Austin, Camp Mabry - Texas Military Museum

Austin,TX. Brigadier General John C. L. Scribner Texas Military Forces Museum. Went to visit the Texas Military Museum on our brief family spring break. Thought D & S would enjoy it. Something for everyone, art, food, tanks.

When we arrived the Texas National Guard Camp Mabry was having a "Changing of the Colors" ceremony, which is the change of command. I thought the best part was when they shot big cannons, with the sound echoing off the surrounding buildings and probably all the limestone in the area. Got a couple of sketches on the fly.

The museum was really pretty interesting, surprising number of vehicles. There were only a very few people there. One room had a display of thousands of military pins. A couple of diaramas of battle scenes from Texas histroy, like the Alamo. The museum has displays about all of Texas military history. I recommend it.

Discovery Shuttle Launch sketch

To see the shuttle launch, you get in place and then wait, wait, wait. While we waited the dolphins put on a show for us, and the flamingos? big pink birds took flight from the island too. I took along my sketch book and crochet hook. Here is one of my sketches colored in with Photoshop.

The launch was a tremendous spectacle. Thanks to my sis R for inviting me along.

Work in Progress - Japanese flower

I picked up a huge bag of these DMC yarns when I went to FL to watch the shuttle Discovery launch. They had a bucket of them for .39c each. So I just got one of every color. Then had them send me a mailing box stuffed with more. I had to revise a pattern so that each color would not be more than 8 yrds, which is the size of each piece. This is it so far. Sort of an adaption of a Japanese pattern from the internetsphere. I am addicted to these and yet I have tons of office work to keep me away from the fun. For now.

I'm still pondering how to attach them to each other.

God bless all our Japanese crafters affected by the catastrophe.

Thanksgiving colors

I'm not sure what these are beyond calling them pumpkins. But they look like fall and Thanksgiving to me. Enjoy the color. This weekend a designer told me that orange stimulates creativity. Maybe the orange one should be my screen saver. Snapped these pics at the market.

from the sketchbook

playing with blocks

Couldn't resist the box of letters and blocks at the Warrenton Antiques Fair. The fair is held each spring and fall. It is huge fun if you like searching for funky, vintage, and cool stuff.

bzzzzzzz

needed a bee for a project

Doodle Hand

frank gehry portrait

Ballpoint pen sketch, color added in photoshop. Frank Gehry, architect, sketched while watching a documentary about his work, "SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY". I am fascinated by his buildings.

©2010 judithbutlerdollar

Merry Belated Christmas

Ornaments for the holidays.

Yeah I know 3 weeks late.

Iceland homework

The boy had a homework assignment about Iceland, a photo of this town showed up in the research. It looked like a sort of Lego village. So this is the sketch I did of it. Sorry I don't have the reference photo credit.

Faces from the sketch book

Charlie's web

This funky crab looking spinder was kind enough to spin a lovely web over the walkway to our front door. Just high enough that we didn't run our face into it each time we passed by. He was there for a week, then we had a few days rain and like the nursery ryhme it "washed the spider out". I admit I cheated and misted his web with the garden hose to take this "dew-y" pic.

Bold Mushroom

The color of this caught my eye as I wizzed by on my way back to the office today. It has been raining for a few days so these bold mushrooms really stood out against the pine needles. And they say we don't get any fall colors here in TX.

sketch crawl #24

These bolts hold the globes in place.

My first time to participate in World Wide Sketch Crawl. Went out to the warehouse where the CoolGlobe.org globes are being stored until the opening and met up with 2 other sketchers. While Liz worked on her globe, Chris and I sketched. I had a hard time getting in the swing of it but made an effort. After leaving there I went by Texas Art Supply and picked up some new Coptic drawing pens and some paper to bind my own sketch book. Then off to a late lunch at the Empire Cafe and sketched a little there from the counter. A rare art filled day. it was good.

These are all ballpoint pen or the new Coptic markers. The sepia tone is done in Photoshop.

How is Cuban Black Bean Soup like Mt. Vesuvius?

You know when you make black bean soup and at the end of the recipe it says to take out about a 1/3 of the beans and puree them in a blender? Okay, but maybe you didn't know that when you put something real hot in your blender, like simmering hot black bean soup, and turn it on to puree, it will blow the top off? In fact it is very similar to, you guessed it, Mt. Vesuvius! But, planning ahead, just in case you spill when you ladle the soup into the blender, put your blender next to the sink, which is also next to the coffee pot and those cute coffee bean canisters with the metal clasps on the lid. Just in case there is a little mess you can wipe it off the counter and into the sink. No problemo. Except now it went all Vesuvius on you and is on the wall, cabinet, canisters, spices jars (for the soup) and the coffee maker. But none got on the floor - woohoo. yeah that is fun!

Is it wrong to leave the coffee maker to be cleaned by the hubby, who is the morning coffee maker?

Cookie Magazine

Lots of treats here in Cookie Magazine, decorating, kids, food, even fashion (for me, oh well). I love this kid's room - especially the art display on the wall - kids art finds a place to hang and looks super.

hand drawn

Yup, thats my hand. For lack of something better in front of me.

painter portraits

I did these from portrait photos also. Can't remeber the photographer though. Draw with ball point pen. Color added with Photoshop.

sketching portraits from books

At night is the time I usually get to sketch. So I either sketch someone on the tube or from a book. I know drawing from a photo leaves a lot to be desired, but it is not very likely I'll go out at 10pm looking for people to sketch. So the next best thing is tv or book. Two books that I have recently check out of the library for this are pretty good. This one is great for expressions In Character: Actors Acting by Howard Schatz. I think it would be good for cartooning too. The other is Author Photos by Marion Ettlinger, it has very nice black and white photos of book authors. This sketch is JK Simmons from the InCharacter book. I think this is the first time I have drawn whiskers.

Lincoln sketch

A new scan from my sketchbook. 

16TH PRESIDENT

 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1861-1865"I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all."