House Sketches

Sketches of homes you've lived in and loved make nice gifts for grown children, spouses, or whoever shared your joy.  These are 11"x14" on Vellum, except the first one done on watercolor paper for more texture, and are $100 each....You mat and frame them according to your decor.  Since they are pencil sketches, a plain white mat, and a simple frame give the drawing the attention it deserves.  Contact me if you would like your house drawn for yourself or a loved one.  If you do not live in the Rapid City, SD area, I'll need a very good photograph.

djekberg@hotmail.com 605-787-4980 or 605-390-6963

Newest Paintings

This is Funky Flamingo, collage.

This is funky lady, Loopy Lulu

This is funky lady:  Phony Phoner

Hmmm, I don't think this painting looks this blue, evening light while photographing.  Will retake tomorrow, or sometime soon.  The paint might still be a bit wet...I've lost the depth of the cave!

I have messed around with the following 3 landscapes paintings, and will post the changes below for comparison.  Did I improve them or ruin them?

Now that the weather has moderated, our group paints en pleine aire in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
I love the rocks and sounds of water, birds, breeze in the trees.
This is Box Elder Creek near Nemo, SD.

In the 2nd version, I darkened the tree trunks, lightened the water and put in reflections. The 1st version now is history.  I took the first photo inside, the 2nd outside at twilight, changes the whole tone, doesn't it?

These two are on Sheridan Lake Road at Spring Creek Picnic Area.  There is beauty everywhere you look!

This the 2nd one I tried to improve, darkened the rock crevices,  worked on the water.  The 2nd photo is taken by natural evening light.  I don't think it is actually that blue.

This one is at Cliff Park on Hwy 44, just out of Rapid City.

May 2, 2014 This is today's funky bird, a Sandhill Crane.  It is 7-1/2" x 11" and costs $45.  It is a smaller piece than the following two birds which are 11"x15".

Here are two of my latest paintings.  These are based on Charcoal Pours I learned how to do from Karen Knutson at her Apr 24-25, 2014 workshop at Jennifer Stone's studio in Watertown, SD.  These are Funky Birds, and I will also post the Funky Ladies I did in the same workshop.  What fun!
The bird I completed in the workshop is a Funky Osprey.  There are Osprey nests built in Silver City and around Pactola Dam in the Black Hills, so I became a bit interested in their habits.  I'm much too scattered to become an expert in anything.  A "bit" is as far as I go.  He is collage and watercolor on a charcoal poured background.

I drove from Watertown, SD after the workshop, arriving home at 9:30 pm, rather than wasting my Saturday on the road.  So, Saturday I made a paint and collage Blue Heron.  Mom loved them as she grew up by the Grand River, their ranch now under Shadehill Reservoir.

Okay, now my Funky Ladies:  

Number One Lady

Number 2 Lady I named, "Hire Me?"  Can you tell I'm anti-piercings?  She is done with marker and watercolor on sketch paper not the good watercolor paper that I usually use.

This is my second attempt at Batik, Turkey Trot.  Next, I'll do a flower, as in Kathie George's book, to see if I can create something lovely, as though pups and turkeys are not!  I'll frame this today.

After drawing for a month with Kathie George, I bought her book Simply Beautiful Watercolors and tried Batik.  Obviously I need lots more practice, but this first effort is of Obi, and will hang next to Shep and Bozo.  Imagine a pet wall!

30 Day drawing challenge

Kathie George issued this "30 Day Drawing Challenge."  So, I'll post my efforts, and hope I improve my drawing.  There are few rules, but Number 1 is, do not use a pencil, or you will be tempted to erase.  Rule 2:  Draw slowly and surely.
March 16, 2014  This is the 2nd half of the challenge:  Days 16-30, and I will now post newest to oldest:

Day 30 & final day of this drawing challenge:  This has been so much fun, and I'm indebted to Karen Knutson for telling me about this challenge, and Kathie George for guiding us through...so much fun!

Day 29:  Draw the negative space within a square or rectangle around the object, and out pops my boat:

Day 28:  Gesture Drawing:  Kangaroo & baby.  Pencil

Day 27:  This is a paper towel caddy.  It is shiny, and my reflection is shown in each of the balls.

Day 26:  I don't have a model, so picked this lady out of a magazine.  She might not recognize herself except for the clothes and purse.

Day 25:  This is a drawing of a New Orleans Mask, given to me by the same friend who gave me the Alligator.

Day 24:  I found this bust on a table in Architectural Digest.  I'm naming him George in honor of our esteemed leader, Kathie George.

Day 23:  Today, we were to use Inktense pens and add water for shadows.  I used Inktense blocks and added water.  I think it would be better to use better than sketch paper when adding water.  My paper warped.  I did this scene twice, and only used Inktense pen (Elegant Writer) on the 2nd one.  See below.

Day 22:  I've had that Kathie tool forever, and didn't know how to use it, until her video today.  Grid lines help a lot.  I used a Pier 1 Import's ad, and grid lines to approximate the photo.  It helped, I think.

