Rose Welty

Thinking about Where I Want to Go

Painted these flowers from life the other night. I was rather frustrated with this. As I am taking a painting class soon, I probably need to verbalize what it is that is frustrating me.

Here goes:

• Wasn’t able to get enough red into these. The flowers themselves where a very “fall” sort of color a brownish, reddish, orangey yellow, if I had to specify. :D
• The middle was yellow and green, only having green there looked odd. So I added the stems and leaves – not so successful that.
• There just isn’t a great amount of depth here, no modeling or form.
• I still need to do some work on forming petals with a brush.
• I’m not even attempting shading or an environment around the flowers.

Sorry to go on here, it helps me to think through what I am looking for and where my next step will be.

Sweat, Walk, Sweat, Draw, Repeat

Saturday I needed to get my commandos out of the house for a bit. I decided that we could go to the zoo for an hour or so. At first suggestion they all responded, “we’ll just get hot and sweaty. It won’t be fun.” Desperate to make this idea work (my husband needed a quiet house), I said, “oh, but you can bring your new journals and write down a new fact about bats.” As they love the bat cave, they enthusiastically agreed.

Off we plowed into the 100 degree weather. For those that don’t know, the bat cave is at the very top of the zoo, a good long walk from the entrance. As we started in the boys all grabbed their notebooks and pens and started drawing. We drew the kudu, the saddle-billed storks, a bear, a bald eagle, a mountain lion, a jaguar, a bat, a beetle, and a few butterflies before we were done. Honestly, it was thrilling, I didn’t ask them to draw animals, they just wanted to do it. They were having such fun I didn’t hear any complaining about the heat. As we were walking back all three of them said it was one of their best times at the zoo ever and they would never forget the day.

Such fun for me. I love it that my sons like to draw. Drawing has always been an escape for me, I can just get lost in a drawing and forget whatever stress is going on around me. Apparently, my sons share that and it is a joy to me!

I managed the above quick sketch while they were drawing the bear. Oh, and for my sketchercise friends, once I get that pedometer I’ll let you know how far to the bat cave – a good workout regardless in the heat.

Daring to Foreshorten

Started this drawing on Friday evening, I was just too tired to paint. Of course, as I got going it occurred to me that there is a horrendous amount of foreshortening in this drawing…perhaps not a good choice for a tired lady. But, just as I was about to whine and put it away in frustration, that little voice in my head said, “you’d tell a friend to suck it up and just get lost in the drawing and forget the fatigue.” So, as I was daring myself, I just went ahead and plowed on – so glad I did – I hate it when I wimp out on myself. After all, foreshortening is just like any drawing challenge, it’s all there before you, you just need to look carefully at it. :D

A few months ago I came upon this scene one morning. I was busy doing something and peeked my head into the studio to see what the boys were doing. My eldest was reading a story to his younger brother. They were both enraptured with the story and didn’t notice me grab the camera or snap several photos. In the reference, there is strong light streaming in from the window above, making a very light stripe right between them, landing on the book. Not sure if I’ll include that or not, but I might try.

Tonight I am going to begin the shading…can’t wait!

Worn Out

Today I decided to tackle 3 of my dead/dying trees. I cut down all 3 and dug out 2 of the root stumps. I tried on the third one but I just had no strength left. I came inside, showered, and laid down to stretch. My eldest son took pity on his poor tired mama...he made lunch for everyone. Such a sweet boy.

I grabbed a small branch and laid my hat on the end of the couch - made the sketch above laying down on the couch.

Hopefully I can move soon...naptime!

Just Checking In

Hey Gang!

Not much to say tonight, just wanted to check in. This is a little study I did last night from a photo. As soon as I finish typing this out, I'm going to paint something else, not sure what, but something.

My pedometer is on its way, can't wait for it to arrive. Although, it is VERY hot here just now. I desperately need to attend to my sick trees, I'll get up early and hope it stays in the low 90s for a while.

