i’m still drawing shells i collected at the santa barbara shore.
how i love walking from butterfly beach to east beach when the tide is low. or from the other end of butterfly one can walk to hammonds or even miramar.
dawn at low tide is my favorite time.
the shells have just tumbled onto the shore and there is no one there to find them.
yet.
so.. my sketchbook. just rough scribbles, but they please me.
i just got alphonso dunn’s book PEN & INK DRAWING – A SIMPLE GUIDE. here is a fantastic overview of the book, done by teoh yi chie, another youtube sketching sensation.
a couple of weeks ago i stumbled into alphonso’s very comprehensive drawing videos and in particular a few fabulous videos on crosshatching. the videos are long so i sat with my notebook and made notes while i watched.
i love doing this as it helps to cement the information into my brain better than just watching alone without making reference notes.
for some months now i’ve not been interested in pen & ink drawing, but now, thanks to alphonso, i find myself getting excited about it again.
these roses would make lovely studies in ink dontcha think?
my garden is filling me with rapture at present. the roses are full and heavy. everything under the sun is blossoming.
growing and spreading.
massive pruning and weeding is in order, but i think i’d rather be drawing.
in other unrelated news:
do you watch nashville? were you as shocked as i was about what happened to rayna? yeah, i know that episode aired in late february, but i just now caught up. love that series, both the music and the cast…but WOW. don’t follow that link if you’re a slowpoke like me and haven’t finished the season yet.
there was also quite the shocker in the durrells in corfu. yes, i know. i was behind in that one also. i’m considering reading the trilogy from the 1950’s written by gerald durell to keep me from missing them too much while i wait for season 2 to arrive. if you’ve read them i’ll expect to hear from you!
speaking of trilogies, i’ve begun the elena ferrante books starting with my brilliant friend. her neopolitan novels center around “the lifelong friendship between two women.” i’m listening, not reading because…
i was roped into one of those audible memberships and besides i’ve got too many other things to read read like faithful place by tana french. i’m on the 3rd book in the dublin murder squad series, oh yeah!
fill me in on your goings on. inquiring minds and all that jazz. embellish if you have to. i love a good story.
Hello! As you spied in IG, since last we chatted, I was off gallivanting in the wild highlands of Scotland for 10 days. I can’t believe it’s taken me 5 decades of life to get to Scotland, this was clearly an oversight on my part. What a magical country…every day was a feast of enchantment. I got a lot of drawing done because I brought my ‘wee journal’ around everywhere in its tartan pouch that slings over the shoulder. Sketching for breakfast, for lunch and for dinner with a lot of good food, beer and yes, some whisky for good measure. They also have a burgeoning artisanal gin wave going on that is quite intriguing. I can’t claim that I got a lot of watercolor done, but drawing and photographing yes. I’m telling myself I can go back in and add color at home, but now of course it’s ‘what if I mess it up!’ so tiptoeing towards that.
Castles, tartan everywhere, yellow gorse bushes blooming, daffodils waving, baby lambs, highland cows (hairy, gentle, and pretty much adorable), windswept volcanic mountains, seal watching, boats, ferries. It looks a lot like the Pacific Northwest if the PNW had ancient history. I was expecting that it would be somewhat more like England and that was definitely a misunderstanding. It is British, yes, but it’s very much its own country and the people are very proud of it with good reason. I hope you add it to your travel list!
i am convinced i need to get to england and now scotland..oh and also wales. yes yes yes. thanks to you for opening my eyes to those wild wonderful highlands. you are traveling so much these days. GO GO GO jane!
I am here in frigid S. Lake Tahoe on a vacation with hubby and friends. Had a few moments of quiet time and reading your blog with a steaming hot cup o tea on my I-Pad. Brought my sketch book but difficult to find time to draw as no one in this group is like-minded and we are on the go again today shortly. Your mini drawing exercise is making me drool. Love, love your shell drawings and dream of a day we could be on a beach or backyard to do the same. So admire your tenacity and ability to read so many books. I try, really I do but will never catch up to you. I will start watching Nashville however (ha! Always seems time for TV in my household) as if you like it I am sure it will be a binge-watcher. Love you Ms. Mary!
oh corky i always love to hear from you and so do wyatt and corky moss. you’re still their favorite cat wrangler of all time and they keep asking when you’re coming back for a visit. i told them you have A LIFE! but they keep asking anyway.
smooches xoxoxo
I read the first two Elena Ferrante books and then had to take a break. I can take most anything in books/movies but somehow the brutal life that was so common in Italy in those years exhausted me. The dominance of men and The Church just sucked the life out of me. Another friend said she didn’t know what it was but she had to take a big break between 1 and 2 also. Maybe we’ll both start #3 in early summer.
And to think all these years I thought they were the Dur RELS. Somehow the DUR els sounds like a family out from a council estate. 😉
i can definitely see the need to take a break, but i’m going for mine after book 1! i’m enjoying, but i find the level of detail somewhat exhausting.
I too have recently rediscovered pen sketching. If you get a chance try sketching on kraft paper or a paper bag and highlight with a white china pen, or white sharpie. The results are clean and lovely! Hope your week is filled with more adventures in pen and ink!
reminds me that i need to get back into my toned sketchbooks!
Hi Mary Ann! Did you just give permission to write a long tome? Careful what you ask for.
Your shells are lovely, and your linework, shading and cross hatching are superb. Once this wedding is over, I intend to get back to some serious art work, and learning some new skills. I just haven’t had time.
My oldest daughter and I gave the younger daughter a wedding shower, and then I went to another shower for her this weekend. A little secret…showers are NOT on my list of fun things to do, but since it is for my daughter, I made exceptions. It wasn’t THAT bad. Her wedding is going to be very natural, with driftwood, succulents, moss and even rocks for decor. So she brought me several boxes of 3-4 inch smooth beach rocks to paint. Originally she wanted me to zentangle them, but I convinced her that we both would be old ladies before I got that done, so now I am using doilies and spray paint to put a design on them. Might post a pic on instagram, depending on how they turn out.
