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New Intex Challenger K1 Inflatable Kayak

 My New Kayak is Awesome!

Today I took my new Intex Challenger K1 inflatable kayak out for the first time.  It didn't take long to blow up (maybe 10 minutes), and the included pump worked great for the actual kayak, but it did not fit the seat piece or the little corner piece that fits inside. I have asthma and was able to blow up the seat piece OK, but the little corner piece was hard.

I went to Mark's Bay and it was my first time seeing Mark's Bay from this perspective; I'm usually on the shore, looking out 

It was a gorgeous late afternoon/early evening. I went for a swim first, for about an hour, then put the kayak together while I was nice and cool from the lake. It was my first time swimming at Mark's Bay; I usually go to Pointe Des Chenes to swim, but that beach is far from the parking lot, and Mark's Bay is nice and close. 

I had got to the beach at around 4:30, quarter to five, and stayed until almost about 9.

The kayak was comfy but my feet rubbed right up against the edge. I'm only 5'4" and I don't think this would suit anyone taller. 

It was nice and stable and very comfy, and surprisingly fast. 

I haven't kayaked in years, and have only actually tried it a few times in my life.  I am more used to rowboats and canoes. I really love kayaking though.

Mark's Bay is perfect because it is a sandy beach, and pretty shallow. The water was calm and I made it around the bay quickly. 

I saw a cool bird with a big wing span, but it was too far away to make out what type of bird it was.  I didn't have my good camera with the zoom lens, just my phone (which took these pics).

I met a nice lady named Debbie while I was out there and we swam together. She waited for me while I kayaked, which was nice of her. There she is on the shore (below).

I kayaked until the sun dropped below the tree line, and then I figured I should stop as I wasn't sure how long it would take to dry off, let the air out, and pack up.

The sunset was gorgeous. 

The kayak was very hard to get out of and I ended up just rolling out into the water, lol.  I got some water in the kayak getting out so I'll have to learn how to get out better. It was hard to get the air out because I had screwed on the lids too tightly and couldn't get them open. Thankfully a young man came and helped me out.  I didn't bother deflating it all the way; I just waited for the air to come out enough to fold it in half and shove it in my back seat. I plan to go back out again tomorrow.

All in all, I am very glad I got this during Amazon Prime days for half price. It was totally worth the $89.00 I paid.

July is World Watercolor Month, here is Week 1, completed (watercolor, gouache, painting)

 World Watercolor Month

Himi Gouache

So this first one was done a week before #worldwatercolormonth. I'd just purchased a new set of Miya Himi Jelly Gouache and wanted to try them out.  I really like it. I followed a tutorial by Ruth Wilshaw.

Maimeriblu Venezia paint on dollarama paper, lol; 19 year old paint!

This second one was my first time trying out my 19 year old Maimeriblu Venezia paints, to see if they still worked. They were fine!  I just used Dollarama watercolor paper because I had no idea what I was doing, and the paper curled. I followed a tutorial by the Frugal Crafter.

Nancy's Kayak, Himi Gouache on Dollarama Paper.

I still didn't know that World Watercolor Month was a thing, or that the prompt for the day was 
"sunlit",  but I just happened to paint this, based on a photo my friend Nancy took while out kayaking.  It was Canada Day, July 1st and I wanted to paint a Canadian scene (this is Lake Superior).

First time trying Plein Air painting, Belleview Park, the wind turned the page and made a mess, lol

Redoing the scene from Belleview Park at home, with a photo I took while out trying to plein air paint.  

On July 2nd, I went out to our local park to get photos of the sunset,but more importantly, to wait for the moon rise. It was the night of the Buck Moon, and it also would have been my Uncle Buck's 92nd birthday (he passed away in late June).  On  a whim, I took along my mini (palm sized) sketchbook and my Winsor and Newton Cotman field kit. I forgot to bring a pencil or a clip for my book, and sat down to try to paint. The sun set AND the wind turned the page, leaving me with a mess, but I still had fun. When I got home I tried again in my sketchbook, using a photo I'd taken at the park. I started it but it was very late so I finished it on the 3rd. I was very happy with my first "original" artwork in watercolor.

