Scavenger Hunt from Life #164: Jul 01 - Jul 13

Fletch, lol and I thought it was going to be easy!... I got lost a couple times and couldn't move an inch without them changing...and ran out of space on the left... still fun to try...
 
Pine Cone, ha, love the tl:dr The sign is good, I like the shading. The background is fun, reminds me of New Mexico. And thanks.

Ned, awww, what fun to have an antique egg beater. Great job on the sketch, so easy to get lost!! I usually move my hand position or paper and there you go again!

I sketched on the porch yesterday morning on my iPhone, then in the living room this morning.
Number 1, trees - Brushes app and fingers Looks like a mountain behind but only more trees. Ha.
Number 2, doorknob - in the Conda book with Micron 03. We don't have many doorknobs only the handicapped latches type of openers.

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Ned - Glad you didn’t say it was really easy.🤠.

Jo - Nice digital from phone. Hatching on doorknob is well done. When you go to Home Depot or Lowe’s they are with mixed in with the round ones under doorknobs. Typically called ‘easy open latch’. Tough to find a house down here that does not have the. on the exits.

#2 bottle - these are over 20 years old when I first got serious about drawing and an artist at the Visual Art Center in Punta Gorda told me to learn to draw value first and suggested gathering an assortment of bottles and shapes to draw but first paint them all with gesso. I have used the cone, ball and square box a few times in Hunts. Thought I would draw them bigger the life so grabbed y. 9x12 sketchpad. Habit won as I started sight sizing I drew them to size LOL.


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Keep sketching and learning
Fletch
 
Fletch: Great execution of those bottles.... yes I love drawing them too.

Jo: Nice trees and good curves in door knobs...

PineCone: Welcome back... Nice sign.

Ned: Thanks... Wow... love the antique egg beater... such intricate details... you have done great on it.
 
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Jo -- interesting, almost watercolor-like blending in the colors. I don't think digital will ever be for me, but I can see why people would like doing it. I always like how you get different tones with an ink pen. Nice job on the latch/ doorknob.

Fletch-- oh, you painted the bottles with gesso! I get it. That's clever. Nice job on those tones.

There's always a lot of people at this place and I kind of rushed, oh well. This troll is called Pia the Peacekeeper.
#2 troll
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a photo:
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#3 boulder
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a photo:
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Robin, thanks so much.

Ai, thanks. I do try to leave whites, but it is hard. lol I like the lines on your perfume bottles. Nicely done.

Fletch, thanks for your comments on both of the lavender fields. I reposted "pepper guy" back in the other hunt too, but wasn't sure if anyone would look back there. Your keys and the fob came out great. You do such wonderful shading with graphite. Wowzer on the bottles. I like the idea of covering them with gesso.

Pine Cone, how great to see you joining us! You've been missed. I'm glad you remembered that you are welcome here any time! Thanks for your sweet comments about the lavender and the pepper guy. (I think he would love that we're calling him that. lol I spent a little time chatting with him and he seemed like a nice, friendly guy...even if my mouth was burning.) Love the sketch of the sign person with the imaginary background. It is great that you are working on shapes and practicing. Sometimes it is amazing that if you stop doing something for a little while you actually forget what you knew. I hope you continue working this way and enjoy what you are doing. That is the important thing.

Ned, great job on that old egg beater. How cool that it is from around 1908! Things like that are really hard to sketch without getting lost. Love your troll! They are always in such clever positions. I went to a botanical garden in Maine with my sister a few years ago and they had a few of the trolls there. They are such fun! I haven't seen any of them in my local area. Oh...and look at that fun boulder with the big lips...and another one hiding in the back. Fun sketch items.

Jo, I love your fun tree digital...sort of abstract a bit. Nice work on the door knob. Those are so useful!

