Livingroom with books and shoes, ink & watercolor, 6x4"

I believe in function over form; everything in my house is there because it works well, provides comfort, or is a tool I enjoy using. I don’t suffer things that don’t work. If they fail and they’re new they go back to the store; if they’re old they get donated. In the picture above is my wonderful black leather recliner that is so comfortable on my back and my odd-colored leather sofa that also reclines.

The shoes are another story. They squeak and are uncomfortable. I arranged with Zappos to return them but I couldn’t find another pair anywhere that fit as well. I’m afraid it’s my feet, not the shoes, that are not as useful tools as they once were. I can’t send them back or recycle them though, so I’m doing exercises to make them stronger and more flexible instead.

TV and antenna, ink & watercolor, 4x6"

I sketched this view of the TV and unattractive antennas (that work very well) sitting on the recliner in the first picture. I was feeling nauseous after taking a bunch of vitamins to try to fight a cold and so sat down and watched a painting video while sketching.

More good tools: With the $19 antenna from Radio Shack I am able to get all the network and public broadcasting HD channels for free. I love not paying for cable and just using a TiVo to record the few shows I like and watching them without commercials.

I scheduled this ahead to post while I’m at the workshop in case I get homesick and want to see my kittiesor my house. I think that will be highly unlikely though as I’ll be painting and learning like crazy.

Fiona on Grandma's Old Ratty Blanket, ink & watercolor, 6x4"

Fiona loves curling up in this funky old wool blanket. It was my grandmothers so despite it being in tatters I can’t part with it and use it as a throw on cold evenings. There is a corner missing that my sister’s rat munched off years ago, and another corner missing that I cut off and sent to an Australian artist friend, Allison Horridge, who was collecting fabrics for an art project.

I will be offline this week to focus on theAlla Prima Portraiture workshopwithRose Frantzenthat I was so incredibly lucky to get into from her waiting list. She only teaches a couple of times a year; registration for her June class will be by lottery.

Fiona, ink & watercolor, 6x4"

Meanwhile, I have the best pet sitter: Rachel McGraw ofMcGraw’s Paws. She is so professional, honest, kind, organized and caring. I wish all business owners could take a lesson from her. It’sweird having to show house-sitters and pet-sitters my other (neurotic) cat Busby’s hiding places: my closet behind the shoes, the bottom shelf of my dresser, kitchen cabinets (including the one above the fridge), under the couch and bed, or behind a painting drying rack.

Busby Berkeley: The Cat, Oil on Panel, 6x6"

Fiona likes everyone, and even Busby (above) who is scared of everyone likes Rachel.

Grilled squid with avocado, rice fritters, grapefruit gel and spicy avocado

I enthusiastically joined my Tuesday night sketch buddies for dinner, beer and sketching at Elevation 66,the new El Cerrito brew pub. I loved my dinner, displayed above, (a “small plate” combo so weird I couldn’t resist: grilled squid slices on spicy avocado sauce beside little blobs of grapefruit foam/gel (“to cleanse the palate”) and spicy deep-fried rice fritters. Odd but yummy!

Esther Vanilla Stout, Delicious! ink & watercolor, 7x5"

Even under the influence of a small glass of Esther Vanilla Stout, a delicious milkshake of a beer, it got so noisy by 8:00 on a Tuesday night that I couldn’t think straight and was ready to leave. I was having a hard time with drawing ellipses and symmetrical shapes (my next drawing subject to practice).

Cathy & Micaela sketching at the bar, ink & watercolor 5x7"

And there were lots and lots of symmetrical shapes to practice on! My drawing just kept getting wonkier as the noise got louder.

Beer in the vat, wine on the shelf with hoses

I was overly self-critical while I was sketching, wanting to get things right. Then I got my copy of The Art of Urban Sketching: Drawing On Location Around The Worldand discovered something wonderful: Of the two sketches of mine that Gabi chose for the book, one is very wonky and the other nicely organized. That helped me to see that there is room for both in my art life. Wonky is good! Getting it “right” is good too! Yay!

Please click on their names to see Cathy, Micaela and Beth’sexcellent pub sketches from the evening on our Urban Sketchers blog.

Golden Globes: Gervais, Depp, Banderas, Plummer, ink & watercolor 8x6"

It was fun watching the Golden Globes and sketching the people. It took much longer because I kept pausing the TiVo when I saw someone I wanted to sketch.

Four (failed) attempts at Laura Dern

I was surprised to actually catch likenesses of some (but definitely not all) of the people. Laura Dern and Rob Lowe alluded me.

Julianne Moore, 2 bad Rob Lowes, Downton Abbey Producer

I wasn’t sure if it was just my TV or the angle of the cameras that filmed the show, but it seemed like all the movie stars had extra long heads. I doubt it was the camera that made all the female stars look soooo skinny. How sad it must be to have your art form require that you don’t get to eat.

Audience, director glasses, Madonna

It seemed like all the male directors and producers were wearing glasses with heavy, square, black frames, the kind that used to be considered nerd glasses and usually sported tape holding them together.

Spaghetti Squash and Acorn Squash, ink & watercolor, 8x5"

We’re still not having winter, just more lovely sunny days near 70 degrees. I long for the cool rainy weather that makes it so appealing to bake winter squash and simmer hearty soups while painting in the studio. So the squash gets sketched instead of eaten.

Sonia's Squash, ink & watercolor, 5x8"

The green squash isn’t really named “Sonia’s Squash” but I always think of my friend Sonia when I see these because ofthis amazing watercolorshe painted of one with hundreds of glazes. (Correction: in reading the title I see that hers isn’t a squash it’s an Australian Blue Pumpkin.)

These squash are actually side by side on a spread in the Moleskine I’m working in (along with two other sketchbooks this month) but since the Moleskine is bound in stupid landscape format it doesn’t fit in my scanner.

Smiley Skull and Smiley Guy study, HB pencil, 4x6"

In preparation for my Alla Prima Portrait Painting workshop with Rose Frantzen next month, I wanted to work on my drawing skills so I can keep up in class.Although I draw all the time, I discovered I really had no understanding of head and facial construction.

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