Doodley-doo

I am an art major.  Illustration to be exact.  And one of the first tips I picked up on how to be a starving artist is that you must have an art blog.  It's practically required.  Everyone I know in the major has one.  All of my professors direct us to professional artists that have them, and apparently, it's actually a great way to get work (if you become popular enough).  So here is my thought process:  I have a blog -- I have some artistic ability -- I like money -- what harm could it do?  At the very least it provides a way for family and friends to follow my progression through school.  So, without further ado, I present just a few of my doodles from my Jerusalem sketchbook.

After our trip to Jordan, in which every Bedouin woman haggled us to buy jewelry,  trinkets, and even rocks, I felt compelled to create this t-shirt design.

After realizing that I was only drawing cartoons and hadn't done anything realistic since last semester, I became determined to try a few live sketches.  So (while still paying attention to the lecture) I now take the first ten-ish minutes of class to pick a fellow student and creepily stare at them while completing a rough sketch of their profile.  Ten minutes and no more.  Very rough indeed.

Since I'm not taking any actually art classes this semester I felt the need to challenge myself somehow.  So I packed a little watercolor kit and told myself that every week I would paint a picture.  Disclaimer: I have never done watercolor before so everything is experimental.  That is where the true challenge lies. It has been very interesting, as well as frustrating to test out different color combinations and techniques.  Here are a few of my attempts.

Last week a few of us went to Gethsemane.  Here's my quick interpretation.  I also snagged a bit of lavender from the site.  It smells wonderful.