They're up!

Flowers and an eel

Some weedy looking flowers.



I kind of like them. Simple.

And then an eel:



I don't want to cuddle up with it or anything, but I think it's kind of cute. For an eel, anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here, have a drawing of a turkey:

Owl and squid

Owl:

Hm. Not a happy owl. Jealous, I think, that he's black and white, and not in color like...

Squiddy!

Squiddy is my very favorite Drawmo drawing of mine yet. If you'd told me at the beginning of November that I could draw that, I would never have believed you. (Drawn in pencil, inked, then colored in Photoshop, if you're curious).

Sharing

For the record, Kaylee was in front of the fire first. Jeff muscled his way in later.

Stocking up

The last Clintonville Farmers' Market of the year was on Saturday, and I stocked up on winter squash.

I would have liked to get more, but Jeff wasn't with me, so this was all I could carry; about 15-20 pounds of squash. I also picked up Jeff's December meat share, so the larder is full and my arms are tired.

Sweaters make Kaylee sad...

...but awfully cute!

(Looks a little like a senior year photo, doesn't it?)

Since she has such short fur, she gets cold. I finally found a sweater that fits her (as long as I don't button it up at the neck), and even though she hates it, she really must need it because she didn't argue about having it on. I got her a t-shirt, too, for when it's just chilly. She'll love it, I'm sure!

Southwestern squash soup

Recipe to use up squash and some ancho chilies.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup tequila (optional)
2 cups cooked mashed orange-fleshed winter squash*
2 reconstituted, drained, seeded, and diced dried ancho chilies
4 cups vegetable broth
2 diced garlic cloves
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp parsley
1 tsp salt
1 cup corn (optional)
1 cup milk

1. In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and cook onions until translucent.
2. Add tequila and raise heat, stirring constantly, until tequila cooks off.
3. Add squash, chilies, broth, garlic, oregano, cumin, parsley, and salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer for at least 20 minutes.
4. Puree soup with an immersion blender, food processor, or blender. Add corn and milk and cook over low heat for ten minutes.
5. Serve.

*Any kind will work, even canned pumpkin, but fresh roasted is best.

Four more drawings

It's just too much of a pain to scan in the drawings every day. So for the remaining portion of Drawmo, you'll likely continue getting them in batches, like this.

First, an Igorina, for any Terry Pratchett fans out there:



She's just in pencil, no ink on this one.

And here's a peacock, again, just in pencil:



And another peacock, but in ink:



And, finally, a mushroom:

Whoops

Got a little behind posting my drawings. I've been working on holiday presents (yes, already!), and got distracted.

So here's a very simple doggie:



And here's a robot with a cupcake:



And a "robo-bat-zeppelin", as wormie described it perfectly:



I was playing with some watercolor pencils that I'd just gotten. I started at the nose, where it's all smeary, but I got the hang of it after a little practice. The pencil included in the kit is not as water-soluble as advertised, but that's OK. I think it looks pretty good for my first try.

I wanted to do the robo-bat-zeppelin without watercolors, so I drew it again last night, making it a little fatter and shorter:



I like him. He's cute.

So, I'm caught up with posting my pictures. I've got to say, I'm really enjoying learning to draw. I have never thought I could do it, but, then again, I've never tried before, either. :)

Two for one

I decided to do two tonight for Drawmo.

The first is my first still life, just a little corner of the TV and a pumpkin that's sitting on the cabinet next to it.

The angles aren't right or anything, but I, at least can tell what it is!

The second drawing is a cat.

Flowery-type things

It's cold and rainy, so something to remind me of when it was not.

Crap. Missed a day.

My excuse is I have been watching the shiba inu puppy cam. Have you ever seen anything cuter? I certainly haven't. My favorite is Blue. I have very carefully not tried to find the puppies lest I steal one.

Ok. Back to Drawmo. I forgot yesterday. Shiba inu puppies. Not my fault. However, I drew two today instead.

Despite what Jeff says, this is a sheep. He says it's a goat, but he has goats on the brain.

And that's a tree. I may do more with it later, but for now it's just a dead tree. I still like it a lot.

Pot pie is perfect comfort food

It's cold out, so today was a perfect pot pie day. I started with roasted veggies with broth, olive oil, wine, and a little butter. In there are potatoes, carrots, celery, cauliflower, onion, broccoli, and the very last of the itty bitty tomatoes from the garden.

To pre-cooked bottom shells, I added faux chicken to mine and real dead chicken to Jeff's, and some gravy made from the leftover roasting juices and a little more broth.

I added tops. Mine is the one with one slice, Jeff's has two.

Yum!

You really get my ...

Stitched-up bunny says rabbits are not disposable pets

Kind of a freaky bunny

It was kind of a weird tutorial which I just took a little further to make it a stitched-up bunny. Had a little trouble with making the belly a little big, but it worked out. It's from one of the Draw 50 series books, but I'm too lazy to find the name right now. But I kind of like the bun!

So tired. But drew anyway.

The top is a quick pictorial representation of my day, and the bottom is a freaky big-eared mouse. I do like the mouse's ears. Everything else about today's drawing? ... Not so much.

Viking

Since I drew Thor yesterday, I thought I'd draw a viking today:

Interesting. I got the basic tutorial from Draw 50 Beasties, which I got from the library. I'm not sure why a viking is a beastie, really. But it was pretty easy to draw, though I think he could be better. Not bad for my fist non-animal DrawMo drawing, though, I think.

Also, I have signed up with GoodReads. I'd suggest it. If you join and don't have my email address, look for me by first name in Columbus with a picture of the pups.

Three days in a row!

It must be a DrawMo miracle! I've actually drawn and posted three days in a row now! And even gotten a new t-shirt design out of it, so I count DrawMo as successful so far. Here's today, a brace of dogs:

Both are renditions of well-loved dogs who are no longer with us. The top is a Bedlington terrier, and if you don't believe that's what they look like, here's Thor (AKA Thorpy) with my grandma:

It was, I believe, post-bath for both of them. :) And the bottom dog is meant to be an English coonhound, like our beloved and much-missed Indy:

On both of them I could have made the head a little bigger to improve the proportion, but I think I did OK. I found tutorials for both of the dogs (I know, a Bedlington!) in Draw 50 Dogs that I got from Half-Price Books. I'm still quite pleased with myself, since I really didn't think I could draw at all!

Bunny drawing for Lando

My bunny pal, Orlando, isn't feeling so hot, so I thought I would try to draw a bunny today:

The top is my first try ... not so great. The bottom is my second try and a little better. (I found a tutorial for the bun here)

I scanned in the buns and colored the second one in Photoshop:

Get better soon, Lando!

Edited to add: I've made the bunny a new t-shirt in my store.

DrawMo!

I don't draw, but I joined DrawMo. This means that if you read my blog, you will (hopefully!) be subjected to me learning to draw over the next month. I joined a day late, so you get two for today.

We'll count this one for Nov. 1:

Looks half-decent for someone who can't draw, doesn't it? I learned how to do it here. If you're curious, I scanned it in, cleaned it up and colored it in Photoshop here.

We'll count this doggie for Nov. 2:

I'm actually kind of impressed with myself for this one. It actually looks like a dog and everything! I scanned it in and cleaned up a little here. I learned how to do it here.

So far, this is fun. I even went to Half-Price books and got a few drawing books, so I'm prepared!

Better late than never...

Our halloween costumes: 1950s zombies.