Progressing to the End
The end of Summer so far as the school year is concerned approaches. Some kids are going back next week, which as you might imagine stinks. Especially when it is hovering around 110 still. So for August I'll have to open up my evenings and be running 5-7pm Monday through Friday and my usual mornings (which I suspect to be rather empty) Tuesday-Saturday. Come the beginning of September I'll open up the afternoons as it should be only averaging around 97 for the highs at that point and I can get rid of the 6-7pm time slot.
It feels like I just barely got into the groove for Summer and now it's over. At least cool weather is on the horizon and I won't be sweating quite so much.
After going through most of the season I have to admit I really like my Icefil shirts. I was slightly skeptical to start, but with the long sleeves and mesh underarms as well as the fabric that is light and adds some cooling I am sold. I had tried one of those coolmedic vests a couple years ago, but I didn't like being wet all the time. These shirts also have the bonus of negating my need to apply sunscreen to my arms. I was also surprised to find that they felt cooler than my short sleeved polos. I'll be going back to the polos as it cools down, but it was nice to find something that makes the heat a little more bearable. I've also switched to wearing my breeches almost all the time (I think I wore my jeans twice this summer) because they are cooler than the jeans, plus I am a lot more likely to ride if I am wearing breeches than not. I dislike riding in jeans anymore if I can help it.
It looks like I am done with art lessons for the summer except for the open studio days on Saturday. No one signed up for the Visual Storytelling, which started this week and I don't have any prospects for Animal Anatomy next week, but it's all good. I've been using a little of the time to continue working on the drawing. I managed to beat the sky into shape yesterday and wrangled the shrubbery into somewhat decent order. The ground is giving me fits and I'm debating if the watercolor base was a good idea or not. I am also debating if I still like the Prismacolor pencils or if it is just because I am fighting my lazy, inconsistent watercolor base. I guess I'll find out when I get to the subjects who have a much smoother base to work on.
I should do a smaller piece and play with the Prismas to see if it's the base or just me. I've avoided them so long because I was enjoying the challenge of a limited palette (12-24) and the fact that the pencils with slightly harder lead don't shatter internally... I just haven't really been able to layer properly I guess and I am used to building it up very slowly from the white of the paper so the watercolor ground, especially with the various dark and light areas is throwing me for a loop.
I'll figure it out and get something halfway decent out of it. I am itching to do a large watercolor piece. I've had some 16x20" Aquabord laying around that has been calling to me. That will definitely require some sketching and thumbnailing, however.
Somewhat random I suggested to Marty puting E-va in the boys' names, inspired by windy_withers latest post. While it will be a couple years before they rider her (she turned two in May) Dave and Marty took her in as a future grandkid pony so there you go. We're contemplating her name still. Current possibility is Esche, which is German for "Ash." Being grey dun/grulla she does look like she has ash smudged all over her and I was mulling over "ash" alone earlier, but I do have a cousin with a kid named Ash and there's also that Pokemon connotation with it too. Of course thinking about it today I remembered M. C. Escher,then thought maybe Escherin to make it feminine, but I guess we'll see. We'll try out the sound of Esche for a bit. I had liked the sound of Elna a little and then remembered Elbe, which doesn't sound too bad. Apparently I am stuck on "e" names and I am not quite sure why.
In still other news Chewy produced seven glorious piles today and is eating and drinking well. She went back to work today too. I am debating feeding her hay or keeping to the soaked pellets. I have fed her really small portions of soaked hay and she's eaten it, but I do worry slightly about her ability to chew it.
It feels like I just barely got into the groove for Summer and now it's over. At least cool weather is on the horizon and I won't be sweating quite so much.
After going through most of the season I have to admit I really like my Icefil shirts. I was slightly skeptical to start, but with the long sleeves and mesh underarms as well as the fabric that is light and adds some cooling I am sold. I had tried one of those coolmedic vests a couple years ago, but I didn't like being wet all the time. These shirts also have the bonus of negating my need to apply sunscreen to my arms. I was also surprised to find that they felt cooler than my short sleeved polos. I'll be going back to the polos as it cools down, but it was nice to find something that makes the heat a little more bearable. I've also switched to wearing my breeches almost all the time (I think I wore my jeans twice this summer) because they are cooler than the jeans, plus I am a lot more likely to ride if I am wearing breeches than not. I dislike riding in jeans anymore if I can help it.
It looks like I am done with art lessons for the summer except for the open studio days on Saturday. No one signed up for the Visual Storytelling, which started this week and I don't have any prospects for Animal Anatomy next week, but it's all good. I've been using a little of the time to continue working on the drawing. I managed to beat the sky into shape yesterday and wrangled the shrubbery into somewhat decent order. The ground is giving me fits and I'm debating if the watercolor base was a good idea or not. I am also debating if I still like the Prismacolor pencils or if it is just because I am fighting my lazy, inconsistent watercolor base. I guess I'll find out when I get to the subjects who have a much smoother base to work on.
I should do a smaller piece and play with the Prismas to see if it's the base or just me. I've avoided them so long because I was enjoying the challenge of a limited palette (12-24) and the fact that the pencils with slightly harder lead don't shatter internally... I just haven't really been able to layer properly I guess and I am used to building it up very slowly from the white of the paper so the watercolor ground, especially with the various dark and light areas is throwing me for a loop.
I'll figure it out and get something halfway decent out of it. I am itching to do a large watercolor piece. I've had some 16x20" Aquabord laying around that has been calling to me. That will definitely require some sketching and thumbnailing, however.
Somewhat random I suggested to Marty puting E-va in the boys' names, inspired by windy_withers latest post. While it will be a couple years before they rider her (she turned two in May) Dave and Marty took her in as a future grandkid pony so there you go. We're contemplating her name still. Current possibility is Esche, which is German for "Ash." Being grey dun/grulla she does look like she has ash smudged all over her and I was mulling over "ash" alone earlier, but I do have a cousin with a kid named Ash and there's also that Pokemon connotation with it too. Of course thinking about it today I remembered M. C. Escher,then thought maybe Escherin to make it feminine, but I guess we'll see. We'll try out the sound of Esche for a bit. I had liked the sound of Elna a little and then remembered Elbe, which doesn't sound too bad. Apparently I am stuck on "e" names and I am not quite sure why.
In still other news Chewy produced seven glorious piles today and is eating and drinking well. She went back to work today too. I am debating feeding her hay or keeping to the soaked pellets. I have fed her really small portions of soaked hay and she's eaten it, but I do worry slightly about her ability to chew it.