Off to paint!

Happenings In and Around the Studio

Sketch for Current Different Strokes from Different Folks Challenge

My parents have gone back home and the kids and I are doing our best to return to normal life. Since I last blogged, I’ve made a few new commitments and changes, so this post will fill you in.

New Commitments:

1. Sketchercise: I was invited to join the active group of artists begun by Katherine Tyrrell. It is definitely inspiring to hear about how everyone is trying to get more exercise into their day and their sketches are lovely. I’ve recently ordered a pedometer, once it arrives I hope to be a more active part of the group.
2. Acrylics Class: I signed up Linda Blondheim’s class on acrylics, beginning July 6. I’m very excited about this opportunity. I think the class will help me move forward in my pursuit of acrylics.

Changes:

New Studio Furniture:

An Overview of the Studio:

The wall that you can’t see above:

There are more books, but let’s not get into that! :D

Benefits of Mowing

I’m still “on vacation”, but I thought I’d pop in and fill you in on what we’ve been doing.

Yesterday I got up quickly (an attempt to beat some of the Texas heat) and headed out the door to begin taming my wild lawn. We’ve had lots of rain recently and so things were going Amazon out there. My ever gracious parents also came out and we got the lawn mowed and trimmed. I also managed to trim a few of my poplar trees that needed attention.

Sad subject, those poplar trees…one has died and now the two next to it both appear to be on their way out. It would be a real blow to lose all 14, but we’ll see. Certainly, they will provide great opportunities for exercise – cutting them down and digging out the roots. :D

After the workout  the roses and crapemyrtle were accessible again, so I clipped a few blooms for sketching.

A Peek At My Fun

We’re having good family fun around here. Today was the zoo…this boy rarely let go of Grandpa’s hand today.

No art yet, but lots of relaxing and fun.

Might be Sporadic

My parents are arriving this evening for a visit. I hope to get some sketching done, but the blog will likely see fewer updates than usual.

Talk with you soon!

What if you want to but can’t get started?

Some blossoms from our day at the zoo

I was reading about Sketchercise on MAM this morning. Katherine mentioned that several people wanted to get started, but hadn’t. It got me to thinking. I, too, have a goal of getting in more exercise and healthy living this year. (A business goal called “investing in the artist”. A little corny, but honestly, I am the business, so everything I can do to be stronger, healthier and happier is important for the business.)

My original goal was to exercise 3 times a week regularly. It’s a good measurable goal, but I can’t just suddenly shoehorn 3 hours into my weekly schedule (I homeschool 3 times a week, drive 50 miles 2 times a week, have full time care of 3 wild munchkins, run a small art business, occasionally clean, weed, mow, and cook.) What to do?

I have stopped looking for the time when I will have the self discipline to get up at 4am to go for an hour run. I have just started stealing in snatches of exercise. If I am feeling tired, I jump up and do 15 jumping jacks. If the boys and I have 30 minutes, we go for a stroll in the neighborhood (which, incidently, tends to give me a bunch of wildflowers to paint after they go to bed!) When I have to go upstairs for something, I use it as sprint practice. All in all, I don’t get huge chunks of time for exercise. But, for now, just doing a few things here and there throughout the day has helped me shave off a few pounds, slim down enough to fit into some clothes again, and generally helped me to feel stronger.

So, if you didn’t get into Sketchercise, don’t let that stop you from exercising and sketching. As Maggie Stiefvater has said, “if you really want something, you'll make it a priority.” If you really want to sketchercise, really, really want to exercise and sketch, then make the time. And it almost goes without saying, only you can make that time for yourself. Don’t wait for a sudden shower of self-discipline or huge vacant spots in your schedule, start small and build up! Your body (and your art) will thank you. If I had waited for either of those things to appear this year, well, I’d be at least a few pounds heavier and probably more.

Starting small may not be the way you prefer to start, but it is a start! Sometimes it is worth starting, even if you have to start badly.