Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from August, 2010

Stitching my Sketchbook

All it needs is a knot to join the two ends. The forth time trying to stitch this sketchbook finally worked. Yesterday I tried 3 times to do the stitching.  First time failed because I forgot to include the cover when I stitched the pages.  I laughed it off in disbelief.  Second time failed because I stitched the cover on upside down.  Hmmm .... I guess I was distracted?  Third time failed because my thread was split during the stitching process.     After failing a third time, I decided I'd better go out for my evening exercise and start over again later.  After a bike ride and a run, I had worked off my frustration, slept well and woke up this morning ready to take another stab at it. This morning, I put on a song from the zombie movie soundtrack  28 Weeks Later  and successfully finished the stitching.  Having patience and a bigger needle made all the difference. Stitching my Sketchbook  I used upholstery thread and   creativityprompt's youtube video to help me

Sketchbook Project 2011 Page One

Mom and Dad My theme is "Adhere to Me"  which I'm interpreting as memories I want to keep or things I want or need. This is the first page that I've finished.  It'll be the center page, so when you open the journal, both pages are seen.  They are sketches of my Mom and Dad based on their photo. close-up The process: I traced my original pencil sketch onto washi (rice paper) with a sepia sakura micron pen, then painted the illustration with Daniel Smith  watercolors.  Once it was all dry, I sprayed it with a protective matte finish.  I then glued the painting to drawing paper with gloss medium varnish. This is the first time for me to use sakura pens, and I was happy to see they did not run when I added watercolors. I'll probably add a little story about them on the page that comes before their portraits.

Rebinding my Moleskin

After spending several days experimenting with the moleskin's thin paper, I decided I couldn't make that paper work. Then it was a matter of getting over my fear of taking apart the moleskin. Once I conquered that fear, I turned to my Husband and Sputnik and said, "I'm taking this moleskin apart, wish me luck!" I then spent the rest of the day cutting watercolor 140lb paper and drawing paper down to size for my signature to replace the thin paper. Then came the fun part of collaging the cover inside and out.  I used pages from a Japanese paperback, colored washi, origami paper, and word definitions from an old dictionary.  I might add a title and a line drawing to the outside cover. The word on the front cover is "absolve" and on the back cover, "absorb."  My project theme is "adhere to me".  In my mind, it's all coming together.

Sputnik in sunlight and shadow

She found the only square of sunlight coming through and hitting the floor. The marked contrast of shadow and sunlight paired with her graceful moves caught my eye. Visit HeyHarriet's blog for more shadow photography.

Sketchbook Project 2011

I recently joined this project hosted by The Brooklyn Art Library .  My project theme is "Adhere to Me." I've been debating whether or not to take apart the moleskin and rebind it with thicker paper.     Trumpetvine Travels has an excellent tutorial for that purpose. There's also a Sketchbook Project 2011 group on Facebook . Have you ever used a moleskin for your art work or journals?  This is my first time.

San Joaquin Valley, My World

This 1890's restored ranch house is located at the end of the Lewis S. Eaton bike trail.  After a long bike ride in the summer heat, exploring the inside of this ranch house was a great way to cool off. Visit My World blog to tour the world in photos.

Cycling days

This week's shadow shot catches us on bikes.  In the evenings, we take a long ride out on a bike path that starts from a huge park and leads out into the valley. Thanks to  The San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust , the bikes-only path has been saved and expanded to include a horse trail. Looking to the west has spectacular views of farmland, waterways and wildlife.   Looking North, on a clear day, you can see the foothills and snowcapped mountains.  It's how I remember the the valley when I'd ride out for hours as a university student, and I'm glad to see some of it's been saved despite the city's expansion. visit hey harriet's blog for more shadow shots and to join this meme.

rocks, fossils and vases

Over the years, I have collected rocks and fossils. I've kept 9 rocks, two fossils and one arrowhead. I got the fossils while hiking in California with my husband. I have two small vases that I picked up in Japan. They are less than an inch (2.5 cm) high. Subtle shadows today for Hey Harriet's shadow shot sunday .

Looking back at My World

I came across this photo of me while I was going through my stuff in storage.  I was about two years old in this photo taken by my Dad.  I'm standing in front of the family Mercury.  I loved that pink car! I am sure this was a poloroid photo which my Dad took a photo of and gave me the copy, so it's a bit grainy.    Just in case you can't tell, I'm a girl:) For more my world photos from other participants, visit their Blog .