I’ve written two previous blog posts on EveryDay in May and then my EveryDay in May 4-17 . And now it is 31 May. Here are the rest of my drawings. As you can see they are either in watercolour pencil or my Lamy Safari ink, depending on how much time I had and how I felt on the day. Enjoy!
A lovely end to the last day of EveryDay in May. My iPhone in its little case that makes it looks like a book. Ideal for a librarian! watercolour pencil.
Today is the final challenge for EveryDay in May. It has been such fun. I wish I had more time to interact with other people in the challenge and leaving more comments on their fantastic art and interpretations of the challenge. I quickly realised that working from home did not give me more time to do other things. I had LOTS of projects – both at work, and at home – both art projects and around the house projects.
Thank you so very much for the organisers and administrators. Your time and effort is really appreciated. It has been wonderful to see so many creative interpretations of the challenges
Everyday in May’s challenge on Friday was “a book, a newspaper or a magazine”. I love to draw books, so I could not think of a better way to end the week.
It was a perfect Friday evening after my workday at home. Add to that, a delicious take-home dinner from a local restaurant and a glass of wine. I choose a book with the most worn spine label, plus it had a marbled cover.
Here are some “work-in-progress” photos that I remembered to take.
and here is the rest of the table.
See more book drawings in my Flickr album. And I have some of these available for purchase printed on greetings cards on my ETSY online shop. Below are just some of them !
I mentioned in recent post that I was taking part in EveryDay in May sketching. There is a list of an object for everyday and they are posted in the Flickr and Facebook groups.
Here are my sketches since that post. As you can see, I have used a variety of styles. Sometimes just in ink and other times watercolour pencil. It depends on the day and how much time I have.
It has been fun and interesting to see everyone’s interpretation of the object /word of the day. There are also so many different styles, techniques and marks on the page. There is no single way of drawing/painting.
It seems nice to end the page boiling my kettle with a teabag for a cup of tea.
This week’s blog is a complete experiment. I have added a sketching video. I am not sure if you will be able to open the link to the blog or play the video. Below is the final sketch and then the video.
It’s funny that I did not sketch as usual as I felt under pressure when doing this I also tried some new watercolour pencil colours, which was not a good idea, Too many new things at once.
If you can’t see the video, maybe next time. It is a lot harder than I thought. I have been meaning to film myself sketching on location for a long time. I would love to be able to share with everyone how a sketch comes together on the page, whether it is at home or on location. It would be good if you could “stand over my shoulder” as I sketch at a conference or in a park.
I don’t plan on getting too technical or investing too much money. The challenges and steps I worked on last night and today have included the following. (I will build upon or change these)
using iphone Camera on Time-Lapse
2. using a tripod. I bought a cheap Manfrotto [pro-master] tripod at a camera store at the end of last year. – problems – the shadows on the page, the tripod leg in the camera shot. I kept knocking the tripod legs
3. learning to use timelapse. I switched it on and off and ended up with three short videos. I searched to find out how to join them together . I downloaded the iMovie app to do this.
4. but it was all upside down, so more searching to learn how to rotate it (you use fingers on the screen on the video to change it)
5. how to transfer it from my iphone to my laptop . Use Dropbox, which I thankfully already had set up
6. how to put the video into my WordPress site for my blog. This is where it may all fall down as when I send out my blog not everyone may be able to open the link or run the video. Please let me know if you can or can’t. This is such a steep learning curve for me.
if you have any hints or tips on how I can do any of these please let me know.
One of the many online art challenges that you can participate in is Everyday in May (EDiM). There is a facebook and a Flickr group. You need to create a free account for either to join the group. Flickr is a photo-sharing site. Or you could just do the list for fun.
What is it? A list of prompts for everyday drawing challenges. There is no pressure, you put your sketch up online in the group and can comment on others, It is amazing the interpretation and different sketches of the one listed object. Here is the 2020 list. I couldn’t figure out how to add as a pdf document
1 a mug 2 a lamp, ceiling light or torch … 3 a favourite place – sofa, chair … 4 “Star Wars” – May the fourth be with you! or a brush; any brush – toothbrush, hairbrush … 5 a pc, printer etc. 6 a self-portrait – use a mirror or a reflective surface 7 a cooking pot, tea or coffee pot 8 a favourite drawing tool 9 a wall clock or your alarm clock 10 your pet or an animal of your choice if you haven’t one 11 illustrate a recipe 12 a game you love to play 13 toilet paper rolls – oh yes! 🙂 14 something with folds 15 a view from your window 16 a wire whisk or kitchen appliance 17 a tea bag or coffee beans 18 your breakfast 19 a pillow 20 shoes or some clothes 21 fruits 22 a book, a newspaper or a magazine 23 a water glass or a jug 24 where you would want to be now – using Google Street View 25 “Towel Day” – a tribute to Douglas Adams – www.towelday.org or cutlery 26 a pasta dish 27 keys 28 a water-tap 29 vegetables or whatever is in your fridge 30 a home plant 31 a phone – a new one, an old fashioned one, mobile or not
I think that the Everyday in May challenges began in 2005 by Karen Winters. Below are the links to my past EDiM. Here is a description I found on one of my 2009 posts. “This is part of the Everyday in May challenge – drawing something every day in May. A group of us thought it would be fun to do a Everyday Matters (EDM) challenge each day using EDM 1-31. The list is on Karen Winters website”
I started eagerly wanting to draw all the time. It was such an inspiration and opened my eyes to that fact that anything is sketchable and that everyone has a different style and approach. There is no right or wrong ! These are concepts that i strongly believe in today. Today, I have many art projects that am involved in and keeping me busy everyday (as well as a full-time non-art job) and I am doing EDiM out of nostalgia. Here are my previous EDiM challenges.
I also do this because my mother does it too. She lives interstate and is not on Facebook, but has a Flickr page. This is a wonderful way for us to connect and we have chat about what we have drawn. This is one time of the year that she picks up a pencil and draws, and then realises she is quite good, especially when practicing everyday.
follow mum’s EDiM drawings here and all of my drawings here
I “met” so many people through Everyday in May the early days of Flickr, as we all commented on each other’s drawings.
Has anyone else done it and how long ago. What online name do I know you as on Flickr and Facebook?
