Finishing touch

Shadows are trouble for me. It seems that I can not get the right amount of contrast without darkening the whole area, like it just happened with one side of the church. Well, it is just paper, right? Back to the drawing board, with more practice and observation, but if anybody knows of a good book about light and shadow please let me know!

Turn frustration into focus

Frustration was hitting hard yesterday when I missed the bus because a light would not change so pedestrians could cross the street. That meant waiting for 20 minutes for the next bus in very cold and windy weather, but I had a good view of a nearby church, so I managed to sketch for 10 minutes.

The blue sketch was done today, while waiting for my turn to get the car washed after a week of slushy roads.

Memory Lane: Turin

I hve the key to my friends apartment, 74,000 lira, three tramway tickets, 30 available photos in the camera, one notebook, one journal, a blue felt pen, a map and a water bottle. Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento Italiano, here I come...

Memory Lane: Barcelona

I've been down Memory Lane with the help of old sketches. I could say that I took up sketching and journaling during that trip to Europe. My friend guided me through her hometown and took me on day trips along the Costa Brava and Costa del Sol. A few years later, she moved to Germany, and although I have made plans to visit her there, the trip has never taken place. I called my friend before Christmas but were greeted by the voice mail. My German is poor, but I did recognize her voice, so I left a message. She called back, to be greeted by my voice mail and the dance went on for three more calls!!! Christmas went by without communication, but 2009 could not finish without exchanging a few words, so the fourth time when I could not find her in Germany I tried Barcelona. I did find her at her old place, sharing time with her family. We talked for an hour, and yes, now we'll continue our conversations by e-mail.

Carrilló at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya and Sitges Beach, Costa del Sol.

Cutting out procrastination

Today I was fighting against the well established habit of staring at the screen, browsing around page after page. The journal was right by the computer, asking to be opened, the pen was willing to be a faithful companion in this fight, so I closed the laptop, wrote a page and made a drawing. Nothing fancy, just to get me out of this procrastinator's mood that sticks more often than I'd wish.

A recipe for 2010

Does the perfect balance exist? I wish I knew the right one that works for me. I feel far from finding the right dose of drawing, writing, reading, learning, social activities, volunteering, family time and chores that makes me feel satisfied. It looks like life does not come with a recipe, but in the meantime we ought to try a few. Last week I discovered a recipe for chocolate cookies that yielded a wonderful stack of chewy little treasures, so here is the Everyday Matters Challenge No. 75 - Draw the ingredients and/or process of a favorite recipe - and journal about it.