Rebecca Brown
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Tomorrow

1/28/2022

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What are you doing tomorrow? I am not getting on a train or doing anything earth shattering. We'll probably reconcile our bank account or paint some trim we replaced a couple months ago. Do I wish I were getting on a train to go on a bike tour? I'm not sure.
I've been having fun lately reflecting on some mundane daily events through little poems. A couple nights ago Karl even helped me write one and you can hear him reading it here:
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Originally Posted January 28, 2007
My next post will be from California. I get on the train tomorrow. I'm almost packed.
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YouTube!

1/25/2022

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YouTube has really evolved in the last 15 years. I never really used that much on my bike tour 15 years ago. I've got a new YouTube channel now. There still isn't too much on it; just a few reviews. My most popular one so far is my review of the StablO Portable Easel with 1,700 views! 
Originally Posted ​January 25, 2007
I signed up for a YouTube account. Here is a short clip I took on the Yukon canoeing expedition.
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Down time.

1/24/2022

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"Time has escaped me without much definition between the days."
I love this quote from 15 years ago! Early pandemic I heard this exact sentiment so many times from so many of our customers. People were home alone doing the exact same thing everyday or doing nothing at all. For me early pandemic meant working from home (like always), but homeschooling and lots of other random stressors thrown in there. I didn't have any trouble remembering which day of the week it was. I loved that my social calendar was wiped clean! I had more time to do a lot of things I really wanted to do (like go for a walk everyday). 

I am sure that I didn't properly appreciate 15 years ago this feeling of having time. Time to exercise. Time to rest. Time to let thoughts wander. Oh and quiet! My life was so much quieter then. I miss the quiet. Of course in another 15 years I bet I will even miss the noise of little children arguing.

Yesterday I stole a few moments and popped out to the now updated Waterman Pier.
Originally Posted January 24, 2007

​ Tomorrow it gets boxed.

Time has escaped me without much definition between the days. I am going to pretend that my bike is ready to go on the ride of its life. I put the tire liners in and added the kick-stand. Rode out to Port Waterman. I didn't actually know there was a Port Waterman on Beach drive. But there it was nonetheless. It probably used to be where they put the mine field or the torpedo test site. The windmill cyclist is quite entertaining but I didn't get a picture.

Dist. 14.5 - Time 1:16:56 - Avg. 11.3 - Max. 29.4
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An Inky Advent

12/27/2021

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I'm no stranger to Advent calendars, festivities, and traditions; but the Diamine Inkvent Calendar really was something else. Every morning my kids and I hunted for the next door and popped it open to a reveal a new color, sheen, or shimmer.

In my spare moments during the day I plotted how I might integrate the new ink into a drawing or sketch. Ideally the sketch would feel like Christmas or winter. On a good day I was also able to have the sketch relate to some of my devotional texts: Christ in Our Home or Bread for the Day. I've always struggled to actually retain any of the daily readings. However, doing some copy work and the act of choosing one verse to focus on really helped a little more stick. If you followed me on Instagram where I posted daily my inksplorations, you might have noticed the majority of my posts were after 10pm and there were about 6 days that I was a day behind. I still loved the daily reading, writing, and painting practice. I already have my next project lined up and that will be rolling out in the next week or so.

Here is our full review of the calendar. Which inks were your favorites? I'd love to hear in the comments!

Find me on Instagram to see more pictures @anotherbunny14
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A Christmas Star

11/28/2021

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I love this time of year. I tend to get 40 amazing ideas for decorations and traditions and I manage to pull off 2. I am glad we did this one. It went fast and the kids even helped hammer in the staples.

Supply List

  • 5 cedar fence boards: actual dimensions: 6' long x 5 1/2" wide x 1/2" thick
  • 20 exterior wood screws 1" long
  • 11 cable/plastic staples 1/2"
  • 3 strands of lights 24.5' long each (I used C6 size with 50 lights per strand)

Lay out the boards.
Grab your fence boards and lay them out on the ground. Keep adjusting them until you have a star that looks as symmetrical as you want. Don't worry about which boards are on top and which are on bottom. The boards are pretty thin and long so they will flex for you. It didn't hurt that mine have been soaking in the rain for the last several months.

Screw the boards together.
Use two screws at each point and two screws at each cross section. Make sure that you don't have screw tips poking out the back side to get hurt on. I used screws that were exactly the length of the two boards' combined thickness. So I had to be careful.

Attach the lights.
It is easier if you move the star up onto sawhorses or a work table at this point. Start at the center of the bottom of your star with the female ends of the plugs. Tack on all three light strands at once. Stagger the starts of the strands so that your lights will be more evenly spread out. Orient the plastic staples on the boards to ideally strain the wires the least.
Let me know if you try it out in the comments! Any other exciting light displays that you've made?
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How good are you at powering down?

8/15/2021

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I went camping last night. It was less than 24 hours, but I was by myself in the woods in a pretty quiet campground. Can't say that I am amazing at powering down, but I did take it down a few notches. I didn't get up to camp until about 6:30pm. That happened to be when the mosquitos were out so I just hunkered down in the hammock with a book and resigned myself to the forced lack of productivity. This was a good thing.

