Every Day in May—EDM #27 and #28

EDM #28 Draw anything you like. I couldn't get inspired by any of the appliances around the villa so I did this "buah naga" "dragon fruit" that I had picked up at the market the other day.

EDM #27 Draw a book. I can't survive here without this Indonesian/English dictionary. Our villa is a busy place and I am usually running around communicating in my "pigeon pantomime English/Indonesian" with many of the people who are working on something around here. Like yesterday, I knew that buah-buahan is the noun for fruit but I had to look up "naga" which means "dragon" when Maria told me I was drawing a buah naga for EDM # 28. Because I spent the past few months in the USA my Indonesian has suffered—Saya lupa banyak (I forgot a lot).

"Getting Stoned with Savages" by J. Maarten Troost is a wonderful book about an expat who spends some time on Vanatu and Fiji drinking kava and researching cannibalism. Two things I have never done. However, I have a friend here in Bali, who is originally from Kalimantan and she can't say that her ancestors (maybe even gramps) weren't cannibals...

Being an expat is quite a different life...

Every Day in May—EDM #25 and #26

EDM #26 Draw a vegetable. In Bali there is this vegetable called kangkung or water spinach or "KingKong". It is anything that is green and leafy and seems to be served with everything. There are slight differences depending on the region it is grown. I'm not wild about the kungkung from Lombok—too chewy. Anyway, I love this stuff. It is cheap delicious and when sautéed wIth bumbu Bali, tomatoes and coconut milk served over nasi puti (rice), it is to die for!

EDM #25 Draw a glass. As good as the fruit is Bali the wine is that horrible...and expensive! They have started making their own, but where I grew up in Northern California, they would pour this swill down the drain. Wine is so expensive that it is $30+ for a bottle of imported not so great wine. So, I have developed a taste for a local rose mixed with sparkling water. We have named this drink a "Sparkling Jeni".

Every Day in May—EDM #23 and #24

EDM #23 Draw your foot. While dangling my feet over the pool to do this sketch, I realized that my feet have spent way too much time logging miles in my running shoes. One of the wonderful things about Bali is the $6 pedicure that comes with a reflexology foot massage. I'm going today!

EDM #24 Draw a piece of fruit. A fruit vendor at the local market here in Bali. All the fruit here is amazing, but mangos are the best. We cut them into bite size pieces and put them in the freezer. It is the best mango sorbet on the planet.

Every Day in May—EDM #21 and #22

Hello from Bali

EDM #22 Draw a piece of clothing—A sarong. I'm a bit behind on my challenges because of traveling. So as you can see by EDM #22 I am back in Bali. The sarong is a traditional clothing style in Indonesia for both men and women and many Balinese still wear the beautiful traditional cotton batik. With this heat it is a comfortable choice. I have several but don't wear them outside the villa for fear of it falling off. The drawing above is on the beach path which is lined with small shops selling sarongs in every color and print.

EDM #21 Draw something antique or vintage. I sketched this quickly before leaving the USA on the afternoon of the 19th. It is a wonderful carving from somewhere in Central America that my grandmother brought home from one of her travels. I love it and have been dragging it around for years. Watercolors were packed so I used colored pencils.

Every Day in May—EDM #20 Draw something "Dad" in honor of father's day

This is my father, Jim Lawson. He turned 84 three days ago. On his birthday, all the people at the gym stopped exercising and sang happy birthday to him. One woman asked him what he used for wrinkle cream and he said the same thing he uses to brush his teeth—hmmmm.

I sketched this in March when I was visiting my parents in California. We were sitting outside in the sun after going to the gym. He looks pretty good!

This was a painting I did in a Charles Reid workshop I took last year. Charles likes using black and white photos as an exercise in his classes. I just happened to have this photo of my father in my art bag. It was taken when he was a senior in high school and on the football team at "Paly High" in Palo Alto, California. Following in the footsteps of his famous father, Stanford University's first All-American football player—Jim Lawson.

What a dude! Happy Birthday and Happy Father's Day.

Every Day in May—EDM #19

EDM#19—Draw something you made. I have a friend who always pulls out her latest sock knitting project when we are either sailing or just hanging around before going out for dinner. Such a great idea being so portable. Also smallish and doesn't take up too much room when traveling. So I gave it a try and here it is—one sock! I have never finished the other one. Someday...maybe...

I have a feeling I am not the only one who has suffered from the "One Sock Syndrome".

Every Day in May—EDM #18

EDM #18—Draw the view from a window in your house. My cats, Jazzy and Bobo have come home after two years in Arizona with my sister and her family. They will stay here with a cat sitter while I am in Indonesia for the next six weeks. This is the view from my living room window which I now share with two fat cats.

I have been so busy with this crazy "Every Day in May" challenge and packing to travel to Bali that I have put my portrait obsession on the back burner. Here is the first one I have done in a while for Julia Kay's Portrait Party.

Photo rreference here.

Every Day in May—EDM #16 and #17

EDM #17 Draw a musical instrument. Eric Clapton is one of my all time favorites. He is brilliant!

