Early Morning Visitor in the Back Orchard

"Possum"
Copyright
Jan Gibson

We're early risers around here and often see deer who have bedded down in the orchards. We've also had skunks who take great exception to our two dogs being allowed into the fenced orchard before dawn. Since getting a couple of not-so-gentle reminders from the skunks, we wait until daylight to allow the dogs to run in there!

So, when I let the dogs out this morning and they started barking along the orchard fence (which borders the back yard), I had a sick feeling that a skunk had wandered closer to the house than they normally do. I was relieved to find a possum scurrying as fast as it could go toward the back of the orchard. I guess it felt it might get caught out in the open of the hay field on the other side of the fence so it quickly climbed into the grape arbor and hid itself among the unpruned vines.

Possums, (or o'possums), are weird creatures to look at but I kind of like them. We hardly ever see one as, like the skunks, they're nocturnal. Some possums are very pretty, like the one this morning. Some are pretty scraggly looking and not so appealing. This one had soft-looking, almost pearl colored fur but I know it's actually rather coarse to the touch and they're usually a darker gray color.

Since I was photographing so early in the morning, I didn't get any great pictures of the possum (this photo has been enhanced) and this was about the only clear shot of it that I got because of all the grape vines it was hiding behind. I've been wanting to sort of catalog our wildlife and do some drawings or paintings of actual animals that I've seen around here. We have an abundance of sightings but I think I'm going to have to get a better camera in order to get good, clear shots of them. Sketching from life is a near impossibility as most won't hold still long enough or, like this possum, are only seen at dusk or dawn!

Stylin'

I've been working a bit differently lately but have not made a conscious decision to do so. It sort of just happened! Does that mean I'm (finally) developing a style?

Take Lucky (below), for instance. His photo was posted as a challenge at the Let's Make Art site and I knew immediately that he should be painted on black paper using the hated pastel pencils. He only took a little over an hour and more or less drew himself! I love it when that happens but I wish I could remember how I did it when I finish! I just get into a painting and the world fades and when I return to the real world, there's a painting lying on my drawing table! Cool, huh?

"Lucky2"
pastel pencils on paper
copyright
Jan Gibson

The next painting also dictated it's own style, this time sort of whimsical. I don't claim this is a work of fine art but it's more in the illustrative style - certainly not a specialty of mine. My sister, Bev, took a photo of a goat when she was visiting in Mexico. I saw it when I was in Kansas City visiting and knew I had to paint it. Bev gave me the photo and this is the result. I just loved the expression on the goat's face! This is aceo/atc size so I wasn't able to get much detail but I hope the almost obnoxiously curious expression is captured!

"Bev's Goat"
watercolor with ink on paper
copyright
Jan Gibson

I was also experimenting a little more with the Yupo synthetic paper (see yesterday's blog entry) and have found that watercolor pencil works well on it. I drew on the paper with the pencil then dampened it. The color stayed where I put it down with the pencil & I wasn't able to move it around much with the damp brush so a little different technique may be called for here. I also plan to try the acrylic inks on it - I have a feeling those would work well and give a brilliant result.

I'll keep you posted on the results!

Yippee for Yupo!

Jeanette, from the Illustrated Life blog, was talking about trying Yupo, the plastic "paper" that many artists either love or hate. I got some samples of it many years ago and have grown to like it very much. I said I loved it in a comment on Jeanette's blog, but the truth is, I like it a lot, but it also frustrates me when trying to use it.

You really learn to be loose while painting on Yupo and that's very good for me since I'm rather a detail freak at times. Below are a couple of paintings done with watercolor on Yupo.

The first is from one of my own photos taken while visiting my sister in Colorado. This is not finished because I got tired of trying to get the shading on the rocks. I was fighting with the support instead of working with it and, in this instance, it won!

"Colorado Hillside"

copyright

Jan Gibson

The second painting is also watercolor on Yupo and was painted as a sort of tribute to my mother who had a green thumb. She could smile at a dried up looking cutting and it would become a healthy, beautiful plant. She loved flowers of any kind and my painting contains a variety just for her.

"My Mother's Garden"
copyright
Jan Gibson

Painting on Yupo is difficult because the paint beads up then sort of rolls around on the paper. You have to take a dab then let dry approach to painting on it. On the other hand, if you make a mistake or want to change something, the paint wipes away easily with a damp towel.

Yupo - try it, you just might like it!

Millie The Cat

I have been doing a little bit of painting other than porches and the following is a watercolor portrait of Millie, the official greeter of the store where I buy my dog food. It is from my own photo reference and is not a commission or anything. I had never done a cat in the watercolor medium and Millie just seemed like a good subject to experiment with.

I was particularly interested in the whiskers and how to get them to show without using a white paint so tried the scratching out method of using a craft/X-acto knife. I think this method will require a bit of practice but I do think I captured the sweetness of Millie herself!

"Millie"
watercolor painting
copyright Jan Gibson

Multi-Talented Painter

The title above may not accurately depict the actual content of this blog post! It's actually about painting our porches.

