Inktober Day 15 - Spirit Day

October 15th is Spirit Day, a day to stand against bullying and support our LGBT youth by going purple. I see many of my friends who colored their social media avatar to purple to commemorate the day. I wanted to honor Spirit Day in my journal.

On my way to take the kids to school, I heard the song, Flares by The Script. It's a beautiful song and I love the message that there are people out there sending out flares, that you aren't alone. And what you see above is my interpretation of the song. If I had used watercolor paper, I think the colors would have blended better but my journal has Tomoe River Paper, which I normally love. But I still the result. I used Inktense blocks to color.

Here are the lyrics:

Flares by The Script

Did you lose what won't return
Did you love but never learn
The fire is out but still it burns
But no one cares, there's no one there

Did you find it hard to breathe
Did you cry so much that you can barely see
In the darkness all alone
And no one cares, there's no one there

But did you see the flares in the sky? Were you blinded by the light?
Did you feel the smoke in your eyes, did you, did you?
Did you see the sparks, feel the hope?
That you are not alone
Cause someone's out there, sending out flares

Did you break but never mend
Did it hurt so much you thought it was the end
Lose your heart but don't know when
But no one cares, there's no one there

But did you see the flares in the sky? Were you blinded by the light?
Did you feel the smoke in your eyes, did you, did you?
Did you see the sparks, feel the hope?
That you are not alone
Cause someone's out there, sending out flares
Someone's out there, sending out flares

Did you lose what won't return
Did you love but never learn

But did you see the flares in the sky? Were you blinded by the light?
Did you feel the smoke in your eyes, did you, did you?
Did you see the sparks, feel the hope?
That you are not alone
cause someone's out there, sending out flares

But did you see the flares in the sky? Were you blinded by the light?
Did you feel the smoke in your eyes, did you, did you?
Did you see the sparks, feel the hope?
That you are not alone
Cause someone's out there, sending out flares

And here is the video.

I liked the image so much, I re-did it into watercolor paper and added the lyrics with an app called Over. 

Inktober Day 14 - Everyday People

There is a person who spins a store sign (aptly called a sign spinner) who stands at a corner where I go through every morning when I take the kids to school. Since I go through that intersection 4 times every morning, I watch her sometimes as I wait for the light to turn. 

She has been there everyday for months, always covered from head to toe. She even wears a bandana or other face covering. Even in the 100+ degree weather, she's covered. I'm assuming this person to be female though I really can't be for certain.  She's always spinning the dry cleaner sign every morning listening and dancing to music (once again, I'm assuming based on her headphones). I wonder how long she's out there, I wonder what her story is. I wonder how long she will be there. 

I used the Preppy 02 fountain pen to draw and Koi watercolors to paint.i think it's time to clean my palette!

Inktober Day 13 - Using Reference Photos

For today's Inktober piece, I knew I wanted to draw a witch and I was all set to draw these cute stuffed Halloween decorations I have. 

But I wasn't feeling it. I had an image in my mind about a beautiful witch, so I searched Google for a beautiful witch. I found a couple of images I liked.

I love the background of the first and the face of the second. So I tried to combine the two for my piece. I usually save several photos that I find before deciding on which part of each photo I want to use. Mainly, I'm looking for lighting and the "shell" of the subject I'm drawing. My pieces are never an exact copy of an image I use. But many people tell me that they can spot one of my pieces and that I have a unique look.. That's always nice to hear.. 

Inktober Day 12 - Memories

It was a year ago yesterday when out daughter became a Bat Mitzvah. On one hand, it seems like just yesterday when she stood on the bimah and chanted the Torah. Because she is such a private person, anytime we asked her how her Bat Mitzvah practice was going, she would only say "fine", the famous teenage catch phrase that means anything from "terrific" to "I'm about to have a nervous breakdown!" And when we asked her tutor, he would say she was doing good. And then at the rehearsal, we heard her for the first time, at least we heard some whispers. No matter how close the microphone was to her, we could barely hear her. So we were nervous for her. Her Bat Mitzvah would be in three days and there weren't much we could do. Plus, we didn't want to add to the stress. 

