return of Normal Activity :-)

Some word-art words which just popped into my brain in all their bleakness:

Bleak, huh...

Hmm...?

But as ever, a dog to the rescue:

From my art journal

A Hostile Alien Invasion: One positive outcome...

would be alliance over divisiveness.  This is my theory, anyway :-)

Humanity MOOdle

Word-y things:

My feelings manage to surface in my doodling -

Oy...

and thoughts -

Allow thoughts to roll around; do they withstand scrutiny?

From chickens to cats

My study of chickens continues and I am also adding cats to my warm-up sketching.

As I mentioned in this previous post, "I don't know much about cats." , I still haven't learned anything new about cat behavior because I very rarely interact with them.  However, I can still work at creating a representation of a cat:

And still on the subject of my relationship to cats, here's a relevant word:

Mixed media word art

Mixed Media Dogs

Process:  For the background, I began with a selection of favorite colors which I randomly applied to Arches 140 lb (300 gsm) watercolor paper that had been gessoed on both sides.  When the paper was completely dry, I gathered up ink, charcoal, soft lead pencils, fat graphite sticks, and pastels and let my imagination take over.

I <3 dogs.

Word art - possibly inspired by the cool, rainy weather of a few days ago:

Green, inky goodness :-)

And a quote from Agnes Repplier:

I've been studying chickens...

because I watched an Australian documentary about a club for chicken enthusiasts. 

Chickens are beautiful creatures and there are so many breeds.  I am working at getting the basic form down:

And having nothing to do with chickens, here's a quote:

First thing in the morning...

a nice steaming cup of java :-)

Mug of  hot coffee...thank you, Michael!

Pleasant start to the day.  On some mornings the coffee is so exceptionally smooth and caramel-y that I have to sit and drink the entire mug while I look out the window, perhaps daydream.  Ah-h-h.

Here's a visual:

Positive is better :-)

And something about a favored subject - dogs:

Our furry buddies <3

A sketch and some word art

Remy is also known as "Reporter Dog".  He alerts me with one or two barks if he hears something - a delivery at the front door or some interesting or alarming activity he spies from the window.

But usually he looks like this :-)

"Remy, keep me company."

Doodling in my art journal -  positive and negative word art:

More hand-lettering, word art and a little black glove :-)

I was doodling in my art journal and a little white dog appeared - he reminds me of Duffie, my sweet little Westie from many years ago.  Who can know where the untended mind will go?

Carbon black ink, Sharpie markers, Copic markers

This word art also is the result of a doodle. 

I like to be aware of when it is used.

And the little black glove?

Remy's antics with his "found" object make me laugh!

Remy found one while we were on walkies yesterday.  It was great fun to mouth it and toss it up in the air and generally roll around with it.  "O, the little joys that a dog enjoys." - a cranna quote :-)

Word Art - gloomy creature - ACEO

Reflecting the day's weather filled with rain and dark blue clouds -

Brush pen, Pigma Micron pen, Sharpie pens, gel pen

 But it's sort of comical, too :-)

Thank goodness this next one had nothing to do with any thing in particular (or in close proximity) - just doodling:

Copic markers, Sharpie marker, Pigma Micron pens

I like to close on a positive note so here's a cheery ACEO -

Mixed media.

:-)

Glib or tongue-in-cheek?

I was doodling around with word art and lettering - the usual subjects being interesting words or quotes.  I came upon this one and doodled it:

Mixed media

I have very little experience with kittens and cats therefore I was wondering if Ogden Nash was being glib or perhaps just tongue-in-cheek.

I would wholly disagree if this had been said about puppies and dogs because a dog is just a more wonderful version of a puppy :-)

My art journal: "Words, words, words" (and dogs)

Purloining Shakespeare, I know, I know... boo.  My excuse?   In attempting to describe my fascination with words, this is the phrase (completely out of context) that came to mind.

No surprise then that MOOs and word art make regular appearances in my art journal :-)

New MOOs:

New word art:

When is comes to word art, I also have favorite words such as solitary, peculiar, singular, absinthe, twirl, woof - I could go on... but goodness, I won't.  Why some words are more appealing than others?  Possibly it's simply the look of the letter combinations, the sound of the spoken word, the denotation or connotation of the word itself.  Well, I love a mystery :-)

And dogs:

Dogs are a constant journal entry, too, because I love them.  Perhaps I ought to challenge myself to posting "a dog a day" sketch.  O, on second thought, not now.  No need to get carried away!

Doodled from my imagination :-)

As I write this my sweet dog, Remy, is snoozing by my chair.  This autumn afternoon the weather is sunny and beautiful and soon we will be heading out for walkies, yay!

Ever have the feeling you are being watched?

Hm-m-m...

O-o-oh.

I have passed by this tree with Remy an uncounted number of times - more than many - and Tuesday was the first time I noticed the eyeballs/face thing happening on this tree trunk.

I have another quote that I think is funny (attributed to Albert Einstein):

And from my art journal, some word art:

"Scaredy Cat" Goodies and egberts and etcetera

I enjoy supporting fellow artists.  I love to purchase artwork directly from them or from their online shops.  Recently I have backed a few Kickstarter campaigns.  I love to hear about the progress of the campaign and the excitement of reaching the campaign goal.

My most recent Kickstarter was in support of a long-time children's book author and illustrator, Shoo Rayner.  He was looking for backing for his project, "Scaredy Cats -  Funny Scary Stories for children by Shoo Rayner."  The project was successfully funded at the beginning of August.  My copy of the book and a lot of other goodies arrived a few days ago:

"Not too scary" tales for children :-)

I know I've mentioned a few times that I don't know much about cats, actually, hardly anything except that cats are as loved by their humans as I love dogs.  That's good enough for me :-)

These also arrived the other day - two egberts:

Honestly, I had to have a couple of egberts :-)

I don't know where I've been, but I had never heard of this kind of brush.  It was described as an elongated filbert - and I really enjoy using filberts - which enticed me to give this brush a try.  And whoa-a-a, that is an apt description.  I think they will be fun to paint with :-)


I continue to work in my art journal, daily. And from it, here's a sketch of a duiker - reminds me of a deer:

Ink, conte, pastel.

And recent word art:

Ink.

Scribbling away

Every day begins with a warm up, usually an entry in my art journal.  It's an easy way for me to get over the perfection/judgment thoughts because in my journal I view my mistakes in a new way.

A mistake can be a challenge - can I learn from it? save it?  A mistake can be a test of my ego, in other words, am I able to accept that it truly is a mess? that it is not "fixable" and I am okay to move on.  If not, well that's just the ego at work. Oy.

Recent scribbles -

A rufous rat-kangaroo (long hind legs for hopping about):

Platinum carbon ink sketch

Remy inspired this MOOdle.  He snoozes in my studio, a lot.  Suddenly he will wake up, find a toy and come over and sit next to me.  He looks at me until I look at him.  He has that doggie smile and a waggy tail.  How could I not respond  :-)

Ink, Copic markers

And a bit of word art:

Some days...

Sketchy bunnies, word art, a MOO

From my art journal, four little bunnies exploring their terrain -

Graphite

Today's word art came about because I wanted to substitute a really red heart for an "O" -

Ink and Sharpie pens

And the MOO -

Platinum Carbon ink, Inktense pencils