CHIT CHAT in VOLTVILLE

[Renolizzie]

You got any projects going right now, Awsum? How's that solar water coming along????

 

[SandySu]

Good night, all.

It's snowing lightly outside, and it's really, really cold. The weather prediction this morning said it'd go down to minus 8, and it feels like it. I just went out to sweep off the porch for when Bill comes home. I hate it when tracks in the snow get stuck on the porch. Sometimes it's unavoidable, if I'm out while it's snowing and I have to walk through the snow to get in the door, but at least I can keep the steps as clear as possible.

So, in honor of the snow out there, here's another winter weed in the snow. I liked the curls.

 

[celticluvr]

Good night, all.

It's snowing lightly outside, and it's really, really cold. The weather prediction this morning said it'd go down to minus 8, and it feels like it. I just went out to sweep off the porch for when Bill comes home. I hate it when tracks in the snow get stuck on the porch. Sometimes it's unavoidable, if I'm out while it's snowing and I have to walk through the snow to get in the door, but at least I can keep the steps as clear as possible.

So, in honor of the snow out there, here's another winter weed in the snow. I liked the curls.

Huh, kinda looks like 'rabbit tobacco' to me. Let's see if y'all know what that is...

 

[rave]

Staring at the tilda now, I think the one in the photo is a little broader. Try widening it by doing more of it at the top side.

As for the hindquarters, I think you've got it! That was what disturbed me most from the first. Where the tilda is seems more arbitrary, though who knows? Maybe it's something structural, not just a marking.

Yeah - it's structural.

Love the squirrel but it did kind of go two dimensional with the redo. However, the eye was much nicer on the redo. Keep up the good work, Terry.

Raven - Love the secret life of the woods cam. So cool. Mr. Fox was awesome.

Hi Jerry -.

The trainer got to my house just as I was cleaning the last hoof.

I was totally out of sync on the harnessing due to the fact that someone else was there. We got the harness on and then we decided to leave the halter on underneath the bridle. Steve the Trainer also adjusted the left blinker down a bit. We got the little guy hooked up to the cart and the breeching and the tie wraps done up.

Then, off we went. Wiseguy had to pull two of us but he didn't complain. We did a circle inside the yard on the circular driveway. Wiseguy didn't really want to turn properly but I got him stopped and then we tried it again. We did a walk out to the road then a whoa to let a car go by.

I decided to take Tenth St to the west as it is hard packed road base gravel. Wiseguy did good but was looking for dogs. I did one obstacle which is when we go into an abandoned home that has a U-shaped driveway. In one gate and out the other. Wiseguy then decided he wasn't going to turn to the right but instead, he wanted to turn to the left towards home.

We had a bit of an argument about that [me and the horse, that is]. I backed Wiseguy up as it was clear we were not making the turn back onto the road at that point. I gently convinced Wiseguy we needed to turn to the right by bumping him with the whip. Tap, tap, tap -" oh geez if you are going to irritate me like that I guess I'll do it your way." So, Wiseguy got back on the road.

We turned the corner onto Angel and headed toward the busy road at a trot. That section of road is about 1/4 of a mile. Wiseguy shied at something in the road so I stopped him and made him back up and try it again. After a bit, we figured out it was the cardboard pieces that had blown up against the fence that had him worried.

As we approached the stop sign, I said "Oh, need to move my hands up so I have more room to pull back for the stop." Steve said "I was about to mention that." We slowed Wiseguy to a walk and then did a stop at the stop sign. We got onto Ninth street. Several cars passed by us in both directions but Wiseguy was fine about the vehicles and he did good about pulling onto the dirt and then coming back up onto the roadway.

Wiseguy was very worried when we passed by the statue house. He was even more worried when we passed a house that had another horse in the yard and a dog really barking. Wiseguy kept wanting to trot but I told him we are not running from the dog as we have nothing to fear. Managed to keep him at a walk. Then, back to a trot until we reached the pitbull house.

