Discus

Here's another drawing I've been working on:

It's not my favorite figure drawing I've done, but sometimes when it comes to drawing, I get to count some sketches as practices. That way, I can chalk it all up under 'progression.' Thanks skinny little discus man, for letting me practice on you so that I can do much much better on the next one. (And I'm sorry your head is so big and poofy.)

Are you doing anything that you're counting as a practice lately?

Free as a Bird

I have a thing for birds. So, when my sister and I were picking a sketch to practice on, we immediately went for this one:

It is cheerfully hanging on my clothesline wall, which I'm excited to show you soon. This bird makes flying look so breezy and effortless, which is not really the case for people, usually.Well, here's to a winged heart: fly away, fly away, my friends!

Watching the Ships that Go Sailing

Here's another sketch that I've done recently:

I'd really like to give this drawing away to someone. Leave a comment by 10 pm on Monday, and I'll randomly pick a winner. Good luck!

Update: The lucky winner selected by the random number generator is Rachel! Congratulations! I'll be sure to get you your sketch :)

Salamander

So, when we were paddling about at girls' camp the first time, one of the younger girls frantically paddled to some other girls in our group, upset about some creatures she had found. In the shallow waters were some giant leeches! They were several inches long and had legs and horns!

I don't know if you know much about leeches, but they do not usually come equipped with appendages. In fact, I think it might be a genus requirement. I drew this salamander using the grid method, and interestingly enough, it looks very similar to those ferocious leeches:

The grid method is an easy way of ensure all proportions, angles, and details are correct, by studying then reproducing art section-by-section. I had forgotten that this is a good tool to keep in mind. Never fear, though. It's at the forefront of my drawing mind now.

Sunset in the Mountains

My artist sister and I took another mountainous trip to jot down a quickly disappearing sunset. This time, instead of hiking to our destination, we drove up a bumpy dirt road and sat on an old wooden fence for so long that our bums fell asleep. I didn't take any pictures, unfortunately, but here is my super quick pastel sketch to show for it:

This was the first time my sister had ever used pastels and I was proud of her for trying something new under pressure. (The sun always seems to go down faster when you'd like it to hold still!) It's been nice to squeeze in some art, which is my favorite thing in the world. I'd forgotten how much it speaks to me. My soul feels whole when I'm creating art, but I sometimes get caught up in all the bustling of living that I forget to make time for it. That is going to be fixed from now on. Here's to savoring each moment.

Painting Hike

My youngest sis and I share a love of many things, two of which are spending time outdoors and creating beautiful works of art. We booked it up one of our frequented hiking trails to make it in time to catch the sunset so we could paint it:

I use the term 'paint it' loosely here. We actually used watercolor pencils and brought along this awesome waterbrush found here that is perfect for on-the-go painting. Don't tell anyone we cheated, okay?

Dusty Old Men

I recently presented a few pieces at a poetry reading for the book that I contributed to. It was at Ken Sanders Rare Books in SLC, which according to my sister smells "like dusty old men." I'm pretty sure she meant to say books, but I told her anyway that I loved the smell of dusty old men because it's full of wisdom and goodness. I tried out a new poem for the crowd there and wanted to share it with all y'all:

Her Growing Sorrow
By Laura Nielson Baxter

When her sorrow arrives in a box
she decides that she doesn't like
the way it looks on her.
She knows nothing about how big it will get.

So she puts it on once
just to say she's worn it
then forgets about it for a while.

She sits on her porch
watching cheery people
and trying not to enjoy too much
the sorrow she's wrapped herself in.

But it's heavy and warm, smells so fresh
that it's hard not to like it
at least a little.

She sits alone on the couch
that once was her daddy's
fingers stitching fast but mind
working faster.

She thinks on her sorrow
neatly folded in the closet
and gets it out to wear.

She talks at the phone
but can't listen anymore
because her sorrow's grown and
keeps getting in the way.

So she just talks on and finds it hard
not to talk about how big
her sorrow's getting.

She decides it's easier
to wear her sorrow all the time
than pull it out only
when she needs it.

So she wears her big sorrow
sitting, watching, stitching, talking,
all tangled up.

While we were enjoying some other fancy poems by other authors, my sister and I co-drew this wee little sketch of Ken Sanders himself, a person I imagine is the best of dusty old men.

Holiday Gift-Giving: For the Sketcher

For a secret sister gift, I drew the name of a girl who loves to sketch all the livelong day, so I made this for her:

It's a practice sketchbook, and each page spread has an awesome photo as a drawing reference. So, the left page has an interesting photo, and the right page is blank so that she can draw the photo. Drawing from photos is excellent practice, but sometimes when you're in the mood to draw, you just want to draw, not look for a photo first. I pasted a large variety of pictures and photos in this little book: lots of different faces, amazing dancers for figure drawing practice, classic artworks in order to learn from the masters, photos with unique perspectives, figure statues, and pictures showing off neat lighting. There is a wide variety of emotion, so I feel confident that there will be an appropriate photo reference whenever the sketching bug might strike. One of the best parts is that there are no loose papers falling out because they've all been glued down. I know. It's genious.

All I need now is to make myself something like this! Seriously, I don't know why I haven't done this eariler.

