Ready to Cowgirl Up?

I've been busy lately puttering around in my Zazzle store, learning how much I did NOT know. Hopefully soon it will be organized.

In the meantime, after having joined a health support group with some like-minded online friends, I created a new motivational card from my ink and watercolor illustration. It was fun!

I left the side front blank (just place holding words that are removed) , so it could be customized, either with a person's  name, or a special greeting.

 Here's a peek:

Anyone interested can pop in to my Zazzle store here (please excuse the disorganization; it's still under construction!) and visit my Cowgirl.

Have an artful day,

Retta

Living A Beautiful Life At Any Age

Over the years I've received a variety of interesting responses to both me and my art. I've been called naive, credulous or Pollyanna. I used to think that was a bad thing. Now... I'm not so sure 'bout that!

I've been told I'm not cutting edge, and that my art was not edgy enough to be relevant today. Hmmmm...

It's taken me a long to time know what it is I want to "say".

And that is, in a nutshell: 

Carpe Diem! 

Seize the day. Life is short. 

Live it to the fullest each day, with Love and Joy.

Living Flamboyantly

by Retta Stephenson

There is a special essay written 92 years ago by Samuel Ullman that says it better than I ever could. I'll tell more about him another time. Suffice to say, he is special to me. 

Below is his essay. After you read it, you'll know why it's special to me, and why I want my art to be UPlifting. 

It may not be cutting edge or "cool", but it's what is in my heart: A zest to live a beautiful life, and to Love the best I know how.

"YOUTH"

by Samuel Ullman

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what's next and the joy of the game of living.  

In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.

In our hearts, we are Forever Young,

Retta

Going Nuts with Detail!

Finally getting around to posting the last drawing of the last week of this semester of Sketchbook Skool! Boo hoo, I'm sorry it's over. It was such a fun 6 weeks! 

Each week we were exposed to a different teacher with new methods, materials and suggestions to help us step outside our comfort zone and experiment. 

No, they were not trying to get us to paint like THEM. Rather, to be open to new ideas and approaches, to play around, and incorporate anything WE really enjoyed into our regular artwork.

For the last lesson we had an outstanding artist and author: Tommy Kane. Wow, right up my "detailed" alley! He LOVES detail, the more the better. 

After watching the teaching videos, our homework was to draw a VERY detailed drawing from within our own home. 

Here then is my uber detailed drawing, first the black and white version and then, after adding the color. What a blast this was! (can click images to enlarge).

My Computer Guardians

9 x 12 sketchbook; ink, watercolor

and colored pencil

Happy sketching,

Retta

Virtual Paintout 21: What's For Lunch??

For the first month of this new year the Virtual Paintout gang went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gorgeous state! Lots of historic sites and statues, rich with meaning. 

I passed by (virtually, using Google Street View) this lovely open area on Lemon Hill Drive and noticed the covered picnic area in a beautiful park-like setting. Then my imagination took over, and I thought "what if?"...

Lemon Hill Drive location:

What if folks were enjoying a peaceful picnic on a beautiful afternoon...

What if suddenly they noticed the ground vibrating, and heard loud growling sounds...

What if "something" was coming...

What if the screaming started, and everyone took off at a dead run...

And what if an uninvited Mother and child showed up at the picnic?? (can click images to enlarge)

"Uninvited Picnic Guests"

6 x 9 sketchbook

Ink, watercolors, colored 

pencils and watercolor pencil

Happy sketching,

Retta

Doggie Toys to the Rescue!

Our lesson this week for Sketchbook Skool was about using a Grid as an aid to good composition. I hadn't tried that before, and enjoyed it so much!

I didn't have the suggested veggies n fruits, SO... Joey lent me some of her DOGGIE TOYS as "pretenders"!

