Minor League Finish

I finished the painting of the young baseball team. It's ok. Not exactly what I wanted but not supposed to be a frameable piece. I need more work on some of the faces next time. Some look like they have foundation makeup on. Oh well. I did what I wanted to do.

#1 I wanted to do multiple people
#2 I wanted to do a difficult sketch
#3 I wanted to practice watercolor

So I accomplished what I set out to do. Now on to the next

"Minor League"

I worked a bit more on my drawing today. I may just touch it up a little and start with some color. Today I had a harder time getting things lined up just right. In fact I had to erase quite a few times this time. Not as happy with this part as with the first part but hopefully the color will take care of anything out of whack.

Sketchbooks with a Theme

I have put in an order for several sketchbooks. I plan to start several theme sketchbooks. One I have already started with the theme people. They will be from photos or Google street maps. The ones on Google street maps won't have faces but I can get some good gesture practice.

I did one EDM of some Amish women working in a field. I liked how it turned out. then I did one of two people walking on a beach. I will post those soon. In fact I need to upload the finishing sketches for the EDM. I finished those early.

I also hope to do one sketchbook with animals. I do know I will continue doing the EDM items. I will go back to the list and start with number one. I bought a couple more of the books I did the May EDM in. I will continue the rest of the items in those. I think there are about 300 items on the list and I have only done 31 (101-131) so I have quite a few to do.

I will also start the Illustration Friday soon. I have list of those prompts saved in a Word Document. There are many of those also. But soon we will probably have the triple digit heat and I won't want to do much during the day but sit under the cooler and fans. Lots of time for artwork.

I am still following my Weight Watchers Online program. I started May 1st so it has been about a month now. I have lost 9.8 lbs. Now a new problem. Clothes that don't fit. Always some kind of problem develops. Too soon to buy new as I don't know where I may stop. So for now I go around in loose tee-shirts and baggy pants. I am thankful for the loss of even the 9+ lbs. I was getting way too heavy. Now if I can just keep it off.

I have dieted all my life. It ended up being yo-yo dieting. After a big loss, I would gain back double or triple what I had lost. Well I finally decided that it was not helping me any so just stopped dieting. But as I get older, I gain any way. So it was time to do something. I sure do miss those chips tho. And spaghetti and french bread, casseroles, pizza, KFC, and my Sunday brunch out with friends of a waffle, hash browns, 2 slices of bacon, and toast.

Jojo

New member of my family. A rescue poodle I got today. She's a toy poodle and weighs 8.6 lbs. Here she is before and after her haircut. I took in a whole dog and came home with a half a dog. lol

More EDM Sketches

I got started on my EDM for today and didn't know when to stop. I now am ahead for a few days. I only have 5 more to do. I have enjoyed doing these sketches every day. Maybe I will get another sketchbook and start with the first EDM and work my way thru them all. I had intended to do them but had never gotten around to it. Another one I would like to work my way thru is the Illustration Friday Topics. I will eventually do those too but not sure I will start those until I get caught up with the list of EDMs.

I got a call this morning from a friend. She had taken the day off work and wanted to go to lunch and then browsing at the Goodwill Store and Big Lots. I found a couple little things at Goodwill but several at Big Lots. I got some new foldup chairs for outside. They have a side tray that pops up to hold something to drink and will hold art supplies. These will be perfect for sketching outside in my yard. So now I have one in the front and one in the back.

I also found a nice fold up table in my husband's camping supplies. I have it set up and in the garage ready to drag out for art time outside. It is about 3 x 3 ft.

I had my monthly fall Sunday. I fall just about once a month or two. This time was out in the back yard and in the dirt. Well the dirt isn't as soft as the carpet so I scratched up my elbow. Plus today I found a hard bump about an inch and a half near my elbow. I am sore all over. It kinked my back as well as caused my bad ankle and knee (the one with the knee replacement) to be sore. Lower back is sore on the left side, Right arm hurts when I have to reach. I didn't much like falling on the dirt. My preference is the softer carpet.