The next day July 3rd, I discovered World Watercolor month was a thing, and that the prompt of the day was "raspberry". When I started my sketchbook, I'd left the first page, front and back blank as I didn' want to ruin it, lol and started my first painting on the second page (see above).  I finished it and decided to use the back of the first page for the raspberry. I followed a tutorial by Julie Lis Art Tutorials for the berry.

"burst" 

July 4h, the prompt was burst. Since July 4th is Independence day in the US, I did some fireworks in watercolor with a crayon resist.

"startle"

July 5th was Startle so I did owls, as they always seem startled. I made one much fatter and he broke the branch, but the snapped branch doesn't really show, lol. I put the wrong date in my sketchbook. 

My second try at plein air, Cotmans in tiny sketchbook, Whitefish Island

On July 6 I took my little sketchbag on my walk to Whitefish Island.  I sketched this quickly while sitting on the boardwalk over the beaver pond.  I remembered my pencil, and a clip to keep my pages from closing this time. I also brought a pen. I was much happier with this experience.

"flavor", watercolors

I did an extra painting on July 6 because the prompt was "flavor" and I wanted to try out my Mozart Komorebi Watercolors 

"Lemon" Miya Himi 

Day 7, July 7, the prompt was "lemon", so I painted these lemons using my Miya Himi Gouache, from a reference photo.  I was really happy with this one and discovered I prefer gouache to watercolor for painting more detail.  I have more control with gouache; but not as much as I do with acrylics (which I still prefer).  The gouache is fun and I am learning a lot. I do love the watercolors; I just need more practice.   Which I will get if I keep going, painting every day.  It's an excellent challenge and a fun way to learn, but a LOT of work, lol.

Well, that's it for week 1. See you at the end of week 2.

Misty Lake Acrylic Painting for my Neighbor Lucille

 

Misty Lake following tutorial by #Joony Art

So I can't write "Today's Art" Anymore...

Because this took me several days to paint.  Pretty soon I'll have to do "this week's art" instead.

I chose this tutorial after looking at hundreds of tutorials because I wanted something special, something beautiful but soothing to look at, and meaningful.  My best friend's brother passed away suddenly and her Mom is devastated.  He was 65 and battling cancer, but still had time left when he had a massive heart attack. We are all happy that he didn't suffer and go slowly, the way the cancer would have taken him, but it is still sad, and no mother wants to outlive her child.  She lost her husband a few years ago too.  I chose this picture because their whole family loves fishing, and I wanted to paint Larry and Louis fishing together in heaven.  The original artwork had a different style boat (rowboat, no motor) and only one person,  so I changed the boat a bit, and added a motor and another person to represent Larry and Louis.  

I have only done a few paintings before this, and felt comfortable with the sky and water and trees, but was worried about how to do the fog, the boat, the people, and the geese.  I spent more time worried about it than it took me to finally do it; most of my problem is building up the courage to keep going, because at every step I was sure I'd ruin what I had so far. I need to get over that.  I'm not usually as timid as I was with this painting; I think it's because I was attempting it as a gift for someone other than my parents. When I just paint for me there's no pressure. 

I don't have my own art room, but I have made a space in the changeroom/storage area.  My table is next too my huge portable air conditioner, and my Dad's window air conditioner is stored under the table.  The roof slopes down and I hit my head EVERY time I get up (you'd think I'd learn by now, lol), and I had to order extra lights becaue the lighting is bad, but despite that, I love my little art space.  I even bought an Alexa Echo Dot just for the room. My Mom uses it too because she has her makeup table directly across from my art table.  

I'm going to give the painting, a card, and a box of chocolates to my neighbor tomorrow, hopefully. I hope she'll like it.

Spring Lake Landscape Painting in Acrylics

 Spring Lake, Acrylics on Canvas Board

Spring Lake, acrylics on canvas board, following a tutorial by Joony Arts on Youtube

It came out great even though I followed the wrong tutorial, lol.