It was so much fun. Loved the grid idea, and hummed the song "The Great Pretender" for hours. Then found it on youtube and listened to The Platters sing it while I sketched. Can't beat that for a great time. (can click image to enlarge)

"The Great Pretenders"

9 x 12 sketchbook; ink, watercolor,

colored pencil, watercolor pencils

Our teacher this week was Jane LaFazio. Such a creative lady! She not only paints and sketches, but turns those sketches into art quilts, does mixed media art and offers free Tiny Tutorials. If you enjoy artistic variety, visit her blog HERE. 

Happy sketching,

Retta

Herding Cats!

Another week's homework done for Sketchbook Skool. Not being my usual medium, I find painting with watercolors a bit like herding cats! But it was fun.  

The assignment from teacher Prashant Miranda: Painting Watercolor Skies.

I kept running to my porch, trying to catch a colorful and "good" sky. Alas, mostly overcast, cold and/or stormy here in Southern Oregon.

Here is "My Neighbors Sky". Note, I am now an official member of S.T.C. (Sketchbook Typo Club). (can click images to enlarge)

"My Neighbors Sky"

9 x 12 sketchbook

watercolor and ink

The actual sketch is not really too 

detailed, as you can see here:

Happy sketching,

Retta

Retired Red Lady!

The red lady in this case is a wonderful old caboose! 

From Sketchbook Skool homework: Draw in Public.

Well, I tried. Went to the Railroad Park here in Medford, Oregon. It was foggy and cold. THEN it decided to rain. Snapped a reference photo, and headed back home to finish.

This is my reference photo; you'll see I 

softened the bright green of the grass,

since I wanted the grand old 

Red Lady to be the focus.

But by at least starting on site, I still felt the cold, fog, and quiet of that old retired caboose even after I got home. 

As I drew, I thought of all the stories it could tell, the miles it had seen. So I didn't do my customary bright colors, but "foggy" and somewhat quiet colors around the old red Lady.  

I started with loose light umber colored pencil sketching. No pencil and eraser... oh so hard for me! But it was fun to experiment! (can click image to enlarge)

"Retired Caboose"

9 x 12 sketchbook; ink, watercolor, 
watercolor pencil, colored pencil 
and white gouache

Happy Sketching,

Retta

A Peek at my Week

Week 1 of Sketchbook Skool is at an end. Our 2nd homework assignment from teacher Danny Gregory was to "Document Your Week." Oh, and use no pencil first. Aarrgh...

Since my photo turned out less than sharp and the writing is too small, I'll tell you what it's about.

I drew stuff that caught my eye:

• A dino model.
• My 15 yr old Charlie plant I was watering. 
• Christmas decor still to be packed. 
• My studio hours sign (now just to get OTHERS to take me seriously!). 
• A fav ceramic fridge magnet. 
• A stuffed black & white tuxedo cat that guards my studio.
• Sugar-free Amaretto DaVinci syrup right before adding to my chipped coffee mug. 
• Two new rubber stamps that I tried out for the first time around the edges. 
• A fav quote taped up in my studio. 
• A mechanical pencil with Je Suis Charlie next to it. 
• And that brown & white furball is Joey, my 4 year old Mini Schnauzer. She likes to take afternoon naps in my studio.

(can click to enlarge)

In 9 x 12 Visual Journal Sketchbook, Pitt pens, watercolor, watercolor pencils and waterbrush, and colored pencil. 

The hardest part, for me? No pencil first!

Happy sketching!

Retta

A Shiny New Year... with Cows & Squirrels!

It's a brand new year, and I've started a brand new semester at Sketchbook Skool. This course is called Beginnings.

While waiting for classes to begin, somehow a bunch of us got started drawing and painting cows. Yep, cows.

We rounded up all the strays and put them into an album we called the Cow Corral. Here is my contribution, just for the fun of it (can click images to enlarge):

And now my first homework from Week 1 of Beginnings. 

First assignment from teacher Danny Gregory: Draw & Feel. 

I've had this little squirrel for about 20 years, and it still makes me smile. 

