Three Days in a Row!

I've managed to do a sketch every day this year!  And sometimes two.  It's been challenging, as it is too cold to venture out and about, even inside the car (it's so cold, I don't even want to go outside to warm up the car!).

So I've been staring out the front window to find subject matter.  On January 1 (see previous post), I drew the bird feeder and the birds.  On January 2, I drew the two small trees that grace the front lawn of the house directly across the street:

That same day, I also drew the house diagonally across from mine --this is Dick and Charlsia's home, and they still have the giant cardboard gingerbread figures in their front window from Christmas:

Yesterday, January 3, I decided to try drawing stuff inside my house.  I had an idea about making a circuit of the rooms, sketching a section at a time, and started off with the area around the front door.  Within a few minutes, I was bored silly and gave up.  Even though it's a visually interesting area with a multi-panelled door, side table crammed with knickknacks, and a chair, I just couldn't work up any enthusiasm for sketching furnishings.  They did not speak to me.

If there's one thing I've learned from the past two (!) years with the Urban Sketchers group, it's that if you don't care about your subject matter, you won't do a good job.  I'm not averse to drawing household objects -- I thoroughly enjoyed the sketch outing at the Stimson Green mansion -- but those were truly fascinating objects from the early 1900s.  I'm afraid my home furnishings, while nice enough, aren't quite in the same league.

So I gave up on my idea of drawing the interiors of my home, and looked around the living room for something that would inspire me, something I actually cared about, something that spoke to me.   And hey, I found it!

Not only did Truman speak to me, he also barked after I finished this, and insisted he wanted to go for a walk.  Well, even though it was too cold (yes, I can hear you laughing, friends in Minnesota!), I bundled myself up and then I bundled him up and we managed to go outside.

We lasted about 20 minutes during which my feet nearly froze.  Brrrrrrr!

It is supposed to get back up to 40 degrees on Friday.  I sure hope so, because I'm running out of stuff to draw here inside!