I'd originally planned to do a late winter scene, showing melting ice on a lake. I watched that entire tutorial, and I guess when it ended the next one (this one) queued up but I didn't notice and was half way through before i realized I was painting an entirely different painting than the one I thought I was doing, lolol

Here is the tutorial for this one, by Joony art, if you want to give it a go: Spring Lake

I did the sky and the mountains first, then added the base water color.  I really liked how the water looked real hear and was worried about continuing.

I added some darker and lighter spots to the water. I hated doing this because i really liked the water in the first section but I figured I'd better follow the tutorial.

It was at this point, adding the greens and yellows, that i FINALLY realized I was following a different tutorial and not the one I had prewatched, LOLOL.

I was terrified to add the long grasses, but they came out nicely. I used a fan brush. 

Finally added the flowers and the sun.  I didn't want to add the sun and the rays because I thought they looked strange and not sunray like at all, on the tutorial, but the tutorial is way better than mine, lol.

Finally, I added more light ripples to the water and to the mountain and more light on the flowers too. 

This is only my 3rd or 4th try at acrylics and I'm very happy with it.  So far I've done the Christmas ornaments, the sunset couple, the rose (twice) and this one.  I'm only counting the rose as one as one of those was just testing the watercolor paper at the dollar tree (not the best for acrylics but OK if you tape it down; it will warp otherwise). 

Rose Acrylic Painting

 Rose(s) in Acrylics

Roses in acrylics (left is on watercolor paper, right is on a canvas board)

So, I have been learning how to paint with acrylics...

And I am absolutely loving it.  I followed a tutorial by Aham Art on youtube, and you can find it here: Red Rose

I did these paintings with Monte Marte Acrylic paints.  It's a really nice paint, I think (but keep in mind I have nothing to compare it with other than dollar store paint, which I also like for priming the canvas, lol).

Acrylic paint on dollar store watercolor paper

I did this one (above) first, using my Monte Marte paints and dollar store watercolor paper.  It came out nice but the paint dried much more quickly than I expected so I had a hard time blending the backgrounds.  I got the hang of it better for the rose.  The leaves were my favorite part of this painting. 

Second try, acrylics on canvas board, following tutorial by Aham Art

I decided to try the painting again, this time just looking at the finished product on Aham Art's youtube channel, and my own finished painting. I added more leaves this time as I really loved doing leaves, and opted for a yellowy green background instead of yellow. I sketched the rose out first in pencil.

Red rose, acrylics on canvas board.

I did this as a belated Valentine's day card for my Mom (I was a day late because I also did a diamond painting of cute valentine gnomes for my parents and finished that on Valentine's day.). 

All in all, I'm happy with how this came out, but next time I want to do one without the dark outlines. I think the outlines give it more of a cartoon or comic book effect. I didn't outline the leaves. 

All the Acrylic Ornaments I Painted for Christmas

 Acrylic Painting: Christmas Ornaments

I decided to learn how to paint with acrylics and started with some simple landscapes painted on wooden ornaments. 

Little Acrylic Painted Christmas Ornaments. 

I used Monte Marte Acrylic Paint, plus cheap dollar store paint for the base (first coat). I sealed them with triple thick gloss from deco art, and am so pleased by how they came out.

The greens

I followed a Youtube tutorial by Jasmine,  which you can find here: Wood Slice Painting on Ornaments

The blues

The pinks and purples

The oranges

On the tree Christmas Morning 2022

Crocheted Christmas Gifts: Little Cars

 These are the crocheted items I made for Christmas this year

I made a series of cars; the smaller ones were keychains, and the larger ones were not.

Here's my cousin Johnny with his; I made it to look like his racecar.

My 91 year old Uncle Buck loved his.

I had to look at a pic to try to make Johnny's car, lol.

My best friend's Grandson loved his car.

Even my Dad loved his car keyring.

I wasn't able to get a pic of my cousin Andie with his car, unfortunately.