She looked beautiful that morning, a little nervous but otherwise good. Then the service started and we were shocked! She did a wonderful job! Not only could we hear her, but she sounded confident and she knew her stuff. As parents, we can only do so much but it really it really is up to the child to get up in front of the congregation and lead a service. It truly is an awe-inspiring moment. And I feel it every time I attend a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, the sense of connecting to your history. It is such a beautiful moment.

So I'm so glad I got to spend some time remembering with my drawing. I don't know what it is about Jessica that I have never done a good job drawing her. I guess I will keep trying. Here is the original.

And finally, here is the video I put together of Jess which we showed at the party!

Inktober -Day 10. Holding on to Sunshine

As with most of my art, I saw the quote first in one of the member's post in Fauxbonichi Journalers group on Facebook. I immediately saw an image but it was different than what you see above.

My original thought was to have a child smiling, "beaming" with her hands over her heart. The child would be drawn in b/w and have the sunshine in color coming within her heart. 

But this morning (I woke up at 5:30 a.m.), my drawing took a different turn. I still drew a child, but there is little joy in this child's face. To me, she seemed devoid of all emotions.

I drew her in ink and colored her with Inktense block. I was going to use gray tones for her but instead, I went with reddish brown. I added the sunshine in yellow and orange and colored the background with the color bark. 

I probably stared at her for about 15 minutes trying to see what she was trying to tell me. Then it hit me. This little girl is me. I've been in a major funk the last 6 months or so and things are getting better. But I have major decisions to make in the coming weeks. And though I've not felt my best, I always keep a bit of sunshine in heart. Perhaps she is trying to remind me that happiness comes from within, not from external sources. 

Inktober Day 9 - Pumpkin Pancakes

My family has been living a low-carb lifestyle since April. It hasn't been too difficult because I love meat and vegetables. And also because whenever I get a craving carbs, I try to find a low-carb version of that or just give in and have some. I think denying yourself makes you break your diet or worse yet, give it up all together. 

Whenever I crave pasta, I try zucchini spirals or spaghetti squash. When I crave  a pizza, I try making crust out of cauliflower. And cauliflower again for rice. They aren't perfect but they usually do the trick. And when they don't, I just have the real thing. 

This morning, I was craving pancakes... Not just any pancakes but pumpkin pancakes. So I went to my Low Carb Pinterest board for pancake recipes. There is one I've used several times and liked so that's what I chose. And just add a bit of pumpkin purée and pumpkin spice and voilà, I get pumpkin pancakes. 

Unfortunately, my first attempt was disastrous. I tried to half the recipe and when the original called for 3 eggs, I used one. And I forgot to add the baking powder. The result was this.

It wouldn't hold together and it just tasted like coconut flour. Not what I had in mind. I was tempted to get the Bisquick out but I tried the recipe again and used two eggs and remembered the baking powder. 

I added a just a touch of agave and I was satisfied. If you are interested in this recipe, you can find it here  I have lots of recipes pinned to my low carb board on Pinterest if you want other low carb recipes!

Inktober Day 8 - Tangled Pumpkin

Several years ago, I bought a few plastic-foam-like pumpkins from Michael's. I've used them to decorate the porch area of the house for Halloween. This year, I decided to paint them.

I had already done these earlier this week. I change them around too.

So I decided to tangle the other pumpkins I have. This took a lot longer than I thought it would. There is something so relaxing about drawing these zentangle patterns. I think it's the repetitive motion. 

I have one more pumpkin so I think I will paint that black and tangle with my white sharpie!

So yesterday, I wrote a bit about the leaf tortilla and the pumpkin dip. This morning, I had it for breakfast.. 

Yummy!