Madagascar

Borneo Pitcher Plant

Largest Flower in the World

Bubble Tea

What goes with sweet and savory buns more than Bubble Tea?

Reckless Bun Selection

We went to Koko's Bakery in Chinatown yesterday after drawing in Wade Oval, and I saw what was a very funny sign above the sweet and savory bun case. It said, "Please select your bun carefully." As if either there was just reckless bun selection going on, or as if it was the scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where they were trying to figure out which goblet was the Holy Grail. No need to be too selective, as all the buns are really good.

Wade Oval

Was down at Wade Oval this morning with my friend, Blaine, and we drew around the lagoon. She drew some of the sculptures, and I drew the church on the west side of the lagoon, not sure the name of it. I hadn't sketched outside like that for a while, so I was a bit out of practice. Plus, there were a lot of distractions with the geese, fish, and even mounted police. Beautiful day, though. It was pleasant and mild in the morning, didn't get hot until closer to 1:30.

Mamma Mia!

This is a really bad rendering of Meryl Streep (my numb hand got really shaky when Id id her face in ink), but you can see that I did go to see the movie yesterday. The movie was fine, but not great. The girl playing Sophia seemed to have learned acting from a driver's ed teacher in North Dakota, or something. She was just over acting too much. It did have some funny parts.

Petty

So, I wanted to do a drawing today, but my hand just wasn't doing well. I had a couple days where it seemed to feel better and stronger, but today it was very uncomfortable again. But, I wanted to put something in the sketchbook, so I did this ink thing of Tom Petty.

Lisa Marie

This is a little dark, because I had to take a photo of it. All of a sudden, my scanner decided that it would just stop working. I've tried reinstalling the driver 4 times now, so I think that something may actually be wrong with it.

Here is a little sketch I did earlier today. My line work is a bit shaky, as my hand still isn't working, but I really missed doing little sketches in my Moleskine. I hadn't done one in there for almost 2 months. I want to do more, and I will probably just get used to my hand not working entirely.

Fire

So, I came home today, and the corridor on my floor smelled funny. I get in my apartment & my next door neighbor left a message about how there was a fire and they were banging on my door but I wasn't answering. I went to slip a note under their door to thank them for checking on me, and the security guard was in the hallway. He said that the guy next door to me had fallen asleep while he was cooking. I'm assuming on a couch or something, not over the stove. My apartment did smell funny, so I burned a herbal candle for quite a while to get the smell out.

Hand

Hello, long time no post.

Wanted to give you an update on my hand. I saw a neurologisit today that said, "I'd have to be a complete moron not to be able to diagnosis you."

It's ulnar nerve damage, and he said that the nerve should grow back on its own. I'm supposed to come back in 2 months if it doesn't feel better, or sooner if it gets worse. I'm also supposed to stop resting on my elbows.

I should be drawing again later this week. I have a few projects in mind that I want to have done before the end of the August. Plus, I had a wacky dream last night that I want to do a sketch of in my moleskine.

See you soon.

Candy

Okay, here's more candy. This is a pastel painting I did over the last week of chocolate and peach rings. The top is a little lighter than real life because of my easel lamp, but otherwise, it's very close to how it really looks.

I did this, because I just liked the idea of the really super-artifical and vibrant color candies on top of the more natural-looking chocolate. What I hadn't anticipated, but worked out well, was the really reflective quality of the chocolate.

Fingers still numb; it was very awkward to wear gloves while working on this, but I honestly think that my numb fingers are going to be a long-term thing. My appointment on July 15th isn't going to solve it, and somehow, I think I'm going to have to argue with a "live with it" mentality from the doctor. Because everytime I've had something wrong, that's what their opinion has been. "We can't figure it out, so live with it."