Paint pots

One event at the Old Town Newhall Street Fair a few weeks ago allowed kids to paint posters. I snapped a photo of the paint pots, using my crummy phone camera. Sometimes it takes more interesting pictures than my good camera.

A recent trend I've seen is to use the cheapest, worst cameras possible to photograph and post grainy, distorted photos. It's like effortless abstract art!

I've finally been tagged...

<<these are some of the bloggers I've listed below!

Remember being afraid you'd be the last kid picked for the school team? Well, I've been feeling that way for months because I haven't been tagged to participate in this cyber game. It's a little "social networking game" among blog-owners. I know I shouldn't care when I was tagged, but -- but -- well, you know how that goes. I wanted to be one of the first.

So here are the rules, followed by my list of seven fascinating, titillating, and illuminating facts about myself, and believe me all you Exceedingly Popular Already-Tagged Bloggers out there, y'all be sorry it took you soooooo long to tag me! heehee

I've been tagged by Phyllis M. of "Personal Treasures," a blog about creativity and those who create, at http://personaltreasures.blogspot.com/. Playing tag is a social networking game and a fun way to explore new blogs. The rules of the game are simple:

• Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
• Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
• Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
• Don't forget to let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

About me:

1. I have five brothers and no sisters.

2. My best friend died on the school playground when we were nine (she fell and hit her head)and I still have an orchid from her casket that her mother gave me.

3. I think I have a touch of ESP -- often people come to my mind seconds before the phone rings when they're calling me. Yea, seriously. ("We're All One....")

4. When I was 20 an airlines hired me as a flight attendant to be based in Minnesota, and even though I desperately wanted to be a flight attendant, I turned down the job to get married and stay in L.A.

5. I got a law degree without first getting a college degree. (Ever heard the lyrics, "I didn't go to college but I could have!"? My husband loves to taunt me with it.)

6. I was Miss Westchester and Senior Class President in high school.

7. I have boxes crammed full with diaries, scrapbooks, and paraphernalia going back to early childhood years -- boxes and boxes of stuff (unfortunately some are old enough to be "retro").
_________________________________________________

I am tagging (don't hate me - it's free publicity!):

Dennis Walker Graphics - http://denniswalkergraphics.com/ - Dennis builds websites such as online family photo albums, and is a graphic artist and designer.

Peacay at BibliOdyssey - http://www.bibliodyssey.com/ - Books~~Illustrations~~Science~ ~History~~Visual Materia Obscura~~Eclectic Bookart. Check it out - I love diving deep into this site!

Belinda Del Pesco - http://belindadelpesco.blogspot.com/ - fine (in more ways than one) watercolor artist.

Nancy Eckels - http://nancyeckels.blogspot.com/ - artist of larger abstract oil paintings, bright and beautiful.

Laura Wambsgans - http://laurawambsgans.blogspot.com/ - daily oil paintings, mostly landscapes of Southern California, that will blow you away.

Butterfly photographer Dennis Walker: http://socalbutterflies.com/ - Fantastic up-close-and-personal butterfly photographs.

Lorelle Miller: http://lorellemiller.blogspot.com/ - Remarkable street painter, oil painter, pastelist, teacher, and more.

In Honor of Halloween -- part 2

I find it only a little bit troubling that my best Halloween images to post are those from my Life Drawing class. Oh well....

This is a study of a head with the skin unfortunately peeled back to expose the skull in certain places.

Drawn in charcoal and graphite.

Life Drawing in Honor of Halloween

In honor of Halloween, I'm posting my homework from this week. It's the right hand as seen from a dog's point of view. The thumb is on the left; the large four bones are in the palm of the hand.

A while back I started taking a Figure Drawing class (aka Life Drawing) to help improve my drawing skills. It's so much fun! Mostly we use charcoal on large paper pads (18x24"), but also graphite, ink & brush, and other tools. It really loosens up the hand and arm to draw large.

Stabilo Carb-Othello pencils (brown, navy, white) on Strathmore Artists' Papers Charcoal Sheets (25" x 19") in Velvet Gray.