Hunt Items

I still participate in the scavenger hunts on Creative Spark. It is a challenge finding some of the items that people put on their lists. 

a lemon or other fruit and crustaceans

a pine cone (done in direct watercolor

a feather

Funchos

 Every once in a while when I'm in Riverhead for something I stop at Funchos for a taco lunch. They don't actually have 100% inside dining. Most of the tables are in a covered area with sides that roll down to protect you from the elements when it is cold or rainy. It is open all year long with fun decorations and plants. I posted this sketch on Creativespark.art and a friend commented that he remembered the words "arriba, abajo" from a drinking toast. When I was in Spain many, many years ago traveling in my 20s with my sister we learned the toast when we were out drinking with the other young people.

Arriba (to the heavens)

Abajo (to the earth)

Al centro (to the heart)

Al dentro (to the inside)...

and so you would toast with your drink.

Digital Sketch and Continuous Lines

 I've been trying to sneak in digital sketches done with Procreate when I can, like this one of shoes 

done for the Creative Spark.art Scavenger Hunt that is going on.

For the last hunt I needed to sketch something from my kitchen cabinet. I did it as a continuous line and then added some watercolor. I'm including the continuous line sketch. Look how the watercolor transformed this.

Another item I looked for was something from the bathroom cabinet. Again it was done as a continuous line.

Maine Visit - Heading Home

 We were only up in Maine for a few days. Sitting in my sister's living room I did a sketch of her dog, Toby, relaxing on "his chair." It was done with a simple digital program I downloaded to my phone while I was sitting there. I knew if I moved to get up and get my sketchbook Toby would be off that chair in a second. lol

For a Creative Spark scavenger hunt I sketched an indoor scene. This is part of the bedroom I was sleeping in which was my nephew, Christopher's room. He now lives in Japan. 

We left early enough to make a stop at the Cape Neddick Lighthouse in York, Maine. There wasn't time to do any sketching, but I took a few photos.

Then there was the last obligatory lobster roll for lunch at Bob's Clam Shack in Kittery, Maine.

Assorted Sketches

All of these sketches were done for a scavenger hunt over on Creative Spark.

This covered two items...a fence and something from nature.

 Last week I ended up going to one of those walk-in medical offices. My cough was really bad, I was wheezing, and I wasn't sleeping well. It turned out I had bronchitis. I was put on an antibiotic, something for the cough and an inhailer. I'm finally feeling much better. While in the medical office I only had a short time to sketch people.

Vehicles are a popular item on the scavenger hunt list. The VW called to me since that was my first car...but mine was bright red.

 

Snow Along the Canal

There are a few canals in Blue Point. This one runs through a small park near Flo's. I was able to park right along the side of it. There was a woman sitting next to her car and feeding the gulls so I quickly sketched a few of them into the scene while they were swooping down to grab what she was tossing.

Over on CreativeSpark there was an interesting item for the scavenger hunt. We had to find a playing card and sketch the numbered side as well as the back of the card. I dug out a very old deck of cards. From what I remember I got these the first time I flew anywhere. It was maybe 1968/1969 when I was all of 20 years old. A friend and I flew out to CA, stayed with her cousin and his family for a few days, and then drove up the CA coast. Neither of us could legally rent a car on our own and her dad rented one for us, but Suzanne had to do all the driving. The trip was a lot of fun and we met two sailors on a cable car in San Francisco. We hung out together all day and then the next day they took us on a tour of their aircraft carrier. We also went horseback riding and I was thrown off my horse. (And I have never climbed back on another one to this day.) At the time the airlines gave you all kinds of things when you were on board if you asked. I got the deck of cards. The box is really worn and I'm not sure if all the playing cards are still inside, but it was fun to sketch one of the cards.

 

Animals

For the scavenger hunt over on Creativespark.art this week "animal" was on the list. It was cold and drizzly but I headed to the East Quogue Wildlife Refuge. I know they have a building with a few live creatures and a lot of stuffed creatures. There was a tank with 4 bearded dragons. They have faces that are difficult to draw since they are pretty monochromatic. They didn't stay still. One of them bounced his head up and down like he was dancing.  They were fun to watch and sketch.

