The Hidden Village Leaf

My drawing journey is exactly that - a journey.

It started many years ago with frustrating attempts to draw, most which ended up in the garbage bin, "ended" might be too gentle a word. A more accurate description should include the endless frustration, and silent despair that accompanied the act. I wanted so badly to draw, and each attempt proved that I can't. And added a supporting vote to the little voice that added "and you never will".

Recent months show differently (with evidence that is captured in this blog). It's finally becoming a learning process, where I can see progress and can appreciate what is coming from under my pen and pencil. Not an easy journey it is, and it still has ups and downs...

So this week's challenge was to use a falling leaf (or leaves). Autumn here doesn't usually dress in warm colors, so I used a leaf I found on the net.
Started drawing, several lines - didn't go well at all. I gave it a second look, discarded it completely in my mind as a waste, and shoved it (frustrate-fully and despair-fully) under a pile of paper I had in the room.

And then I just sat in my chair.
I was amazed with the feeling that I experienced. It felt exactly like "the old times". Same frustration, same despair, even the same old voice that said "aha, I told you you can't draw. You are wasting your time".
But there was one difference. This time I was aware. I also knew I can draw, and an impressive collection of drawings held a solid proof of that.
So I listened. And acknowledged the old feeling. And just waited.

After couple minutes I pulled the paper from under pile. Fixed the lines that went astray, and continued my drawing journey.

Here it is, proudly presented to you, and to myself

A Winged Heart

A duo.
Two things that complement each other while maintaining their identity.
Interact, intertwine, celebrate their union.
Sometimes they conflict. Tension can create interest. Show hidden facets.
I'm talking about duo-tangle, of course ...

This week challenge is about a duo-tangle, so duo-tangle it is.
Two patterns. One which I like a lot, one which I like a little. Very little.

Here is what came from under the pen

An unexpected dance

Change is the essence of our world. It's a synonym to "nature". No matter how hard we try to look the other way, it will always find us.

At least it found me today.

I saw the new challenge, and was about to embark on my usual journey (no time in the mid-week days, then many attempts with a new pattern, get stuck, overcome it, etc.). But a piece of paper and a pencil suggested otherwise, and I started toying with the new pattern. Several attempts, all nice, playful, but no real progress.

Usual step in the process is to stop, leave it, and come back with new inspiration.
This is when the change struck. I took a new piece of paper and started drawing the pattern as simply as possible. No bells, no whistles. Just straight lines. Finished the first pattern. Looks nice. aha, how about a silhouette?  Sure thing. But not the usual one please. So there came a different set of lines, around the first pattern. So how about another one? and another pattern emerged, with different feel to it.
Then another look. Somehow it reminded me of a dancing couple. so I added an eye and a smile to each, and of course a chain of hearts. It now looked so much like a dance that I felt obliged to write "dance" at the bottom.

immediately it went to the scanner, and appeared on my screen. If you read my last post you may remember that I have some issues with the quality of my scanner, so I usually go ahead and try to fix some of it using a photo editing utility (brightness, sharpness, etc.). So I did the usual stuff, but overlooked one step in the process. I then pressed the mouse button and was simply amazed by the result. I accidentally inverted the colors of the background, creating something completely unexpected.

So today, I present to you an unexpected dance.
what a nice change :)

Stairways to everywhere

This week's challenge features the "X-did" pattern by Annette Carlo.
So first and foremost - respect !

This was first week of school, and Jr. is starting his fresh year in high school, so not a dull moment. Drawing took second priority, and rightly so. But alas, life goes on, and the drawing must go on

It was not an easy task to master X-did. It proved to be a wild mustang, running freely to unexpected directions, throwing me off its back time after time. At the end (and what I mean here is around 20 sketches of all kinds) I decided to keep it simple. I drew the main shape, and voila - we have take off.

A side note about scanning which can hopefully help someone out there. I have a reasonable scanner which is faithfully scanning for me all types of bills and papers. However (!), scanning drawings is not its forte. So after trying different settings and stuff, I switched to my SLR, and the results are much much better. NEed to find the right spot with the right light of course