The Everything Project

this is my life. It's also another just-for-fun sketch for James Gurney's super duper Art By Committee sketch-a-long.

Happy Birthday to me! OK, it was a while ago, but I still have the balloon. I want to do a more detailed color version, but I thought I'd throw this up for now - a detailed version may take a few days. Or longer. Ummm... stay tuned (or just subscribe - over there to the top right....)

Because they are so large, they use the updrafts generated by Kampala's tallest buildings to gain altitude - which meant you could always see them gliding around the Ugandan Ministry of Revenue.

Buzzards circling a tax office seems rather symbolic...

Mostly because I'm still having problems with foreshortened circles. Another imaginary birdhouse - but it didn't look anything like a birdhouse by the time I was done with it, so I added a smirk and made him into a scarecrow head. Perhaps I can turn him into a halloween decoration.

Actually, the exercise did make me think of those 70's styrofoam ball and bead christmas ornaments. Perhaps I should draw one of those from life - it might help me get a handle on these @#$% circles.

Either that or I'm going back to the liquor bottles.

Now I'm drawing imaginary things. This is an imaginary birdhouse (another one of Brian Curtis' exercises).

Looks a little like an olive on a swizzle stick.

I told you all these foreshortened circles would drive me to drink.

and back to Brian Curtis' "Drawing From Observation". This is exercise 11. 4 on foreshortened circles. I am not good at drawing foreshortened circles. I do not enjoy drawing foreshortened circles. And I have been reading the excellent book "Talent is Overrated" by  Geoff Colvin, which states that  best way to excel in a given field is to engage in deliberate practice: "activity designed specifically to improve performance, often with a teacher's help: it can be repeated a lot; feedback on results is continuously available; it's highly demanding mentally; and it isn't much fun."

Which means I'm going to be spending the rest of the week drawing foreshortened circles.

These circles are a liquor bottle, a martini shaker, and a couple of shot glasses.

I can see those coming in handy.

Sometimes, I don't make sense even to myself.

Anyway, this is my submission to the monthly "Art By Committee" communal sketch-along hosted by the wonderfully informative, generous, and astonishingly talented James Gurney (what!?! you haven't been to his blog yet? GO, already!)

Now, back to less animated things.

Well, bigger than usual. As big as a... chair. Underneath a striped sheet. It's another drawing exercise - I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's charcoal on bond paper, and took about 6 hours.

I've come to the conclusion that I am a "slow draw-er" (kinda like "slow food" only fewer calories).

I think I'll do some more things like this. They may not be my things, though. Perhaps I need to change this blog to "drawing everything I can get my hands on"?

I've spent the past couple of weeks working my way through the drawing exercises from "Drawing From Observation" - but none of the drawings have involved my things. Until now...

yep, it's my thermometer.

Bet you didn't guess that one!

Secret evil plan underway. watch this space.

actually, only two of the charms are owls - the one on the top left is a sort of abstract thingy from T. in Ireland... but it looked kinda owl-like, so I included it.

work with me, people.

Hi there! If you picked up one of my business cards at the port credit art show, and are wondering where the heck my paintings are - they are at my main site, www.susanadsett.com.

Of course, you're welcome to hang out here for a bit too! My favorite posts are on the list to the left, that's a great place to start.

And don't forget to go to the main site to sign up for my newsletter and get your free heat transfer print of "A Small Adventure".

So I've finally started to bring the elements from this blog and my website (www.susanadsett.com) together - I've done an oil painting of something I own, and will be selling it at the Port Credit Outdoor Art Show this weekend. Come on down and check it out!

Friday: 4pm to 9pm
Saturday: 11am to 8pm
Sunday: noon to 5pm

Unfortunately the photo doesn't really do the painting credit - I had to use my camera phone, as the digital camera is sulking.

Anyone have a used Canon Rebel or Nikon D60 for sale?

I may not have many irregular objects, but I do have some cylindrical objects, which is what I needed for the next exercise from the book "Drawing From Observation"

In fact, these are all containers for various types of alcohol.

hmmmm.

Anyway, we've got a couple of cans of Strongbow, a large red wine bottle, a smaller white wine bottle, and a small bottle of Kahlua, which is great in the winter, but not so good for hot weather drinks. Instead, I've been drinking gin based cocktails - I even made up my own. Do you want the recipe? Of course you do!

