New art supplies!!! WOYWW #24

Dear Friends, 

Happy Wednesday!  I am enjoying the day off due to ice.  I know I will be unhappy about this in June, but right now I am seizing the day and painting.  I wanted to show you some of the art supplies that I work with daily. 

 My wonderful hubby and I went this past Sunday to my favorite art store in the world- Utrechts.  Seriously, angels sing when I walk through their door.  Before I knew it I had dropped $80 and that was only with me basically running out of the store. 

My husband kept saying, "Don't you need one of these?"  

Me (eyes closed)"No!" Don't even show me!!" 

So I bought my favorite paper, a block of Arches cold press watercolor.  I am also trying a new type of paper that has a vellum feel, Utrechts brand.  The watercolor palette is the one I use the most- Yarka brand, made in Russia.  I also bought Pitt pens, brushes, eraser, and a new x-acto knife.  I hope you enjoyed my new supply tour, now I'm off to paint with my delightful toys! :)

Why do all my plants die?? WOYWW #23

 

Dear Readers,
 As you can read from the post title, this is a slightly shamefaced admittance that as a botannical illustrator, ALL of my plants die.  I can illustrate the life out of them, just not keep them alive!  I guess it just isn't my gift.  The problem that this leads to is that I have nothing to draw in the winter.  These pictures are of an African Violet that is currently ending its life on my studio table.   I was so excited when I got it as a present- I even bought African Violet food!  But nothing worked and now it is dying.  Sniff.  So I'm drawing its slow ending of life.


 

Season's Greetings! WOYWW #22

 

Dear Friends,

Season's Greetings!

Since next Wednesday is Christmas, I doubt I will be putting out a post!  But I wanted to share with you what happened with me that definitely put me in the Christmas spirit.  On Friday I found out at school that 49 families were going to be without presents due to a mix up in communication.  I teach in a very low-income area and I knew there was a chance my students might not get presents at all because of this.  I went home and posted on Facebook about the situation, and before I knew it people were sending me checks and presents in the mail!  It was so overwhelming and wonderful!! I spent all day Sunday fetching and buying presents for my students.  As of today I have received a total of 79 gifts!  It was unbelievable!  So out of gratitude to these wonderful people I did a little painting of a holly leaf as a thank you for each of them.

 A Christmas miracle indeed! 

 May God Bless all of you this season.

Liz

 

Snow days and guilt- WOYWW #21

Dear Friends,
Hello!  For the past two days we have had snow days in our state.  I'm pretty sure I'm back to work tomorrow, but it has been pretty nice.  What wasn't nice was what came to visit this afternoon- a whole big whopping load of guilt.  I felt suddenly horribly guilty because I hadn't spent the last two days in my studio painting.  The truth of the matter is I have been forcing myself into the studio lately.  It has felt more drudgery than joy,  I don't know if this is the winter blues or just a rough patch in my painting life, but I was very frustrated with myself.   I guess my question is- does this happen to you?  And if so, what do you do to shake yourself out?  It really was a very nice two days, with lots of reading and resting.  I just feel I wasted time I could have spent painting.   Either way, this is what I've been working on when I do get in here.  I also have a picture of my in-laws dog next to the photograph that I worked from.  Hope you are all staying safe and warm this Wednesday!

Holidays are coming! WOYWW #20

Dear Readers,

Happy Wednesday!  I am sure that you are busy, so thanks for taking the time to stop by.  I know what the holiday season can be like.  So this year I am trying to slow down by planning ahead.  Most of my gifts are purchased and wrapped, thanks to online shopping.  ( I am a recent, but BIG fan!)  This also saves on the stress of fighting the crowds.  So since I have a little extra time than I otherwise would have done I am taking that time for making of gifts.  This top picture is a image of my in-law's adored dog, Luke.  I am making a drawing of him even though I usually draw flowers.  It was tough!  I am rusty at drawing anything besides flowers.  I need to keep my hand in!  (This is my 3rd attempt. You're not allowed to see the others)  The next shot shows all the holiday themed flowers I am working on!   I am painting holly, as well as some others I will show next week.

I hope that you find time to relax this coming holiday season.

 

 

 

What keeps me fueled... WOYWW # 19

Dear Friends,
Hello!  Happy Wednesday WOYWWers!  I thought it would be fun to take a picture of exactly what I use to keep motivated when I'm painting.  I don't know if I mentioned it on the blog yet, but I LOVE Starbucks.  Yes, it's expensive, but...yum.  I try to keep it to once a week.  Also in this picture are some of my husband's candy stash that I snuck to go with my coffee.  Hopefully he doesn't read this post.  :)  I am still painting at least a line a day, and I am happy to report that I painted every day this past week!  So progress. 

I also didn't want to blog without mentioning that all of you who were affected by the storm in the Phillipines are in my prayers. 
Prayers for all of you today, and God Bless.

Painting in the Dark-WOYWW#18

Dear Friends,
Well, it has been 2 and a half weeks since I started my "not a day without a line" challenge, and so far I've missed 4 days.  I'm doing ok, not great.  I am pretty happy with how my painting is turning out, and I've begun another painting of my in-law's dog for their Christmas present.  I'm not sure how that one is going to go- I don't usually paint animals.  But I'm giving it a go! I'll keep you posted.  Happy Wednesday!