Done in my 9 x 12 sketchbook; Inks, gouache, white paint pen and colored pencil.

Well, off to start homework assignment two for this week!

Happy sketching,

Retta

Virtual Paintout 19: Beautiful Luxembourg!

For the month of November our fearless Virtual Paintout leader Bill Guffey led us to a lovely place to visit: Luxembourg. It's a very small country bordered by Germany, Belgium and France.

I thoroughly enjoyed toodling around via Google Street View, and settled on this location for my painting:

Funny story: This is a small country, yes. But it was hilarious to me that as I traveled around randomly, I saw this SAME man walking his dogs FOUR times, in 4 different locations. I recognized his bright yellow shirt. 

Anywhoo... I thought I'd experiment a little with ink and watercolors on this one. And it turned out... well, not as I had expected. The good part is, I finally understood what some other artists had been talking about in Sketchbook Skool. They said: 

Either the Line leads, or the Color leads, but not both.

 I wanted the Line to lead here, but failed. So I kept adding color, trying to get the definition I wanted in the foliage. But then ended up too saturated, losing a lot of linework. After looking at artwork by others using both ink line and watercolor, I realized I could have re-stated some key lines again at the end. Well, live and learn. 

Anyway, here it is: "Over or Under?", a street in Luxembourg:
(can click on any pics to enlarge) 

"Over or Under?"

Luxembourg

6 x 9 sketchbook

Ink, watercolor, gouache

and colored pencil

A close-up of the hilltop house:

Silhouette of MrYellowShirt walking

his dog through the tunnel:

Happy painting,

Retta

Sketchbook Skool: I need Practice!

Week 5 of Sketchbook Skool: Gesture Drawings

Yikes, that was a hard week for me. 

I am NOT a fast sketcher, painter, drawer, anything-er. But I signed up for this Sketchbook Skool, plunked down my hard earned money, so by golly, I was gonna get my money's worth by giving it a try, ha!

First homework assignment up: Group Gesture Drawing;  Spend the afternoon in a local cafe sketching groups of people. Goal:  gesture, movement, a small "story", not a likeness.

Well... I couldn't go to the local Cafe and hang out (mobility/transportation issues), so I hung out with the singing group Train, recorded singing live on Letterman. They sang a favorite song of mine "Calling All Angels" (thank you, Mr Youtube). (can click pic to enlarge)

"I Won't Give Up"

9 x 12 sketchbook

Pitt pens Med and Brush

watercolor pencils

waterbrush

This assignment taught me several things:

I DO enjoy dancing lines, thick and thin lines, dashes and dots and squiggly lines.

I do NOT enjoy drawing just in black and white, nor do I enjoy drawing under a time pressure, in a hurry.

At first, I did NOT like my finished piece; it seemed stiff and gawky.

So I decided to just cut loose and have fun with it! I added some border lines, lettering at the top, a few of the colors I saw on the stage, and stage lights. Now I like it. :-)

Last line in their song: 

"I won't give up. You don't give up."

If you'd like to hear Train sing the song, visit youtube HERE. 

----------------------------------------------------------

Next up: One Person Gesture Drawing.  Follow one person around and make gesture drawings of them.

This was HARD!

Me not LIKE it.

Felt rushed and stressful.

But me DID it.

My "subject" was available for this overcast

and chilly day in Southern Oregon.

He couldn't mow grass until leaves raked.

So I sketched husband while he worked.

(He thought he was working while I was playing).

Filled mower with gas.

Raked.

Raked.

More raking.

Chewed on bone (dog, not husband).

Finally mowed lawn.

By that time I was cold (and complaining 

"but he keeps moving").

Wimped out and went inside to hot tea.

There you have it, my homework for Gesture drawings. 

 

And I learned WHY I didn't enjoy drawing in a rush:

I don't like the results. 

And that's just lack of practice. 

