watercolor

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Why Santa never gets caught

https://doodlewash.com/2016/12/22/how-do-reindeer-fly/

Doodlewash is a blog I follow – both for Charlie O’s great water-colors but even more for his wonderful stories and descriptions about each drawing.

Today’s Doodlewash post inspired my pome.

Pome by judy

No one catches Santa on the roof

or in the snow sees prints

of tiny reindeer hoof

for Santa’s no bigger than a fly

and reindeer all the size of ants

ferry him through the Christmas sky

I don’t think it silly at all

to imagine reindeer quite so small

and know 

how Santa slides down chimney flues

with nary much soot on his beard or shoes

So make your cookies the size of peas

and leave the milk in a thimble please

Limit the weight of gifts and such

to crush an ant

 it doesn’t take much

   *     *    *

To read Charlie O’s inspiring story click here:

How Do Reindeer Fly?

Sneek a Peek into my Sketchy Life
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Sneek a Peek into my Sketchy Life

Here’s my semi-weekly Did you Miss Me!!!!!??????? post.  Lately, it seems like every other week I’m blogged-out.  As my energy (and attention) waxes and wanes so too my posting.

The last art classes produced these projects.  The first was sketching onto a plastic plate and then using water soluble color to print.

Left side - acrylic plate Right side - print

Left side – acrylic plate
Right side – print

Print with watercolor

Print with watercolor

In the portrait class we had 3 hours to create a portrait of a real live man.  And although I’ve been known to take liberties with the models . . . like adding arms where there are none . . . I didn’t make up his hair-do.

Pastel Portrait

Pastel Portrait

Bob Blobfish sez: ". . . I p"

Bob Blobfish sez: “Her artistic range is either versatile or erratic.  To be kind I’ll call it erratically versatile . . .”

versatile

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DOODLEWASHing & Hairy Bird pome

Hairy Pome by judy

Have you not heard
of the elusive Kingfisher bird?
When it is hatched
it sports a moustache
Thank goodness there’s no beard
that would be weird

Watercolor by Charlie O', Kingfisher Bird

Watercolor by Charlie O’Shields, Moustached Kingfisher Bird

Read more about this birdie at doodlewash

Charlie O’Shields

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DOODLEWASHing & a shrimpy pome

The Peacock mantis shrimp
is no wimp.
Its rear sways
while the front prays
that its glow
doesn’t go.
4 inches is enough
to strut it’s stuff

Watercolor Peacock Mantis Shrimp by Charlie O'

Watercolor, Peacock Mantis Shrimp by Charlie O’Shields

“Some mantis shrimp species are rather romantic, meeting their dream shrimp and staying together for life, which is up to 20 years. These lovebirds share the same burrow, protect their eggs, and help each other in hunting. When particularly aroused during mating rituals, the mantis shrimp will start to fluoresce. This means, you guessed it, they have glow-in-the-dark sex, which more than qualifies them as an uncommon creature.”

Click here to find out why the shrimp is no wimp: doodlewash

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DOODLEWASHing – What’s all the Stink About?

“Along with its spiky reddish-brown hairdo, it’s quite a sight to behold. It’s also a bird that you are better off viewing from a safe distance due to its other key characteristic that has earned it’s rather insulting nickname. But it’s an accurate one, as the stinkbird actually does smell like poop.”

judy’s stink bird pome

The Stink bird, if you will
is a walking, pecking still
Its cow poop smell
is just a cover
for a liquor lover.

Wanna know why it stinks?  Ya gotta click here:  DOODLEWASH Sinkbird  

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Sneak Peek into my mind – Year of the Fairy Tale

I never know where I’ll find inspiration. 

The last Princess & the Pea assignment was to create 20 different compositions and then pick one to paint using a credit card.  I was stuck – none of my compositions appealed to me.  Well . . .  truthfully there were a few that I liked . . . I just didn’t think I could paint them with a credit card . . .

Looking through my stash of  paper I came across this unfinished watercolor from Jan 30, 1989.

The date of the class I took was on the back (I remember I dropped out because watercolor was too difficult)  The paper tape that held the wet paper on the board was still there.

I was trying to paint a lemon.

Giant Pea and Green Princess

1989

Inspiration!  A giant pea! (aka lemon).  There was my composition for the Princess and her PEA! (click if you forgot how my credit card painting turned out)

Moral of my tale:  Never throw anything away and

some fruit should be a vegetable.

 

 

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The Year of the Fairy Tale – Yip Yippee Yupo

DSCN5662

Experimenting with Yupo paper is part of this month’s assignment. Yupo is slick, non absorbent – kinda like photo-paper – and “not cheap”.

The water-color paint does strange and interesting things on the paper and most of it isn’t in your (read MY) control.

I started with the intention of doing flowers (from the 100 flowers we are to draw – I’ve not done 100 but am pooped out on flowers for the moment).

I “flung” water-color at the paper in a devil-may-care manner pretending it didn’t matter if I ruined a sheet of expensive paper . . .

The more I looked the weirder it got.  I saw all kinds of faces & critters in the strange shapes. So I emphasized the faces I saw with pencil and here is Yupo #1, my kind of fairy-garden . . . and I am, I swear, completely sober.