Smile!

Smile! Just know this weather is not here to stay ... Yay! I'm so ready for spring! I've been drawing a lot lately and got a new Fabriano sketchbook with multiple colored pages.

I only wish they made a bigger size... Actually they might as I haven't looked into that yet...

Keep warm friends, and if you are already in warm weather, enjoy! FranT

ICAD 3 LIFE is NOW

Here is ICAD 3.  Today is the day!

 

My friend has a nice garden so every time

I visit she gives me this amazing mint.

I put a leaf in my water every morning, along with a slice of lemon.

It's so delicious and refreshing.

 

We have petunias on the porch. I could not resist painting them in my art journal.

I gave this to my mother-in-law for one of her birthday gifts this weekend.

Happy Birthday Julia!

Have a great day everyone!

FranT

 

It's June, ICAD is back!

I'm participating in ICAD this year again. I'm going to try to keep posting to Instagram and linking to DaisyYellow Art.  I highly recommend joining in, it keeps you drawing the month long! Check out Tammy's blog for more info. Here are my first two for June below:



ICAD1, such a true quote



ICAD2, sarcastic and grumpy Monday





I'll post again tomorrow. Have a good night!

Fran T

 

Its been awhile

Oh boy, its been a while... I've ignored my blog for sometime now. Life just gets in the way of things some times. I hope some people venture back and have a look maybe. It's spring again, almost summer actually. I'm painting flowers and trying to keep the sketchbooks filled.

I just painted the flowers, leaves and the shadows on the table. That way the focus would stay on the flowers.

 

this was a shot I took before I added any color

I painted this last Friday. Full color in my sketchbook.

 

The past few months I've been doing a lot of quotes. Most times they are quick and easy to do amidst the crazy pace of life sometimes. I'm posting a few and hope you like them.

 

 

I hope that I hear back from someone and I'm going to do my best to post more often.

Take care and I hope everyone had a good May and an even better June!

Be well,

Fran T

 

 

Glue It Tuesday - mini books

hello! Here's what I got for Glue It Tuesday: not my typical collage but a project involving glue nonetheless! I have been working on a some little books and there is a fair amount of glue used, particularly on the smaller purple book.

 I got excellent instruction from Esther K Smith's 'How To Make Books'.  Here is the booklet I made below.

I put together about 4 of those/signatures together and then glued them all back to back. Then I glued the front and back of that little booklet I made to the purple paper.

 

 

I stitched the other book together rather than glueing it all [I just used a tiny bit of glue on the cording but I still "GluedIt!"] I sewed the signatures to the 'spine' which I created by folding the green paper. I added the beads and that is the first time I tried that. I can see how you can get carried away with embelishing the stitching! I had such a good time making these.

 

 

 

 

I was able to get a bit of drawing done the past few days. Mostly working with my markers these days. Time is not allowing me watercolors right now, but soon!

 

I hope everyone has a great day today:)

Lots of SUN & SMILES

Take care,

Fran T xo

 

I Got Soul

I've been listening to Pandora endlessly these days. My typical mode of music listening is to download an album and just listen to it to death. I remember when I lived in NYC I spent an entire summer, three months, listening to U2's POP. I'm relentless. So now when I hear any of those POP songs out of the blue, I automatically think of the #2 train, LOL. Pandora is good because it mixes things up but there are repeats here and there, which most people grumble about but its fine by me.

The Killer's lyric, from my Instagram account

I like The Killers alot and I had some lyrics stuck in my head, and oddly enough, as soon as I illustrated it, *poof* it left me little brain! I've done some more micron drawings and the one below got me a commision to do a tattoo design! I've only done one before this..I hope it works out and she actually gets it done!

excuse the poor quality, used my phone:)



 

Last Sunday was my parent's 50th anniversary and we had a terrific dinner out.
My brothers, sister and I gifted them with a cruise this fall.
My mom loves to do origami so I made up some boat favors.
I had so much fun making these and I think they got a big kick out of them.