I get better results when I go slow 

but it's not natural and easy,

like the teachers of this kind of gesture drawing. 

My take away: practice, patience and persistence!!

Happy sketching,

Retta

Sketchbook Skool: Unleash Your Imagination!

This 3rd week at Sketchbook Skool our teacher was Mattias Adolfsson. His "specialty" is drawing from imagination. His 1st homework assignment for us, after his excellent teaching videos, was to sketch a memory from our 1st day of school.

Say what?? That was in 1956!! 

But, I did come up with a memory. It was my Mom having to push me from behind, with me digging my heels in to resist. School was not a "fun" memory for me, but as a family we've laughed at this incident over the years.

So... here is my memory. Not of the actual event, but rather the feelings of a little girl, self-conscious in orthopedic shoes, with no friends, starting this strange new place called School.

And for those who aren't familiar with Vincent Van Gogh... he was known for the black crows he painted in the sky of his last painting, right before his suicide. Yeah... this memory was a day of "drama" for that little 5 year old. 

 

First, the inked line drawing (can click any to enlarge):

Next, the shading, done with Inktense 

watercolor pencil and waterbrush:

And lastly, the finished drawing:

"No! No! No! No!"

9 x 12 sketchbook

Sakura Micron pens, watercolors, 

waterbrush, watercolor pencils, 

and colored pencils

Here are a couple of close ups:

This weeks homework was a challenge, but I thoroughly enjoyed the teaching from Mattias about making drawings from our imagination. Highly recommended!

Happy sketching,

Retta

Sketchbook Skool Homework #2 - This Really Happened to Me!

Whoa, this week went by too fast! 

I'm officially 19 minutes late getting my second homework assignment posted to Sketchbook Skool. Good thing they are a loosey goosey bunch. :-D

This weeks 2nd lesson from teacher Koosje Koene was to make An Illustrated Manual. 

So here it be, my "manual", based on something that really did happen to me.

(Can click pic to enlarge)

"How to Decorate Your Bedspread"

9 x 12 sketchbook

ink, watercolors, wc pencils,

colored pencils, acrylics, gouache

By the way, for anyone who doesn't know... India Ink is the darkest, blackest, WATERPROOF ink imaginable. Good luck getting it out of ANYthing. :-D  I sure learned my lesson about leaving the jar open!

Thanks for looking and happy painting!

Retta

Joey Wants Beef Stew & Sketchbook Skool Homework #1

I am so excited!

Last week I joined an online 6 week course called Sketchbook Skool. This is the third semester, but the semesters don't need to be taken sequentially.

I joined this one because the subject of the session really spoke to me: Storytelling.

So I thought I'd post my homework assignments here as I go along. After we watched the teaching videos and saw the examples, our first assignment was to sketch "An Illustrated Recipe". Any way we choose, any theme we choose.

Here is my version of Crockpot Beef Stew. As you can see, Joey was VERY interested in what I was doing. She kept her eyes on me the whole time!

(can click pic to enlarge)

9 x 12 sketchbook

ink, watercolors

watercolor pencils 

colored pencils, acrylics

Anyone interested in Sketchbook Skool can check it out HERE.

Thanks for visiting. And try the beef stew, it's actually quite good!


Happy painting,

Retta

PS: yep, I know how to spell School. But they are a quirky bunch at Sketchbook Skool. Anything having a "k" sound gets spelled that way! Such as skool, klass, kourse, etc. They're a fun bunch!

My Sketchcrawl Adventure... and Win a FREE e-book!

My friend, author Mary Pax, is having another book launch!  

I'm super excited to be participating, since I enjoy her writing. It's a strange combination of urban fantasy/contemporary sci-fi/paranormal adventure/ and even steampunk. Weird is a good word for it! 

Mary has generously provided a FREE set of e-books (Books 1 & 2 of The Rifters series) to one of my lucky commenters here. I'll announce the winner on October 1st (last day to comment and be included in the drawing: Sept 30th).

