Lisa's Day

Some Faces Redone

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calzones

Since we took pictures:

 

A Deer Hit Us This Week (Yes, the Deer Hit Us)

  9/22/08 12:30 pm Just Button. --image moved over. 5:24 pm White bird in dirty Tire Pond.

9/23/08 More of this.

9/24/08 7:15ish am. I'm on the bus. A deer hit us on the way home from Mike's last night. We were both shaken up. I took two Pamprin. Steve took an Advil, then a sleeping pill. I let him sleep in this morning. It wasn't a big accident, and I don't think we killed the deer.

9/24/08 We were on 32, in a part with no street lights. Suddenly Steve slowed way down. Two deer were crossing the road. (Hard to draw on the bus.)

9/24/08 The deer on the right made it across, and the deer on the left ran into the car. He knocked off the side view mirror - pulled it out, because where the control lever was, there was a hole open to the outside. Steve pulled over. The pickup behind us didn't even stop to see if we were okay.

9/24/08 MARYLAND: WHERE NOBODY CARES! I was nearly hyperventilating. I always figured if we hit a deer, we'd end up in a ditch. But we weren't going very fast. We looked behind us and didn't see the deer - he wasn't in the road or by the side of the road.

9/24/08 When we got home, Steve saw blood spattered on the rear car door. He sprayed Windex all over it to get it off. He's going to call Saturn this morning. At least the roleplaying was fun.

Damage View 1

Damage View 2

Damage View 3

9/25/08 8:10 pm I never got back to writing, from yesterday morning. The side view mirror cost $185.00. And they recommended flushing the air intake or something to do with the fuel. Just under $400.00, including oil change. Steve said, "It's like it never happened."

9/25/08 Tired. Need early bedtime. Had more Panko chicken nuggets over soba w/soy sauce and a Boddingtons.

9/26/08 8:46 pm Crap! I haven't written anything today! This morning I found a cell phone on the train. On a seat. I put it in my pocket, then gave it to an attendant at U Street. It vibrated/rang once. I didn't answer it. Not my job!

9/26/08 Then, on 14th, in the street, I found this flat round Kibuki face bottle opener. It was wet and dirty. I washed it when I got to work. Quiet Friday. Other than being "Found Object Day." It was a gray and rainy day.

  9/26/08 I've been working on my pencil faces. Some are working, some are not. I've been watching Project Runway and Top Design - and the Prez DEBATE is on at 9. And I'm tired.

9/26/08

Bottle Opener

...and the reverse side. See how it's all scratched up?

9/27/08

9/27/08 9:55 pm Lazy Quiet Saturday. It's been raining. I heard thunder in the middle of the night. I got up late. It was SO HUMID in the apt. We thought they turned the air off, but when we shut the windows and turned it on, cool air came out. Yay.

9/27/08 So I worked out. Showered. Steve put on a beef Guinness stew, which we had for lunch. Wow - was that good - topped with a Horseradish Sour Cream. Wow. Then: --- And another shower. Oh - I did a drg first thing.

9/27/08 That pencil drg on a j. piece. From a photo I took. I drew it from the computer so I didn't have to print it. Going to try my start w/photo (if I need to), then proceed w/drg approach. We made calzones for dinner, filled too much w/sausage, peppers & onions. And cheese. And olives.

9/27/08 I've been working on the small faces all day. Then, this evening, while watching B.G. DVDs, I did the Steve & Mooshie drg on an 18x24 canvas. (And the pencil picked up the lines of the stretcher bars! Aargh!). However, I think 18x24 is too big.

9/27/08 I think that size is too big to keep it as a sketch. It's not sketchy enough. I keep erasing, but it's not getting sketchy. Going to try again tomorrow on an 11x14 size. P.S. I took that photo (pencil drg on j. piece) for MFA Woman #3.

9/27/08 Not that I'm going to do the MFA women. But just in case, that's a side view for #3. Maybe I should do the other two - ha! I keep changing my mind. If I do them, it would probably only be for practice.

Mid-September Getting Back to More Drawing

9/14/08 2:44 pm I worked out today, incl. weight training. Yuy - sore muscles. I got up early. Well, early for a Sunday. 7:30 am. I scanned & posted j. pieces on my blog. I also posted the pencil on canvas drgs. And I'm redoing the stretched canvases.

