EDM 199 - Draw your toe

"Draw your toes". What a delicious excuse for a much-needed mid-winter pedicure. For the last few years, my mom and I have gone together to get pedicures at the spa. At first, I was a little uneasy about having strangers touch my feet. But the results were so nice that I quickly got over than. A few years ago, my mom gave me a home pedicure set that I use occasionally in the winter. It has some lovely peppermint lotion that makes my feet feel so good. So before I drew my toe(s), i freshened them up. Because really, who wants to see calloused, cracked toes. After all our feet do for us, they deserve some pampering and some maintenance.
This is Faber Castell brush pens in the Moleskine sketchbook I'm really liking these brush pens. They work really well on the smooth paper of this sketchbook. And the colors are lovely and clean and fresh.

EDM 198 - Draw some noodles

Procrastination was my major strategy when it came to this challenge. How to draw noodles without getting lost in the sinuous curves of a whole bowlful of fettucine or rotini? Trying to imagine it made my head hurt. I tried to think of ways to simplify the process, and thought that maybe I could just do the last bite of spaghetti twirled around a fork. That was less difficult to imagine. As I walked home from work, I also idly imagined that maybe Shawn will have started supper and maybe he chose to made spaghetti. What are the odds of that? When I got home, I saw a big pot of water on the stove - the pot in which we usually cook spaghetti. Could it be? "What's for supper?", I asked casually, wanting to believe that all the planets fell into the proper alignment to grant my wishes. "Spaghetti", he said. Seriously, how awesome is that? So after I ate, I set up this little still life on my lovely Corel Irises plate. It was meant to be.

This is done with my brand new Faber Castell brush pens. They are gonna take a little getting used to as far as technique goes. But I like them so far.

Trio of Pears

This is the sketch I did of the photo for October's Virtual Sketch date. It was taken by Belinda Lindhardt. I missed the deadline for the actual sketchdate, so I was unsure of whether I could post it or not. But I enjoyed doing this so much that I wanted to share it. The photo was so stunning that it inspired me. Those of you who have read this blog before know how fruits and vegetables make my artistic soul sing, and I knew I had to do it. I enjoyed every minute of this process. This is why I paint!

Belinda's lovely blog is here.

Watercolor in Moleskine watercolor journal 5x7"

EDM 197 - Draw a remote

This was a timely challenge for me. We recently changed our cable TV provider and bundled all our services together with the new digital TV offerings. So now we have 155 channels, and these shiny new, universal remotes. Everyone knows that the person who controls the remote, controls everything. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. In our house, we have two TVs and two remotes. I live with a news junkie whose favorite channel is Business News Network, and he now has a whole range of news channels to surf including European and Asian news and business. He's a happy guy as he's been recovering from knee surgery and has been off work and bored. I get the network channels and Space and Scream. I know it sounds as if we never speak to each other, but that's not so. We come together for movies and the Food Network!

Staedtler fine line pen and watercolor pencil in Moleskine sketchbook. No water was wasted in the execution of this sketch.

This is watercolor and micron pen in the Moleskine sketchbook. There's not much to say about this one, except that I really liked the way the shadows of the tines lay. This would be a very meager posting if not for the fact that I've been tagged in one of those blog games that floats endlessly about cyberspace. EWian, a member of the EDM group has kindly asked to know more about by having me reveal six random things about myself. You can find EWian's six random things here

http://ewian.blogspot.com/2008/11/tagged.html

For those who want to know about me, here goes:

I work as a library technician in a college/university. I've been there for 16! years, and mostly still look forward to going to work every day. Of course, having 3 months off each summer has a lot to do with that.

I am an avid gardener, and although I live in townhouse condo, I do my best with the small space I have. My neighbors have told me that I single handedly improved the condo appearance by upping the standards for those who live around me. Now we all garden together, and have created a lovely spot.

I also love to cook and bake bread. I recently wore out my old bread machine. Buns are rising even as I type this.

I'm a Gossip Girl addict. I can't stop watching it. Seriously! What's wrong with me?

I love to travel and am currently researching Mediterranean cruises. Previous trips included 3 jaunts to various parts of Mexico.

And lastly, I secretly wish I was a much more exciting person!

Here are some people I would like to know more about:

Timaree http://freebirddrawing.blogspot.com/

Winna http://winnasworld.blogspot.com/

Leigh http://findingmywings-leighbunkin.blogspot.com/

Sandy http://myfiddlestix.blogspot.com/

kazumiwannabe http://kazumiwannabe.blogspot.com/

And lastly, an open invitation to all the newcomers to EDM. I would love to learn more about you!

The rules:1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Write six random things about yourself.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.

5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

EDM 192 - Float

This is what the swimming pool looked like the last time I was in it for Deep Water workout class. Usually the pool is divided into three sections. One half of the pool is dedicated to the Cascades swim team. They are young kids who are very enthusiastic and noisily cheer each other on and occasionally break into a spontaneous game of Marco Polo. The other half of the pool has our class at the deep end. We use music and an instructor's encouragement and leadership. The shallow end is used for little kids' individual swimming lessons. It's a very noisy and energetic place. Last week the Cascade kids were on a break and when I came in this lone beachball was floating rather florlornly on the surface. It looked so lonely and sad, and the pool seemed that way too until we came in. Our noise and turbulence made the ball bob up and down a little and it seemed to dance on the surface. It seemed the perfect thing for this challenge.

Watercolor pencil in Moleskine 5"x7".