Category Archives: Pen

Day 23 Of The 30-Day Creative Gathering

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Day 23. 2019 C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.
Day 23. 2019 C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

I’ll be trying this one again. My first thought was to do the background in the dark blue I used on Day 20. I am tempted to go back in and do that. The reference I used was a huge plant, so my second thought was to just do layers of pads, and play with the colors in each one.

I was reminded by Val van der Poel, that Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils are permanent. That sort of slipped out of my brain. For the first layer of this, I used a stencil and Inktense. I applied the color with a small make-up wedge sponge. (Thanks Natasha!)

First step.

Well, you know watercolor. WET, watercolor. Made a mess even though I dried the sponge. But I like the result. I grabbed a #2 pencil and used the eraser to add more color.

Next time I will try to remember to plan better. To plan period. Haha. Painting this is always fun. Might see one or two more this week.

Scenes from my neck of the woods. There was a fire a couple of days ago. The second in as many weeks. The smoke came in over Mingus late in the afternoon. No one was in danger, and it was a distance from us. I always jump into research mode when I spot smoke.

Fire in the valley. SMD 2019
Fire in the valley. SMD 2019
Glorious rain this afternoon. SMD 2019
Glorious rain this afternoon. SMD 2019

We had a lovely, gloomy afternoon. I watched as the white clouds rolled over Mingus. They moved in very quickly. Soon after we had thunder and a downpour. Yes!

Days 21 & 22 Of The 30-Day Creative Gathering

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Day 21. 2019 C.G., 8 x 8, mixed media on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.
Day 21. 2019 C.G., 8 x 8, mixed media on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

Ranunculus and Carnations. At least that is what I have been told. While I was painting, I was hoping that the magenta blooms would vaguely resemble something that was real. Haha. Gotta have friends to tell you what kind of real. Thank you Nelvia and Katie! Whew! I was inspired in part by Laurelle Cidoncha, Karin Naylor, and Carla Sonheim. Thank you all for always inspiring creativity!

I had fun painting the whatever-they-are Carnations. I painted the background first, so I had to add a layer of white for the blooms to sit on. I didn’t think to do that for the yellow. Next time.

I was really in the zone. I didn’t realize I was painting the pointy shapes. I got lost in the repetition, and before I knew it, they were done. I mixed areas of thick paint and thinned color. I’m really happy with them.

Day 22. 2019 C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.
Day 22. 2019 C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

This painting was a disaster. The original is a mess. Thank goodness for Photoshop! Haha. I have noticed on several sheets of the paper, that there are score marks. Or slices on the front of the sheet. So far it had not been a problem, the color and placement hid it from view.

But on this piece, there were three distinct marks in the sky. I also slipped while doing the umber splatter, and a few huge spots landed in the sky area. (Yeah, you are right. I should mask it off with paper.) Easy to remove with the Clone tool.

I had fun with this. And while I think it could be better, I am happy with the result. I keep trying to get back to the looseness of the first I did of these “wildflower fields”. This one is much closer, and I think it is the best of those I have done this month. I saved the light areas, and I just love the glow of the Green Gold here.

We are winding down the challenge. I am amazed I have been able to stick with it.
Wooo Whoo!
Grateful for your cheerful support 🙂

Day 19 Of The 30-Day Creative Gathering

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Day 19. 2019 C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.
Day 19. 2019 C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

This looks better in person. The table is deeper, and the flowers are brighter. And the vase looks more blended. I used Caran d’Ache water-soluble crayons, and a LePen. I had fun working on this. The vase was last, and it started out white. But the shadows weren’t working. I tried to give it form, but that didn’t work either. I added color, a touch of shadow, and left it at that.

I met with the nutritionist last week. The 2-month follow up. I’m moving on to the next phase of eating, which basically means I can add citrus and raw vegetables. So exciting! Haha, no really. I have been missing salad! Crunchy, crispy, fresh. Tonight I am having grilled shrimp lettuce wraps, with Butter Lettuce. Mmmm. Hahaha.

At the time of the office visit, I had lost 22 lbs. But I had only lost a pound or two in the previous two weeks. Great news is, it was all fat, no muscle, or other body mass. More good news I am in the normal range as far as weight and BMI. My fat % is 37, but she would like it to be at 32%. My BMI is 25 and under 27 is good. If I can lose a bit more, get to a certain percentage, it is more likely that I will keep it off. True for everyone. That percentage also makes it more likely that you will keep diabetes, heart, and all of those related problems at bay. 

I can still only manage to drink about 48 oz. of water a day. I’m not even drinking tea lately. So my goals are to up the water intake, reach that 64 oz. goal daily goal. Lose a bit more, and maintain my eating habits. Which isn’t hard, I just can’t eat much. I think I eat about 1/3 of a cup at a time. And I still have to be careful about what I eat.

She suggested some low cal dressings. Bolthouse Farms. They are made with yogurt, so they are in the refrigerated aisle. They make creamy dressings that are low cal, low carb, low sugar. And you get a bit of calcium and protein!