EDM #16 Draw your favorite tool. I had a hard time figuring out what might be my favorite tool. Clearly nothing in the kitchen or the yard. So here it is, my "cheapo" plastic watercolor palette. Can't live without it.

Every Day in May—EDM #14 and #15

EDM #15 Draw a tree. This beautiful tree is in the park near my home and is once again in full bloom. I actually did an oil painting of the same tree couple of years ago—and sold it! Here it is in watercolor for the 2010 Every Day in May challenge.

EDM #14 Draw what you see when you get up in the morning. We have a large skylight above the bed. It can be quite busy and noisy here in the morning with the seagulls flying about following fishing boats or looking for a good dumpster to raid.

Every Day in May—EDM #13

EDM #13—Draw your phone. Seemed pretty boring to me so I added my hand. That's it. I'm moving onto #14

Every Day in May—EDM #12

Here's last night's dinner for day # 12 of the Every Day in May/EDM challenges. Since Jerry is in Bali and I am still in the states, my dinners at home alone run more to the vegetarian, quick and easy and for the most part not cooked, like carrots and hummus. Yesterday, I couldn't resist some takeout from the Whole Foods macrobiotic side of the salad bar. Is was soooooooooooo good. Lots picking while drawing. Tonight I'm back to carrots and hummus.

Every Day in May—EDM #11 and another portrait

EDM #11—Draw your sunglasses. This is a quick sketch I did to make up for the crazy oil painting I did below for the day #11 challenge.

There was leftover oil paint on the palette and I never want to waste any paint. Painted from a photo of a cow that munches grass in a filed near our villa in Bali.

Sunglasses were my addition—does it seem a little crazy that I painted a cow wearing sunglasses? I think I may need a break!

Portrait of Inmasseranito for Julia Kay's Portrait Party on Flickr.

Every Day in May—EDM #9 and #10

EDM #9—Draw organized chaos. Not much time yesterday, so just a quick sketch at the dog park for the May 9th challenge. Dogs and their owners everywhere—definitely organized chaos.

EDM #10—Draw your hand. I loved Nina Johansson's wonderful post "Think outside the box". Colored cubes she made to find new color combinations for her palette. She added a PDF of her cube template for us to download. I knew someday I would make one. So here it is for this EDM challenge—a 3" square cube of drawings of my left hand.

Kind of looks like a damn box of kleenex...

More portraits for Julia Kay's Portrait Party

Still obsessed with doing portraits for Julia Kay's Portrait Party. Ink and watercolor portrait of Wally Torta (aka CrackskullBob).

Oil painting (my first oil painting in a long, long time) for Julia Kay's Portrait Party of Omar Jaramillo. An Urban Sketcher from Catania Italy.

Every Day in May—EDM #7 and #8

Experimenting with some different media along my usual ink and watercolor by adding watercolor mask and Neocolor ll. This Every Day in May/EDM challenge is quite a challenge...

Another one of my bizarre purchases from my old shopping days. It's for sale...

Everyday in May and some new portraits

EDM # 6 a favorite well-loved object— I thought long and hard about what was my well-loved object and all I could come up with was Sophie. I guess, for me at this stage in my life, things aren't as important a family, friends and animals. Funny, because I used to have a lot of things. Now I am trying to get rid of many of those things. So Sophie it is! Here she is sniffing the flowers I put on the floor to paint.

A few of my latest portraits for Julia Kay's Portrait Party. It continues to be a great challenge. I really enjoy seeing everyone else's interpretations of the rest of the members. It's a kick! Check it out.

I usually use ink and watercolor, but these two are pencil and watercolor. I actually have gotten the oil paints out...well the box is out...

Everyday in May—EDM #4 and #5

EDM # 4—Draw your mug. Drinking the Kusmi Detox tea that I bought in Paris.

EDM #5—Draw your bed. My bed is always crowded when I'm in Maine and in Bali. That's what happens to animal lovers.

Every Day in May—EDM #2 and #3

EDM #2—Draw a lamp. I don't really care much for the lamps in our house, but shhhh, don't tell Jerry.

EDM #3—Draw a purse, wallet or bag. My very cool and durable Sea Bag was a gift from a friend and I have been loading it up and dragging it around for years. This company, located on Custom House Wharf on Portland Maine's waterfront, makes custom tote bags out of recycled sails. Check them out at Sea Bags...you might just have to get one.

Every Day in May—EDM #1 Draw a shoe

Liz Steel (aka Borromini Bear), and friends, proposed the idea to do the EDM challenges 1-31 for "Everyday in May". Sounded like a great idea to balance my portrait obsession. I am having major computer problems so scanning and posting is challenging. My 6+ year old 12" Macbook Pro, where the letter A has worn off the keyboard, has finally died. This new one does not have any of my applications on it yet, so I am winging it without photoshop.

I love these!!!

While at the gym, I saw Candace Bushnell being interviewed wearing these fabulous Chanel clogs. Out of this world expensive and with a four inch heel would make me over 6 feet tall. Then there is that toppling over thing. Alas, I will never own them, but I highly covet them so I drew them for my May 1st challenge. I will just have to settle for a knock-off and maybe a bit lower heel...