Still Drawing; Not Rich and Famous Yet

This elephant is taking FOREVER.  She's not quite done yet but we're getting there.

Instructor did "surprise life drawing" night - I wondered if he had naked people stashed away somewhere that he was going to spring on us.  But no.  Some people had talked about having trouble getting fabric draping drawn correctly, so he gave us a chance to practice.  He was even kind enough to model for us, although he did yell, "Oh my GOD, it's HIDEOUS!" when he saw my drawing… presumably he doesn't love seeing his likeness any more than I like seeing mine….or, it's a really bad drawing. 

These are the triplet bear cubs from the movie "Brave".  Some days the drawing goes well and some days, not so much.  I drew about three pages of stuff over the course of two days and this is the only drawing I'd even want to show you out of that batch.  Bleah.  

It occurred to me that I might want to learn to draw hair, since most people have some.  

Everything went well with this pic of Andre Braugher until I tried to a) draw his face and b) make his skin black.  Bah.

I reverted back to cartoon characters - this guy is cute AND has a little girl playmate that I plan to draw next. 

 I dug around and found all the different lead hardnesses to start this class, but I've found I use mainly two pencils: a 4H and a Palomino Blackwing.  And a lot of erasing, of course.

These are just the pics out of my sketchbook.  Next time, I'll show you a couple of my assignments.  One even has COLOUR!

Until then,
Love Shelley!

OMG I TOUCHED JENNY LAWSON'S ARM

So this happened.

You may not know this about me, but I have known deep in my heart for the past few years that I would give my left nut to meet Jenny (The Bloggess) Lawson.  Well guess who came to Winnipeg yesterday WHY YES IT WAS JENNY (THE BLOGGESS) LAWSON.

I love this woman.  She has written a gloriously bizarre book, and blogs about things I couldn't think up on my best day.  One of her cats is named Ferris Mewler.  The other is Hunter S. Thomcat.  She's incredibly enthusiastic about dressing up old taxidermied animals in tiny hats and clothes and false eyelashes and makeup and giving them funny names.  She asked Wil Wheaton to send her a picture of himself collating paper, and he did.  She surprised her husband with a giant steel chicken named Beyonce.  If this sounds spectacularly ridiculous, it's because it is.  The flip side is that she has a crippling anxiety problem, mixed in with other disagreeable health issues, and that she speaks openly and honestly about them on her blog.  You'd think this would be a downer, but it's just the opposite.  You may not believe me but if you read her you'll see.  She gives the rest of us hope, no matter what issues we may be dealing with.

I didn't want to spook her with my fangirl glee, but after I stood politely in front of her for a while doing a slightly agitated pee-pee dance, she was gracious enough to let me geek out and have a picture with her.

Please note that I did not try to a) kiss her on the lips or b) put her in my pocket and take her home to show my sister.
I believe I showed admirable restraint.

Knowing Jenny's appreciation for slightly dilapidated preserved animals, someone brought in a stuffed fox to help her feel more comfortable; after it was put it to a vote he was named Derrick, and then Jenny showed up and discreetly pointed out that Derrick was actually a girl.

She's so polite she's practically Canadian.