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Showing posts from July, 2014

Throwback Thursday

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Me at roughly a year old?. I have no idea what happened with my arm, mom might remember if I ask her. Its another view from a set of  photos that were taken and you can see my extra finger, ( postaxial polydactyly to be more precise),a bit better in this one. The scar is still on my hand, about an inch and a half long.

Wordless Wednesday #2

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Wordless Wednesday

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July Book Wrap-Up

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So, before the read-a-thon I managed to read 7 other books, which means I am 7 books ahead of my goal of 80 books read this year. If I don't get to 80 that is OK, still read over 50 books which is not bad :)  I have still been drawing, I just read when I can't sleep, (which is a very frequent occurrence :/). A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan My rating: 3 of 5 stars Needed more dragons :p The Strain by Guillermo del Toro My rating: 1 of 5 stars From reading reviews of this book I was expecting something that while I might not be scared. I would at least feel a little creeped out. I almost didn't make it past the first 50 pages, I found it so boring and predictable. The story uses every horror novel trope out there and not in an original way. I couldn't even say I enjoyed it in the way you do when watching a bad cheesy horror movie, the book is just way too slowly paced and poorly written. I don't think I will be co

Under-Hyped Book Read-a-thon Wrap Up

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  HR Giger by Taschen My rating: 4 of 5 stars The photos of Giger's work in this book are very nice. Sometimes a little too dark to see clearly but that adds to the work. Nice short read full of wonderful pictures of work that some people might find very uncomfortable to look at, but hard to look away. I really like his work because its very personal to the artist, full of his nightmares which some people can relate to. HR GIGER ARh+ by H.R. Giger My rating: 4 of 5 stars Too short, but very interesting read since Giger himself wrote it :) Its interesting to have a small glimpse into his childhood and see how he evolved as an artist. The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook by Alan Lee My rating: 5 of 5 stars Great book full of sketches for the movie with text from Alan that really helps to explain what he was trying to accomplish with his sketches.I love seeing the sketches of the locations and creatures and then compare to what they look like in the movie. Stree

Music Monday

 I was 17 when this came out, I'm old lol

Scottish Word of the Week

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This weeks word is, haiver . Last weeks word, ballop , is the fly on a pair of trousers.

Home Stretch

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No more flowers! lol I just need to go back and either darken or lighten certain parts, and then *crosses fingers* its done. I am seriously not a flower person, might not seem like it but I find them a pain to colour and they make me sneeze :p I would much rather be working on an animal or dragon then flowers, but do need to practice so that if I do need to draw them for any reason, I can. Speaking of dragons, I really really should draw one soon before I forget how to.

Throwback Thursday

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I have no idea where this is lol My sister looks probably 4, so I would be 6/7?? I really have no idea, def Xmas time tho :p

Back to Work

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Hand is healed up enough to start drawing/etching again yay :) Still bruised but at least I can hold a pencil without wincing. Might put this away for a few days and start on different drypoint. The rocks on this are looking better than I thought they would, I just want to have something else to work on when I need a break from all of the pebbles.

Wordless Wednesday

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Blue Falcon

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For Sale Little lino print using Chine Colle technique. I really like using this technique, so many ways to use it and its a bonus I don't need a press.

Under-Hyped Books

On youtube there is a community called Booktube, involving books of course :) And occasionally there are read-a-thons and this week there is one for Under-hyped books; books that have low ratings on Goodreads or books not really talked about. So because I have a few piles of art books I need to read, I thought they would be perfect for the read-a-thon :)

Music Monday

Having lived in Alberta for a few years it, its inevitable you listen to country :p

Scottish Word of the Week

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  This weeks word is, ballop .  Last weeks word, sploonging , means soaking wet.

Ow

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So I had a nice flight last night :p I do fall a lot but this is the first time in awhile where blood has been involved. Thankfully just scrapped my hand and bruised my fingers, but can't really draw because of where the scrapes are :/ My knees are nice shades of blue and purple, makes walking fun. Could be worse, could have broken something when I fell, but not going to be able to draw a lot for a few days until my hand heals over. I just trip over my own feet, partly because I can't feel them, partly because I am just a clutz lol Well, it gives me an excuse to get lots of reading done, and try to get caught up with my reading list.

Throwback Thursday

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Me in 1984, and I am assuming this is for Halloween and not just some random costume I wanted to wear lol I think this was at one of the houses we lived at in Jarvis, could be wrong tho. We had that table and chairs until I was 15/16 when we then moved too far to take them with us. I do remember that hat was used a few times at Halloween, I dressed up as a witch a lot :)

Wordless Wednesday #2

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Wordless Wednesdsay

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Squawk

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Hmm do penguins squawk?? no idea :p But here is the penguin almost done, needs a bit more shading but will do that once the background is finished so I don't go too dark too soon. I probably should have more on this done, but I am not sleeping so am really, really tired and working on this actually takes a lot out of me. Can't sleep due to tooth pain, which could be anything. Actually the dentists are pretty sure its pulpitis , just not sure what tooth, or if its many teeth. And since I can't open my mouth big enough to get an x-ray done that would show what tooth it is, its a wait and see game until one tooth hurts more then another.yay....

