Ten on Tuesday: Labor Day Weekend Edition

CSA zinnia for postcards and leeks for winter soups
CSA zinnia for painting and leeks for winter soups

This week Carole invited us to share ten things Idid this weekend. It’s the unofficial end of summer, but you wouldn’t know it by the gorgeous weather we had! Here are a few highlights:

  1. Picked up tile samples for finishing out our fireplace. This spring we purchased a fireplace insert to make using the fireplace more efficient. Our house is a one-level ranch, which means our dependence on oil should go down. Figuring out how to trick out the surround  has been a puzzle…but I think the tile samples have led to good ideas!
  2. Ate a kiwi. Neal visited his mom and brought her some of our CSA produce. She gave him some kiwis in return. I can’t remember the last time I ate one!
  3. Drank a gin and tonic, the official drink of Chez Golightly’s porch. Is it the last of the season? Maybe…maybe not!
  4. Drank the first Scottish pear of the season. You probably want to drink one, too, so here’s the recipe: 3/4 oz Glenfiddich; 3/4 oz gin; 1 1/2 oz pear nectar; 1/4 oz. lemon juice; 1/2 oz honey syrup (or agave syrup). Mix, serve over ice.
  5. Roasted tomatoes in an effort to have more summer in the freezer come winter.

    My friend Joyce said they looked like pomegranates!
    My friend Joyce said they looked like pomegranates!
  6. Hiked with Oskar. A lot.
  7. Drew and painted more postcards (you can sign up for the #2015PostcardProject and get one for yourself…I need about 75 more people to make it to the end of the year.)
  8. Purchased Frye Campus Boots. My sister had a pair with a braid down the side in the late 70s/early 80s, and at long last, I have a pair of my own. These boots are made in the USA and feel like a million bucks on!
  9. Sewed bias tape using this method Leah from Clementine recommended. I messed it up earlier in the summer, but persistence and slow stitching paid off!
  10. Sewed my first Dress No. 3 from the awesome 100 Acts of Sewing indie pattern line. The long version didn’t flatter me, so I cut it to be tunic length. I think I’m going to live in it this fall…can’t you see it with skinny jeans and Frye campus boots? I’ll be making another one that hits just above my knee.
    Dress No. 3, Oskar approve
    Dress No. 3, Oskar approve

    How about you? What did you do this weekend?

Sorta Blind Contour Drawing

Last Tuesday Koosje Koene posted her Draw Tip Tuesday video about blind contour selfies.  Yes, I thought. That’s perfect for a postcard or two! I’ve been making portraits of my ancestors, but the faces are so controlled and overworked. I want to loosen my style, and blind contour selfie drawing? Just the ticket!

But when I sat down, Bic pen and pad of postcards in hand, iPhone with selfie on the table, I couldn’t do it. I froze. I wanted to look at that paper. I forced myself to make a few lines without looking, and then I allowed myself to break the rule about not looking. Because this project is not about constriction. It’s about exploration and developing my growth mindset.

And I discovered something. I love making sorta blind contour drawings! I’ve drawn three selfies and one portrait of Neal. These little line drawings have been a blast, and I want to encourage you to take a few minutes to make one, too. Here’s my method:

sorta blind contour drawings1. Grab pen and paper.

2. Take a selfie, get to a mirror, find a picture, find a live model.

3. Without looking at the paper, get down a few lines. You can tell on my postcards where I started, I’ll bet!

4. When you can’t resist looking, look. And draw. Try to keep the “tone” of the blind lines. Be playful.

5. Go back in to add detail if that makes you happy. I added watercolors to one, lines to enhance my hair in another, and cross hatching on Neal’s sweatshirt.

6. Admire your funny little drawing.

Keep me inspired: tell me what you’ve been doing to encourage your growth mindset.

Want a funny little postcard from me? Read about my #2015PostcardProject and sign up here.

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