Just a quick sketch of Highland cattle from a photo we took in Scotland in the spring...

I've finally managed to get back to my Moye drawing and finish it! I never anticipated that this piece would take so long, but the details in the rope and the shiny surface of the life preserver were more challenging and time-intensive than I had originally figured:

My offering today is a VERY fast sketchbook drawing. This was mostly an excuse to play with some coloured pencils I received as a gift on my birthday. The company is called Chartpak, and the pencils are called Magic Fx. Essentially, these are over-sized pencils made up of marbled pigment combinations that draw a line of varied colour. Every time you twist the pencil on a surface, the colour changes, so precision is not the point (!), but playfulness is. So, here's my play sketch:

I spent the day trying to catch up on some Christmas shopping, so I'm getting a late start on my own work! Happily, I finally found a book I've been searching weeks for, and I bought it today as a little Christmas gift for me: The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines. I'll blog about the book as soon as I've had a chance to browse through it, but for today's blog, I'm offering another piece from my sketchbook:

Ah, rounding out the week with another glimpse into my gastronomical eccentricities – beef tacos and a Saskatoon berry-filled phyllo pastry with real whip cream atop... heaven!

Today, lots of detail in the rope, and more work on shadows...

My current project is a digital pastel of a life preserver from the Moye paddlewheeler at Heritage Park.
This is the first stage of the drawing – laying in basic colour and shape:

These days I'm working on a fairly involved writing project while making art at the same time. Some days writing wins out over drawing or painting, and today was one of those days! Here is a picture of one of my recent home-cooked dinners, courtesy of my dear sister. This time, it was moussaka and roasted potatoes – delicious! Tomorrow, a peek at my current drawing – another digital pastel...

I so miss plein air painting now that it's cold and snowy out! I know that snow hasn't stopped some people from drawing and painting outside, but I'm a chicken, so I'm imagining I'm painting outdoors back in Scotland in the balmy weather we had there last June. This watercolour image is of the rocky shore beside Inchcolm Abbey:

I'm posting a piece from my sketchbook today while I'm jumping around doing a little bit of everything except creating art!