Day 21:  Kathy showed us a homemade tool for getting angles drawn correctly, and told us how to use site marks to keep things lined up.  This is the Lazy Susan that sits on our kitchen table, and this is my 2nd try.  I need more practice and fewer distractions i.e., income taxes and dog walks.  Fortunately, Jerry is out of town, so I can't blame cooking for taking too much of my time.  Well enough excuses, here it is.

Day 20:  Perspective.  This is a Jail in Scenic, SD.  Some day I plan to paint it, much larger, and with Tommie standing inside looking out.  I didn't draw her in this time.

Day 19:  House on West Blvd.

Day 18:  Kathie drew a turkey.  I drew this Iron Wood Buffalo my husband bought in Mexico.  The challenge photos are in a square format, and even though I resized him, he doesn't fit in the square on Kathie's page.





Drawing 17:  Kathie drew garlic bulbs.  I painted at the church today with my Monday group, and found an artificial Bouquet in the library, and it was large.  This is a condensed version, but quite busy anyway.

Day 16:  Draw something round, using dots to try to make a circle round.  Well, maybe next time:  See the photograph of the Antique Blower, following this 1st attempt:

Day 1:  We drew our shoe.  In my case, my left slipper while on my foot.  Fortunately, I didn't have to continue drawing my leg.

Day 2:  We drew our shoe while not looking at our paper:  It is called contour drawing.  I realized, I should have put my left finger where I started, so I'd end up at the toe, where I started.  Duh!

Day 3:  We can draw our shoe while peeking now and then, but still drawing slowly, and not lifting the pen.

Day 4:  We drew our toothbrush while peeking at the paper once in a while--quite a bit.

Day 5:  We chose our subject, and I drew my brass Road Runner.  It's tempting to shade, but this is only contour drawing to date.

Day 6:  Again, we chose our subject, and Kathie says 10 minutes of drawing a day is minimal, and encouraged us to do two drawings, at least.  I chose to draw my Honey Pot.

Then, I drew an oil lamp, and as you can see, had I been using a pencil, an eraser would have come in handy.  My lopsided oil lamp has a certain rhythm to it, don't you think?  I'll call this Groovin' to the Dim Light.

Day 7, Kathie's rule for today, or reminder if you will:  DECISIVE

I started by drawing Obi, Shiatsu/Maltese, always in my recliner with me:

 And then I drew what I see out my living room window--what is left of the crown of the Oak Tree after our October 2013 storm.  There are a zillion branches, and drawing them all would take the rest of my life.  So, I made up my own rule:  Simplify.

Day 8:  I'm ailing with a ragged cough, so need to get this assignment done and done.  I'm soooo glad we aren't graded on our efforts.

Day 9:  Draw a rectangle, then your subject inside it.  Watch the negative spaces around your object.  Those spaces should be as interesting as the subject itself.  Now you know one of the secrets of good art.  Try it!  This is a drawing of my Brass Alligator.  Our friends from Baton Rouge, LA bought him for me when we were at a New Orleans International Market.  Great times!

Day 10:  Choose objects and see the negative spaces around objects.  I tried it twice, and this is the first I did, a lamp reflection in a mirror.  From where I sat, the reflection looked more interesting than the lamp.  I know that doesn't make much sense, and the drawing is less than stellar.  I'm really tired of coughing, and might not have put forth my best effort today.  Maybe, I'll try this again some day.

Day 11:  Again we are watching for the negative space made with our drawing.  Here I am studying what I should be doing instead of drawing, but I think I can accomplish both ironing and drawing today.  Now, that is POSITIVE thinking about NEGATIVE SPACE, isn't it?

Day 11:  When I crop the drawing above to show the head of my sprinkler bottle, see how interesting the negative spaces are around this?

Day 12:  Look out the window and draw what you see.  I did that on Day 7, played Bridge today, and went outside to do this assignment.  This is my mailbox from my deck.

Actually, I tried a neighbor's house first.  That was what The Evil One would call a disaster:

Then, since that was too complicated, I drew a solar lamp that grows out of one of the deck planters:

Finally settled on a glow in the dark flower that is in the mailbox planter box, missed it when I drew the mailbox...go figure.  Observation is the key.  Look at those wonderful negative shapes.

Day 13:  Kathie's words of wisdom today are "Perfection is Paralysis," and "Slow & Decisive."  Lucky Thursday, I drew our candy dispenser, and I'll bet I worked as hard as the guy who built it.  Maybe, had I concentrated on perspective, it would have looked like....an M&M dispenser?  Perfectionism is not one of my shortcomings at my age, but once upon a time, long, long ago I had to whip that impossible objective!

Day 14:   Kathie said, "Today is about treating you," and she drew cupcakes.  Since I treated myself to M&Ms yesterday, I drew Four Yoga Frogs today, finding bliss.

Day 15:  Kathie said, "Decisive Lines and Composition.  Positive and negative combined:  Not sure how this relates.  It looks like me singing into a mirror, but is actually headphones.  Tomorrow we start the second half of this month-long challenge.