Field Experiment #8

Leslie's Results
This has been a crazy busy week for me. I can't even go into how nutty it has been. I've had several hour and a half long commutes and simply a ton of work. I finished my Thank You ATC project for AJ Ning this week. I still made time to draw in the Field Notes. Picking up the little sketchbook has and immediate relaxing effect no matter the subject or time of day.

Jane's Results
One of my drawings this week–my sunglasses–I did during a lunch break from work. I walked down to a small park and sat on a bench. My glasses become the subject of my drawing that day. I experienced the same immediate relaxing results as Leslie talks about. Seriously, this was a two minute drawing.

My father had a heart attack this week. He's fine. In fact he's home already (against his Dr.'s advice) but the doodles on page one, including the man were done while talking on the phone dealing with my aging parents.

The last drawing was from a very weird dream I had Saturday night. She was so vivid in my dream I just had to record her. My first glance of her was of her giant long toenails and as I gazed up I noticed her dark fine feathers and her beak. I could not see any eyes. I was being asked, (in my dream) to help to make her feel comfortable and not self conscious. I woke up at this point feeling challenged.

Challenge! Look Up, Look Down

Today you'll need to change your gaze, look up and down, side-to-side and all around.

Field Experiment #7

Leslie's Results
I’ve been able to spend much of the week off from the DayJob. It’s been a  welcome and relaxing staycation where I’ve focused on not much else than making art and drinking coffee. I’ve been focusing my efforts of art making on the thank you ATC for the members of ArtJournaling.ning.com so I haven’t drawn in my sketchbooks as much as I normally would. But I did make some time to work in the Field Notes over the last few days.

Jane's Results
This first drawing is the corner of my desk. I stayed in for lunch but resisted the pull to just work. I took a few minutes to draw. Then later in the week I worked in color in two sketchbooks I needed to mail to my grand daughter. We have a sketchbook exchange that has slowed down recently.  Then I did a few little sketches back in the field  notes on Saturday. This week I am going to try to more random little sketches in the field notes. The size and paper begs for doodling mindlessly. I've always been a phone doodler so this week at work I will keep my book open all day long and just doodle.

This is my pencil holder. It's filled mostly with colored highlighters and pens. Not fun pens. Just regular functional ball point pens...which can be fun too if you let them play.

Saturday was a beautiful day. We were just sitting in a small park talking about how nice the day was and trying to do a little sketching. This couple sat down at the table next to us to have ice cream. I could not believe how thin this woman's arms were. I exaggerate but jeez! I think I would gain 5 pounds on the spot if I ate ice cream.

Challenge! Meaning

Find meaning in something that has no meaning to you.

Field Experiment #6

Leslie's Results

It's been an action packed week here. I've spent a lot of it running around to various and assorted places. I made time to get to the Farmer's Market and buy a few more tomatoes, and I couldn't not resist drawing them again. This time I didn't wait until I was starving and actually cooking to draw them.

While moving the lawn furniture while mowing them lawn we found a small speckled shell from an egg. I'm unsure if the baby bird hatched or if another bird or cat ate the baby bird just as it hatched. It was in perfect shape on the lawn chair, so it was a weird spot for the shell.

 While on one of my walks I found a few snails. I took the opportunity to examine them closely and draw them.

Jane's Results

This was a hot week and I hadn't drawn anything all week long. By Friday I was fried on many levels. By the time I got to my back porch to sit down and relax I had a very bad headache. I think it was sinus and allergy related but it was consuming me.

But I sketched anyway. Drawing this little guy actually gave me a little relief. It's been so hot that I spent most of my relaxing time this weekend on my back porch. I started Saturday morning with coffee there. This is my coffee cup. I have one cup of coffee in this cup every morning and I never use the cup for anything else.

The little bug on the bottom is how I image those heat bugs look like that you hear on the hot summer days. I don't think I've ever seen one and I don't have a clue what they really look like. I have to admit though, they do produce one of my favorite sounds.

Challenge! Divergent Paths

For one day take a different path. Look for the out of the ordinary. Be different.

We See the Sketchbook Project

Jane and I ventured over to LynnArts to see the amazing Sketchbook Project. The subtitle is “an art project for everyone.” The amazing thing is that they have accomplished that goal. Walking in you’re greeted by the friendly staff and directed to sign up for a library card at a shiny computer. After you get your card you scan it and select the theme you’d like to see. After which point you mosey on over to the pick up station and librarians pass you your 2 books. Then you sit and peruse the books.