I had forgotten that the pitbull puppy is sometimes out running the road but fortunately he and his friends were locked behind a fence today. Of course, Wiseguy wanted to trot by there, too, but I told him "Nope, we are going to walk." Success. We went back to a trot until we reached the corner that turns to home.

I decided to have Wiseguy make the corner and then do a circle in the road. I knew this would be a challenge as Wiseguy doesn't always want to turn. I had to tap him with the whip to get him to do the left circle. We waited for a car to go by and then we crossed the road and did another left circle. Now we crossed the road back again and headed home. Once we got inside the gate at home, I made that little horsey do a turn around the driveway island. At first Wiseguy said "I don't think so. I am parking." He then decided to listen. We made it all the way around and then I told the little guy to park it.

Steve says he thinks my reining is fine and that my turn problems are simply Wiseguy being a bad little pony. He thought my style of working through our issues was great. So, that is nice to know. We discussed options when on the trail for getting out of the cart and opening a gate or things like that. He thinks that Wiseguy lacks confidence but more miles will probably fix that. Also, going out with another horse might help.

He was also very impressed at how well Wiseguy backs up. He also thinks Wiseguy listens well.

He's coming over next Tuesday and we will be going to the dry lake bed.

I can't even tell you how much this made me smile. Thanks for taking us along for the drive. It was fun!! I'm glad that it was such a success for both you and Wiseguy and that the trainer had such positive feedback.

I hope this is better. The tilda has to stay where it is. I tried raising it and it looked funny so I put it back. The shading in the body doesn't show up at all in the printout of the photo. I can only see it in the photo on my PC. I think a need a new printer.

It may just be your printer, but I think that you need some more shadowing beneath the neck because, in the photo, you can hardly differentiate between the front leg and the neck. I think that you should lose most of the highlighting on the back of the neck where I've drawn the red line. Also, on that hip, you show the shadowing as almost a dish shape. The muscles being what they are in that location, it should go more the direction of the dome that I've drawn. You can kinda make it out in the photograph. All that you'd need to do is extend the shadowing upward to form that curvature.

The width of the base of the tail looks much better! I also really like the ripples in the fur that you put in.

She probably ran out of red ink.

Naw - I was just tryin' to take it easy on ya. It's just such a really nice drawing that I didn't want to overwhelm.

Why do they call it drywall? You have to put mud on it and that's wet! I can do drywall and really don't mind it, other than the mess, especially sanding.

The mess from working on drywall is the worst! 'Course, I'm the one working with a drill press in the living room, so ...

Hey Awsum - did you get a ton of snow from the storm that moved through there?

 

[awsum140]

The solar project is kind of on hold, due to weather and not enough ambition, but I am planning on working on it over the next month or so, at least to get the second grid assembled and maybe build the panels for the grids.

We got the snow. It started at about 10:30 yesterday morning, it was about 25 then, and kept going until about midnight. The temperature dropped all day as it snowed and it has warmed up a little, it's 6F now but it was 5F when I walked Bo. We got about a foot of snow, but it's nice and light so clean-up shouldn't be too much trouble, other than the cold and the wind. I'm putting heat packs into my ski gloves when I go out to walk the snow blower. Bo literally ran up the driveway to get back into the house, and he likes the snow and cold!

Terry, to my amateur eye, the squirrel looked great the first time. It's done when YOU say it's done, you're the artist.

 

[Renolizzie]

Huh, kinda looks like 'rabbit tobacco' to me. Let's see if y'all know what that is...

Never heard of it. Maybe it doesn't grow here in the West?

 

[Renolizzie]

The solar project is kind of on hold, due to weather and not enough ambition, but I am planning on working on it over the next month or so, at least to get the second grid assembled and maybe build the panels for the grids.

We got the snow. It started at about 10:30 yesterday morning, it was about 25 then, and kept going until about midnight. The temperature dropped all day as it snowed and it has warmed up a little, it's 6F now but it was 5F when I walked Bo. We got about a foot of snow, but it's nice and light so clean-up shouldn't be too much trouble, other than the cold and the wind. I'm putting heat packs into my ski gloves when I go out to walk the snow blower. Bo literally ran up the driveway to get back into the house, and he likes the snow and cold!

