joyce is coming to moss cottage for a mini-art retreat tomorrow. i hope to hell she's planning to paint another portrait of me. i go crazy over her portraits and she always manages to capture my likeness. one way or another!
this morning i zoomed around and spiffed everything up. but this afternoon i zoomed back around and mussed it all up again.
i only spiff on someone's first visit. after that…well, after that i just let it all hang out. takes me very little time to get to this point. unlike the other 2 moss sisters who are v.v. clean & organized. i'm not. i abominate fuss. if you read MRS. HARGREAVES, you'll soon see that she abominates fuss too. but that's a topic for a whole separate blog post about reading. coming soon!
pam gave me a couple of sketchbooks when she was here last sunday. one is this fabriano. it's about 8×11 or so, maybe a tad bigger. only 40 super thin pages. it's like a notebook.
i took it out today and decided to paint with gouache on the cover. just more of my carefully planned & executed lettering i'm so famous for. except that my inner miss hargreaves, who abominates fuss, apparently took over and this is what resulted.
i didn't think i would like the thin pages, but turns out the wrinkly krinkly-ness of them was a delight. so this is my official I-Cannot-Abominate-Fuss sketchbook. quick & dirty.
i think it's important to have a practice try-out hang-loose-mongoose sketchbook where the contents never have to see the light of day. not for public consumption. except i'm showing them to you to better illustrate my point.
this is another of the sketchbooks from pam. just a generic plain book.
i remember the days of working in one book at a time. pam's the one who broke me of that habit! now i've got 6 or 7 going at once. and. ilikeitlikethat.
i have to go draw a squirrel now. and this time i'm really gonna do it! but before i do…look what i saw at the park today:
also a woman sword dancing, an elderly gentleman swinging from the monkey bars, 2 honking geese flying low over my head, and a man that was about 7 feet tall walking with his best friend who is about 5 feet tall. i see them all the time and they're always giving each other pep talks and pondering life's deep mysteries.
i love the park i love the park ilovetheparkparkpark. the end.
Mary Ann, I’ve been reading through your posts on drawing with a fountain pen. Which one would you recommend for a beginner? I have a fountain pen I bought my girls YEARS ago. It has little cartridges. But I love all the beautiful colors you are using. Maybe I need to research cartridges? Thanks for your time. Your posts always make me smile and leave me inspired!
The more than one at a time thing is creeping up on me tooooooo
Cool sketchbooks Mary Ann. As always I’m leaving your cottage on the web full of good thoughts and rampant ideas….Have a delightful time with Joyce and a glorious Sunday.
I just love your posts, so uncensored and unique. Keep up your process. One day soon I want to take one of your classes.
love to you
MJ
You crack me up! That’s all there is to it!! Have a Happy Easter! Draw us a bunny or a chicken or some duck eggs..or some more flowers. Oh I know, squirrels!!! Did I exclaim enough?
The next time I come over will you paint a picture of me with blue and turquoise hair with stars all around my head? I need one like that. I need it very bad.
I love your sketchbooks I love your sketchbooks I love your sketchbooks, sketchbooks, sketchbooks. the end.
I hope you’re painting those dewdrops! And the pink petals! 🙂
Just terrific!
Full vacation steam ahead!
I have just realized that Joyce, who I do not know, is a friend of a very good friend of mine on FB and real life, Michael Rohde. So those two know one another in real time, and Joyce knows you and Michael knows me. Not sure what my point is, but it’s fascinating how this internet stuff works. And, we’re all artists, in real time.
I almost bought one of these fabriano notebooks at Utrecht dick blick today. Had it in my basket but finally out it back because I had ordered an Apica japanese notebook last night on amazon. The fabriano looked like ALOT of fun. Darn I may have to go back and get one now. A lovely delicious lime green. The cover looks just super!! I know what to do with it now when I go back Monday. ??