Catch Up With My EDMs

Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. I was 62. My nephew Stephen and his wife Cece took me out to lunch at Applebees and to a movie "Something Borrow". It was a nice treat as I had not been to a move in probably 10 years. And I had not been to Applebees. Of course Stephen had to tell them it was my birthday so I got the embarrassing birthday song by the staff and a small ice cream sundae. Even more embarrassing is eating ice cream all by yourself.

Scavenger Hunt #223

I'm host of the scavenger hunt on Wetcanvas this time. I combined items from several previous hunts. One challenge was to do a still life using as many of the items on the list in the still life. I got 11 of the 26 items.

I really like doing the items this way. My favorite hunt was one Jamie hosted way back when. It gave a list of 26 items that were to be found and put in one still life. The computer desk I had then, had a shelf on top that was the right height, and I used that to set up my items. It was so much fun.

I re-posted that hunt many months ago and not sure anyone did the challenge but I did again. This time I used a smaller shelf with little sections. I really enjoyed it the second time also.

Another time I did a still life of many items on my own. Just found some nice items (and lots of them). Put them on a shelf and drew, then colored them in colored pencils. The one today is all watercolor with a touch of white Conte pencil.

EDM 117, 118, & 119

I couldn't post my last couple of EDMs for a couple days but, here are all the ones I have finished.

#117 - Round

A little ceramic chick that I found at the Goodwill Store.

#118 - Hair

Uncle Hoppy, the uncle of one of my friends. I think he is in his 80s. He comes to my friend's yearly barbecue. That's where I met him and enjoy visiting with him yearly. He is quite a character and he is followed around by his faithful boxer Morgan.

#119 - Rocks

These are a few little rocks I found in my back yard.

EDM #116 - Green

The EDM challenge for the 16th is "Something Green". I went a little overboard. My green is pretty much all green. But what can I say? It was a green plant (rubber tree plant) in a green pot.

I prepainted the yellow for the background. I did that for a couple of other future pages. I am ahead of schedule as I already have the one finished for the 17th.

EDM #115

I did a substitute for EDM #115. Instead of a shopping cart or basket, I did a folded shopping bag. This one I got at the 99 cent store. I carry about 10 bags in my car. One place I shop gives you money credit for using your own bags.
I met a friend at Walmart today and we shopped there and at the Goodwill. I won't tell how much I spent at Walmart as it was way too much. But my total at Goodwill was a whopping $1.50.

At Walmart I needed a new mouse for my laptop, ink for the printer, zip bags, laundry soap, sodas, and a list of other incidentals. You know how those add up when you toss them in the basket. Seems like everything runs out at the same time.

After a year, I still haven't gotten used to getting only one check a month and having to stretch it. All those years I was married, we got a pay check weekly. When I worked, we both got paid different weeks, so it ended up being one a week. And the last job hubby had, he was paid weekly. If one check was a little small, or we overspent one week, there was another coming the next week. Well it's not so easy waiting for a whole month. Hopefully I will get used to it before much longer.

I'm still trying to follow Weight Watchers online program. I don't really like it but I needed something structured to make me do it. My problem is that I would rather skip the food and eat all my points in Weight Watchers ice cream. Before I stated this, I rarely ate ice cream. So that show how deprived I feel.

I hate dieting. I have dieted most of my life. I had finally reached a point where I stopped dieting. It was bad for me to lose and gain all the time. But lately I have gotten so heavy that something has to give. I'd rather it not be my body exploding because it is finally stretched too tight.

I can't exercise because of my leg and ankle problems. I can't eat salads because of a stomach problem. I am a very picky eater. And I am the kind of person who "if I can't eat what I want, I just don't want to eat" and have to force it.