The next morning I woke up and after breakfast and a reapplication of bug spray, the mosquitos weren't so bad. So... I was a bit more productive.
  1. Sketched up a Science Bunny for my sister. She teaches middle school science and we agreed that she needed a mascot.
  2. Sketched my campsite and made the trees as colorful as I wanted them to be.
  3. Re-evaluated my list system... more on that in a later post.
  4. Drew an alphabet/font. It is pretty rough. I know how to turn the individual letters into vectors and get them tidied up and have consistent sizing. I have no idea how to turn it into something I type with yet though. A fun thing for me to learn!
  5. Created a rough draft of the text for a picture book about train day at the park. Lots more work to do on it, but there are lots of rhymes (and near rhymes). You are going to love it!

Maybe next time I go camping I shouldn't get so much done?
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Also this weekend, but not while camping: I worked on a heron tattoo design for my cousin. She wants a heron with a "you want a piece of me?" attitude. I'm working on this entirely on Procreate on my iPad mini. Not done yet...
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The Winter Project

7/31/2021

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Do any of you experience seasonal productivity?

I've started to notice that different seasons of the year bring their unique traditions, flavors, and demands on my time. Duh, right? In the spring and summer much time is spent in the garden: planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting. The spring's return of light is so exciting that I need to get outside and sketch. In the summer I get so distracted with all the fun random projects (this summer was screen printing). In Western Washington, the fall brings a constant drizzle from the sky and then the daylight just evaporates. It is just so so so so dark in December and there are holiday festivities that distract me. In October 2020 I started to draw bunnies... and I didn't stop until the weather got better and the sun came back. I drew a lot of bunnies. Check out the post about it here. Also, 2020 holidays had a refreshing lack of activities which left me room to get my creative repetition on.

I am hoping that Winter 2021-2022 will be equally awesome.

The bunnies happened by accident. My sister, Chelsea, turned me on to the idea of projects. She recently re-picked up photography (and a new camera) and this video gave her some great ideas. So now I am in the process of being proactive in choosing a winter project. I'd like to pick something:
  • attainable
  • fun
  • that develops skills
Here's some projects I've thought about:
  • Golden Arches: I sketch a ton of McDonalds either on location or from pictures
  • Walking Distance: A collection of sketches within a 30 minute walk of my house
  • Too Soon?: Sketch real and/or fictitious headstones, but change the epitaphs so that they are funny
  • Children's Picture Book: Lots of options here...and I am not sure how far I'd get in a winter
What do you do in the winter to keep yourself sane? Leave a comment.
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DIY Screen Printing... so far

6/28/2021

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This is probably going to be my exciting thing for the summer and it is SO HOT right now! I've been working on some designs as far back as April. Most of them were initially hand drawn, scanned, vectorized, and cleaned up using Sketch. Then I started to investigate the whole screen burning process. There are lots of great YouTube videos and a number of different approaches to building screens, coating them with emulsion, exposing them with the design, and then finally getting some ink on shirts.
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I took a pile of thrift store frames and stripped them down to the wood. I heard that some screen frames made from wood like to warp. I had some clear coat laying around so I added some to the frames for good measure.
I bopped out to Jo-Anns and bought some sheer voile curtain fabric. I cut pieces large enough to wrap all the way around the edges. The stapler worked, but the staples wouldn't go in all the way. Maybe the wood was too hard? Overall I'm not very happy with the end result of stretching and stapling my own screens. I plan to try using an aluminum pre-made screen and see what the quality difference is. 
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I took my vector images and converted them to PDF format so that they would get printed exactly the size I wanted them to be. I ordered transparencies through Staples online and later that day I picked them up. The two dragons are actually going to go on the same t-shirt, but keeping them separate should make it easier to adjust the layout for different sized shirts. The larger "Howdy Howdy Shark" design is actually two separate transparencies. I was laying them on top to make sure that the designs weren't too big for the frames. You should try to have about an inch or more between the edge of the design and the inside of the frame. 
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Then I smeared some activated Speedball Diazo Photo Emulsion on one of my screens. I was trying to get it on there with a nice consistent coating... but I missed some spots. I let it dry overnight in a dark dresser drawer. The next day I used clear scotch tape to attach my transparency to the prepared screen. There is a way to do this backwards... so be careful. I'll really have to go into more detail in another post and actually take pictures. Anyways, burning the screen was easier than I thought it would be because it changed color for me. 
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I picked up a starter set of Speedball Opaque Fabric Ink. If you like to print on dark fabrics you must be careful not to buy the wrong type of ink. 

I let the screen dry a little more after burning and rinsing, but it wasn't but a couple hours later I was trying it out. I did the blue shirt first and I wasn't very happy with some of the detail... especially around the eyes. I had some brown scraps of denim/canvas around and my first go at that turned out crisper than the second one. Clearly I have some more practicing to do there, but I like the start!
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Fishy Ink Samples

6/19/2021

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I've been wanting to revamp the way that I sample my ink. I ran out of room on the paper I was using to do swatches of my inks. I'm not even sure where that paper went when it got banged off the walls from having siding done. The Col-o-ring has been on the market for a while and I finally went for it. Then a month or so after getting it and mulling over how exactly I was going to do it, I got this video done.

