Sunday Agglomeration- Getting back into the groove

As we get closer to the end of the school year, I have been feeling very scattered.  But I have managed to find time to get back into my creative groove.  This past week I had to substitute during my prep period, which normally bothers me because subbing can be such a nuisance.  Students often feel that a substitute means they don't have to do any work.  But this time was not too bad because the students did their work and I was had time to do some drawing.  I'm continuing with the yoga theme.  It seems to be working for me.

This week I also began the Hero's Art Journey course.  Our first assignment was a self portrait.  I thought it would be easy, but it was a challenge.  I couldn't figure out how I wanted to portray myself.  I decided to play with melting crayons on a canvas.  As I was doing this, I thought it would make a great background for my portrait.  I took it with me to my illustrator's play date and worked on it.  Within a few hours I was pretty pleased with what I had.  There is still more that I want to add to it, but I like it so far.  As an option to our self portrait, we were told we could do a children's book illustration of a child version of ourselves.  I figured I should play with this as well.  Since I love trees, I drew a little girl reclining in a tree drawing on a clipboard.  I didn't have large trees around when I was a kid, but I always loved movies where kids would climb trees, or hang out in tree houses. It is definitely incomplete, but I feel like I've made great progress this week.  I'm not feeling as stuck or overwhelmed.

Sunday Agglomeration

 I have been out of sorts lately.  My drawing routine has been completely disrupted by life.  I had absolutely no drawings for a Sunday Agglomeration post last Sunday.  It has really thrown me off balance by not having time to draw.  The school year gets closer and closer to the end and I feel like more and more tasks appear with no end in sight.  I am looking forward to summer vacation and being able to be a full time artist for a few months.  I managed to make time for a few creations. 

I'm still stuck on a yoga theme for my daily drawings.

sphinx

shoulder stand

plank

reverse warrior

I also made new Mizzles.  On my yoga retreat, my friend and I stopped and bought some socks that had a yoga vibe.  A few years ago, I began making Mizzles from any trip that I've been on. I haven't finished their faces, but they are already full of personality.

I finished a few more shrink-a-dinks.

I am hoping that this week will be the jump start I need to get me back into constant creation mode.  Tomorrow, I begin taking Mira Reisberg's online e-course, Hero's Art Journey.  It should be an exciting adventure!  There is still time to sign up for her class if anyone is interested. www.herosartjourney.com

 

Book: A Daily Creative Journal

I bought a book called A Daily Creative Journal: Make Something Every Day And Change Your Life! It is a great book to explore your creative side.  It helps break through a creative block.  What attracted me to it was the possibility of using it in the classroom.  Before beginning spring break, I told my Intermediate and Advanced Drawing students they were going to have a homework assignment to complete over the break.  They freaked out a bit, but when I explained the project they were a bit curious.  I told them to choose a number between 1-365 and they had to create an artwork based on that prompt.  The artwork could be a painting, drawing, photo, sculpture, video as long as they brought in it or documented it to show me.  It could be made out of anything as well.  The whole point was to be creative and have as much fun as possible.  When they began hearing the prompts, they became eager to choose their own.  I opened up the same assignment to my beginning classes, but offered it to them as extra credit.  I'm a bit excited to see what they come up with.

New Drawings and a work in progress

As always, my weekend was busy with the school garden and hiking. Sprinkled throughout this weekend, I created a few drawings and worked on a colored illustration.  I took a few of the garden illustrations I drew and combined them.  I am using Prismacolor and General's watercolor pencils and outlining with pen.

TLC Mizzle Auction Update & Drawings

It is usually said that we should follow the stars.  But the more I begin to follow my own path of starts it begins to feel like guiding the stars, or flagging them down, seems to be more possible.  I love thinking about the magic that exists in possibilities.  This is what I was thinking about while creating this quick drawing.

I subbed during my prep period today.  Usually the class tries to take advantage of having a substitute in the class, but these students were really good.  I was even able to create a quick drawing during the class since they were absorbed into their own drawings.

A quick update on Mizzles for TLC auction:  I emailed the staff, and shared with my students the 11 characters I created.  The auction closes Tuesday at 3pm and the reaction has been a little surprising.  Leading the pack is Sarg, who has a $30 bid on him right now.  Ned is at $27; Electra $26; Sparkle $18; Whisper $17; La-La $16; Om $15; Cha-Cha and Lou Bangoogleski are at $10; and Molliaire is at $8.  I feel bad for Molliaire.  I think he is not receiving the same attention as the others because his little introductory story wasn't as entertaining as the others.

If I can get my act together, I should have the last 4 Mizzles finished for Monday.

A few daily drawings

It has been a few days of drawing randomly.  I couldn't figure out what to draw so I just began drawing small circles.  They soon became the eyes of these two characters.

I think I had just finished laughing when I drew this.  I like the possibilities of what could be on that paper Molly is holding tightly.  What could possibly be on the paper that has Molly so happy?

Too High! Too High!

I'm still playing with my story and decided to create another drawing for it.  Here the squirrel is taking the sock up to its drey, or squirrel home, but the sock is afraid of heights. My prep period was very short today because we have minimum days when we begin a new semester.  I'll have more time to play with my story this week when I have an hour to designate to it.  At the very least, playing with parts of the story for my daily sketches will help me think about parts that need to be cut, or revise.

Life Drawing

I can't wait for tomorrow!  Today was the beginning of our finals, where I had to be in a classroom for 2 hours with 36 kids.  My beginning students feel they do not need to take their drawing assignment seriously, which is resulting in many C's, D's, and F's.  I am getting many incomplete drawings because they would rather talk than do their work.  It is rather sad and makes me extremely grouchy.  I have to remind myself to take deep breaths.  But tomorrow will be a little different.  I will have 2 hours with my intermediate and advanced drawing students.  I have planned for us to have fun experimenting with different art papers and media.  I thought we could even play a bit and spend some time doing quick, rough drawings of each other.  I hope they come with an open mind to be playful.  It should be fun!

Dancing in the Rain

Today's drawing is dedicated to my friend, Lydia. Yesterday, I wasn't exactly sure of what to draw for my daily drawing.  She recommended I create a drawing of the Mizzles dancing in the rain.  Thanks, Lydia, for the great idea. I had a lot of fun drawing this illustration. These drawings have become easier and easier to create; taking me less and less time. Even my sister was bit surprised how quickly I was able to complete today's drawing.