Terry, to my amateur eye, the squirrel looked great the first time. It's done when YOU say it's done, you're the artist.

Brrr - that is chilly. It has been about 16-19 degrees every night for awhile now. And 52 by the afternoon. Really pretty nice. I'm working on yard clean up. Two more piles of duff and brush burned yesterday. Then a bunch of raking so I could burn again today Hoping to be done soon.

Not enough moisture again this winter. They are threatening me with rain on Thursday. Let's hope.

 

[SandySu]

Never heard of it. Maybe it doesn't grow here in the West?

I never heard of it, either, and I took the picture. I have no idea what plant it is, so maybe it's rabbit tobacco.

OK, I looked it up, and the illustration here has the same curly leaves, so it very well might be. http://2bnthewild.com/plants/H64.htm

 

[Uncle]

12.5 " of Snow and freezing cold weather here right now in New Hope . . .
Need to get to airport and get back to Florida . . .
Just Sayin' . . .(insert freezing smiley here)

 

[rave]

I never heard of it, either, and I took the picture. I have no idea what plant it is, so maybe it's rabbit tobacco.

OK, I looked it up, and the illustration here has the same curly leaves, so it very well might be. Rabbit Tobbacco (Pseudognaphalium Obtusifolium)

That's a new one on me too. Cool plant!

12.5 " of Snow and freezing cold weather here right now in New Hope . . .
Need to get to airport and get back to Florida . . .
Just Sayin' . . .(insert freezing smiley here)

I wondered if you were in New Hope getting hammered by this mess. Stay warm. Or better yet, get back to Florida ASAP!!

It's not fit for man nor beast here. When I got up this morning, it was -8. It's better now, but still frigid. Found that out when I walked to the mailbox. But ... it was Smokeless Image vape mail, and I had to go get it. Just some nicquid, but still!!

 

[SandySu]

I didn't bid on the color shapers this morning. When I got up and checked the price, it was already more than I planned to spend. I have the gray ones coming and I'll see how they do. I may not even need or want the softer ones. If I do, at least with the set of 5 gray ones, I can figure out which ones I really will use, and then I could order them singly in white from Blick or someplace, or maybe another offer on eBay. I'm patient. I've done without them this long, so I can wait a bit longer.

 

[JerryRM]

Good morning, Voltpeeps. We got about a foot of the white junk here. It's 14 degrees, windy and I gotta go out there and shovel that crap.

 

[Renolizzie]

I feel for ya, Jer.

I am going out to do some yard duff burning. I already got a batch of bread going so I'll be back in to check on the bread and catch up about 10 am .

poor people with snow. On the other hand, this drought is so bad here. I just wish we would get some rain or snow. I'll take anything.

 

[awsum140]

Our "person person" has yet to deliver the "person" yet today (note the political correctness here), but yesterday I got notification I have a package from a certain well know, 'round Chit Chat anyway, luminary who lives in the land of the Acropolis. Now I have to go to the post office to get said package. That's OK though, I need an excuse to go out and I can stop at the Vet's office and pick up some more tramadol for Bo while I'm out.

Just got done walking the snow blower, using the electric shovel for the deck and an idiot stick to clean up the odds and ends with. Thankfully, it was really fluffy snow or it would have been a bear. I even cleared a big area in the backyard for Bo so he has a place to do his early morning business.

 

[SandySu]

Our "person person" has yet to deliver the "person" yet today (note the political correctness here), but yesterday I got notification I have a package from a certain well know, 'round Chit Chat anyway, luminary who lives in the land of the Acropolis. Now I have to go to the post office to get said package. That's OK though, I need an excuse to go out and I can stop at the Vet's office and pick up some more tramadol for Bo while I'm out.

Just got done walking the snow blower, using the electric shovel for the deck and an idiot stick to clean up the odds and ends with. Thankfully, it was really fluffy snow or it would have been a bear. I even cleared a big area in the backyard for Bo so he has a place to do his early morning business.

