Cinq petits chats

I've been drawing cats. When I saw the theme for EDM challenge n° 185, Draw a cat, I wanted to draw my cat, but I don't see her much during the summer, she hides under things to sleep to escape the heat, and when she's awake, I'm not fast enough... So I found a cool book at the library, that's called "Chats insolites" (means "weird cats"), by Anne Camberlin. It has fun photos of cats, like this one :

And these :

And this one :
The book says all siamese have a squint, and there is an explanation, but after three readings I still can't understand it clearly : (

All the cats are on the same accordeon card :

And I think I'm going to do more because it's fun, there are still many fun/beautiful cats in the book, and I still haven't drawn my cat!

Un camion et Août en croquis

I've spotted this old truck rusting in an empty lot for some times now - and I like it better than shiny, modern trucks... Actually where I live we don't have many shiny, modern trucks, but none as old as this one are running anymore.

The same before the color - I did it from two photos I took, I'm not brave enough to stay in a very passing place to draw, and besides, there's no shadow where this truck is... I don't want to melt.

This a little mix of sketches I did this month at the beach or watching the Olympic Games. I found it hard to copy my own sketches - the copies don't have the good movement and feel of the original, something's missing. Except my brother who looks more like himself here than in the first try, maybe because I went fast and simplified/exagerated his features? One of these days I need to try doing portraits...

My brother is the yellow one... It was a cool month full of friends and kids!

Un cosmonaute contre la montre

This week's theme at Inspire me Thursday is "Create against the clock". You have to make something in 10 mn, then scan, then to it again in one hour.
I've missed the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, but I've found me a lot of great photos about the event, and I had in mind to try to draw some of them. This one seemed not too complicated, just one figure and some stars!
This is the 10 mn version:

I did it in just ten minutes with a white Posca and some crayons. It was fun. I was surprised that I found it not rotten, in the end.
The next day I prepared some more things and sat and did that one :

In exactly one hour - actually I could have finished more quickly but I slowed down because i like to play within the rules (sometimes). This time with acrylic paint. I had fun too. I like it better because the colors are more bright. And it was fun to paint without drawing the lines before, something I've never tried yet.

I don't like them enourmously, but I don't hate them either and it was fun to do something different!

Des trucs sur le golf

My brother is a golf player and his birthday is soon. I want to give him a drawing along with the usual comic books we traditionnally exchange... So I spent some time searching golf pictures and made these :





Actually they're small and all on the same page like this (well, better, because the page is a little bigger than the scanner). I'll try to find a simple frame to make it look more finished.
I used a paper tissue to make the clouds on the first image. It came out well, no? The ball, I didn't spend enough time on it and did something horrible, then tried to make it better, managed a little bit, then abandoned... I'm a lazy dessinatrice (a person who draws - I didn't find a word for that in my dictionary. At first I was going to write "a drawer" : )!

Une vache, une télé et deux bouquins

I didn't have a lot of time lately because my little house has been full of friends and kids - that was great! I didn't read any new book, but I missed drawing books, so I quickly sketched these two. They are some of my all times favorites, read many times! The one on the right I've dragged with me everywhere since I was a kid, and the other one is new because I keep giving it and buying it again. I don't have this one any more, either!

And this is challenge n°51, draw your tv and favorite tv show running. This is one of the anime my daughter watches regularly and my favorite one to hear or watch a little, it's silly and funny. The cow lives with the family. Here she wants to become a swimming champion. The mother is speaking "English" in her own, very particular way. And the father is a telephone...

Habillée pour l'hiver

The theme this week for Inspire me Thursday was "Wardrobe". Cool subject!
So I drew my favorite items in the new catalogue I received. And the girls in the clothes. Not an autoportrait! (too bad...)

Not sure if I'll buy any of them, even with the bargains... Just looking at the images satisfies me almost as much as actually getting new clothes...

3 cartes et la mer

These are the last three cards I made for the swap. They're all done from photos I took recently.
This one I took in april, on a very windy day. I went to a restaurant with my parents and we had great pizzas!


This one represents the ice cream and doughnut seller on the harbour beach in Cavalaire, where I live. These rolling things are horribly heavy and the young men and girls pull them all day long under the sun, it's a very hard job. They all have great muscled legs!

This one is from the photo series I took in the harbour. Little sailing boat, in the private harbour.

I had a great time doing these cards. I'm glad I joined the swap - now I look at my mail box like a kid every day to see if I received a new card!

3 cartes postales!

These are the first three cards I received from the swap we're doing in the EDM group. I love them! They're all even more beautiful for real.
This one is from Marva, that's what she sees from her home in Colorado, lucky girl! It's so beautiful!


This one is from Wendy who lives in Sidney. This is a view she sees everyday too. Love the incredible light and play of shadows!

And this is from Stephanie , it's the second card in her Portals series. Very serene and inviting place!

This exchange is really a great adventure! I was a little anxious in the beginning, but I'm glad I joined. Making the cards made me learn a lot, as I took more care over my work than I usually do, and tried new things.

And receiving the cards is awesome! I love receiving real mail, and then from all over the world, with strange stamps, and fabulous art inside... it totally rocks!

2 petits livres

I just read these two little books. The one on the right was fine. The one on the left was the most beautiful love story ever...
It's said in the book's presentation, by Aragon, a famous French writer who translated the book from Kirghiz. It was told to me by a very dear friend who had loved it.


I didn't think for one moment that I was going to agree! But yes, I did! To me too, it's the most beautiful love story ever. You've got to read to understand... The funny thing is that it also has something to do with Art - and the need to express the beauty around us. I had shivers almost all along as I read it. I cried in the end not because it was sad but because of the emotion... first time something like this happens to me!
I've just looked on google and it's been translated in English if someone is interested, under the name "Jamilia".

Quatre bateaux, un poisson et une méduse

These are the four first cards I did for the card swap (not in that exact order - the first one is actually the fourth...). I've been wanting to draw the boats parts I had photographed last month, and I thought the card size would fit well.


This blue one is a "Pointu". That's an old kind of small fishing boat that has become an object of collection. You can usually see one or several of them in the South of France's harbours. There are associations and clubs of Pointu lovers, not all of whom are French!

The last two are fishing boats. There are still of few of them in Cavalaire, where I live. (that's between Toulon and Nice, on the Côte d'Azur). They sell fresh fish in the morning, mostly to the many restaurants we have here.

I think that the fish drawn on the boat is a scorpion fish. We call it "rascasse". The jelly fish we call "méduse". We've had lot of them each summer the last few years.