Something New for This Summer!

The bulk of our schoolwork is done for the year and now I'm just tying up loose ends to close out the year.  I've got some plans for some art projects over break - finishing some portfolio pieces started over Christmas and reworking something for a juried art show this fall.  But, first and foremost, I'll be working on my first commissioned project - a wall mural in a friend's home!  So, my creative thoughts are turning to theTuscan countryside for a while.

In the meantime, I'm still doodling here and there and "taking notes" at church in the form of illustrations.  I've included last Sunday's notes as it was a fun one to illustrate.  While the story of Moses and Pharaoh is very familiar to me, it was a fun one to put in pictures.  I worked on it some more last night, adding color.

Illustrating Sermons - a Picture Is Worth 1000 Words

Still too busy to pursue any illustration or portfolio projects at the moment.  However, I did start taking my sketch journal to church on Sundays. 

At first, I felt a little self-conscious about it - usually when you see a person doodling when someone else is talking, it's easy to assume that they're not listening.  In this case, that is NOT how it is.

First of all, when I am drawing (or painting), I am extremely focused and alert.  And, when I'm sketching in church, I am not randomly doodling, but illustrating the sermon (in a sense).  I'm taking what I'm hearing and translating it into images - not sketching the backs of people's heads who are sitting in front of me.  Do I get everything?  No, but I don't get everything when I'm writing notes down either.  AND, with my sketch journal, I go back to it to fix drawings, ink or paint, add detail - therefore, recalling that particular part of the message and spending time in thought about it as I render it.

So, hopefully no one in the pews around me take offense and assume I've "tuned out."  Au contraire.  Here, I've shown a couple of pages from Sunday services (nothing in color yet).