If I never see a Pink Pencil Again, I will Die Happy

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This is one of those pieces that is really ending up just being a labour of love. In reality I would never get the money for the hours this has taken. But I haven't done a big, (well A3 is big for coloured pencil and me), coloured pencil piece for a long time and I was really feeling the pull to do one. I never had time when I was at college to do a piece this big, and I doubt I will have the time at Uni considering I was told I will be in 4 and a half days a week. *dies*

Music Monday

This song always makes me think of vampires :p Proper vampires not sparkly ones.

Scottish Word of the Week

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This weeks word is, sploonging . The photo is a bit of a hint, its doesn't mean duck tho :) The last word, hoatching , means crowded or busy.

Yay

 I knew I passed, but always nice to have the actual diploma to prove it. Not that not having one makes an artist a lesser artist. And it can make you over qualified to ask if someone want fries with their meal :p Onto to Uni next, where I will get even more grey hair and less sleep then I do know (if thats possible :p). I have said recently that if I get first year done and then decided thats it, I will be happy. If Uni turns out to not be for me, then meh so be it. I know I can be a lot more traditional style wise then a lot of the stuff produced by a lot of Uni art students, but...that doesn't have to be a bad thing, could be a good thing.  

Need to Think of a Title

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I had wanted to finish this today, but my hand decided to die after working on it for 5 hours, so hopefully tomorrow. And I really do need to think of a title for this, feel like it needs one for it to be actually finished. The last 3 days have been boiling out, bright sun and over 20C heat. Most people would be like, yay!, I am hiding lol The sun is not my friend. Messes up my MS and I look like a lobster after 20 minutes. I don't tan, I broil.

Penguin #2

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He looks like he really needs a hair cut or at least some styling gel to tame his eyebrows :p

Throwback Thursday

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  Yeah I was in Brownies, not for very long tho. And I think mom still has that sash around somewhere, but the rest of the uniform is long gone thankfully lol. Think I was about 5 or 6 here and love the hair cut lol

Its a Penguin!

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With fancy eyebrows lol Its a Rockhopper Penguin that was in Edinburgh Zoo. They have a lot of penguins there. This one was sitting on a nest of rocks, and I just really love all the different textures and shapes. And I wanted a challenge, so thought this would do. On a completely different note, I found some pictures I have been hunting for, for the last few weeks, so I can finally do a Throw back Thursdays post and everyone can laugh at me as a kid :p So will def. be posting a pic tomorrow. Need to ask my sister if she minds if I post pics where she is in them too, nothing embarrassing but still want to ask.

Wordless Wednesday #2

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Wordless Wednesdsay

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The Home Stretch

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Almost done and then I can go back and darken the values so that some of the lilies are pushed more into the background. Seriously I am not a flower person. I love lilies and dahlias but on the whole I don't draw flowers or have many in the yard. Next, something very very fuzzy :D

Falkirk Wheel

John did manage to get some footage of the wheel as it moves...slowly :p its windy, really need to invest in proper recording equipment if we are going to post more videos.

Music Monday

Easier to Guess?

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Any easier to guess what it is?? Of course its a bird lol but not the usual raptors I do.

Road Trip!

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We originally went to see these; And I guess we did see them quickly, but we got lost and ended up here; The Falkirk Wheel . Pretty big and neat to see when it rotates. Neither of us had been there so we enjoyed the day :) Everything is so green. And the view from the top of this hill is gorgeous, (haven't been, it would kill me, but John's parents have been to the top). Next time we try to see the Kelpies, we are taking directions with us lol

Guess the Etching

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This might be easy or it might be hard to guess what it will be when done. I know its going to take awhile to do because there are a lot of rocks to etch. I think I will really enjoy etching the rocks with their bumpy textures and patterns., and hopefully it looks interesting when done.

Achoo!!

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Actually lilies don't make me sneeze, but what ever trees are around here do. Didn't have hay fever or asthma in Canada, and didn't the first few years I lived here either. But all of a sudden, its like nature is trying to kill me :p Taking forever to colour this, but it will be finished as I really do need to move on to something else soon. Going to try to go Edinburgh Zoo this summer and try to get some nice photos with this lens, so need to make sure its done before then. Love this lens, takes such nice photos and it is nowhere near the top end when it comes to buying lens'.

Wordless Wednesday

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June Book Wrap Up

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Managed 10 books this month, still behind in my goal for the year, but only 2 books so easy to get caught up. Could read a bunch of children's books lol Frankenstein by Mary Shelley My rating: 2 of 5 stars hmmm its Frankenstein, the story well known enough it shouldn't need an explanation. People really scared easily when this was written lol This is actually a pretty boring story about not playing god basically. Too much whoa is me for me to really enjoy it.   The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson My rating: 4 of 5 stars While this book is full of characters and events that are just as improbable as his first book, I enjoyed this story a lot more. I found the characters likeable, a little daft and funny. The characters are written better when together as a group, the story slows down when the characters are only in pairs. The story seems to flow better when the characters are in one group, there is more conflict and funny events that help move t