The Empty Cabinets of my Mind

Doing Art

Holidays are a time I like to get away and concentrate on drawing and painting. So this Christmas I dug out a couple of art books that I bought years ago and hadn't gotten around to reading. 

A Method for Creative Design by Adolfo Best-Maugard looks simple at first glance, but it is so full of interesting stuff that one really does have to go back and read it over again. It is full of captivating little sketches and trying some of them got me motivated to put everything else aside and just draw.  Here is one of the Samplers that I worked on today:

If you like this sort of thing, there is more on my art blog, drAnn's ART

The other book I will mention there is Patrick Woodroffe's Mythopoeikon.

A Winter Scene in August

My friend Rex is starting on his Christmas cards early.  Today he finished painting this winter scene in watercolors, which he may use for his greeting cards this year.

 

Logo Design is Hard Work

I know, as my late husband and partner used to sell logo designs to help supplement our income back in the lean days (can you pronounce "Starving Student?")  I used to help him.  It was fun, but grueling.  The neatest thing was seeing people get good results because of the graphics we produced.

A good logo really helps a business stand out.  Of course, it cannot replace good products and great service, but it gives you a foot in the door, so to speak.

Finding a good logo design company got easier when the internet expanded as now people can get a pretty good idea of what kind of work different artists can offer without having to run all over the place and waste time looking at physical portfolios. If the logo company can make an attractive web page for themselves, you know they can make you a logo that will stand out. Of course the nice thing about shopping online is that it is so easy to compare the different vendor pages. One thing to look for when shopping for a design company is their guarantee.  Related to that issue is how many changes the company is willing to make if you are not happy with their design. 

Ordering a professional logo online is easy and convenience these days and not only can you get help with your design, but many of the logo design companies also include letterhead and business cards in their online pricing. 

Black Swan

I don't usually do movie reviews, but in a few days I am planning to see Black Swan at our local theater, and I will report back as to what I think of it. 

Maybe it is only because I visited mid-town Manhattan last summer that a show set in New York now seems appealling. I am not ordinarily a big fan of Nutcracker, or psychosexual thrillers, either.  But there is still time.  I might just settle for Tangled instead, or even Chronicles of Narnia.  Regarding the C. S. Lewis classic, I didn't even finish reading the book, and the movie got weak reviews, but I love the scenery in the trailer and think I could go happily there even if the plot sickened.  I predict that Black Swan would be just the opposite.  I could wrap my head around the intellectual daring of the film, but the scenery in the trailer was not alluring.  Not for me. 

 

My Next Cartoon

A few posts back I was raving about an animated Singing Santa skit, and now somebody handed me an unusual holiday.  Instead of a herd of reindeer flying through the air carrying Santa behind in a sleigh, Sant is driving a long automobile and Rudolph, we assume from the red nose, is most comfortably riding in the back seat.

I love it.  This is from the Living section of the Las Vegas Review Journal, and I am absolutely going to steal the idea for a drawing.  I will make quite a few changes, but hats off to this newspaper for giving me the idea. 

Lately I've been posting too many pictures of food I've grown or cooked and not enough drawings on my art blog:  drAnn's Art.

This will get me back on track.

Opaque Paint Markers

Elmer's makes some of the best art stuff, and not just for kids.  More about this over at drAnn's ART, but we attended the Grand Opening of our community's new Office Depot store this week and we saw that they had Painters in stock.  They are cheaper at Wal-Mart, but that is further down the road. 

What are Painters?  They are pens filled with acrylic paint that write like markers but cover like a brush.  They come in different color ranges and different tip sizes .  They write on almost all surfaces, too:

I thought that to keep them from drying out I'd have to wash the tips or something, but mine haven't dried out yet.  I am careful to recap them after each use.

PS:  This is not a paid ad.   

Oh, no, not another Blog!

Well, I did it! Started a another blog for my drawings and painting, day by day...

Today's Drawing




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