Des feuilles

My last post for 2010, I think! I'm at last daring to draw some leaves and other natural things... not realistic yet, just having fun with shapes and colors, but I'll get there (maybe. unless something else grabs my attention!).

 

I've been playing with watercolors for three years, more or less, and I still don't really know what's going to happen when I use them... must be a very slow learner. And I don't feel like working on it, at all. This is my playground, no "must do" allowed!
I thought the negative version was cool, so here goes :

I have no resolutions for 2010. I can't be more serious and perfect that I am already, so why would I make resolution? Oh, you think I'm kidding, I'm sure!
I have a wish list, though. It's very small and I won't tell to keep me luck.
See you next year!

Experiments, sister, and traditions in Provence

I did a little drawing from a photo for my sister and her husband. This is the result after playing with it with my paint.net software!

I actually like it better than the original, it's a bit boring in comparison ^^!

I'll print the red one and send it to them too, in case they like it...

And this is a quick thing with acrylic paints on colored paper. I've never done that before, just play with colors. It's pleasing, in a strange way. I mean, I'm pleased by the result in a strange way, I'm not trying to judge it but I just like looking at it for some reason.

And this one, same thing :

 I've also done other things that I'm not showing... I had done some drawings that I thought were really cool... and then I painted them, and it got worse and worse and now they're really rotten.

I hope everyone had a good time at christmas. I went to a Provençal traditional mass with friends who sing in the folk choir. It was a great experiment. Provençal traditions are both beautiful and fun because people in Provence have a great sense of humor and an incredible way to talk and tell stories. Their telling of the Nativity story is really unique - at some point there was an enormous piece of cheese involved - I didn't understand exactly what it was doing in the story as it was told in Provençal...

December things, books and girafes

I found the heart shaped rock the other day on the beach. I went for a walk, trying to enjoy the first rays of sun in weeks and to beat my blue mood, and I found the rock. I felt very gloomy when I went, and I was fine when I came back with this rock and some nice others!

I tried to draw the top of my christmas tree but I think I'm not patient enough for that kind of thing.
The weed on the bottom left is wheat, here in Provence people grow it from the 4th of december for luck and money in the house. Anything that can help, I'm willing to try!

 

Last reads : on the right, La Cithare Nue (the naked sithar) by Shan Sa. It's so beautiful, from the first lines to the last ones, I couldn't believe it. It's like watching a painting, hearing music and reading a poem, during hundreds of pages - and the story is fantastic. I can't recommand that book enough! It makes a great Christmas gift, too!

The other one is by Tony Hillerman, Skeleton Man. I haven't finished it but it's great - I've never read a Tony Hillerman book that I didn't like! It had been a long time since I'd read one of his stories, and I felt the need for it. He's well known in France - present in every public library!

 

  And a quick one I did yesterday and this morning. I wanted to draw something, anything, and found these girafes before the Ngorongoro mountains in an old Geo magazine. It's not very polished, but I like it anyway - and I have this urge to make things, like I've never had before. I'm really enjoying - and needing - the process!

Hermione Granger vs Mary Poppins

Drawings I did last weekend! I took everything that was in my bag out and drew it. (if you click on the drawings you can see them bigger.)

I was sick and stayed inside the whole weekend - anyway it was raining  again so no regrets... And actually, spending hours drawing and painting without thinking about anything made me feel real good and I was feeling recreated when I went back to work on monday.

Sometimes I also have other things in my bag, like a book, a cup for coffee, nespresso doses, chocolate, my umbrella, reading glasses, a scarf... It's a Mary Poppins bag!

Now yesterday evening I saw the last Harry Potter movie with my daughter (it was awesome!!) and I can tell you Hermione's bag beats Mary Poppins's bag by far!

Roses, chocolates, John Wayne, and an Advent subject.

New page, new flowers! A friend offered me the roses and the chocolates (yes, the brown things below the flowers are chocolates in a box). I had to draw fast because the chocolates didn't last long. The roses are doing better!

And a portrait of John Wayne from a photo I found on The Impossible Cool .

And this an Advent calendar I made for my daughter. All the little cases are open and I put sweets, chocolate, and little fun things in them! She loves having her little surprise every day.

 I made it with card board, scrapbook papers, a few pens, tape, glue, and a rainy afternoon (we've got a lot of those, that's why I'm able to update the blog so much...).

 It's raining again, my work is all done and I'm drawing like a mad woman, so expect a new blog post very soon!