I also sketched a stuffed raccoon. He was much easier to sketch. There were a lot of birds, so I'll have to remember to go back again. If it was closer, I would go more often, but it is about a 35 minute drive from me.

There is also a nice pond that was partly frozen over that had a lot of ducks. I didn't have time to sketch that but will keep it in mind when it gets cold enough for it to freeze again. 

Continuous Line Nature Sketch

I've been enjoying doing continuous line sketches. This was done for the scavenger hunt on creativespark.art .  Long, short, large, small, hard, soft, rough and smooth were included.

Then I added a watercolor wash to give it some color.

Assorted Sketches Done Recently

I've done a few sketches lately using Procreate for the scavenger hunts on creativespark.com. These were for bangs (mine), orange, comfy, and stacked. 

These were also done for the scavenger hunt but with traditional painting/sketching. The items were for orchard, van, and crane.

New Art Supplies & Assorted Objects

I was having fun with the continuous line sketches so I pulled out some of the new art supplies I got for Christmas and had a go sketching them that way. Then of course I added color. 

While I was in a continuous line frame of mind I did a few items for the scavenger hunt over on creativespark.art. An umbrella, a bottle, a fruit, a veggie and a lock were on the list.

Procreate Sketches

 I have been doing some of my sketches for the creativespark.art Scavenger Hunts using Procreate. I figure if I experiment enough maybe I will start feeling more comfortable using it.

The prompt was for a vegetable and the challenge to hold it in your hand.

This sketch was to do jelly/jam. I figure preserves is close enough.

The hunt this week called for something electrical...like this pencil sharpener.

A chair was also on the list this time. My proportions are a bit off in this.

"Three" was the item this time.

Assorted Sketches

I do a lot of sketching for creativespark.art, especially the Scavenger Hunts. Sometimes we sketch things that aren't big sketches...like these. 

I was in the middle of sketching out a scene for a commission when this goose meandered by with a group of friends. They were busy eating and kept turning around and walking to a new spot. I would just jump ship from one goose and continue with the next one that was posed in a similar position. I like how this one came out. 

I was at the pool the other day and this dad and his kids were nearby. I thought they needed to be sketched but I only had a small pad of writing paper and a ball point pen. Gotta use what you have!

The two bottom sketches were for one of the Scavenger Hunts...something spicy

and something sweet. These were done with a medium I don't use very often...colored pencils. I got a free set from Zebra a few years ago (24 colors) and they've been sitting in my cabinet unused.

Still Life

 Here is a still life of a few of the items in the creativespark.art Scavenger Hunt...a bottle, a pitcher, a vase, a fruit and a stuffed animal.

Still Life

A challenge was posted for a still life of at least 3 items on the scavenger hunt list over at Creativespark.art. I managed to get a bottle, a bowl, a fruit, a veggie and something yellow all into my painting. 

Three of a Kind

On creativespark.art I am still participating in the Scavenger Hunts. In the current hunt hosted by Robin Susan we have to sketch 3 things that belong to the same group or category. Here are three vegetables (onion, Brussel sprout, and carrot) done directly in watercolors.

I'm not sure which hunt this sketch was for but I sketched 3 art tools.

Beach Fence & Sketchbook Revival Begins

I needed to do some sketching for the creativespark.art scavenger hunt that I am posting. One of the items was a fence. I found this one down at a small beach park in Islip.

I sketched a bench for "outdoor seating" while I was there and a few birds for "something with feathers."

I am also taking part in Karen Abend's Sketchbook Revival. It is the 5th year she has organized this project and it goes on for 2 weeks with 2 lessons by different instructors each day. I don't always do each lesson and definitely don't keep up and do them on the days they are posted.

The first lesson was by Courtney Cerruti who had us start with one color of watercolor and then mix it with as many colors as we could. Once the colors were dry we were challenged to form something with each color. I didn't do the other two parts of her lesson - color wheels and blind contours with watercolor added.

The second lesson was with Carla Sondheim doing Stylized Zoom Portraits using mixed media.