Today's drawing of the day... sketches
-- Just a sketchbook page done during conversations with our guests after the reception. We had a couple of guests over for a long discussion.
I like the knotwork design, even though the execution was a lot sloppier than most of my knotwork. I was tired and had trouble focusing my eyes, plus I did not have my magnifier next to me to try for a delicate careful rendering. I'll probably do that as a Deviation when it's time. The butterfly is the same one as in "Butterfly on Lilacs" done from memory, a Viceroy -- I will have to compare them to see how good my visual memory is. The rocks were done from life as I waited for the wedding party to arrive when kkitten42 left me at the site to rest while she went back in the four-person car to get her children and husband. We have been car relaying ever since I moved in because the car won't hold three adults and two children at the same time, it's amusing -- and since I had a lawn chair out there for the wait it wasn't too hard on me.
The wedding was beautiful. I'll have to ask permission from the newlyweds to post any pictures of them, but I took lots. Right now they are upstairs being married or quite likely, fast asleep as newlyweds often are despite romantic legend. The reception at the Panda Garden was great, I finally had beef chop suey for the first time in years because they offered it as a Family Dinner -- and it was as good as I remembered, a nice safe bland Chinese dish with no unexpected pepper or hot stuff as the brown sauce in beef broccoli was the last time I had it. The cake was awesome. They had the words of their elven love rings on the cake plus a beautifully painted hawk and wolf design.
We got photos of the cake and I'm tempted to re-sketch their hawk and wolf design as a keepsake for them along with doing my grand oil painting wedding portrait. Which will begin with sketches done from my photos. I was busy during almost all of the ceremony getting photos, so did not have time to sketch them at all, but I got plenty of great references. When my camera ran out, I borrowed hers, and we got some more at the reception taken by our waitress.
Gaby "Bamm Bamm" was a wild critter, and our senior waitress, grandma to one of the younger waitresses, volunteered to let him come and play, she read to him and babysat him for part of it so that the newlyweds could have some adult conversation. Sascha got to play with an entire bucket of toys kept for such occasions and was very cute when not up to serious mischief. Bamm Bamm played "Drop Things" as enthusiastically as Ari does. He's learning from my cat.
All in all it was a great day without anything resembling word count. I was too busy getting ready before the wedding and too busy eating and conversing with guests after the wedding to get to my computer till now. But I did a little sketchbook page and I did get some great shots of the beautiful stone half-amphitheatre where they had it while I was waiting for the car relay to bring them all, filled up my phone with location shots plus have the wedding pics to study, so I should be able to do a great job on the oil painting.
I'll sketch that first in my big sketchbook in pencil or Conte crayon, then go from that to sketching on the canvas -- but this time I have a feeling I need to really combine the references. Some of them she was great and his sleeve flapped in front of his head, others she was windblown and he looked great, others they looked great but his head was kissing the top of the picture... lots of randomnesses to correct. But they were both extremely happy and too cool and goodlooking for words. It rocked, and I don't mind losing a day of NaNoWriMo to this at all.
Congratulations to kkitten42 and DeviantArtist HeraldoftheAbyss!
In other news, tomorrow is my six month checkup, so I'll be biting down my doctor phobia and going out again one day after I went out. This may not bode well for my back, but it needs to be done -- one of my prescriptions has no more refills and the last time I rescheduled, it was weeks before I could get another appointment with her. So here I go again on medical appointment overexertion. I would not be surprised if I wind up sleeping like my cat for a couple of days on this, but with meds at least I won't be in pain while I do.