Catching Up for Now

My husband had an appointment at the VA dental office. It is in Prescott AZ, about 80 miles away so I packed candy and journal stuff to go along with me while I waited for him. The first picture is what I did while I waited. It's in the style of Alisa Burke who offers an ongoing class here.

I made a little travel palette to go in my journal in my purse. It takes up no room. In fact it sits inside my journal. It's made by cutting a piece of Sheer Heaven, a special plastic which can be used multiple ways as you can see here. I made it per the instructions found here. It worked really well as you can see.

And these are my latest pictures from Jane Davenport's class SuppliesMe. I plan on signing up for her next class!

Imaginary Trip to Italy

I have taken another Imaginary Trip with Laure Ferlita. We had a blast touring Italy. You could have fun too, taking these trips. I always learn something new. Sometimes I learn new things about the places we are "visiting" and I always learn more about painting with watercolor. There is an autumn trip coming up soon. Why don't you join me?

Mojave Green and Some More Self-Portraits

Oh, we had some excitement around our house this morning. Not good excitement either. I looked out about 15 minutes after I'd let two of our remaining dogs outside and this is what I saw. At first I couldn't believe I was seeing what I was so I called my husband over and he confirmed it. Another snake! This is a Mojave Green rattler which has two kinds of toxins, one for the muscles and one for the nervous system so the vaccines and antivenoms don't work well if a dog gets bit. Very, very dangerous. This one had 7 rattle buds so it was quite mature. At least we got this one before it got another of our dogs!

The other pictures are part of my ongoing self-portrait series with Violette
. I am not happy with my monkey face at all. My face needed to be out as far as the hair edges and then hair added beyond that. It would have made a lot of difference. Also, I think I have to watch the angle at which I hold a handheld mirror as it changed perspective on me and not for the better! Ah well, it's a learning process.

The second, blue and orange picture was done in ball point pen with watercolor added. I was trying to stay cool yesterday which I can as long as I stay indoors with the air-conditioning but it was 108 degrees outside. The official temp is never as high as we seem to get but we have three thermometers outside that all say the same thing. They are two different brands and in three areas of the yard so can they all be wrong? I think not. These were portraits nos. 7 and 8. I am quite a bit behind but that's okay with me. It's the journey, not the speed that counts here.

Hope you have happy events in your day!

Portrait Number 4 and a Journal Page

Portrait number four was done without looking at a reference. I just felt bad and drew that. I think it comes across! Hope you all felt better today than I did.

The birdbath is my sister's. She's moving to Japan to live with her son since she just can't make it in California on Social Security and a part-time job. She's only taking small items with her and although she loved this birdbath, it's too heavy to ship so I drew it. I wish I'd left the writing off so I could make a print for her. When I get refreshed on PSElements I might erase the lettering and print it out.

30 Self Portraits

Violette
is having a challenge over on her blog for 30 days of self-portraits. She's asking us to let everyone know in case they'd like to practice drawing, drawing faces or whatever. So now you know why I did the picture here. I haven't done many faces so I figure 30 of them will help my drawing them. We'll see won't we? Want to join me? They don't have to be lengthy sessions or realistically done. Want to scratch one out with a pencil in 5 minutes or paint one or do a cartoon? It's all okay. So come on! Join in with me.

Fun in the Garden

I had another fun trip with Laure Ferlita. This is another of the stay-at-home variety. It was called An Imaginary Trip to the Garden
and we all had a delightful time sharing critters and flowers and such. These are the pictures I painted. Laure gives lots of leeway for you to personalize your "trip". Why don't you try a trip of your own?

Just Practice Work

 I was practicing dewdrops for a class I am taking with Laure Ferlita.  This one is a Trip to the Garden and she might have a second one coming up.  These seemed pretty hard at first but are fun once you get the hang of it.  I resorted to a magnifying glass when I tried the teensy tiny ones on the flower you see at the bottom of the Dewdrops page!

The other page was simply boredom last night and a desire to do a bit of practice with my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.  I played it loose and fast both with the pen and the subsequent watercolor.  This is in a Strathmore journal filled with drawing paper so it's not really made for the watercolor.  I think it worked fine as I got in some drawing practice and painting practice but I also found out this ink doesn't dry quickly on this paper.  I had several minutes between drawing and painting but my ink still smeared.  It didn't matter so much with this page but it could on others.

