Drawing October Vibes

October here, and in California we have bright blue skies and very orange pumpkins everywhere - which means that my two favorite colors are on display, so I try to maximize my sketching outings before the rain comes (we need it!). Oh - and Halloween decorations are everywhere too :) 

Big Refill Part II

I recently did some maintenance work on my tools (big refill I including), but my collection of waterbrushes and all sorts of refillable brushpens was not part of that maintenance work. However, this week I got my inks and liquid watercolors out and enjoyed pure refills and some custom mixes! 

Loss is Hard

I lost a tree. In a sense, I never had it - it was not mine. But it was part of my life - it told me about upcoming changes of seasons way in advance. It danced when the weather changed. It hosted a variety of birds and often one very loud murder of crows. It changed the shape of my sky. It was a large European Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior). 

Even if you know it is coming, loss is hard. Even if you think there is nothing you could have done, it is hard. Or if you have a list of things you think you might have done differently. I still want more time with it. It is a natural way of things. Birds are circling in search of a familiar perch. And I keep checking the spot.

Drawing helped. Walking helped. Remembering how Amy Stewart documented her loss in a "requiem for a tree" helped. People helped, of course. Earplugs helped. Remembering and visiting other trees too.

Drawing Bikes with Kids!

Another year - another opportunity to draw bikes with kids at a local event promoting biking to school and work. This year we had a heat wave and, understandably, fewer visitors. But it was a blast nonetheless!

I planned to bring lots of brushes and paint instead of drawing but did not have a way to bring it all and instead brought acrylic markers - I thought they would be a big hit - but kids cared only about colors and not what tool they were using! I hope to learn from them :)

This year's favorite/new/surprising expressions are:

• Strawberry is riding my bike! Wait - where do I sit?
• My bike has polka dots instead of spokes!
• And mine has hearts instead of spokes - this is the most heart bike ever!
• I know how to bike and make matcha. I also just started kindergarten - I will know more soon.
• I am drawing a city where I am riding - and need to add cameras - many cameras.
• This is me, and this is my mom - riding a bike together. She does not know how to ride a bike, but we are going for matcha ice cream - this is a drawing of our dream.
• No! My bike does not need a helmet! But I do.

Bell Peppers!

Farmer's Market bounty: bell peppers of all sorts in markers, watercolor and gouache, not to mention a mix between all of this and printmaking and collage!