A still life drawing from earlier today. The morning light hits my table so beautifully.

[femmedem]

This past week I've been enjoying drawing simple still lives. Most of the summer and fall, I was painting outside: a race against time to catch something before the light changes. It feels good to slow down and observe more carefully.

[lunatica]

1. It's ethereal and compelling.

I love it! You captured a lovely fleeting moment of light. You have a good eye for the subtleties of light.

[femmedem]

2. Thanks so much! This is new territory for me.

Most of the past six months I've been focusing on painting and color and I'm only beginning to be able to draw with some subtlety. If I showed you drawings from a few months ago you'd laugh at how ham-handed they are.

[lunatica]

3. Actually I would probably marvel at how well you've progresses!

When it comes to art I trust my native reaction to it. An exception would be if I sense emotional fakery by the artist.

I love this little sketch of yours.

[redstatebluegirl]

4. I love it!

[femmedem]

15. Thanks, redstateblue girl.

I feel for you, living in a red state. I live in an extra blue section of a blue state, and it's wonderful to feel free to speak my mind and know most everyone in the room is on the same page politically.

[redstatebluegirl]

20. We moved here 20 years ago when my husband took a job here.

I have been miserable ever since. Even at the University you have staff who are totally in the Trump corner. I don't talk about politics here at all.

[femmedem]

21. Even at a university? That's brutal.

I'd be miserable, too. I lived in a swing state once for a summer. That was bad enough for me.

[fierywoman]

5. The above + I especially love your use of texture.

[femmedem]

16. Thank you.

That's a big breakthrough for me. Up until maybe a week or so ago I was a sloppy scribbler when shading with pencil.

[OregonBlue]

6. Good shading and shadow! I like it.

[femmedem]

17. Thanks, OregonBlue.

That shadow is what prompted me to pick up the pencils this morning.

[MLAA]

7. Love the air of mystery

[femmedem]

18. Thanks, MLAA.

Of course, one person's sense of mystery is another person's (ahem, the artist's) "wasn't too precise."

Seriously, though, I was thinking about lost edges and not saying more than I needed to.

[Purrfessor]

8. Very nice.

[femmedem]

13. Thank you!

And I love your DU name.

[Purrfessor]

22. You're welcome. And ...

my pet count has changed from 5 cats (years ago) to now three dogs and one cat.

[JDC]

9. Great hatching. That is a lot of line work.

[femmedem]

12. Thank you! It took a while.

Working with pencil requires so much more patience than working with paint, at least for me. But it's meditative, too.

[Karadeniz]

10. You may thank me. You obviously got the dose of talent that I should have gotten!❤

[femmedem]

11. Ha! Reminds me of when I told my sister I'd lost five pounds.

She said, "Don't worry. It's still in the family."

Seriously, though, I bet you have talent, just need to develop it.

[ChildOfTheFort]

14. Your lovely sketch is a welcome place in my soul!

Thank you for posting this. I have been collecting art for years and the best pieces are in my mind because he ones I love the most are the ones like yours that have touched me in my heart. Bless you!

[femmedem]

19. Oh my goodness! You made my night.

[lunatica]

23. Be sure to preserve it

Spray it with fixative which will seal it and protect it from fading, yellowing and aging. Then put it in a plastic sleeve and start a binder of your drawings. The appreciation you received here is real.

You probably already do all this, but it never hurts to remind people.

[femmedem]

24. I don't actually do this--everything is still in sketch books, not fixed.

So I do appreciate the reminder and instructions. Thank you.

[lunatica]

25. You'll see why in 10 years.

[Mersky]

26. Beautiful, simple, and sort of haunting

Which adds a bit of edge that I like. Also, rather like the, uh, horizon line.

[femmedem]

28. Thank you, Mersky.

I have to laugh about that wobbly quality of that table edge. Can't draw a straight line!

[Mersky]

30. Hehe. You're too modest

Is well placed, and interesting. Fits the mind’s eye at the table level scale, and I just really like it.

[Joinfortmill]

27. Nice!

[femmedem]

29. Thank you! n/t

[LiberalLoner]

31. Beautiful!