Since I am always wondering how large a page people are working

on I thought I would mention the top pic is on a 5.5 x 7.5 inch page  and the bottom pic is on a 9 x 12 inch page.

Hope you have a wonderful, creative day.

New Pages

I am back home from California. My Skoshi dog is doing fine now that the blockage is gone from her intestines and I am catching up on blogging and some painting.

The bee picture was done because my youngest granddaughter has moved beyond truly loving all animals to including some of the insect world. She likes bees now even though her sister and a friend have both been stung recently. There is an avocado grove on the hill behind their house and the owner imported bees which have decided this granddaughter's swimming pool is a good water source for quenching their thirst after a hard day pollinating trees! Anyhow, I told her I'd show her a quick way to draw a bee so she and one of her sisters grabbed their composition book journals and we drew bees and daisies. They did a great job and I wish I had thought to scan in their versions but then again, this youngest granddaughter wouldn't have allowed me to share anyhow - she is beyond shy.

With nothing to do one morning while all the kids were doing schoolwork (being homeschooled), I drew one of the family dogs. This little dog is a rescue dog. She's perfect for my granddaughter and was dressed up in such a cute little dress. I had to try drawing her. Painting her was a bit more difficult but I think I got the gist of her down.

The last pic is of my Pandora kitty. She was sitting this morning, where she could see me, the dogs and the canary, Taxi. I thought she made a simple shape the way she was lying down so grabbed a Tombow pen and quickly drew her. Good thing I was being quick because no sooner than I began and she up and took off for a better spot leaving me to finish without my model! With this pen I just had to add a bit of water to have the essence of a painting. I thought it looked like a Chinese or Japanese sumi ink painting so I added a bit of origami paper and made my date look like one of their little stamps. The writing is a bit of haiku (minus the word Pandora) I made up for the page.

Now I have to catch up with some lessons I am behind on. Hope you all have a good day.

Happy Mother's Day - Mitzi's view

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!  Hope you have a wonderful day. 

We celebrated yesterday as everyone but my mistress are going to Disneyland today.  Mistress says that's fine with her as she'd rather spend the day with just us dogs for a change.  No people unless she decides to go out somewhere to eat. 

The girls picked such lovely flowers it was a shame not to try drawing them.  The scanner lightened the picture quite a bit but we can only do a basic scan with no adjustments since it's not our scanner (don't have the software to do all the adjusting).  The vase was on a brownish table so I painted what I was seeing and should have painted that part to how I was going to have the background on my paper which is good to learn if I want to make pictures that aren't journal entries.  No pencil was used here; it was straight penwork and then painting. 

We are having a good visit even if it was due to Skoshi (one of Mistress' other dogs, a shih-tzu) having a stomach blockage from swallowing a rawhide chip.  She was rehydrated, given barium and lots of xrays but not the surgery we thought she might have to have.  We are all relieved but now we don't get to chew on the rawhide strips anymore.  I hope Mistress finds something else yummy for us to chew on. 

Note by Timaree:  I know Roz's International Fake Journal Month is over but Mitzi hasn't filled her small journal so we will continue till it is filled.  Besides, it's fun!

Poolside

Some days were cloudy and cool, some were cloudy, cool and rainy and some days during my trip to California were sunny and gorgeous.  This was one of the sunny days.  Mistress' son-in-law was kind enough to sweep the spider webs off the chairs by the pool so she could sit and enjoy the sunshine.  She thought it was too sunny and wished she'd worn a hat but I enjoyed all that sunshine. 

The kids decided to go swimming but weren't in too long.  A sunny day doesn't mean overly warm when a cool breeze is blowing.  The kids enjoy sitting in the spa and then jumping in the pool straight from it.  That's a bit too high a jump for me; I prefer the wide shallow steps at that far left corner in my painting.  The pool was actually a deeper teal color more like the tile work but I wanted the tile to show up separately so I took what my mistress calls "artistic license" and made it bluer (the pool has a very dark teal pebble lining).  The kids enjoy the cave.  I hear a bird is building a nest inside and I wonder if I was here when the eggs were laid or hatched if I could reach it.  Wouldn't that be a tasty snack?  This is sure a fancy pool and rather larger than the one we have at home.  You can see my pal Sarah in the one we have.  A bit of a come-down don't you think?  And we certainly can't both sit in that little thing at the same time.  A dog's life isn't always easy I can tell you!

