Nailed it?

I did not nail this drawing practice on composition, but practice makes.. [improvement]. 

I am practicing and improving my listening and reading in Spanish, but, I my speaking progress is slowed by lack of practice. 

 Still, put your hand to the plow, ... ; I am not willing to throw in the towel. 

When the Going Gets...

When the going gets rough, the tough get going. 

The drawing course is becoming more demanding. Today, we did 'composition' and I will practice by doing various drawings, and considering the 'rules' as I take photos. 

I peeked ahead and the next lesson homework is to do 100 'thumbnails' for a character sketch. My! 

But, first things first. 

In language, what can I do to walk in step with my drawing challenges? 

Satisfaction

This week, I did not feel like meeting up for my language exchange with Eduardo, nor did I feel like completing what looked to me a painstaking subject- the head of a parakeet. 

However, my desire to continue the pleasure of learning to draw and of being able to speak Spanish won out. 

I have just completed the drawing at 10:00 pm, 


and I met with Eduardo while at my mother's home. I prepared some ideas, and I used my IPad. After my turn in Spanish, we spoke about the the World Cup. I understand that this subject is the #1 subject by a far in Argentina at esta momento. 


I feel pleased about my determination. 

Little by Little

It has been awhile. I have been doing simple sketches and practices.

Images from Birthday Cards. 

Negative Spaces and Colors.

Using Grid Lines for Proportion.

I noticed that I have made a sizable step forward in both areas this week. I drew a drawing of a street that I thought I could never even begin to draw.

My sketch is not at all 'great', but I I am satisfied that I did it. I found the subject intimidating until the lecturer broke the process down into steps. We were practicing the use of horizontal 'grid' lines. (The goal was not to recreate the photograph in its entirety, but to capture enough of the sense of the architecture so that viewers could 'see' where the drawing was leading.)

A Work in Progress! 

EXTRA! "Natural" Gridlines from my Balcony. 

In Spanish, I have done at least a little practice every day and worked on some new drawing and language learning strategies.

I attended a meet-up group and thoroughly enjoyed the group, and noted that I was able to say a few things that I could not say last summer in the group.  I discovered a free Spanish course on FutureLearn. This is providing more 'structure' to my my studies.

One Language - Love

Art and Language Unit 

First Drawing

Looking for Love

Today my drawing theme and language learning complement each other to convey one emotion: longing for love. 

La historia de Juan (English lyrics included)

Still Life

Listening 

Drawing Course Subject

I am continuing with my 'pause' in language learning and drawing. Well, I am not stopping, but I am slowing down. I am observing; I am letting all I have been learning fall together in new patterns that I trust will empower me for the next steps. 

This is a very fitting time to work on 'still life' drawing.  

Spring Walk

Let the Dance Begin

On Stage 

Does it matter what nationality, religion, gender, profession, even what name we have?  We all speak the language of being a human - the language of love. 

He is a muslim!" - "She is a German!" - "She behaves like a little girl!" - Everyday we use labels to describe people, but do they really describe who we are?At the Digital Participation Camp & Summit 2016 (www.dpcamp.org) we asked 30 people from around the world to describe themselves without using their names, age, gender, nationality or profession. - And now it’s your turn! Tell us in the comments who you are… without using your name, age, gender, nationality or profession :D

This post from EasyLanguages.com or their FB Page. 

Setting the Stage

Today, I began to set the stage for future art work.

As synchronicity would have it, last night I read an add on Kijiji, which led to a YouTube by Maria Kondo , which led her book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  Enticed by the images in the add, the buoyancy of Maria Kondo, and the arguments in the book, I went to bed planning to begin my own decluttering.

For a few weeks, I have felt a strong desire to let go of past expressions of me, to welcome space for new experiences, to trust in future abundance.

Pinterest Photo

Therefore, I peacefully began Maria's interesting method method of 'tidying up'. Armed with the courage she inspired me to let go of keeping clothing items due to guilty that I had bought them, or due to fear that I might someday need them, or that I would not have the money to replace them, I picked up each article of clothing from the massive pile of all scarves, shoes, handbags, lingerer, off-season clothes, current clothes, and travel clothes on my living room floor, and asked myself: does this item inspire me now, does it bring me joy?

Today I culled. I did not draw, nor did I practice language. The result is,

Possible Future State :-)  Wikihow.com. *

clothes I like hang airily in closets, or sit comfortably in cupboard drawers.

I have begun to set the stage for new art.

Note*: I believe I can find the power to delete two entire short lists I kept today:   "Clothes I May Sometime Need" and "Worn Clothes I Must Replace".