Watching: Long Lost Family (Reuniting families of adoptions)
Molly’s Movement (YouTube)
Sailing La Vagabond (YouTube)
Reading: Paint It Black (Janet Fitch)
Girls Like Us (Sheila Weller, about Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon)
Boys In The Trees (Carly Simon)
I seem to be reverting back to my hippy days and loving all things BOHO, which is just hippy revisited. I just spent the most I have ever spent on a pair of jeans. They are distressed boyfriend jeans with red roses embroidered on them, and I want to live in them. Also have a bracelet favorited on etsy that I have been drooling over to go with the jeans! Will buy after the wedding.
I have completely changed my diet to lower cholesterol and BP and in the process have inadvertently lost 6 lbs. I already feel so much better! Best thing I have done.
Can’t wait to get back into regular, daily arting, because I miss it! After the wedding…one month left.
Love your blogs, and wow @at that guy who paints murals! WOWSA! Thank you for all of the enlightenment. Also, I want to stick my nose right in the middle of that juicy pink rose and just leave it there for awhile. Are they very fragrant? I have heard that yellow roses are the most fragrant, but I have a deep red Abraham Lincoln rose that scents my entire yard when it blooms, so I don’t know.
Laterz…
i always enjoy your long missives karen 🙂
Your recommendation on cross-hatching comes at the perfect time! I just discovered the graphic novel “My Favorite Thing is Monsters,” which has the most stunning pen and ink drawings with crosshatching that brings everything to life. I’ve never used it in my own drawings because I’ve never understood how, but now I’m dying to learn.
alphonso is just the one to teach you! he’s really thorough
Clearly, there’s something about Dunn out there in the zeitgeist — I just watched *those same videos* a couple weeks back. (And all of Teoh’s sketching/painting videos. Because I apparently had some time on my hands. There are a LOT of them.) 🙂
And Nashville, yes! Could. Not. BELIEVE where the writers went with that. There may have been tears. A few. Ahem. (Though I’m truly of the mind that anyone who lives in Nashville should never get in any form of transportation ever again. Planes, automobiles…nothing. It’s just bad juju, Nashfolks. Go walk somewhere and sing a song.) Related sidenote: the actor who plays Deacon needs all the awards. All of them.
i think the writers had to “go there” because CB wants to do other things. the last episode was SO SO SO good!!
Do I see the Eden Climber rose? Mine has never been more wild with blooms. H2O. Who knew?! I have to catch up on your book recos. Summer is not so far off.
yes eden climber but i prune her into shrub form. more or less. i like the way the roses turn from cream to pink. so beautiful!
Hi Mary Ann–I really love your posts, photos, art, and writing. I recently finished a book about lifelong friends of both genders. It takes place in a village in England. I just can’t remember the name right now. When I remember it, I’ll let you know. I think you’ll enjoy it. I read a lot of books that take place in the UK, mostly mysteries but sometimes other types of stories of human interest. I used to keep a current list of all the books I’ve read, but I stopped adding to it several months ago. Now I wish I kept it up. Take care!
p.s. I have a new blog, but I haven’t kept up with it lately. That’s why I’m showing my VIDA clothing line website. If you would, could you pass it on to other people. I really want some new customers!
your own clothing line..that’s pretty cool!
Wow, that’s creepy… I just discovered Alphonso Dunn this weekend. I watched three of his videos so far. And those were exactly the ones you refer to here! I need to get the book.
I am going to the coast on friday, for a whole week. Will collect sea shells, watch birds, sit and listen, walk and wonder. For the first time we will travel with a caravan. It’s exciting to bring our own little cabin, but a little bit scary to have our home behind the car while driving on the Autobahn!
where on the german coast are you bound? a caravan sounds enchanting!
We’re going to Schleswig-Holstein, exploring both the west and then the east coast! I know the west coast quite well, we go there often, but the east coast will be something new!
If you listen to podcasts, I would highly recommend “S Town.” Remarkable.
i don’t, but now i will! just went here to check out S TOWN. https://stownpodcast.org/chapter/1
sounds fabulous!
are you still teaching your little one’s this year? I haven’t seen anything from you/them lately.
didn’t realize that the corfu trilogy wasn’t an audible book. i’m going to track it down. thanks Susan.
yep, i’m in the classroom day in and day out with the 3rd grade squirrels. they are GOOD.
durrells in corfu comes in both book & audio formats.
I love Dunn’s book! And your shell sketches are lovely!
– Tina
Since we have had no television for at least a decade (substituted in part by NPR and the internet), I was unaware they were producing the Corfu Trilogy series until three days ago when I espied the DVD on our library’s video carousel. Funny, huh. Of course, I was totally charmed. Always interested in your recommendations and looking forward to watching Alphonso Dunn. Your roses are just beautiful.
thanks paulette! enjoy your visit to corfu 🙂
Wow! How have I missed Alphonso Dunn thus far? Thanks for that great resource.
As usual, this week I have been enlightened and entertained by the Moss sisters,
Kansas and California versions. Continued thanks.
yeah he’s pretty fab!
thanks diane 🙂
You will be happy to buy and listen to the Corfu Trilogy from audible. Events in tv version are harvested from all three books. The narration adds much to the story. They are just delicious!! I’ve listened to them at least three times!
when i finish with the neopolitan series i will give gerald’s books a listen. glad for the ringing endorsement!
I’m in the middle of “My Family & Other Animals”. It’s delightful & entertaining. I had no idea there was a trilogy. Ahhh. MORE Corfu reading.