Inktober leaves – Pilot ball point pen in a Strathmore mixed media 5 1/2 x 8 12 sketchbook
Same Inktober leaves – Pilot ball point pen with oil pastel color on top of the ink
I just found out it was Inktober. Who knew? Teresa, for one. She, along with others, have been featuring Inktober on their blogs. One does an ink drawing each day in October. Well, that’s not gonna happen here. I got boxes to unpack. Lots and lots of boxes. But a break in unpacking is always nice so I figured I would join in the Inktober fun. I can procrastinate with the best of them!
During a dog walk I found these beautiful autumn leaves which was my Inktober inspiration. Not being able to find any real art implements I used a pilot ball point pen for the drawing. Then added some color using some kid’s oil pastel crayons I found. Each day holds new surprises in box opening.
When I was packing up the apartment, everyone was talking about the book “the life changing magic of tidying up” by Marie Kondo. I thought I did quite a bit of life changing tidying up. But not enough. My sister sent me this cartoon today which made me laugh.
While laughing I went on Amazon and bought the book. I’ll let you know how it turns out. I hope I actually read it and not put it on a shelf with all the other self help or informational books that I buy and don’t read thinking that if I own it, the information will magically transfer to me. I realize now that’s not how it works.
But there’s always a first time!
Carol King: drawing, painting, complaining 
18 comments
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October 6, 2015 at 11:49 am
Rebecca
Delicious colours, Carol! Did you do the picture on watercolour paper? (quite hard to tell from the photo). Good luck with the book. I daren’t read such a thing.
October 6, 2015 at 12:59 pm
RHCarpenter
Can’t believe you took time to even do a drawing of the leaves – but fallen leaves and turning leaves are inspiring this time of year! Love the cartoon!! The trick is, don’t read the self-help book, put it under your pillow and sleep on it – it’s hard on your neck and head but in the AM you awake and have all the knowledge inside the book – voila!! Good luck with the unpacking and all the other stuff that comes from moving.
October 6, 2015 at 2:00 pm
Sharon Mann
Beautiful imagery and very funny cartoon!
October 6, 2015 at 2:51 pm
bilomathews2013
I like your sketch of the black plastic bag with someone’s garbage dumped in an inappropriate spot so they don’t have to be responsible for it! So annoying when I see people dump their garbage on private property. Your sketches are lovely
October 6, 2015 at 3:02 pm
Susan Feniak
Where can we all get ourselves a big hefty bag? I will stand in line! 🙂 Nice leaves Carol.
October 6, 2015 at 3:58 pm
kk2n777
I hope you are feeling better. Unpacking boxes will undoubtedly stir up dust and may impact your breathing. Maybe you can separate the boxes into two rooms, have Matt open up some boxes in one room while you put stuff to their new places from the opened boxes in other room. If you can’t find a place for it, TOSS IT! Ms. Kondo thanks each object she discards for its service in years past, I can’t really see you going through all that ritual but if you have time on your hands….
Nice sketches by the way.
October 6, 2015 at 5:34 pm
Laura (Createarteveryday)
That artwork is lovely and you will LOVE the Strathmore mixed media book!!! It’s become my art journal and I’m working on my fourth one since May! You can throw any media at it and it happily spots a gorgeous image back out at you. Well done!
October 6, 2015 at 7:00 pm
Charlie O'Shields (doodlewash)
This is wonderful Carol! Nice Inktober nod! I love those! And thanks for sharing that cartoon!! I needed that today!! 👍🏻😂
October 6, 2015 at 7:40 pm
padmaja
Beautiful and spontaneous Carol, glad you took a break!
Well literally a garbage bag is being kept by some one near our wall everyday for me to dispose off, believe me, I get up early in the morning to play a watchman role, but the culprit is not yet caught! Come to think of it, some people really do this garbage bag act with their life problems as well 🙂
October 7, 2015 at 7:52 am
memadtwo
I thought the book was useful, if not totally practical for me. Inspirational at any rate…or is that aspirational?
Great texture and color on the leaves. (K)
October 7, 2015 at 12:32 pm
Stu-ttg-art
Hi Carol! Loved your blog entry! Keep on “experimenting” with what you find in those boxes. … the bookshelf magic doesn’t seem to be working for me either 🙂
October 9, 2015 at 4:59 am
June Malone
Well done for even attempting Inktober when you’re so busy – the oil pastels work really well with the ink drawing….and a little procrastination never hurts. Love your humour and the cartoon says it all.
October 10, 2015 at 4:07 pm
lesliepaints
I bought one of those “how to organize books” years ago and it is still sitting on my nightstand unread under two or three other books I do read. Guess it could go to the used book store with me. No one ever tells me how to organise art supplies so I can get to them, easily, to load up the car with three times a week. I have wonderful cupboards in the basement where I store supplies, in an organised manner, that I use once in awhile. Somehow going up and down a flight of stairs three times carrying loads of stuff and doing that three times a week just so my reading room near the back door can look uncluttered just does not appeal to me. A move to a new home would petrify me, so I admire you and “the Husband” for your bravery. Good job for getting an inktober done. Nice color!
October 12, 2015 at 8:18 pm
joantav
Good to see you jointing in the Inktober fun. I’ve been keeping up so far. I hate unpacking (but I hate packing even more) so I don’t envy you. It is fun to find surprises in the boxes when you open them. It should be a law that there should be a surprise in every moving box…sort of like the Cracker Jax boxes when we were kids. Happy unpacking!
October 18, 2015 at 12:12 pm
ruthsartwork
Shopping in the moving boxes is always fun. When we moved, I hated the packing, but loved the unpacking and making a new place home. We stayed in a “transition” condo between the selling of our home of 20 years and the building of a new one. Not everything fit there so I had boxes in storage for almost 3 years. It was so much fun to go shopping in my own things, half of which I had forgotten I had.
Doing some small pieces of art to take a break from unpacking is a great idea. I should take my little art journal out with me, but of course, I always forget to. Love the little leaf drawings.
October 31, 2015 at 3:56 pm
Lifesastitch
I NEED that book. Will look forward to your review. The last time we moved, many years ago, I had a “why did I move it” garage sale.
November 2, 2015 at 12:12 pm
elenacaravela
🙂
January 1, 2016 at 3:32 pm
sjqzoom
Hi Carol
I love your bold colours
You are doing such great work.
That book sounds useful – though I am sure there is a YOuTube video that will spell out the essentials in 10 minutes.
I have almost run out of space in my studio and will have to stop painting soon and tidy up.
I thought you may have some pointers.
S