So I am doing it, not liking it, and getting more crabby by the day. Tonight about 11 pm, I could almost smell some kind of food. I couldn't tell what it was but I wanted some. (It was in my mind as there was no cooking going on). Well in the freezer were 2 Nathan's hot dog weiners. I heated them in the microwave, poured mustard on them, and ate all but the 2 bites for the dogs. And enjoyed them a lot. Usually I won't eat a hot dog without bread or a bun. Didn't stop me this time. Luckily I still had some weekly points left over for the week (Sunday starts the new week) that I won't be using. So I should be ok.

Sunday...the start of my 3rd Weight Watcher week. Yuk!

EDM #114 - Ugly

Today the item listed was Ugly --Something you find ugly but keep around for sentimental reasons. Plus journal about it.

This is one of the many chewed items in my dogs' toy box. Some have ears missing, noses chewed, no eyes, tails or legs missing. But I keep them because to my dogs, they are still fun to play with. In fact there are probably more "broken" toys than unbroken ones. And there are 2 toy boxes overflowing. What can I say? I am a sucker when it comes to my dogs. I love how they react when they get a new toy. They even try to go thru all bags that come into the house looking for new toys.

More EDMs

EDM #110 - Something With a Flame

My husband was a truck driver and brought this home. He picked it up at a truck stop on one of his jobs. It is a little cell phone lighter. It even flips open and has a screen and some number keys. A little too cute for being a lighter. It would make children want to play with it. Even really young children. The piece sticking up when pushed down, starts the flame.

EDM #106-109

For #107-109 I got behind. Caught them all up today. That's what an all day Saturday barbecue will do to you.

EDM #105 - Scissors

My EDM #105 is scissors in watercolor with colored pencil, white Conte pencil, and pen. It is done in my 4x6 inch watercolor sketchbook.

I decided to get this done early today. I hate putting them off until the end of the day as the time seems to pass too fast, and I don't want to take a chance on not finishing one each day.

I didn't go with my art group today. I planned to but just couldn't get myself up. One of my medications is no longer covered on my prescription plan, and my body is protesting. It is an anti-inflammation pill that I have been taking since about 1995. I had a motorcycle accident in 1994 and had surgery. I almost lost my leg but instead got a plate and 6 screws just above the ankle. The anti-inflammation was for that.

Well since I haven't been taking the med, I have realized how many areas it was also helping for my arthritis. Today when I woke up, I felt like I was 100 years old. Everything hurts. I finally took some over-the-counter pain meds and hope they are going to help. I'm still not walking very well and still feel the pain.

My Back Yard

I decided to paint in my back yard today. I enjoyed being outside with the dogs and doing some painting. This is the raised flower bed that runs across the back of my yard. Behind the fence is another level of yard that really doesn't get used.

The plant in the pot is my tomato plant with many blooms and quite a few small tomatoes on it. A couple of the plants back there including the ivy on the right, were plants from my husband's funeral. The plants with blooms are geraniums. The largest one and part of one of the others have pink blooms but they look more red in my painting. And there is even an asparagus fern in there. Since I can't get down on my knees to work in a ground level flowerbed, this one is perfect for me.

One of the ladies in my art group does some painted (fake) mats on her paintings. She does the "mat" first and brings them dried to our outings. Hers are really beautiful. I decided to try a similar version. This scan shopped off most of one end so I cropped it in my Picture Viewer on the other side to match. In person, all edges have the same size color "mat".

More Waterbirds

More water birds have flown in to their new homes today. A Yellow-Billed Stork, a Double-Crested Cormorant, and a Black Swan. All in watercolor, wc pencil, cp, pen and ink, and white conte pencil. Wetcanvas RIL references.

EDM #103 - Exercise Equipment

Here is my EDM Challenge for today. Exercise equipment. I bought the Zumba exercise tape a couple months ago and 2 of these were with it. I had to take if from the box as I have never used it. Oh well. It is exercise equipment and the list didn't say it had to be used.

EDM Challenge

I am doing a month of EDM challenges. On the EDM list, the ones I will be doing are 101-131. Here are my first two. #101 Bar of Soap and #102 Power Plug.