Drat That Cat

We are back in Simi Valley. It's cloudy and cool but not so wet I can't go out. Once while I was out with Mistress but on a leash, I saw Ashley sitting in the front yard near some bright orange flowers. (Mistress says they are nasturtiums and we can eat them but I prefer her fig tree's leaves back home that she doesn't allow me to eat). I tried really hard to paint Ashley but she is just a fluffy hunk of gray. I also really wanted to chase her down but there is that issue of being on a tight leash, hmpph! When I am indoors I can't chase her because she hisses at me and that worries me just enough to keep me from trying it plus there are other cats in the house and I wouldn't want them to gang up on me. One of them, a black cat, weighs almost what I do or at least it seems that way and he takes a swipe with his claws at anyone who walks by so I don't mess with him indoors or out.

The bird was a different story. This time I was inside looking out while Mistress waited for her coffee to brew. She tried to take a picture of this bird we saw outside just sitting so nicely at leaping height on top of a shovel stuck into the ground (these people are finally working on the weeds) but didn't get her camera fast enough so I painted it from memory for her. Doesn't that bird look good enough for a quick treat?

I sure hope you are all having a great day. I really appreciate you all coming to see my pictures and hear how my trip is going.

Taking a Break

Hi once again everyone. I'm sorry about the skewed picture. I had to ask Mistress to take a photo as we are at her sister's house in Fallbrook now and we can't get hooked up to her scanner right now.

We've been so busy it's taken a few days to get this done and posted. We went to see a cheapo property for sale with a small mobile home on it in Hemet. The realtor didn't show up the first day and it's an hour's drive so Mistress was a bit upset but she got to talk about it with her sisters and we got to see two dogs who live at the home next door. They were pretty large dogs but I am bigger and a bit more refined (at least I hope). They seemed friendly enough and after saying hello a few times, they settled down. They were behind a fence so we couldn't properly get to know each other. (Mistress deemed the property unfixable which is sort of what she expected as it was only $36,000.00 in California. Yes, that's really unreal isn't it?

Anyhow, back to the subject here. We went out to sit on the patio here at Cherrie's and it feels like a nice room. It's really pleasant except that two of the chairs just aren't my style. Mistress finds them comfortable enough and was kind enough to leave the 3 seater swing for me. I didn't swing but it felt so good to be able to stretch out for a bit. It's lovely here in Fallbrook. It's still a bit cool except midday but it's so green! I love it.

Hope you all have a great day. I'm going back outside to sniff the pretty flowers and maybe, just maybe, the neighbors cat will try to go through the yard while I am out there. Oh, won't he get a surprise?

This is Food?

Mistress and I drove from Simi Valley to Oceanside, California and saw some very pretty bits (tiny bits) of ocean and pretty hillsides which I need to figure out how to paint but right now, it was what was in front of me (or not) that I want to concentrate on. James is a vegan. I am a poodle and never the twain shall meet so to say! His table had a nice pretty bowl on it and the colors were wonderful but let's face it, a poodle does not want an orange or a Minneola (such fancy terms these humans have for something not really edible as far as I am concerned). He won't even allow meat in the house like pepperoni on a pizza - boy, isn't that sounding good to me now! So anyhow, I drew what was available wishing it were something else but life is what it is and I'm grateful for the fenced yard with grass in it and that he lets me up on the couch. The sun was shining too so overall it was great but, oh well, I'll be home soon enough where I'll get eggs and bacon, cheese and hamburger, pork chops and steak.... excuse the drool okay?

Ladybird - Huh!

Well, while Mistress was taking all those photos I went after the fun bug. I chased the flies! I am always chasing the flies. When I am at home and even here in Simi Valley. Flies are fun. They buzz around and just invite me to catch them. I haven't gotten one yet but someday I will. So Mistress can have the boring ladybugs or ladybirds, as some people call them and I will continue chasing the good ol' fly. Want to join me?

Hmmm, maybe I should darken that pink background. What do you think? Is it as bright and distracting to you as it is to me? I mean, I'm pretty used to seeing things pink since every time I look at myself that's all I see but this might be a tad too much.

Out Walking

Ah, today was a gloriously sunny, warm day. Just a tad of breeze, enough to carry so many wonderful scents (and a few less wonderful) to my nose. Mistress took me for a nice long walk. She tired out long before I was ready to quit but I have to cut her some slack as she only has two legs to my four!