Do you have ink samples and how do you do them? Share in the comments!
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Petal talk with Cathy DeLauter

5/22/2021

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I was very lucky to have Aunt Cathy drive over to Washington so that I could interview her about her creations and enjoy her presence. While she has sold her art previously in Colorado, she is been doing more of other things lately. It was still great to have a laugh with her and hear about petals, birds, and much more. 

She was a bit elusive. She didn't want her picture taken. She asked me numerous times if I could edit the audio. I loved all of it... so you get to hear it all. 

You should know that the pieces above are not her favorites... those have all found new homes. 
Oh and this was the very first time I interviewed someone about their artistic process, but I look forward to doing it again. Let me know if you want to be the next victim (I mean interviewee).
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Five tips for folks who “can’t draw”, but want to

5/15/2021

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A couple days ago, my aunt was looking at my work and she said that she can’t draw like that, but she wants to. Now aunts come in all shapes, sizes, and wills. This aunt is artistic, independent, hilarious, well traveled, forthright and retired. She wants to spend a whole year traveling Europe and she’ll do it. I could not understand what was standing in her way.

​I hear it all the time, “I can’t draw.” It is something adults will often say when they mean “I can’t draw like that and I don’t care if I ever learn.” That’s cool. We can’t all do everything. We certainly can’t do everything all the time. However, some of you actually mean “I want to draw, but I don’t feel like I have the capacity or talent to be able to.”

I believe that you just need to start practicing. It takes time and my own artistic path is in its infancy. So if you always wanted to draw/paint/write/whatever here is the advice I give:

1. Pick one thing to do over and over. I kept drawing bunnies for several months and you know what? I got better. My bunnies started to look less stupid. They took on little personalities and they made me laugh. I didn’t have to waste time deciding what to draw. I just did it and with limited time in the evenings I was still able to make headway. Liz Steel warms up by drawing her coffee and tea. What would you draw every day?

2. Don’t get hung up on the materials. One day I’ll take my own advice. Use what you have. You don’t need the perfect art supplies. In fact less is probably better.

3. Share with others. You are going to need encouragement and advice. My husband will look at my stuff, but the 6 year old will give me more feedback. I enjoy the network of Urban Sketchers around the world. Also participating in a class will give you the support you need too. There is always social media.

4. Try to listen to only one voice at a time. I am always checking out 3 cookbooks at a time or 3 how-to-draw books at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Pick one teacher or one guidebook to start with. When you’re done with that then look for a new perspective. Remember that this is supposed to be fun. Actually practicing the art is more important that learning from a book how to do it the “right” way.

5. What went well? This is a great phrase to ingrain in your thoughts. Always look for the things you like about your work. Don't dwell on all the things you did wrong. ​

I’ve got below 131 bunnies I drew and characterized before I started on the bunny clipart I made this spring. I had a blast and it was a great way to spend my winter. My family, while supportive, weren't quite sure why I was just painting another bunny.
My first bunny page!
My first book was a Ranger Ink Dylusions Creative Journal. It held up well to this project.
I just love Lou.
I used Rouge Hematite ink for the pools around their feet
This marks my first ever filling of a sketchbook.
I switched over to a Stillman & Birn Alpha Series. It ripples a bit where I used the watercolor.
Amanda is one of my favorites!
I tried out a couple different formats.
A few BIG bunnies here for fun.
Playing around with backgrounds.
Love my Christmas themed bunnies!
I love the spider borders!
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Catch a Falling Star: Watercolor Over Cursive

4/3/2021

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This process is supposed to be sort of mindless and easy for me. I devoted a whole Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook to this type of creative practice and I follow the same steps each time.

​Fewer variables = less thinking = more doing.

I start by picking a song or poem that I have memorized. I try not to pick the “perfect” poem. Catch a Falling Star featured in The Princess Diaries is one I use to unsuccessfully sing the kid to sleep. I put the blue tape down to give myself a visual edge to write up to. I picked up a TWSBI Eco with a Fine nib filled with Liberty's Elysium and started practicing my cursive.

Originally I was going to use my watercolors to do the stars, but I changed my mind and used little puddles of fountain pen ink. The inks were already in other TWSBI Ecos so I just twisted a few droplets out into my palette. I used from left to right: Sailor Ink Studio 162, Sailor Ink Studio 252, Noodler's Apache Sunset, Noodler's Rome Burning, Sailor Ink Studio 224, and Noodler's Dostoyevsky.
The apple page is the Johnny Appleseed prayer (Noodler's Rome Burning) with watercolors over top.

I did the stoplight a few months back. I wrote the little song:
won't you tell me where I'm going
won't you tell me when to stay
won't you tell me what to do Lord
it's been that kind of day

I sing it to the the tune that's whistled in Robin Hood.
What little songs or poems do you have memorized? Post it in the comments.
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