The new series is called The Rifters, and Book 1 launched on Sept 8th. Here is the LINK to Mary's website, where you can read Chapter One of The Rifters; it also has links to Amazon and other sources. As of this writing, The Rifters e-book is FREE at Amazon, Smashword and others! Cool deal, yes?? 

I've read several stories by Mary Pax, and enjoyed every one. I always end up shaking my head, thinking "how in the world does she think this stuff up??!" 

I have a lot to share, so will be posting thumbnail pics from my sketchbook. Just click on them to enlarge... don't wanna crash anyones pc, with so many images to load, ha!

Without further ado, here is our "Book Launch Vacation":

(Spoiler alert: 

forget what the Settler Tourism Department says... 

there ARE weird happenings around Settler, Oregon!)

I'm one of the lucky ones. I live in Southern Oregon. The infamous town of Settler, Oregon is within a days driving for me, being up north from my town. Since my husband is a photographer, we drove up to the Caslow County Fair and Expo at the end of August. Jim wanted to take photos of the high desert country, and maybe Swit Lake if he had time before sundown. 

Me? I did a SketchCrawl.** That's where you take your sketchbook and painting/sketching paraphanalia and just hike out to... wherever. Last time we visited Settler, Francine at the Settler Mercantile let it slip that the rumors were TRUE about "otherworldly beasts" being spotted near Settler. 

We found out for ourselves this time! I had hoped to stumble on some Beasties to draw. Was thinking... "Wouldn't that be cool?? If I survive the encounter, that is! Mwa ha ha, sure wish they were for real."  Careful what you wish for!

                                 

          

Well, we DID make it home in one piece, and I am so excited to share images from our "vacation".

I really DID get to see some of the rumored "other worldly beasts". Honestly, I thought it was just "marketing hype" for the tourists, ya know?? But after Jim dropped me off so he and Joey (our Mini-schnauzer) could go exploring on their own, I took my time poking around. It was an overcast afternoon, so not too hot.

There were boulders to sit on and sketch, but it was almost dusk when the adventure REALLY started. That's when the beasties ventured out!! 

Enough jabbering... below are pics from my 5.5 x 8 inch sketchbook. Some were rough... I was trying to draw fast, the light was fading. So a few of the color touches were added from memory once we made it back home. But wow, it was amazing to see what really lives in Settler, Oregon. You've GOT to visit Settler for yourself. Honestly, if you love "weird", you'll have a blast!

You can click the pics to enlarge. I didn't caption these; they are in order, so you could read each journal entry if you'd like to know about the sketch following it.

And a few of the photos Jim took:

He thought this was funny...

Morning glow on a pansy...

And they were functional!!

Taken right before the sun came up...

He said he noticed a lot of strange things around Settler, this being one of them...

Yikes, Jim almost ran nose to nose with this guy...

He said he had a hard climb to get this view of Swit Lake, but it was worth it...

Even some of the plant life there is weird...

He stumbled upon this old house right at sunset...

A full moon!

I wonder if that full moon might explain some of the weirdness, including these strange lights he saw??

Well, what can I tell ya... I now know where Weird lives. 

Hoped you enjoyed the visuals from our vacation, and I know you will enjoy this new book series from Mary Pax. And don't forget to leave a comment by Sept 30th so I can put you into the drawing for a FREE set of e-books!

Happy painting - and reading,

Retta

=========================

**The town of Settler, Oregon is a figment of author M Pax's     imagination, as is my account of our vacation, my Sketchcrawl, and my encounters with the Beasties. Oh yes, the sketches are real!! But they were drawn right here in my own safe little studio, with Joey barking and Vevie and Butterfly meowing to be petted or fed. They are the only carnivores around here, and they don't glow green. ;-)

Edited to add:  The drawing is now closed. Thanks for looking at my sketchbook... hope you enjoyed it.