3/20/18, Megtography #10 – Happy Ostara! – Today is the first day of Spring! To celebrate my son and I planted seeds and made a kitty garden! She keeps eating my plants so I decided she needed her own plants she is allowed to eat. We planted cat nip, cat grass, dill, basil, parsley and oregano. She is very curious about it!
I was finally able to visit a friend I hadn’t seen in a while yesterday. I brought my camera so I could mess around with it some more and get a feel for the different lenses. I took pictures of her pets who are always a pleasure to see. She has one dog, Country, and two cats, Smokey and Bella. Her son was visiting as well and brought his pup, Ruby, for a playdate. Bella was hiding the entire time so I wasn’t able to get a picture of her but I got the other three. They are so adorable, as are most animals in my opinion. Ruby is a young, energetic pup that wanted to play and be in everyone’s lap. Country enjoys silence, order and naps. Smokey the cat is a big, fat love muffin. Just make sure you have your back brace on before you pick her up. She is a total Garfield!
I hope you enjoy their sweet faces as much as I do. What do you love about your pet? Share your story in the comments below! Thanks for stopping by this week!
Until next time,
“Maybe the legend of dogs coming from wolves is jus… is just wrong. Maybe, like, maybe one puppy asked his mom, “Where did we come from?” And the mom said “Woof.” And the kid was like, “Oh wolves?” And she was like, “Yeah, fine.”
3/18/18, Megtography #8 – Pretty kitty – And she knows it!
3/15/18, Megtography #5 – Hairy Toes – My first photo with my new camera! I haven’t had much time to mess around with it but I’m hoping this weekend I can get some snow pictures.
2/22/17, Megtography #29 – Im not fat; I’m a stuffed animal!
2/21/17, Megtography #28 – It’s good to be king!
2/18/17, Megtography #25 – Making mew friends!
It’s amazing to see how a few scribbles and scratches on paper can create an image. I’ve been using a pen lately to prevent erasing. All my lines are permanent so therefore I don’t have the option of a second attempt to get a line perfect. I’ve been practicing many different pen and ink techniques that include hatching, cross-hatching, contour hatching and scumbling.
Hatching is using parallel lines to create different shades and tones. More space between lines leaves room for highlights. Every line is straight but various in length and placement to create depth. The more lines on top of each other the darker it is for shading. Contour hatching also deals with parallel lines but instead of staying straight they curve.
Cross-hatching is using straight lines that criss-cross to create shading.
Scumbling, in my opinion, has always been the craziest technique. It is basically controlled scribbling.
There are many more techniques to try and I intend to try them all. I also personally enjoy pointilism which is just a series of dots repeating. This takes patience and I love doing natural sceneries with pointilism. Perhaps a near future project?
All in good time. For now I’m focusing on some more dog portraits, an equine piece and a painting with seahorses! Stay tuned for that and more! Hope your having a great summer!
Until next time,
“Not all who wander are aimless. Especially not those who seek truth beyond tradition; beyond definition; beyond the image.”
“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.”
I’ve been sitting at my computer, at a loss for words. I really don’t know what to say. I have known so many people who have lost pets in the past six months. What can you say? I’m sorry for your loss, that sucks, or I feel for you.
Those phrases don’t cover it! We all know how it feels. I’m sure everyone has felt the heartache from losing a pet. They’re not just pets though. They are friends. Friends that adore your attention. Friends that want to be in the middle of your business at all times, just because they love spending time with you. They listen every time you need them. They sleep by your side every night. A friend that is literally always there! At that point, they become family.
That’s probably why it hurts so much when we can’t see them anymore. They were always by your side and then they’re not. It takes some time to get use to. You just have to remember the life you gave them. As much as they were there for you, you were there for them. They had a good life!
I would like to dedicate this post to Phantom, a gorgeous cat with two different colored eyes(as you can see). A friend of mine recently said goodbye to him. That combined with his striking beauty compelled me to draw him. I hope I did him justice!
Rest in Peace Dear Phantom.
Until next time,
“Momma always said dyin’ was a part of life. I sure wish it wasn’t.”
I have been diligent with keeping a sketchbook lately. I am usually terrible about it, inconsistent. I use to think there was a right and a wrong way to use a sketchbook and it discouraged me. I always make things harder on myself then they really have to be. Like there is a secret I don’t know about and I’m doing everything wrong. Why? I don’t know. I chalk it up to not having confidence. That’s changing now. I’ve realized that instead of trying to be confident in my work, I really need only to be confident in myself. Then the 
rest will follow suit. I stopped worrying about trying to be good at everything and started focusing on just being good at “me”. This idea completely changed my perspective. If I can just simply be proud of myself, then I am, by default, proud of everything I do. With this thinking, I don’t make mistakes. It’s just practice. You get better the more you do things and it’s your choice to better yourself as you see fit. No one else can say your doing it wrong because your the only one who knows what feels right. I wrote in a previous post about a sketchbook entitled Drawing is Magic by John Hendrix. There is a page in it that states, “If at any point in this sketchbook, if you are unhappy with what you are drawing, it is your fault.” It is so simple. I can’t believe it wasn’t this clear before. It goes on to explain that you create your own universe, or in an artist’s case, visual universe. With very little effort and change of perspective, I now am more motivated then ever to sketch! It is so relaxing to not have to fuss about every line being in the right place. I’m not concerned about it coming out “bad” because as long as I’m drawing what I want it won’t be bad! It’s just what I do; there is nothing wrong with that. If I’m the only one that likes it, then that’s all that matters. I have just recently began to create art for myself again, instead of everyone else. I have never felt more free and motivated with my work, then I do now. It’s a fantastic feeling. With this new-found pride and passion, I have been drawing like crazy! 
I’ve been sketching “pets” lately. (I hate the word pet. It makes me feel like I’m putting them beneath me.) My aunt sends me pictures of her furry friends all the time so I decided to start sketching them for practice. I learned to draw portraits using a grid to get the details exact. I still use this method when necessary but I am trying to get away from it for a majority of my work. In the same time, I feel like I take too long to finish pieces so I am also working on my speed.
The first friend I drew was Hank. He is absolutely adorable! After I drew him I wanted to do more, more, and more. So I kept going. I got through Gemma, KiKi, Sal, and Zak. My sister-in-laws birthday just passed so I also did Cooper. Cooper is her cat that recently passed away so I wanted to do something to honor him. I like to call these “Animal Shout Outs”. The title is a work in progress. I have a lot of fun doing these sketches though. I enjoy drawing different types of fonts so it also helps me improve that skill, as well. I have so many thoughts that I want to draw now and my hand is literally getting cramped on a daily basis. It’s great. I can’t stop. So I won’t. I’ll keep going until my hand falls off. Hopefully that is a long time from now. I have way to many ideas I need to get on paper first!
Until next time,
“If you want something, go get it. Period.”