When we built our house, we wanted porches that just about wrap around the house. Unfortunately, we didn't contract with anyone to paint those porches and, now that the weather has turned nicer, we're having to do it.

The porches were done with brick and treated lumber and the lumber had to age or dry out or something before it could be finished. The porches have been unfinished since last October so it's high time they were done.

I gave the first coat of stain to the front porch deck and steps over the weekend then finally got the second coat on just a few minutes ago. The front porch is pretty small and has a vinyl covering over the posts and rails so it wasn't much area to paint.

Well, it's not much area if you're 20 and pretty limber! I think I'm in pretty decent shape for my age - I can toss around bales of hay and do many things that other women my age may not be able to do. But this porch painting (it's actually a stain but goes on like paint) requires some twisting and turning and bending that my body normally doesn't do!

This sort of painting makes me glad that my normal painting is of a different type!

In The Waiting Room

Waiting Room Sketches
Jan Gibson

These sketches are the result of the long wait at the doctor's office the other day. This is not all of them and I also read for a time and visited with other waiting patients! It was a very long wait!

I seem "drawn" to sketching shoes in situations where you have to wait. I guess that's because you don't have to really focus on someone's face and make them feel uncomfortable. This shoe belonged to a somewhat older lady who had the most beautiful tattoo on her foot! I liked her shoes also but the tattoo was a highly detailed, fully shaded drawing of a vining flower. It seemed a bit out of place on a lady in her late forties to mid-fifties and since it twined about her foot into the arch, I'd imagine that it hurt like the dickens to have it done!

The ball cap was on the head of a very elderly gentleman and it was a challenge to sketch both it and the lady's foot. The man kept looking around the waiting room and the woman kept tapping her foot so that neither stayed still long enough to get a very accurate sketch! I think I need to seek help from Jeanette Jobson at her Illustrated Life blogspot. She's the master of quick sketches in waiting rooms, airplanes and cafes!

The little fish was just a quick doodle out of my imagination and out of frustrated boredom! The vase took quite a while. It was also out of my imagination and I was trying to figure out the shading without a reference. I finally gave up on it and added some tulips. I'd come prepared for a wait and had a sketchbook, pencil and some watercolor pencils. I also had a couple of waterbrushes that I'd bought before I left my last temp assignment and have hardly used. I'd filled the water reservoirs at home so I was all prepared.

If it hadn't been for these art supplies, I think I might have gone a little bonkers just sitting there for hours on end. From now on, my motto is the same as that of the Boy Scouts - Be Prepared! lol

When is Enough, Enough?

Yesterday I took our elderly neighbor to the doctor in Pinehurst, a town about 30 miles away. This was the second time I've done this and both times were a less than positive experience.

Both times the wait just to get in to see the doctor (with an appointment) was over 3 hours! And both times the entire trip (including driving the 30 miles one way) was over 5 hours!

At first the waiting room only had a few people in it but as the hours went by, it became crowded with people. Most of the patients were elderly, some even appeared to be on the brink of death, and I cannot believe a doctor who has taken an oath to try to help people and not to harm them could be so callous! I think the doctors in this medical office were definitely doing harm. I'm sure blood pressures were sky-rocketing as people ranted about the wait. When the medical personnel were asked why the wait was so long, they were told that the doctors were very thorough and that took time.

To me, that is certainly not a valid answer. Doctors are supposed to be thorough, aren't they? And knowing how "thorough" the doctors are, shouldn't the scheduling reflect that? As I said, I've only been to this particular office twice,but I gather from the other patients complaints that this is a regular occurrence.

Which brings me to another question - why are these patients putting up with these long waits at the doctor's office? And, if I'm willing to drive my neighbor to her appointments, am I as foolish as the patients to do it?

I like to think that, as a Christian, I will cheerfully help someone in need. Our neighbor is a widow who has no children and whose other family members live quite a distance away. The woman doesn't drive and has arthritis so bad in her knee that she can barely walk even with a walker or a cane. One can't help but feel sorry for her.

But, if tending to her health plays a part in destroying mine, is it time to withdraw my help? I have decided that it is. If this is an ongoing problem at this doctor's office, I don't want to be a part of it. To me, this doctor is a thief and I'll not let him steal from me.

That may sound harsh, but I was brought up to be on time. My mother always told me that if I couldn't be on time, be a few minutes early instead of being late.

I was also taught that when you're late, you've stolen time from someone. We've all heard that time is money, and, in a way that's true. But time is also life. Being late steals a chunk of someone's life that they can never get back.

There was also a thing on being chronically late on one of the talk shows (Oprah maybe?) I actually don't watch tv much but this caught my attention. Anyway, a psychologist was saying that being habitually late was actually an act of aggression and dominance. Evidently the person who is always late feels that their life is out of their control but feels that they can assert a certain amount of control over their lives by being late. I'm not a big fan of psychology but this sounds logical in a convoluted sort of way!

However, I guess I'm dealing more with my conscience and trying to work out whether I'm being selfish by refusing to drive our neighbor to her appointments. This blog is rather a public place to argue with your conscience but isn't this what blogs are for?