Remembrance Day

Do you have Remembrance Days? I have a day in December that I like to remember because it's the anniversary of the day that angel Lily passed away. It's a good time to reflect on the happy memories, feel sorrow that she's still not with us, and hope for another year full of healing and fond recollections.

In memory of Lily, I drew this picture of her:

Do you have Remembrance Days? For me, they aren't always associated with someone's death, but are other significant days I like to reflect on. What days do you like to remember and why?

A Little Something Something

Inspiration for this recently-created picture came from Rembrandt's prints of New Testament scenes.

 (ink and watercolors on paper)

Here's a story for you that I was reminded of while creating this piece: a few years back, the LDS Church History Museum in Salt Lake City hosted an exhibit of Rembrandt's magnificent prints. I was at the museum to see another exhibit and didn't even know how close I was to such priceless treasures until a sad-looking little old man invited me into a section of the museum that had no traffic in it. I thought he just needed some company, until I realized what exactly he had to show in the small room. He said, "These are prints by Rembrandt," then proceeded to explain who Rembrandt was and why these prints were significant. I had to interrupt him to say that he needn't worry, I knew who Rembrandt was. He looked so relieved and was so excited to find someone who was interested in what he so desperately wanted to share with everyone. He gave me a small overview of the exhibit, then let me peruse freely.

Oh. My. Word. It was incredible! There were magnifying glasses provided so that patrons could enjoy the smallest of details in the prints. This was one of the few times in my life when I've spontaneously cried in an art exhibit because the art was so beautiful. If that man hadn't invited me into his small exhibit, I would have never known it was there and I would have missed an incredible opportunity. While I was there soaking up everything I possibly could, a few people wandered in and out, glancing at a print here or there, but were merely passing through to get to another room. The little old man would try and start a conversation with people passing through, but they always politely brushed him off or humored him without really listening to the good news he was sharing. No one seemed to realize what it was he truly wanted to share. I wanted to give all those silly people Shaken Patron Syndrome and ask, "Don't you know what this is? You will never get another opportunity like this in your whole life!"

After spending an hour or so in that room, and watching the curator try desperately to get people to understand the worth of his good news, I understood how deep the little old man's sadness really was. He wasn't trying to sell anyone anything or promote his own art. He only wanted to share something incredible, once-in-a-lifetime, even, and was gently rejected each time. The man never gave up trying to involve people the entire time I was savoring the art, and I'm certain he had been anxiously trying the whole time the exhibit was running. I greatly admired his tenacity and energy.

Although I can pick out several meaningful lessons from this experience, it mostly reminds me of the nature of sharing the gospel. You know the true worth of what you are sharing with others. Remember not to be disheartened when people reject your offer to participate in something magnificent and rare. Remember not to be discouraged when people politely entertain thoughts or half-heartedly go through the motions only to humor you. Remember that there is a possibility that any one of those people may actually know the value of what you have to offer...they just needed to be invited so that they knew such a wonderful thing was available to them.

Rapture

A painting that strikes me to the center of my soul is entitled "The Rapture of Psyche," by William Bouguereau. I think rapture is the perfect word to describe the emotion in this work of art. Here are some studies of it that I did in my sketchbook:

(Colored pencil on paper)

Is there a certain work of art that strikes you to your core?

Mathsters of the Universe

For those who know my mother, you probably already know the kinds of good ideas she always has rolling around in her brain. For those who don't know my mother, know that she has all kinds of brilliant and fun ideas rolling around in her brain.  As an elementary teacher, she's always looking for exciting ways to help her students love learning.

Mathsters of the Universe is an idea she's wanted to execute for a while for a math unit, so I drew these anatomically-incorrect personifications of numbers  and math symbols to help her out. Because she's going to be making copies and will need to re-size the images, I kept the designs as simple outlines, which also allows her to pick and choose the colors she's going to use each time she whips these babies out. Artistically, these drawings aren't the greatest, but they work for her needs, and she loves them because she's my mom and she's supposed to.

This is a sampling of my mother's birthday present:

Every Good Turn

Remember how Jeana G designed so many cool things for my party? It took a long time, and was a lot of work! In return, I drew this picture of her father and brother:

Out of curiosity, how do you usually pay people back who have done something incredibly nice for you?

Angel Lily

My sweet cousin lost her 14-month-old baby earlier this month after an 8-month fight with leukemia, and Kirk and I weren't able to attend the out-of-state funeral. We felt so bad, especially because we know how hard it is to lose someone dear around the holidays. So, I drew this picture of my cousin, Keri, and her daughter, Lily, from a photo she posted on her blog, and sent it with my family.

It's been a bittersweet experience, and I can't even imagine what it would be like to lose a child, but their little family has been so brave! I'm glad Lily isn't suffering anymore, and I'm sad that everyone who misses her will have to take on a different kind of suffering.

This holiday season, I'm thankful for my family and will squeeze them a little tighter.

San Diego Zoo

Our awesome relatives took us to the San Diego Zoo last weekend, and I always make sure to bring a sketchbook along with me whenever I go to the zoo. Surprisingly, the animals were pretty active, which was enjoyable as well as an artistic challenge. I usually only had time for a 10-30 second sketch per animal, and thought I'd share some of my favorites with you:

From the Sketchbook

This is sketch I did of my grandpa. He always had twinkly eyes and a wry smile like he knew he just said something he oughtn't. Graphite on Paper.