Gloria J Zucaro's "Veggie Grid"

This week I made a couple of cards, and finished some projects.  The first is a Sketch Skool project for Jane LaFazio.  We were to arrange a still life, each part individually , draw and paint and add a grid line.  In my actual painting the grid is straight, but I couldn't get the top line to straighten out in this photo.  

The first card I made this week was a "Thank You" for a thank you gift! Redundant, I know, but the gift was...YUMMY!

What a great gift for just picking up their mail!

Next I got carried away with the invitation/reminder for my book club. We meet every other month at a different members' house.  That means we only have it at our house about once every other year.  We meet in alphabetical order.  It turned out to be my turn for the Christmas party.  We don't read a book for the Christmas party, but we usually exchange gifts.  We used to buy a gift and name a price to stay within.  This year someone suggested a "white elephant" gift exchange.   If we don't like what we get, we can donate it to the resale shop "House of Hope" in Barrington where a couple of our members volunteer.  Since the theme is white elephant, and a Christmas party, I combined the two.  Here are my supplies for the card.  The elephant is clip art from the internet, some stamps I have for the invitation inside, and the Christmas greeting outside.  Then I used some papers from a pad of Christmas themed papers for the background for my message about the gift this year.

Supplies

Stamped message inside (minus some info!)

The gift idea reminder

The Craziest Christmas card ever!

The last project this week is the finished journal page I showed last week.

It is a "from life" drawing with watercolor I did awhile back when I went to a Tom Trausch open studio in Woodstock , IL.  It is held in St. John's Lutheran Church.  I added Zentangling, Stamped letters, a stamped pencil, some paper collage and crayon.

I am posting this to Paint Party Friday, Sketchbook Skool, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Have a good week,

gloria

Gloria J Zucaro's "Creating Everyday"

Hello November!  Where has this year gone! 

I am so happy to say I finally, after more than a year, feel like I am getting my groove back.  Out of that black hole where no desire lives for art.  

I had a very productive week, although some things started and not finished.

A Favorite Lunch

Lady Across From Me

Sitting in the Car, what I saw

Today I did a journal page with collaged papers from my collection and put in my shopping list as my journal entry, so not an actual sketch..  I tore it(the list) up and glued it on with matt medium.  I did a stencil and some watercolor pencils.  I also did a little Zentangle in a few open spaces.  I will be combining my sketches with this kind of collection of different mediums, I think.  Making the sketch the focal point while doing the other work around it.

Journal Page that needs finishing

Tangled Palm Up

Jane's Grid Veggies, needs painting

For Prash-Wet onto Dry "SKY"
People In Restaurant

For Prash-Wet into Wet "SKY"
Man across waiting for oil change

First Chalk Paint Project. Table Top of Rattan Table

Top Of Table

First Coat of "Cream" Chalk Paint showing desired texture

After Two Coats of Paint and One Coat of Clear Wax.  I am going to put three coats of wax and have to let it dry for 24 hours between each.  I plan on putting my new fish tank on top of this table.

I am posting this to Sketchbook Skool, Paint Party Friday, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Have a good week,

gloria





Gloria J Zucaro's "First Drawing for Sketchbook Skool"

After a hectic weekend and being up all night with a stomach ache, I took it easier today.  

I had planned on doing my first "Beginnings " lesson early in the day from Sketchbook Skool, but kept procrastinating with household jobs and trying to fix a problem with my computer.  

Finally after returning home at 6:15 from watching my grandson's soccer practice, I ate dinner and opened a gessoed notebook page and put down some watercolor paint.  I dried it with a heat gun then put down a layer of acrylic heavy-bodied paint.  But to my surprise it was transparent!  So after some sketching, I added more paint.  The first sketch was a little "sketchy", but I went over it with a darker pen. 

It is not really in good proportion but I like it anyway.  It wasn't as bad as I feared!  This is my New Balance sneaker.  

My sneakers are my most comfortable shoes and whenever I am at home or for flea markets and other casual long-days of walking I wear them.  (my orthotics and magnets fit into them!)

First layer over gessoed page.  The gesso made the rather thin paper very lumpy when it dried, but I like the texture.

In the next step we were to make a general outline of the object we were painting.  As you can see I made the end of the shoe shape going off the page.

Here is my final drawing after a second coat of ink with a bigger nib.

I used an 01 Sakura Pigma pen first then an 05

With all my lights on in the family room I also got some shadows in the picture!

I am posting this to Paint Party Friday, Facebook and Twitter.

OOPS!  There is more Below, My first page of journaling, and my desk top in my family room.

I have started to journal very amateurishly!  Yesterday my day got away from me as usual, not being in the habit of having what I need with me.  So I journaled it today, just drawing little pictures of things that caught my attention yesterday.  I went shopping at Costco for a new blender.  Then spent several hours with my daughter-in-law and my grandson, who is 6, at Goebberts Pumpkin Farm.  It had suddenly dropped in temperature and was extremely windy.  So we kept on the move to see the pumpkin eating dinosaur, the three tents with animals(chickens running free).  There were all sorts of exotic animals including the big cats that I especially love. Three baby tigers, and leopards and a couple of Linx.  There were various deer type animals & goats, pigs, a cow, ostrich, Alpaca, Parrots, etc.  Then we ran to the corn box, which is filled with shucked kernels, then to the maze that was inside a structure and the piled hay/straw made it seem warmer.  We hid from each other and ran in opposite directions for about 1/2 hour.  Then it was time to checkout and get some Kettle Corn!  On to dinner at Portillo's( for me) it was a chicken sandwich and onion rings.  I got home about 7 and fell asleep on the sofa!

The last questions that Danny asked about our feelings on the class at the end of the week and my answers.  You can probably figure out some of the questions.  

I feel better now that I am into it a little more.  I think it is a good idea to journal, because as has been said, we forget the minutia that is really what makes up our lives.  I really like that I don't have to be perfect in my drawings and can just put down my impressions.  What scares me is doing it on the spot in a public space.  !. I don't sit down in an area like that ever!  2.I always need some other supply.  Today at home I had pen, paper and watercolors, but decided to use my Derwent watercolor pencils and then wet everything afterward.  I would not normally have that.  I also needed the cardboard box the blender came in to draw a facsimile of it for my journal.  I needed some scissors too!  And paper towels.  And my camera!!!

Today I shopped for ingredients to make cornbread to eat tomorrow night with chili that my son is making.  We will have dinner together after my grandson goes trick or treating.  I measured all the ingredients out into bowls and cups.  Then I took a picture to use as my sketchbook journal page for today.  After the cornbread muffins and sticks were baked, I took a photo so you could see how delicious they look!