Regalia

Mattias Adolfsson is an illustrator and journaler. His work can get amazingly detailed but this is one is one of his simpler pieces, a style I aspire to.
Regalia

SketchCrawl January 21, 2012 Phoenix Herpetological Society

What an exciting day on the grounds of the Phoenix Herpetological Society! Up close within the bounds of safety to some rather dangerous critters. My fascination was with a king cobra named Elvis. He was a rescued snake. He was probably so named because of his showmanship.  Elvis was one very alert, observant reptile.

It was cool when we arrived in the morning so we spent a fair amount of time in the classroom building where some of the venomous snakes are also kept. Nate, a serpant curator, cleaned snake enclosures while we watched, ready to run like heck at a moment's notice.

After the excitement was over, we got to work sketching just a glass thickness away from real trouble.

Craig and his son are sketching Elvis, too. Annie is in the background sketching a gorgeous green (venomous) snake.

And here is Elvis in his serpant glory.

More photos on the Journal 6-SketchCrawls link on the right side bar.

SketchCrawl/Occupy Wall Street (Phoenix) October 15, 2011

I did not participate in the Cave Creek SketchCrawl which I bet was a cooler than where I was. Wasn't sure I could stand out in the sun for hours so opted to sit on the pavement at the Occupy Phoenix rally in front of  Phoenix City Hall. I sweated but at least didn't feel like passing out. There was lots of bottled water available as well as snacks. Very well run and peaceful for the two hours I was there. I would have spent the entire day, but being slow, I knew it was necessary for me to get back home to put something on this blog and SketchCrawl site. So here it is.....a day later.

This is the best I could do for "sketching" this time (above). Spent hours cleaning up the next two photos. Put in a generic acrylic/paper towel smeared background that would not be as distracting. Love this image. It makes me wish I were a photojournalist. But then, this kind of photography isn't what big news organizations seem to want anymore anyway.

These protests are just the beginning so it seems appropriate to keep a journal just for these events.

Well before 2008 I knew that this economic situation was destined to happen and that there would be a revolt. I just didn't know when the breaking point would be. Unfortunately, little fish sometimes get lured in by Big Fish because they think that God or Good Fortune open doors to their washes leaving personal responsibility outside that door. The Big Fish know this and make a meal out of them. Others are purely ambushed. So I am proud to see that there really is a sense of democracy still alive under all the materialistic distractions that we Americans enjoy and/or are bombarded with daily.  This is a WORLD WIDE endeavor now.

This next sign is wonderfully done. As we know, however, not all the buzzard are old.

Good to see a retired judge (below) getting involved.

I read a news article that said that a thousand people participated in this rally. There were at least that many from what I was seeing. The park was getting quite crowded by 1 p.m. and people were still arriving.

This event will surely make some good entries in my journal.

From Hedi Kyle, to Daniel Essig, to Dorothy Wheeler

                  The eight day art retreat, Art Unraveled, in Phoenix, Arizona,   http://www.artunraveled.com/ARTU11/AUworkshops.htm 

recently finished another successful run. I had the great pleasure of meeting Dena Bliss and her friend, Dorothy Wheeler, at this year's event.  They talked me into taking Daniel Essig's Tree Book workshop although it doesn't take much to talk me into taking a class from him.  He is one of my favorite book artists/binders.

Here is Daniel Essig demonstrating a fishbone folding technique originally created by master book artist, Hedi Kyle.

Workshops for me are places to gather ideas and not a place for making a precious masterpiece. The finished project is just the beginning of new innovations to come. Dorothy definitely demonstrated that philosophy when she returned home and created a 60th birthday card/book for her sister.

Here is our basic workshop project.

And here is how Dorothy added her own touch to it.

Mica sheets are laminated (glued) to the inner and outer cover surfaces, front and back, as well as on the front flap.

It's a wonderful concept with great potential for modifications of all sorts.

32nd SKETCHCRAWL AT MIM

Our SketchCrawl on July 23 was held at the Musical Instrument Museum in northeast Phoenix.
I get a charge out of that place each time I visit it. It is such a multi-cultural extravaganza of music and song on video screens adjacent to the instruments of various countries all over the globe. And what a huge place! It takes hours to get through it.

Here was my contribution this time.

Click on "Journal 6" button on right to see photos of the MIM.

DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN REVISITED



It was a beautiful day, as it usually is, at the Desert Botanical Garden here in Phoenix, Arizona, under a partly cloudy sky.  Temperature in the mid 80's. My plan was to do some drawing from photos downloaded to my laptop. However, I couldn't draw to save my life.....so frustrating. But I did take plenty of photos as usual.  I played with some in Photoshop a little more so than usual.

And here is the in-your-face squirrel who I just couldn't ignore. What's an outdoor cafe for if not to charm humans into giving up few snacks here and there. 

See my Musings blog for more garden images.

APRIL16, 2011, SKETCHCRAWL

We had a surprise when we arrived at the Desert Botanical Garden, closing time for the general public was 12 noon because of a special event. So we had to work fast.  I usually work from photos so I took lots of them and worked on this image following my return home.  This frog was happily calling out to others in the pond and observing the humans passing by.  

See more photos from this SketchCrawl on Journal 6.

View The Work Of Book Artist And Weaver Of Dreams, Timothy Ely

Ely doesn't teach just physical book structure, he exudes a sense of spiritual alchemy. 

View his work in "Journal 3."



Quick To Assemble, No Glue Journal

In keeping with the My 20 Minute Journal post I made awhile ago, I now have posted  the tutorial on "Journal 2."