A Sketch Through My Car Window - Day 13 of 75

I went out this morning to sketch.  It was still cold, so I did this from my car window at the Wildlife Center (James McFaul Environmental Center). 

Snow Day - Day 12 of 75

We had snow off and on most of the day yesterday, and this is what I woke up to this morning - outside my living room window.

Amaryllis Bulb - Day 11 of 75

I try to pick up a new amaryllis bulb every year to plant after Christmas.   I plan to sketch it several more times before it blooms.

Poinsettia Plant - Day 10 of 75

I decided that a sketch of the entire poinsettia plant would make a good subject.

The Horse

This figurine of an old swaybacked horse goes way back.  My grandpa found him one day, and I decided to add him to our family Nativity set.  I don't think my mom appreciated it, but it became a family tradition to put the horse there.  When I got married, I took it with me and added it to my own set, until recently when I retired my old plaster set and bought a new ceramic one.  The horse didn't seem to fit anymore, and he was retired to the attic.  When I did the Day 6 sketch of my new Nativity set, my daughter asked about the horse, and down he came from the attic to become a sketch prop.

Veggie Platter - Day 8 of 75

Another continuous line drawing of a platter of red and yellow peppers, carrots and broccoli.  I had trouble keeping the platter edges round, but managed to fill it up without too many overlaps or large spaces.  If it looked like I was leaving too much space, I just made the broccoli bigger.  LOL!

A Christmas Gift - Day 7 of 75

My sister Tina gave me this oil lamp for a Christmas gift this year.  Earlier in the year New Jersey was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, and I spent 7 days without electricity.  So when Tina saw this oil lamp, she knew that it would make a great Christmas gift for me. 

Christmas Eve at the Stable - Day 6 of 75

Sometimes I bite off more than I can chew, and sometimes it actually works out.  This is a sketch of my Nativity set.  I did briefly use a pencil to mark the placement of the figures, so that I could fit them all on the page and keep the proportions more or less accurate, but the actual sketching was done only in pen. 

Continuous Line Landscape - Day 5 of 75

This is my attempt at a continuous line (contour) sketch of the view out my window.  I picked the pen up more times than I would have liked.  I found this difficult to do, but fun, and plan to do several more of them during this challenge.

Four Christmas Ornaments - Day 4 of 75

Here are four Christmas ornaments, a clothespin toy soldier, an angel from Hawaii, an old handmade felt Snoopy, and a fishing Santa.

"Kiss-Kiss Bears" - Day 3 of 75

My third sketch was of my two "Kiss-Kiss Bears", a Hallmark item from a few years ago.  The bears have magnets in their noses and will kiss if you hold them facing each other.  My grandkids love them!

Christmas Poinsettia - Day 2 of 75

In keeping with my idea to keep it simple, I did this sketch of my new red poinsettia, focusing on a single blossom. 

I Love a Challenge! - Day 1 of 75

Recently I came across several people who were doing something called the "75 Day Sketch Challenge", which was started by artist and teacher Brenda Swenson.  Well, I love a challenge!  I've participated in several online sketch challenges, sketchcrawls, and sketching workshops.  But I haven't been able to make myself into a regular every day sketcher.  This looked like a good opportunity to give it another shot.  So, on December 19th I started my own 75 Day Sketch  Challenge.  This is my first sketch.

This is a sketch of my small table top Christmas tree, complete with ornaments.  I got lost a bit among the branches and ornaments, and decided that I would make the next sketch something simple.