 



 

I love these two:)

 

Aren't they cute?



 

Have a great weekend! Keep warm! It's cold out there!

Sunday Sketches 10/28/12-Weapons to fight the dark.

Okay, so we have this raging, torrential storm on its way and expected to hit the NY/NJ area. It's supposed to spin in a counter-clockwise direction and come from our southeast.

 

So, of course, my husband switches

over to Survivor Mode.





Check out Sunday Sketches and catch up on the other artists that did some creating today too!

 Oh boy....now don't get me wrong, I don't take these things lightly
but he is crazy serious, dear boy.He's been up since the crack of dawn, scheming and working and battening down the hatches,
while my son and I dream away in our beds til mid-morning. 
C knows he is a complete target to our snickery and giggles,

while he lines up his flashlights and
counts his batteries. One part of me laughs and teases
about his behavior but there is the other part of
my brain that knows that I'm going to thank
 my lucky stars that many hurricanes ago
I said "I do" to this nut.

And when I hold a fully lit flashlight for five days
straight he'll be smiling wide :))
 

Don't forget to visit this link to view
some other Sunday Sketchers work:)
 

Take care and be careful this week,
whether or not you are in the path of a this storm.

 

its about time!

It's Friday and its about time! Wow, it felt a bit long for me!  As well as the fact that I've

 

finally gotten my thoughts down and sketches out so that I can post my Tuesday list and

 

participate with Artsyville's fun challenge!

 

 

I actually forgot to add fortune cookie fortunes to the list but I happen to have made a page

 

devoted to these little slips of fun...

 

 

I'm actually a sucker for tons more things, but these are the ones with the most suction

lately for me...I also forgot to add Instagram, now THAT can get to be an

obsession if you're not careful!

 

 

It is so brand new for me that I am getting a bit wrapped up and

 

insisting all my friends and family get on board too. 

 

But goodness, could they have made it any easier for chrissakes!? Its makes Facebook and

Twitter look and feel so damn complicated. Not to mention Blogger, LOL!

 

Well don't forget to visit Aimee's blog, she's always got something great she's

created posted there and her work is always so fresh and fun.

 

On that note, have a fabulous weekend!

 

My boy has a football game today on this gorgeous fall day. GO VIKINGS!

 

Take care and be well,

Quotes and more quotes

I've been using this journal book for sometime now

with micron and gouache. Here are some quotes with just the pen.

I had alot of fun with this one

 

I just love this quote

 

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the week. TGIT

 

Be good to yourself,

 



Sunday Sketch 9/23/12

This weeks Sunday sketch is the last of my rose pickings in the neighborhood.

 

There are barely any roses about anymore...

 aside from me picking them! 

 

The Montauk daisies aren't blooming yet, but

I can't wait till they pop out:)

 

 

I'm going to have to start looking out for some marigolds

or mums to paint in the mean time.

 

 I journalled about a wonderful mediation group I went to this morning with a friend.
It was such a pleasure and felt like I got to clear my mind and shake out the cobwebs.

Plus it was just an amazingly beautiful day, the sky was the brightest blue!
Go check out the other Sunday sketches by visiting this link!

 I got some artwork in this past week,
I was able to complete this mermaid illustration for a swap.

Thankfully I was able to scan that and have a good copy to keep. I have been having such trouble with my scanner:( I like how the way she holds her conch shell turned out to look like she is on a cellphone.

 

I remembered this time to take photos at different stages.  I liked how the flowers from the sketch book overlapped so I thought I would do the same with a patch of seaweed and bubbles.

Then I traced the image onto the watercolor paper by covering the

back of the sketch with graphite and then tracing over the front.

I know... I'm so hi tech ;)

 

 

 

 

 

I am happy with the quote and was lucky to find a good one.

There aren't that many out there related to mermaids...

 

Have a terrific week!

Take care:)