Last night I met up with my Wed night sketch group. We went to a place that I've sketched so many times, so instead I inserted a figure into it since my friend, Mariann was facing me while she was sketching another scene.
3 - figure - watercolors and ink
4 - chair

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Today my friend and I went to the Vanderbilt Mansion and Museum. There were assorted buildings on the huge property and they all had a bit of a Spanish flair to their designs. It was a hot day, but we survived.
5 - building - watercolors

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6 - free space - watercolors and ink

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Ned — Thanks so much !!! ☀️ I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around trying to sketch that antique egg beater though 😵‍💫 Fantastic find 😃 and absolutely amazing sketch 👏 And all the same goes for your sketch of Pia the Peacekeeper. I’m grateful for the photos too — very cool !!!

Fletch — Aww thank you so much, and I hope you’re right 🙏 That gesso idea is interesting. It makes sense, and your sketch is excellent in every way !!! And the photo keeps making me do a double take. I look at it and think “milk” but then I see that the “milk” isn’t on the inside like it should be lol 😄

JoC — Thanks, and I’m glad it reminded you of New Mexico….. do you guys still go there at all? Love your Brushes sketch, with all those luscious shades of green merging into blue ☺️ And the 3D door knob is wonderful - it has a harmonious feel between the two parts and the shadows - very soothing 😌

Ai — Thanks so much ☀️

Joan — Thanks so much ☀️ I’m so grateful to be back 😅 I love what you said about the “pepper guy” lol 😂 Your sketches are so lovely, and I kept coming back to look at the second one, feeling like I could walk right up those stairs, or reach out and touch the beauifully rendered roof tiles. What a painting that is
🎨
 
Ned - Love the the Troll. The Rock face is fun. Nice work

Joan - all three are nice but have always loved Spanish architecture. You have truly gotten amazing with painting people. Proportions, fire shirt, perspective are alys accurate.

Jo, Robin, Pine Cone, Ai, Joe, & all you lurkers -👋🏽👋🏽👋🏽
 
Joan -- those are great. Like Pine Cone, I've gone back to look at the 2nd one again. Very different feel compared to the Vanderbilt mansion I visited a couple months ago called "Hyde Park" by the Hudson River.
 
All US. friends: Happy 4th of July !!!

Ned: Wow... fantastic "Troll" sculpture and the super "Rock"... I am loving your trip.

Joan: Wow... super sketches in all 3, I esp. love the intricate details of window frame of the Free space one.
 
2 - “Free Space” - Exxon logo above gas pump area

Note: I drew the logo itself from life, but the background of the second version is not from life. (See below.) I hope that’s okay ???

I was passing by, and realized the Exxon logo might be perfect for my Drawing Rehab Plan, which starts by re-learning lines and circles.

— Procreate app

— Apple pencil

— used 8 brushes from the standard Procreate brushes

— freehand……. I never use the Procreate feature that straigtens lines, or rounds out circles for the artist. Also, I never use the grid overlay that Procreate offers. However, those are valid artistic tools, and I don’t wish to discourage their use.

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tl:dr (“too long, don’t read”)

Full disclosure - I sketched the outline of the red letters outside in my mobile studio from a spot where I had a perfect face-on view of the Exxon logo up above the gas pumps. It was cloudy, and a tiny bit rainy, so I tried to incorporate that when I painted a simple gray background (later). I was exhausted, because it took forever, and so I filled in the letters later, indoors, and painted the simple gray background then.

Also, indoors, I made corrections to the letters. I hand-sketched a mini grid for each one as I went along. I’ll try to show a close-up of that below. I realize it would be more artsy and personal if I hadn’t done it that way, but for right now, my ONLY goal is to re-teach myself lines and circles………..

…… I want to keep it simple so I don’t get discouraged again.

…… I want to allow myself to make corrections so I can train my eyes and brain and hand in knowing what they can do together.

…… I never did get them truly right, but I’m making progress, so it’s okay even though the “E” is too tilty and close, and the “n” is way off, etc.

Anyway, just for fun, I used a copy of the previous version, and painted an imaginary supernova (not to scale😇) and also painted an imaginary charcoal night-sky background.

