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I have an assignment where I need to draw "a bird". There are so many different species that I am having trouble choosing.
Hot from the Toaster
the electronic sketchbook of Diane T
I have an assignment where I need to draw "a bird". There are so many different species that I am having trouble choosing.
The tide was out on the Santa Cruz Pier where we saw tons of Sea Stars on the pilings (only the orange one really shows up in this photo).
Then I spent a chunk of this week drawing them. Pisaster ochraceous never had it so good!
last halloween, I painted my neighbor's house. It kept me so occupied during the candy-handout that I decided to do it again. Paint that is. Last year I got frustrated with the lighting, so this year I dragged a standing lamp from my studio and trained it on a convenient thematic still life that was sitting there on the porch. Note for next year: also bring out a light so that I can see what colors I am mixing on the palette. doh!
spent a good portion of today looking at crab bits. all of the interesting skeletal bits are on the bottom (or ventral side), but that is never what editors want to show in field guides. sigh.
Ever wonder who founded the Lollipop Guild?
Working on inked versions of the critters in my thesis. This week concentrating on bivalves and Molluscs. Fun!
Before committing ink to paper though, I whipped out the sketchbook to practice before I began.
Spent part of my day lazing about, drawing with the kids. Pumpkins, black cats, witches in rockets ships, you name it!
The trouble with having pets is that their life spans are so much shorter than human lives. Took Pepper to the vet because she started breathing funny this weekend. Looks like that mastoid tumor is not benign - it's reached the lungs. The vet wanted to fedex the x-rays to the radiologist rather than waiting for his next in-office day, since she's not sure Pepper will live until he returns. Sigh.
we've gone from primates to canines in my creature design class. woof!
when life gives you rocks....
Stress is when you wake up screaming and realize you haven't fallen asleep yet.
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Went to the Oakland Zoo this weekend to look specifically at primates. The siamungs were crazy loud, but the white-handed gibbons are still my favorites.
Conned a friend of mine to go with me to a nearby casino so I could take some reference photos for an illustration I am laying out. The whole thing was kind of surreal. From the "we don't call them slot machines, we call them gaming machines" line to the smell of cigarette smoke throughout the building, not to mention the noise and lights. The photos I took all came out really dark (not surprising) so I have had to play about to clarify some of the important elements.
gotta record it where you find it....
there are not very many sketches from our recent trip to San Diego. most of it was pretty awful, and who wants to record that? I did manage to get numerous mini sketches at the Padres vs. Cardinals game that we went to. Kept me from falling asleep during the first three hours we were there.
Spent a lovely weekend at a friend's house in Sea Ranch, but I have almost no sketches or photos to show for it. I might actually be able to classify it as a vacation. Wacky.
Spent part of the morning around Stow Lake, stalking squirrels with the girls. They are hard to sketch since they move constantly. Later on we found ourselves at the zoo (thanks to free passes from a friend who is a member!). Hanging over the fence, watching the penguins E remarked that she wanted to step on them - not in a mean stomping way, but rather more like this:
How about you?
Finally got the girls out of the house today. Went over to the local elementary school to play. It was hot enough that I had no desire to carry anything, so I stuffed a small moleskin journal in my back pocket along with a ballpoint pen. Instant sketch kit!
I had a great art retreat up in Occidental today. :^)
Out today doing research on the beach. Funny how after making a species list for a place, you see more things when you go there. Saw 39 different species along the wrack line this time. Well, okay, the sea lion was in the water. Now comes the next fun part - to identify the two different partial clam shells and the 2 red sea weeds that I collected. Woo-hoo!
working on an odd assignment for this class I am taking, in which we are supposed to illustrate a number of social science related terms like dislocation, xenophobia, frontier. I did my best to use images I already had in my files. The above was used for palimpsest - a parchment on which several inscriptions have been made over one another. Works for me.
One of the best parts of returning home is rediscovering what you love about being there,