Drawing of the Day

"Snohomish Woods," 6" x 9" pen and ink in a
Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook
Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2015

Mini-Stories

 Misadventure # 315

Ginger juice gives me the ability to Time Slip. The last incident went badly. I now have a penny-farthing stuck in my kitchen. Arrgh!

First Drawing Created in My New Studio!

Moving is always such a big deal...and finding everything when you unpack can be a nightmare. I've been in my new place for about 3 weeks and have FINALLY been able to start drawing in my new studio. I've missed it. Today I did a "warm-up" drawing, one of the views from around the farm I'm renting.

It's nice to be back!

“Farm View, Fall” Pen and ink and Inktense pencils
in a Stillman and Birn 6”x8” Zeta sketchbook.

A Little Bit About Drabbles

I warned you that I might have more to say…and here goes! Today's video is about why I like to write Drabbles  — 100 word short stories. I hope you enjoy it.

Flying Pony Studios Leaps into the Blue!

My life has recently changed in many profound ways. And when I say changed…I mean CHANGED!

My marriage of twenty-four years is over, my house sold…and I'm renting a little farmette for the Winter in the same town in Washington where I've lived for the past three years. This is a temporary place as I’m planning on traveling in the Spring.

Summation of my life right now...BIG, hard changes have rolled through.

I process change best by doing art so…it’s time to make a mark creatively…which means publishing, printing, selling art and letters (stories.)

It’s a tall order, I know. But I have no doubt that I can "get 'er done" like I want to.

As of this moment, I’m opening up my studio blog to more than just the visual arts. From now on I’ll be posting videos, stories, whatever seems appropriate for this new creative journey.

To inaugurate this new route, I’m posting my first speaking video here today (all the others have been slideshows.)  In it, I'm reading my own six-word microfiction on the topic of science fiction. I hope you like the video…and even if you don’t, please be kind…it’s my first.

Cheers to all!

Sara

Drawing of the Day

"Portland Japanese Gardens" (4.5" x 6.5")
Pen and ink in Stillman and Birn Epsilon sketchbook.

Drawing of the Day

“Window at The Repp”
pen & ink in Stillman and Birn Epsilon sketchbook

A Third Scene from Portland's Japanese Garden

The Flat Garden @ The Japanese Garden
pen & ink in a Stillman and Birn Epsilon sketchbook

The Flat Garden creates an ideal subject for pen & ink. The great expanse of white sand makes a perfect contrast to the other features — wooden railing, diverse greenery, and characteristic stones. The challenge is to add enough contrast to the greenery to make it look diverse.

While doing these sketches I recall the memory of the garden in a very Zen fashion. Peace returns.

Sketches from Portland's Japanese Garden

Two Scenes from the Japanese Gardens
Pen & ink in a Stillman and Birn Epsilon sketchbook

I spent a lovely time wandering around Portland gardens this past weekend. A highlight was the Japanese gardens, a beautiful and peaceful place. As the weather was quite hot, I decided to take in the garden with my soul and then do some drawings from my photographs once I'd gotten home.

These are the first two.

Watch the Aurora

I'm slowly gathering reference materials and inspirational ideas for "A Patchwork Tale" - my fairy tale/children's book-in-progress. The book will be illustrated with a combination of pen & ink drawings and watercolor paintings. Tonight, I did a small test drawing of an aurora in pen and ink. In color, an aurora would be easier to manage, the greens, reds, and pinks in the sky would give it away immediately. But how to handle those graceful ribbons in black and white? I'm still working on it. But this was my first attempt.

"Watch the Aurora" pen & ink in a
Stillman and Birn epsilon journal

Sketch of the Day - Old Tree at Everett Rotary Park

"Old Tree at Everett Rotary Park"
pen & ink in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon journal.
Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2015.

I spent a little time in the sun today sketching. It was a lovely break.

[As a note of interest I was using three different Noodler's fountain pens today each filled with Noodler's Heart of Darkness black ink. Two of the three pens were Noodler's Konrad Flex fountain pens - one in Ebonite with a Goulet #6 non-flex nib and the other with a "regular" Konrad flexible nib. The third was a "Charlie" pen an eyedropper pen with a non-flexible nib.]

Sketch of the day – Carnival at Harvey Field

"Carnival at Harvey Field" pen & ink and marker in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon journal

Sketch in progress

It’s Kla Ha Ya Days this weekend in Snohomish and with the festivities comes a carnival at Harvey Field. I’d been looking at the rides for some days and decided to head in this morning and draw the Ferris wheel before the rides were open. I sat in an empty field and drew for a few hours as people around the fair got ready for the day. It was super nice. :-)

The carnival