We walked to a park where just a couple of kids were playing and through a housing area where we saw rabbits. No, I did not chase them. I am more dignified than that - at least while in the city! We saw a lady walking towards us and Mistress got excited. She said it was someone whose blog she reads and from whom she'd love to take a class on making books. Her name is Roz Stendahl I found out. She seems to like dogs well enough but I'm not sure she liked my pink hair coloring. (I'm not always sure I do either as I don't see any others this color although Mistress says there are a few). It was wonderful and when we got home we sat out back and I watched Mistress try to take photos (first she had to find some new batteries and then play with the focus thing a lot). Anyhow, I thought I would paint the lady we met in my journal since Mistress seemed to think it was a big deal. Hope you all have as wonderful a day as I did.

Having Fun - Mitzi

Hi everyone. Mitzi here. We are having a good time so far. As I mentioned before, the weeds surprised me. We get them in Arizona in the spring but never so big and tall! Tena has been weeding pathways through them for her kids but we dogs sure appreciate it too since we have to make several trips out there everyday. I drew a few of the weeds that are growing but I don't really know what the names are for them. One is just some kind of grass. I know because that's what it tasted like when I tried it.

A German Chocolate cake was waiting for Mistress when we arrived. I got a chewy bone of some sort. I get lots of doggy treats here but not as much of table food as I get at home. Change is good I keep telling myself.

Everyone has gone off to Disneyland now so Mistress and I are taking good care of my new friends Buddy and Lolli, the rabbits (they are fun to watch and so much fatter than the bunnies running around my yard at home), the cats and the birds. This house holds more animals than at home. It even has 4 children but like I said, they've gone to Disneyland. I'm trying hard to do a good job. I bark if anyone comes to the door. You never know who could be there so I want to make sure Mistress is warned. She'd rather I barked just once but I like to give a bit of warning so she just has to get over that nonsense and let me protect her the best I can.

I wonder what else we'll be doing while we are here. I hear she'll take me for a walk to see more than just this neighborhood. Stay tuned.

Mitzi's Trip - Day One

It was a beautiful day for a trip. The sun was shining and it was warm. I jumped in the car as Mistress was loading it. I sure didn't want to be left behind! I worried most of the way that she didn't bring any food for me so when we got to Tena's house the first thing I looked for was my bag of food. I was so relieved when I found it.

It was a great trip; we only hit a few slowdown spots on W210. Some nasty old guy honked at us when we had to brake suddenly when everyone in front of us stopped suddenly. He should have seen that Mistress had no choice but to stop fast. That part of the trip made me nervous. I enjoyed the bits of Sausage McMuffin Mistress saved for me and I enjoyed getting out at the McDonald's in Barstow to walk on the newly watered grass and get a drink from the bowl of water she brought for me.

Then I saw, and I haven't drawn it in my journal yet, a bridge going over the freeway with lots of little trees on it. I thought how my boyfriend, Pierre would love to walk across it stopping at each one of those trees as the boys like so much to do. I'll have to draw that to show him when I get home but first I was so surprised at the weeds growing taller than me in Tena's yard from all the rain they've had! I am busy drawing them right now. I'm sure I'll have lots more to tell you soon but right now it's time to visit with Buddy and Lolli-pup!

Mistress says to say hello to everyone and thanks you all for the good wishes for a safe trip.

Odds and Ends

 I've finished this house picture I've worked on at times over the last two years.  I started it before I began using watercolor.  It's in my moleskine journal and I used watercolor pencils which work in that book unlike watercolor.  This is purely imaginary; a fun escape when I wasn't feeling so cheerful. 

The bluish faced creature is me!  This was done as an exercise suggested in the group The Sketchbook Challenge.    This is a blind contour drawing done in white crayon on white paper so you can't see it even if you peek.  I stood in front of a mirror and drew what I saw, then painted over it all with aqua.  The outline showed up but I went back and wiped out as much blue in the face as possible and added more realistic colors.  One person who saw it on flickr

said it looked like I was looking up from under some water

which I think fits.  My eye got a little off to the side and it's

not any great piece but it was fun and I plan to try it again.

The next piece is a bookmark I made after the bigger picture that looks similar.  I did these in Jane Lafazio's style with the bigger one made for a class of hers I am currently taking at Joggles.  This is ink without using pencil first and then adding watercolor.  I got the pink too dark on the large picture so really went lighter on the bookmark.  It looks better.  I'm having fun in this class and if you are wanting a beginner's course in watercolor journaling this might be the ticket for you.  It's fun even if you aren't a total beginner.

Hope you all have a great weekend!