First Project 365 post - January 1-7

I'd debated doing Project 365 this year, but I had not really committed to it due to the fact that I did make quite a few other mini-resolutions and decided I had enough on my plate already. But about 8:00 on the evening of Jan. 1, I decided to go for it. Nothing like last minute decisions!

I decided to go with a collage format, but if you would rather see my photos full-size, let me know, and I can do them that way instead.

So here we go - the first week of Project 365, 2013:

Jan. 1 - Playing dominos with my family.
Jan. 2 - Putting the finishing touches on the portrait I gave my mom for Christmas of her cat, Bummer.
Jan. 3 - Freshly baked bread and burger buns. I've been baking my own bread for over a year now and have gradually started baking most other bread-related things as well - buns, pitas, pizza crust, etc.
Jan. 4 - Pieper, my dog. This is her confused face wondering why the heck I'm kneeling on the floor pointing a black box at her and telling her to stay where she is.
Jan. 5 - My show tack from my 4-H days. This is set up at the library where I work for our western-themed adult winter reading program. I thought this was an appropriate day for this photo as it was 9 years ago today that I lost my precious horse, Sugar, who wore this saddle and bridle.
Jan. 6 - A self-portrait. We got back from playing games with friends from church at about 11:30, and I realized I hadn't taken my daily photo yet, so this is what you get.
Jan. 7 - Working our 2012 beef calves. They got shots to keep them from getting certain diseases (much like humans are vaccinated against measles and mumps and even chicken pox and the flu) as well as a solution poured on their backs that kills parasites. The boys were also castrated at this point and we took a closer look at the girls to see who might be good future cows.


Now that I've started, I'm very glad I decided to do this. I think it'll give you a look at my real life that I don't share much of simply because I don't know what and how much to talk about without boring you.

Sketchbook Sunday - January 6

Back at it this week. Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple weeks. The only thing I had to show I couldn't for fear of ruining a Christmas surprise. I showed a photo of him earlier, but here's the signed, finished scan.

Sketching from a model horse on my desk.

The finished assignment for my foreshortening lesson. I have the crappiest scanner known to man, so it's very light, but you get the idea.

And working on the next lesson - portraits. Going to be drawing lots of eyes, noses, and lips this week.

On a side note, I decided the evening of Jan. 1 to join in on Project 365 this year, so you'll be seeing weekly posts of my photos of the previous week. If anyone else is joining in this year and blogging about it, post a link to your blog in the comments - I'd love to follow you!

I wasn't entirely honest...

I have a confession... When I said I was taking a break from drawing for the month of December, I was lying. This is what I was actually doing:

The reason for the deceitfulness was that this is a portrait of my mom's cat, Bummer; this was her Christmas gift, and I could not post progress photos for fear that she'd take a peek at my blog.

Sketchbook Sunday - December 16

Here's what my foreshortening assignment looks like right now. It will hopefully go in the mail this week.

And a page from my sketchbook. A quick sketch of a rodeo photo and some experimenting with how to do a black background behind the fur and whiskers of my mom's cat that may be my next drawing. I've always despised drawing light hair against a darker background.

Sketchbook Sunday - December 9

I worked more than usual again this week, but I still made some good progress on my assignment. Right arm, face, and torso are close to finished.

And a close-up of a horse's face that I did a quick sketch of.

Sketchbook Sunday - December 2

You won't be seeing any actual drawings that I'm working on for a little while. I've decided to take a little break after the last two projects. I'll probably start up again after Christmas.

In the meantime though, I'll still be working on my Art Instruction Schools lessons. Here's the current state of the assignment for the foreshortening lesson:

The hand and arm on the left are close to finished. The rest is just shadows and highlights blocked in.

And a sketch I did of my mom's cat, Bummer. She keeps nagging me to draw him for her. The black patch is just a test to see how he'd look against a dark background. With the white fur on his chin, I'm thinking that's what I'll have to do even though I don't look forward to it.

Bid on my photo and support our wounded veterans

I donated an 8x10 print of my draft horse photo...

... for auction to support Atlanta Horses for Heroes, an organization that provides equine-assisted therapy to wounded veterans.

Go bid on it and many other great items on the Draft Horse Owners of Georgia fundraiser page.

The auction ends Monday, Dec. 3, so hurry!