We arrived early and were among some of the first people signing up. After that we took in the vibe of the room, upbeat and cheery, though it was a blistering million degrees outside. In the center of the room was a reading table, a drop off table and then in one corner was the Tour Mail table. Myself, Jane and a group of kids sat around the table, read the sketchbooks and drew. Prismacolor kindly donated free markers to the tour and we were able to use them and to take one home. I’m glad I got there early, one kid spent his time smashing the tips on markers. Funny thing about the new Prismacolor brush tips, they survived his abuse well. I did my thing and sketched people and at one point I had a kid draw some fireworks on the shirt of the person. So if you’re from Toronto you can get a collaboration between myself and Sam.

I was able to look at 8 books while I was there and the selections were delightfully variant. One person was clearly an art journaler, another a sketcher, another book was done entirely in oils, and several were done by children. It was so interesting and so fun to be able to flip through the sketchbooks of a variety of people who are all so different in style and theme. I saw several from Australia, a few more from the US, one from Canada and several from Massachusetts. One from Massachusetts was filled entirely with block prints from elementary school kids.

Jane and I decided we had to sign  up and get our own sketchbook for the project.  We’ll be passing it back and forth until it’s filled. I’m already bursting at the scenes to fill it up. After I’d signed us up I was interviewed by Japanese TV for a piece on the project. I wasn’t the most eloquent I’ve ever been so most likely my star moment will be left on the cutting room floor but it was neat.

I found the whole thing artistically invigorating. The nature of the project is democratic, so long as you can afford the $25 fee for the sketchbook and the money to ship it back to them. Anyone can contribute. Some people don’t even write their name, email or website inside the book. In the end I had no way of tracking down the people whose art I perused while there. I really enjoyed the Tour Mail part of the experience. back when I was teaching I always wanted to spend time just drawing with the kids, but I was never able to because I also had to keep them under control. Those kids were pure creative energy.

Anyway, If you get a chance to see the Sketchbook Project in your area do it. As I suggested on twitter, do it even if you have to schedule a vacation around it. It’s very much worth it.

Field Experiment #5

Leslie's Results:
This was a hard week for me get to drawing. I've been super busy with a bunch of things. In the end I did make some time on my lunch break and on the weekend to draw. I find drawing on my lunch break super relaxing. I'm probably going to try and do that more often.

Jane's Results:

I had a great week. Having a day off in the middle of the week really works for me. ;-). All of my drawing was done on my back porch this week. In fact I worked in two other sketchbooks as well. My daisies are coming in and like many flowers, the more you pick them the better they come in. So this is my daisies.

Our porch is our favorite place to hang out in all seasons really. My husband was reading so he was sitting relatively still for him. He really doesn't like when I draw him but he is the one I'm around the most.

I have never had any luck with growing Ivy until I began to leave it on the back porch all year round. I am trying to capture depth in these little sketches and a plant, like my ivy which has branches reaching out and an underside that i in the shadows, is a good subject to try. As much as I like the shapes of the leaves, I am trying to capture the overall shape and shading here.

Challenge! Take a Moment

Take a moment, look around you, breath and think.

Field Experiment #4

Leslie's Results:
This week was less busy in one sense than the last but still I found time to work in my Field Notes. I sketched a quick tomato from the farmer's market on the page. I was really itching for a watercolor wash on this one but it would ruin the previous pages. I also did a quick sketch of my Izze ginger ale I had as a treat on a particularly hot day. I also lamented that my former "smart" phone is no longer so smart and seems to have issues with memory and what not. Oh well. I also had to blur out a section with a pro/con list I made. The joy thing on the right is from my frozen yogurt cone I got in Boston.

Jane's Results:

It's been a really busy week. Lot's going on in life plus it's hot. My sketches are pretty pathetic this week but I did doodle two pages. One day I sketched new baby Ryan from a photo on my iphone. I had to sketch quickly because the phone kept going black. I really didn't relax enough this week so it was hard to sketch.

Saturday I had to be out of my house because the plaster/drywall guys were drywalling my kitchen. I tried to find a spot down by the water. I sketched this sailboat and a couple of people in the  water and a quick sketch of a guy talking to some people, but then he left.

I also sat on my back deck and tried to sketch the different layers of trees. It's hard to capture the texture and depth of the layers of trees in front and back.

But drawing branches like this does appeal to my sense of line.