Simple Suzeeee
1 oz gin
1/2 oz simple syrup
splash lime
Add to a pint glass filled with ice. Top with 1 can of club soda. Sip slowly while watching the local rednecks test out their new dirt bike by towing it behind their truck... with a rope.

Thankfully, this drawing assignment only had three sections - otherwise, I would have to go buy things to draw, which strikes me as slightly ridiculous.

More from J. - an essential oil diffuser on the left, a candle holder on the right, and in the middle - miniature bagpipes.

This exercise works better with things people are actually used to seeing.

As mentioned in the previous posting - I seem to have a shortage of irregularly shaped objects. I never really thought of myself as... symmetrical... before. But objects don't lie - I had to borrow stuff from J. to create the next two series of illustrations.

This one starts off with a stuffed bagpipe player (a gift to J. from my Aunt), and a silver deer (another gift, from his friend R.) And the strange triangle shape in the middle?

A baseball glove.

What, you couldn't tell?

Oh, and the deer's head hasn't exploded - he's wearing a large evergreen wreath.

Perhaps I need to find some things that are a bit LESS irregular.

I'll see what else J. has. Apparently all I have are books, and that's a completely different drawing exercise.

So, continuing on with the exercises from the Brian Curtis book - this one was to draw a lineup of objects "with distinct and irregular shapes, such as toys, plants, lamps".

It's been a while since I played around with silhouettes, and this was kind of fun - I went back over the drawing (originally done in newsprint ) in Photoshop to turn it into something that was truly black and white.

From left to right - a carved giraffe from Uganda, a red velvet Buddha bank (which I've drawn before), "Spike" the mascot of the Guelph Storm hockey team (the only mascot in the OHL with dreads!), an oil lamp that I've also drawn before, and another table lamp.

The reason I'm redrawing stuff? Apparently, I have very few "irregularly shaped" objects.

And I have two more set-ups to go... eeek.

I'm continuing with the exercises from Brian Curtis's book "Drawing from Observation" - this one is part of the exercise in drawing cubes in perspective.

And what kinds of cubes do I have? Books, of course!

The book set in the middle is a dictionary/thesaurus combo that was left behind by a departing co-worker (I guess they didn't need... ummm... words... at their new job). The other boxed set is my well worn hard cover copy of "The Lord of the Rings". And in the bottom left, (picked up at The Strand Book Store in NYC for 48 cents) "Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases" by (compiled by?) Grenville Kleiser, published in 1917.

Yes, it's 15,000 different phases that one may or may not find useful, broken into several categories:

Useful Phrases - "declamatory treatment", "legendary associations", "vacillating obedience"

Significant Phrases - "transfuse and irradiate" (how often is that likely to come up? Particularly in 1917?)

Felicitous Phrases: "urgent, tumultuous, and incomprehensible" (like many of these phrases)

Impressive Phrases:"fop, coxcomb, puppy, and jackanapes" (or, if you're txting, FCPJ.)

Business Phrases: "we have not had the pleasure of placing your name on our ledgers" (I still haven't figured out if that's a good thing or not...).

Literary Expressions: "a broad, complacent, admiring imbecility breathed from his nose and lips" (file under "insults unlikely to be understood by the insultee)

Conversational Phrases "Do not the circumstances justify it?" (it's difficult to imagine any circumstances justifying the phrases in this book)

Public-Speaking Phrases: "it is needless before this audience to repeat" (which undoubtably preceded an 40 minute repetition).

and the ever-popular :

Miscellaneous Phrases: "marvelous copiousness of illustration" (which you could certainly accuse this list of being).

I'll bet William Strunk HATED this book.

But I can still draw coffee cups. These are a few of our wildly eclectic collection.



Yes, I'm going with "eclectic", not "mismatched".


Done on 18 x 24 newsprint with an 8b pencil - part of an ongoing series of exercises from the book "Drawing From Observation" by Brian Curtis.

You be seeing more of these both here and on my web site: www.susanadsett.com

Although obviously very distracted. I blame the owls. I'm still drawing them - and I have a new, secret evil plan for them as well. Watch this space for more details.

Ok, not THIS space. The blog is general. You know what I mean. Oh, sign up for the RSS feed already - the button is on the side. If you have a problem, let me know!