9/14/08 Not completely - I put more paint on them - the good stuff. (D. Smith paint.) Then I'm going to re-gesso with some watered-down gesso. Because I think the Big Tub of Gesso got a bit dried out and was too thick. That's why I didn't like the surface of the 8x10s. [Daniel Smith Acrylics: http://www.danielsmith.com/categories/paint/acrylic/ds/default.asp ]

9/14/08 I like the seven faces I did. They were all just done freehand - just sketching. For the two yesterday (on scraps) I looked in a mirror. Know what? The drgs are odd. They lack the spontaneity of the seven other scraps.

9/14/08 I not only need to stop using reference photos, I don't even need to look in the mirror. It must still use too much of my left brain, which is killing the freshness of my drawings. Why do I not listen to myself?

9/14/08 Or trust myself? When was it that I first wrote that I need to mentally strand myself on a desert island? It was either last year or '06. Our time here in Hell has all blurred together. And I still don't trust myself.

9/14/08 How do you learn to trust yourself and not be afraid you'll just fuck it all up?

9/14/08

  9/14/08

9/14/08

9/14/08

9/14/08

9/15/08 5:32 am

9/15/08 8:21 am

9/16/08 7:27 pm My upper back hurts. I worked out last night. I think I should give my muscles a rest. I'm off the next two days. Boss Man is out of town. I have to go to Dr. & Dentist. Darla said, "Just take the whole day off!"

  9/16/08 I have to write about a couple of ptg articles. I'm tired. I kept waking up last night.

9/16/08

9/16/08

9/17/08 6:53 pm I've had a nice day off. I went to the Dr. at 7:45 am. Dr. Rosenstock said everything was fine - gave me 6 mos. of prescriptions. Yay. She was very pleased about my weight loss. She said, "Are you not as pleased?"

9/17/08 Well, I haven't lost it all yet! But she said I'm doing very good. In 18 months I've lost 16 lbs. She said that's better than most of her patients. Her other patients lose weight, then gain it back - every visit they've gained a few pounds. She said every visit I've lost a few pounds.

9/17/08 And taking a couple Advil to sleep a couple times a week is just fine. And the occasional Pamprin for hormone-induced anxiety and worry. Steve and I walked around Arundel Mall, then went to the Arundel Safeway.

9/17/08 Then home for some lunch. Then I ran out. I went to JoAnn Fabric to browse, and get a couple fat quarters. I was looking in the remnant bin when the cashier finished with the one customer, then walked away. I got disgusted and left with nothing.

9/17/08 There wasn't even a bell to ring at the register to let them know I was there. I went to Target. Then back to Shoppers - Steve texted me to check for soba noodles. (No.) We saw a shelf tag for soba at Safeway, but there were none. I went to Michael's. They sell fat quarters.

9/17/08 Then Safeway on Rt. 1 - no soba. (Have to go to W.P.) I had to get more chicken. The other night we made chicken strips coated in Panko bread crumbs. They were SO GOOD. We wanted more. But Steve put the chicken he got yesterday in the freezer - oops - so I got more.

9/17/08 Steve put fish sauce on the chicken, salt, pepper, olive oil, ginger powder. More ginger in the bread crumbs, & salt & pepper. They were SO GOOD. Over rice. Plus Bok Choy and red bell pepper. And the Kikkoman low-sodium soy sauce, our new favorite condiment - Great on soba noodles.

9/17/08 We are just mad for the soba noodles. So much better than whole wheat pasta (ugh). So good with the soy sauce on them. And even good cold. / I did a long workout today on the lateral thigh trainer. I love being off work. Love it.

9/17/08 I worked out in the afternoon, then showered. I let my hair dry naturally. It got really wacky, with my bangs going straight up.

9/17/08

9/17/08

9/18/08 3:27 pm Lazy Day off. Went to the dentist this morning. Just a cleaning. I still have two teeth with cracks in them, but they're still fine so I don't need expensive crowns (or drilling) yet. And our dentist is going back to Florida.

9/18/08 Still messing with this. It's the Grass Cat drg.

9/19/08 7:25 pm My job is so mind numbingly boring, it's rotting my brain. It's depressing. -Bah. I'm tired. Can you tell?

9/20/08 3:35 pm Sign in Michael's: Notice: or Warning: Intruders will be shot. Survivors will be shot again. / *Low S.E. *Ambition in the toilet *Not Social *Bad financial decisions [S.E. = Self Esteem]

9/20/08 7:30 pm Not getting much done.

