lagoon nebula sketch

lagoon nebula, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

I made this sketch last week in about 15 minutes before going and teaching a painting lesson to the 7th graders at the Waldorf School. The kids really struggled with this painting, but I found it a lot of fun and pretty easy... just goes to show the different perspective I am coming from than them I guess. This painting was a real walk in the park compared to some paintings I did in 7th grade though, so maybe they just like to complain.

parking lot drawing and chinese food

parking lot drawing and chinese food, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

The Jeep was a 5 minute drawing while waiting in a parking lot while Alan ran into CVS. The color tests in the upper right are Stabilo fine tip markers. The chinese food container was from our chinese food leftovers from the weekend.

a gnome went for coffee

gnome and the upper couple of stories of Coffee O in Woods Hole, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

Drew this a few days ago while sitting in the Dyer's dock parking lot in Woods Hole in the car.... it was cold but sunny and I had an hour to kill before meeting Alan for Coffee at Pie in the Sky... the building is prettier at Coffee O, but the coffee and pastry are better at Pie in the Sky :)

Paintastic conversion

So, a while back I figured out how to take apart an Elmer's Paintastic paint brush and turn it into a waterbrush much like the far more expensive brushes like Niji and other companies make for doing watercolor painting while traveling. My kids wanted waterbrushes like my Nijis and I didn't really want to spend a lot of money... so I put it off and put it off and then one day my mother gave them some Paintastic paintbrush pens and I took one apart figuring that it must be basically a waterbrush... and it is, basically, with a little modification. So, here is what I do to convert a Paintastic into a waterbrush. (this happens to be a mini Paintastic that I am demoing here, but they come in a larger version too, which can be handy as well)
Find yourself some Elmer's Paintastics like this:



Unscrew the top and you will have the two halves of the pen like this:


Then you need to pull out the blue end on the paint reservoir piece like this:


Now pull the tube off of the blue end, like this:


Pull the second, smaller tube out of the blue piece now and you should have all these pieces:


Now, throw away these pieces. You don't need them... I have tried using the brush with and without them and they don't seem to make it any better particularly, so I just take them out and throw them away. So, get rid of these:


Now, take the paint reservoir piece and pour out the paint... don't worry too much about getting it all over your sink, it's kids paint, it washes off things really easily!


Now, rinse out the paint reservoir really well until the water you dump out of it runs clear. When it's clean you can fill it with water and then put the blue end back onto the filled water reservoir like this:


Now, if your Paintastic brush has been used by your kids already then you will need to clean the brush end by running lots of water through it. If it's new and unused the brush will be clean and you can skip this step. If your brush is full of the paint though, it's best to run a bunch of warm water through it until the brush looks clean and the water runs clear


Now you can put the brush all back together again. If the brush has been used in the past I usually squeeze a full reservoir full of water through the brush before using it to paint to be sure that any paint has cleared the whole system.


Now, simply refill your waterbrush reservoir with water and you are good to go! :)


Ok, now as far as I'm concerned this is the best part about the mini Paintastic brushes. They can't do as fine painting as some waterbrushes, but for quick sketches they are fine and they fit PERFECTLY into a twelve 1/2 pan paint box! (ok, I know my twelve 1/2 pan box has 14 half pans.... but, hey, they fit, so why not!)


Hope you all find this useful... if nothing else, for those with kids who have these anyway it's a good way to re-use them and not just throw them away when the paint is used up, which I like. I also refilled one for me with black ink and it makes a nice little ink brush pen for doing quick brush sketches.

Have fun!

First grade

DSCN9681, originally uploaded by nora_gardner.

E began first grade last week at our local Waldorf School. She loves it and can't wait to get there in the morning each day. She seems so much happier now that she is in school. She has a large class and a teacher she loves. I am so glad to see her so happy as the last few weeks of summer vacation were a little rocky and she seemed to be really wearing out on being at home with me and L. I think she is getting to an age where she needs some time when she doesn't have a little sister begging to be a part of everything she does and I am so happy that she is going to a school where I feel she will be taken care of and taught well.

today

I am tired and I have spent the evening staring at my old art books wondering "what next?". I am finding it hard to feel enthused about drawing things outside the kitchen somehow... in this Autumn weather somehow I am pulled unavoidably to draw pears and apples, garlic, fresh baked bread... to caress their contours on the page as though caressing the fruit itself. I remember painting some apples once in watercolor.... those apples live forever in my memory so that I can almost smell them, taste them 8 years later

I think I may be obsessed with two things... art and food

I wrote a letter to a friend recently about wishing I could set up an easel in the produce section and draw and paint there all day.... and, while I didn't actually set up at the grocery store, I did set up in my kitchen... I love drawing in the kitchen... the familiar contours of garlic, peppers, the dirt still clinging to mushrooms, bowls full of apples and pears. My two passions converge in the kitchen... art and food... and I am happy there.