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1st pic shows how I corrected the “n” using a mini grid that I drew.

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2nd pic shows the finished sketch for SH164.

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3rd pic shows the supernova and new charcoal background I painted for fun.

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4th pic shows a zoom in where you can see the slight variations in the charcoal background, if interested.

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Pine Cone - the rainy day background is nice and very well done. LOVE the supernova version! 😎 Very creative.

Fletch

P.S. In your re-learning don’t forget we learn the most from our mistakes, so do not get discouraged when a sketch becomes a lesson. Take the Thomas Edison approach when asked about persevering with so many failures “I did not fail. I found 10,000 ways that will not work. “.
It’s all in the attitude!
 
Pine Cone, thanks for your comments about the buildings. While we were painting they came to do a wedding photo shoot in the courtyard so we had to leave for a while. So we sat outside on the grounds and did a different view. When the photos session was done we went back to finish what we had started. I like your Exxon logo with the supernova better than the real one. lol Your version is much more creative. I always have a problem with Procreate straightening my lines when I don't want them to be straight. I'm sure if I researched it I would learn how to make it stop, but I'm usually in the middle of a sketch when I have the problem again.

Fletch, thanks. I get to do a lot of people as part of several sketch groups. We all tend to sketch each other a lot. lol

Ned, this Vanderbilt mansion is on a hillside overlooking part of Long Island Sound. It required a bit of walking uphill and downhill.

Ai, thanks. I tried to channel some of my favorite sketchers like Shari who do more squiggles for the decorative elements around windows and such. I can't differentiate all the things made from those squiggles and lines. lol

This morning I sat across from the ferry terminal in Sayville.
7 - boat - watercolors and ink
8 - flag

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My mom has been gone for nearly 28 years, but the 4th of July is her birthday. After my parents moved up to Maine to live with my sister and her family some of us in the family almost always went up there to celebrate her birthday. That always involved lobsters for dinner. In her memory I still try my best (twist my arm) to have lobster on the 4th. We also usually had a cake decorated like an American flag with strawberries that were in season then. The Maine blueberries always were ripe later in the summer, so we had non-Maine blueberries on the cake. I usually skip the cake now.

9 - animal - watercolors and ink (This critter kept trying to escape while I was sketching him.)

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PineCone: Nice Exxon sign in digi with both background... I ditto Fletch of SuperNova fun.

Joan: What a fantastic boat view with extra tons of people and the super lobster sketch.

Me not so much going on... try to declutter my home, especially my art/work room ... slow progress... and I still suffer sleeping time jet-lag from my recent US. trip... but it gets better a bit today.... Uhm I should put down my "clutter" as sketch items then....lol
 
Everyone — I appreciate your kind comments so much and will be back soon to reply. But for now, I made a quick tutorial relating to a Procreate feature (below).

Joan — Thanks so much !!! It was fun to paint my first supernova 😂 Does that happen often where life intervenes in the middle of your sketching? It sounds like you and your sketching group are pretty flexible, and able to get a lot done no matter what 👏 You mentioned that Procreate is straigtening lines against your will 😳 Easy fix. I made a quick tutorial (below) for you and any other Procreate users who want to enable or disable line straigtening, or shape smoothing…..

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Finally I got to put (part of my clutter) to good use today ... I still have lots more unfinished sketchbooks and unneeded art supplies (not shown in the sketch). During past 20 years, I bought so much art supplies (to fill my void as my mom had asked me to stop do art/craft when I was young; she wanted me to keep reading sci-math textbooks) ... luckily, I was also good in sci-math and later got a Ph.D in computer science and make a living with that degree till today, but it had caused me to keep buying art stuffs whenever I have a chance ... Luckily, I now can identify that problem and try to minimize... but it still takes me time to declutter my art stuffs.

#3 Clutter -- mixed media (pencil + wc+ kido's oil pastel crayons) ... I have fun jotting this down, and I like each step, which brings different feel to me... so pls. bear with me posting them all... my art room's wall is in dark blue color.

