Reverb14 Days 1-3

I wanted to play along with Kat McNally's REVERB14, which I found out about through the fabulously interesting DEBORAH WEBER, but I missed the first couple days, so I wanted to catch up...

I thought I'd share a few sketches with you from my bedroom sketchbook while I answer the questions..."bedroom" because I sketch before I go to sleep...not because there are naughty drawings in it...shame on you for thinking such a thing! Heathens!  :)

Day 1 question: What can you say right now with certainty?

First, that I'm never certain about anything...we've talked about this before... 

Second, that the year is almost over.  And this means that I've almost finished two year-long projects, Documented Life and Journal 52.  And I'm certain that I'm REALLY proud of myself for sticking with it.  I can be a bit flaky at times and I wanted to work on that...and now, a few weeks short of a year later, I can finally say that, even though I can be flaky, I can also see things through to completion!  That's a big deal for me!

And third, related to the second thing, I am certain that I have grown a lot this past year.  I'm really happy that I have the blog, because it shows me how far I've come.  Sometimes I take baby steps, and sometimes I backslide, but looking back over this past year through the eye of the blog, I really have made forward progress!  That's an AWESOME feeling!

I use the bedroom sketchbook as a place where I can blatantly copy (well, as closely as I can...) cool sketches I've seen on Pinterest.  You can see the originals on my Pinterest board, "Copycat With Respect".

Day 2 question: What unfinished projects from 2014 are you willing to release now? (Regret not required.)  

Last December, which seems worlds away, one of my goals for 2014 was to get better at realistic drawings...there was a plan, involving a sketchbook and a determined attitude...but that plan ended up not happening.  And that's ok.  Overall, my art has improved.  I've done enough practicing that it has to have improved!  I will take one small step in the right direction over being stagnant any day!  

That doesn't mean that I've completely let go of this goal.  It just means that I release it for now.  I tend to put a lot on my plate and then can't finish it all (I think it's one of the reasons I end up being 'flaky')...and that's what happened with this goal.  That doesn't mean I won't keep trying in the future, just that I'm ok with the fact that I didn't put that much effort into it so far.

I like so many different styles of art and I constantly try to make progress...I want to get a little better with every attempt!  And I think that learning more about one kind of art, getting better at one style of it, improves my artist's eye over all.  And that's FANTASTIC!

So maybe 2015 will be the year of the realistic drawing...or maybe it won't.  As long as I keep making art and as long as I slowly and steadily keep improving at it, that's more than enough for me.

These bunnies were too cute not to try to copy them!

Day 3 question: It's all too easy to put off loving where we are until everything is perfect.  What can you love about where you are now?

At this exact moment, I'm loving that I have some good friends in my life...especially the kind of friend who buys me Mexican food...which happened last night.  I haven't had a spontaneous outing with a friend for a really, really, really long time...and it was SO FUN!

Despite my recent realization that I've somehow become a person who likes consistency and routine, there are still times that it makes me feel a little like a caged bird.  So it's good to be able to stretch my wings a bit and remember the feeling of enjoying the unexpected...even when that feeling comes as a result of a friend locking her keys in her house!  (It was Sweets to the rescue...I felt like Underdog: "Here I am to save the day!")

It's nice to have someone in my life who I can laugh with, take turns venting frustrations with, and someone who will tell me the truth, even if that's not what I want to hear.  Finding someone who will be honest with you (especially someone who does it in a kind way) is a rare and glorious thing, and it's very precious to me.

And who doesn't love a good fairy godmother!  I am pretty darn proud of this one!  My copying skills at their finest! 

So now I'm caught up  with Reverb14...despite my love of all things art journaling, I do like a good set of writing prompts once in a while!  I think it stretches my creative brain in a different direction.  I think, if inspiration strikes, I might like to make pages to go along with some of the prompts...but we'll see how it goes...

December has kind of turned into a blog-a-thon month for me...three posts in three days?!?  Crazy!  You know, I haven't done a single blog-a-thon all year, and last year I did several...  Maybe a December blog-a-thon will send 2014 off right?  I mean, I'm accidentally off to a good start...perhaps we'll see how far I can get before the laziness kicks in? 

Freaking Magic

Let me just warn you now, there may be some ridiculous self-back patting in this post...if you're looking for humility, run...RUN...run far in the opposite direction of this post...because you will not find any of that nonsense here today!

I thoroughly blame Chelle over at JOURNAL 52, because this week's "Magic" prompt led me to create something I would probably never have done if it weren't part of my self-imposed goal to complete two year long projects (J52 and DLP)!  Here she is in all her glory:

"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper." -W.B.Yeats

*Angels singing, birds dressing me in the morning, sunshine rays from heaven, etc.*

My husband that my husband keeps calling her Tinkerbell.  My fairy is NOT a Tinkerbell kind of girl.  She looks nothing like Tinkerbell!  Tinkerbell has nothing on my fairy!  Tinkerbell (and, by extension, my ridiculous husband) can bite me!  Tinkerbell!  TINKERBELL!!!  I never...

I suppose I can't be too mad, because Tinkerbell is probably the most famous fairy...I mean, come on, name another one...  But the fact that my awesome fairy got thrown in with the Disney lot was just too much for me to handle.

I mean, Tinkerbell's image is so white bread.  My fairy clearly...CLEARLY is anything but that.  I mean, she  completely rebels against fairy world standards by listening to punk rock and and restoring classic cars and having more than half a brain cell, giving her the ability to fully form human words, not just running around making twinkle noises and shaking her butt dust on children so that they can 'fly'...which, in my opinion, is just a metaphor for getting high...you know, you start out on fairy dust and then move on to hard drugs and before you know it, Wendy, John and poor little Michael are living in a cardboard box in an ally stealing car radios to support their habits!  And while my fairy listens to punk rock and supes up hot rods in her spare time, she's got morals and she would never be a butt dust dealer, despite the fact that she could be making bank and finally buy all those carburetors and vintage shifter knobs that she needs!  My fairy may have dirty fingernails and be able to quote Sex Pistols lyrics at the drop of a hat, but she would never sell smack to your kids.  And isn't that what we're all looking for in a good fairy?

Can you tell I'm a little excited by this page...what with the maniacally defensive rant due to my husband's besmirching?  

I can't help it...I love her so much.  I think she fully deserves to be maniacally defended...

Like I said before the rant, there's no way I would ever have drawn a fairy if it weren't for the J52 prompt, but now that she's drawn, I kind of what to put fairies on every single thing I ever do from now on...well, not just any fairy, but this fairy specifically.  *Sigh.*  She's just great...  And she's green...fantastically green...  And bright other colors...  *double sigh*  I really do enjoy her thoroughly.

Forgetting my (fabulous) fairy (for now), in my eyes, this time of year is the real magic in my world.  

I love fall, what with the leaves turning color and the crispness of it...and the way the light changes and makes everything seem a little better...  Maybe I've just accidentally breathed in some of that fairy butt dust...who knows...

All I know is that it's starting to get colder here and today as I drove around town, I suddenly wanted a gas station coffee, which should ONLY be drunk when it's cold outside.  I do love it when it's cold enough for gas station coffee...  It makes me happy and nostalgic...thinking of all the happy falls I've had thus far in life, and hoping that there will be many more extremely pleasant gas station coffee seasons to come...

What about you?  At the risk of sounding all hippy dippy, throw caution to the wind and tell me: what's magic in your world today?