9/21/08 8:35 am Going over last week's pieces before I scan & post. I made a note last weekend: When I motivated Steve to start writing again, it was writing to post on his blog. Which he has been doing. / I did the drg on 9/15 at work in the bathroom. My eyes looked really dark that morning. [Steve's Blog: http://steveklow.typepad.com/steve/ ]

9/21/08 I'm still messing around with Memphis images - hence all the sketching. I need to work on the stretched canvases this week and see what sizes I like. The 5:30 am drgs came to my head before I fell asleep. / I saw a sign in Michael's yesterday, so I made a note. It made me think of Ken! (my brother.)

9/21/08 Although it was one of those metal signs they have purposely rusted to look antique. Ugh. I thought that would be really funny done in cross-stitch. Ha. I made the other note in the car after grocery shopping.

9/21/08 I'm still fretting over: Why Does My Life Suck? and How Did I End Up Like This? So: What Do I Do Now? I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Soba Noodles and Panko Breadcrumbs - our New Favorite Things

  Chicken breaded w/Panko Breadcrumbs, lightly fried in iron skillet w/canola oil, over soba noodles, w/red bell pepper and lime. Oh, and of course the Kikkoman Low Sodium Soy Sauce - great on the soba noodles. Lots of it.

Nuggets are good, too. Marinated in Fish Sauce, Olive Oil, salt, pepper and ginger powder first. These have a sauce on top: red onion, garlic, fresh pineapple, fresh ginger, salt, pepper, some chicken broth and the Low Sodium Soy Sauce. MMMMM And more Soy Sauce on the noodles.

Eee-yummmmm. 

Drawings

I'm still working on those face drawings below, so consider them in progress. Except A&B. I don't like those.

Bed Image

  This is my favorite so far.

Various Faces

  Face 1

Face 2

Face 3

Face 4

  Face 5

Face 6

Face 7

Face A

Face B

Steve & Mooshie and the 8x10s

  This is the Steve/Mooshie image in progress. I like it better than the finished drawing.

It got too dark and is still too detailed.

Something about the surface isn't right - it may be the gesso in the large container I bought - I used it straight and it may need to be watered down a bit. It's a different consistency from the bottles I usually get. It's always something...

Too small for a full-figure image.

A Week of Drawing on Canvas (posted next)

  9/8/08 8:13 pm

9/8/08 8:16 pm I don't think I like the pencil on paper - only on the gessoed canvas. 9:07 pm No charcoal on gessoed canvas. Charcoal on paper is a maybe. I feel so unmotivated.

9/9/08 8:24 pm I got Steve motivated this morning to start doing some research and writing. He's in a better mood now. I'm tired. I woke up about 4 am and never got back to sleep. Bah.

9/9/08 Bah.

9/10/08 8:02 pm Bah.

9/10/08 Oh, yeah: I saw a white bird in the pond before Greenbelt.

9/11/08 12:19 pm I'm bored. I'm always so bored at work. I hate Office Crap. I'm folding letters and stuffing envelopes today. I think it's killing brain cells. Messy drg. I must be tired.

9/11/08 4:56 pm D. Squirrel & Leggy Boots w/Mini Yorkie / (later) We're holding at Dupont Station because of some problem up the line. Taking the opportunity to catch up. I drove in again. Steve was sick yesterday. Took Nyquil last night.

9/11/08 This morning, as I was driving out: DUMPSTER SQUIRREL! He jumped up and into that bit on the front that's like a tunnel, turned around and peered out. Oh, good, we're moving now.

9/11/08 While walking up P to Dupont, this tall leggy woman - looked like a model - was walking this teensie mini Yorkie. She had on sunglasses, a short shift dress, and spike heel black boots. The woman, not the dog.

9/11/08 Yeah, that's pretty close. We stopped at Far. N. The train is PACKED. Yep - holding at Metro Ctr, too. Just love Metro.

9/12/08 12:41 pm At lunch. Boring day at work. SICK of Office Crap. Bah. It's pretty sad when the highlight of my day is seeing Dumpster Squirrel. We haven't seen Buddy in weeks. At least it's Friday.

9/12/08 ZOOM IN.

9/13/08 7:42 pm Saturday. I've been working on my pencil drgs all week, so not much drg on the j. pieces. And I've run into a snag: the cheap canvas I bought at JoAnn Fabric is a crappy surface! OH WELL.

9/13/08 I'm still testing. I've invested too much time and materials in the surface to just trash them. I did two more scrap faces today, and the two 8x10s - a face and the Bed image. Well, 8x10 is too small. Now I know.

9/13/08 I really like the bed image on the large scrap - it's about 13"x9 1/2". That's a good size. Maybe I'll like the 11x14s. I'm done for today. Done. Done.