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#4 Art supplies ... another part of my clutter ... done with a dip pen & Pelican brown ink, plus a little light dab of dark blue wc for shadow ... I seem to lost some pens in the sketch...

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Fletch — Thanks so much for your kind words and encouragement and quote and wisdom 😊 now and over these many years. Thank you so much.

Joan again — Beautiful to learn of your continuing love for your Mom and the traditions you still enjoy in her memory 💞 Amazing sketches in all their complexity and color!

Ai — Thanks so much !!! I hope you’re getting plenty of rest right now 🙏 Wow, those are wonderful sketches of your clutter !!! I keep coming back to look at them, and have been studying each stage of your tutorial 😍 I was moved by your story of how your creativity was discouraged when you were young. I feel sadness reading that….. Thinking of your artwork now, I’m all the more grateful that you can create such vivid, joyful, creative artwork, despite the void in your life growing up. Thank you for every sketch, and every painting, and every photo that you worked so hard to create and share with us during your busy life ❤️‍🩹
 
fletch, thanks. The trees were too quick. There is poison ivy or oak growing up the trunk of the smaller tree, it looks so neat but I couldn't get that different on the iPhone. Need to do a pastel. I love your bottles, such a good idea. You draw very, very well.

Hi there, Ai. Thanks. We had a great 4th with Joanna's birthday and kids (our old kids) here. Good day. Yes clutter is on the list, good luck. As I go down the page I see you sketched your sketchbooks. Fantastic! Thanks for the steps. And the art supplies. Your stuff is neat compared to mine.

Ned, thanks. I always like pen and then pastels the most. Digi takes longer and I have to relearn every time as I don't do it too often. I don't know anything about layers, I do use different "brushes" for textures. I try to not correct too much and use "undo" too much. Wow your troll is done so well. It is pretty big in real life. Wow. The painted rocks are fun! Some great finds in your Hunt!! Well done.

Joan, thanks so much. We are lucky that the house was all handicapped ready when we bought it. You had some great finds, too. I like the figure in the chair. Hard to capture those chairs. Your building has such fun architectural touches. Different, looks like Spain for sure. Great freespace wit the architecture on the windows/door. Lovely tree. Oh, love the boat and all the folks and flag. Wow... I remember about your mom on the 4th. I made the cake like that once when we were in South America. Joanna wanted flan this year so I made a chocolate cake for those that don't like custard and we called it America's birthday cake! Your lobster looks real. Yikes.

Pine Cone, hi again. We can't travel anymore. Gene's Parkinson's is restricting his walking/movement, memory problems and glaucoma so can't see out of his left eye, so no driving for him and no long distance for me. Don't worry about me, I am just slower on the draw. Pun intended. We go to PT 3 days a week, doctors, etc. So sketching time is when I get a few minutes. Thanks for the thoughts. Oh my, your letters are so perfect. I'm never that patient. I love the added charcoal with the different textures. Applause!!! I like what Fletch said about Edison.

I had respite care on Thursday for a few hours. Medicare pays for a few hours. First time to try it. It was good I went to lunch and sketched at the food truck place. It was cool enough to sit in the shade at the tables. Gene did OK. He was worried about me leaving him, but he liked the lady that came so we will try again next week.
Number 3 animal - the sculptures from the foundry place. Couldn't see the bottom of the letters, so don't know why it says Found only. It's a new exhibit area for the foundry and I haven't been in. The middle thing might be a unicorn, I couldn't really see it. The bear sort of has wings. The roundish animal is a pig or bear?? Looked like an elephant without a trunk. Hmmm. The longhorn is sort of abstract and I ran out of room to do it justice. A jeep parked there for last Hunt!
Number 4, Pink - the coffee food trailer ... huge menu of drinks, I just had a latte
Number 5, building - as I got in the car I saw I was across from the red fire trucks. Couldn't resist but ran out of time so did super quick sketch and added color at home.
Done in the large Canson mix media book with Ohuhu pens and watercolor. Half page each.

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