I never heard of an electric snow shovel, so I watched some in action on YouTube. Looks like a mini snowblower. I guess the advantage is that you don't have to lift and heave each shovelful.

We didn't get any significant snow here. There's a new fraction of an inch on top of what we got the other day, but it's probably only a couple inches total. At least everything's pretty and white without any major inconvenience.

 

[awsum140]

I bought a Toro electric shovel the year we moved into this house. It was the only thing that resembled a snow blower I could find. The next morning we had two feet of snow on the ground. It can't handle really large areas, like our driveway, but for the deck and sidewalks it is handy as heck. It handled the foot we got with no problem.

 

[Renolizzie]

Our "person person" has yet to deliver the "person" yet today (note the political correctness here), but yesterday I got notification I have a package from a certain well know, 'round Chit Chat anyway, luminary who lives in the land of the Acropolis. Now I have to go to the post office to get said package. That's OK though, I need an excuse to go out and I can stop at the Vet's office and pick up some more tramadol for Bo while I'm out.

Just got done walking the snow blower, using the electric shovel for the deck and an idiot stick to clean up the odds and ends with. Thankfully, it was really fluffy snow or it would have been a bear. I even cleared a big area in the backyard for Bo so he has a place to do his early morning business.

Say hi to our Greek friend for me

 

[tmcase]

Terry, to my amateur eye, the squirrel looked great the first time. It's done when YOU say it's done, you're the artist.

Thanks awsum but it looks much better with all the critiquing.

I've learned 3 things. 1) pay more attention to structure and 2) wait until all the critiquing is in before reworking it. 3) I need a new printer.

 

[tmcase]

I think some kind of light box would help. When I see my back lit drawing in my PC it looks different than the actual drawing and I can see things that I've missed or screwed up (some of them at least). That way I could look at the back lit photo while I'm drawing. Does this make sense and do you think that would help? Printing a B&W photo isn't helping me much.

 

[SandySu]

I think some kind of light box would help. When I see my back lit drawing in my PC it looks different than the actual drawing and I can see things that I've missed or screwed up (some of them at least). That way I could look at the back lit photo while I'm drawing. Does this make sense and do you think that would help? Printing a B&W photo isn't helping me much.

Terry, I don't know if it's how the picture is lit as much as it's the context it's in. I find things wrong when I post a photo of my drawing here that I didn't see in the photo of the drawing on my computer. IMHO, we just have to sharpen our awareness so we see the details before someone has to bring them to our attention. That's what my aim is, anyway. Till then, I'm grateful for those who bring things to my attention. I hope having stuff pointed out to me and then seeing it will help me focus on such things on my own. Sort of like training wheels before you learn to ride a bike, you know?

As for anatomy, the bone and muscle structure under the skin on an animal or human matters a lot. That's why artists study anatomy. I think squirrel anatomy is probably close enough to dog and horse anatomy that I can picture the main features. Whether I can reproduce them accurately is another story. But at least I have an idea, especially of how horses are built. Maybe before you do an animal, study the skeleton and muscles if you can find a site that has a picture of that. Or, if you have a pet dog or cat, just pet it and think about how it's built, where you feel the bones protrude, which way the legs are bent, etc.

I'll tell you a funny story about that. My mom went to art school, and she had to study anatomy, which she hated, she told me. But I bet it was just human anatomy.

Every Christmas, she used to make our Christmas cards, usually a linoleum block print. One year, she made the block with Joseph leading a donkey, Mary riding it and holding the baby Jesus. I was old enough that I had already studied horses and tried to draw them,
so I was appalled when I saw the picture she planned to use for the block print had the donkey's hind legs bent the wrong way! They worked like knees instead of hocks. I pointed this out to her, and at first, she didn't want to believe me and wouldn't change it, but I persisted. I brought her a bunch of photos of horses in my books and from my horse scrapbook and insisted. Finally, she changed the donkey's hind legs. Whew! Major meltdown on my part averted!