Wow! I cannot believe that 31 days have passed since we started the Every Day Matters Challenge! At first it seemed daunting to commit to a a sketch a day, but now I am in the groove and look forward to it. As part of a 1:1 iPad initiative school, we are using iPads in the art room. To get to know the art applications better, I have challenged myself to make all my drawings on the iPad. So far, I have been experimenting with the following drawing applications: ArtRage, Sketchbook Express, and iDoodle2Lite. Even after 31 drawings, I feel like there is much more to explore in each of these apps. And then there are many more apps to try out!
My students have been drawing, too. Some are posting photos to Instagram and tagging #monalisaliveshere and #everydaymatters in the post. Others are emailing drawings to me. As a matter of fact, I was out to dinner on a Friday night a couple of weeks ago when, “ping”, I received an email on my phone. It was an email from a student sending a photo of the drawing she just finished. That was very exciting!
My students have made drawings in school on their sketchbooks and on the class iPads. Over 275 drawings have been made to date! All of the drawings are being showcased in albums on the Mona Lisa Lives Here Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/PSoqIu.
Here are my 31 drawings with descriptions:
Day #1: Draw a shoe
Day 2: Draw a lamp – this is my desk lamp at school. We have fluorescent lights in the ceiling. I keep this lamp on my desk for when I need light while showing a video. I got it at Pier 1 for $10…such a deal – App: ArtRage
Day 3: Draw a Purse, wallet, or bag – App: ArtRage
Day #4: Draw a mug or cup – this is a mug I made as a demo to show clay slab construction and texture – App: Sketchbook Express
Day 5: Draw your bed
Based on “The Bed in the Mirror” by Henri Matisse
Day 6: Draw your favorite well-loved object…or a childhood toy
This is me at about 5 with my most beloved Zip the Chimp…
App:ArtRage
Day 7: Draw a bottle, jar, or tin from the kitchen
App: Sketchbook Express
Day 8: Draw your watch or other piece of jewelry
App: Sketchbook Express
Sketched with my finger on the iPad during a school committee meeting…I listen best while drawing or doodling
Day 9: Draw a bit of organized chaos
One of the materials centers in the art room
App: ArtRage w/Boxwave stylus
Day 10: Draw a hand or hands (or someone else’s if you like
App: ArtRage
From a photo of Mr. G holding one of our baby doves for my great niece Gianna to pet…
Day 11: Draw your glasses or sunglasses
App: Sketchbook Express
I needed my glasses to draw so I drew my sunglasses from a photo.
Day 12: Draw last night’s dinner
App: Sketchbook Express
Let’s just say that this is the healthiest part of last night’s dinner…
Day 13: Draw your phone
App: Phototropedelic
This is the back of my cell phone. The cover makes my iPhone 5 look like a real paintbox. I love it!
Day 14: Draw what you see in the morning when you get up
App: Sketchbook Express
It’s Monday already?
Day 15: Draw a tree or trees, leaves or branches
App: Sketchbook Express
Straight up copied from some paintings some friends did together recently. Celebrating creativity for all!
Day 16: Draw a favorite tool
App: Sketchbook Express
This is a folding measuring stick that I bought several years ago at Mass MOCA. It is a favorite tool not only because I use it all the time, but because it reminds me of my father. I would borrow my father’s tools all the time when I was a kid. He had one of these that had been my grandfather’s. I always liked it. Although that one is gone, I was happy to find this one in the museum store…
Day 17: Draw a musical instrument
App: ArtRage using metallic oil pastel
Kazoo! Although I played the piano for many years and dabbled with the guitar and even the dulcimer(!), kazoos never fail to make me feel joyous…whether in art school long ago or with my son when he was little. I kazoo…do you?
Day 18: Draw the view from a window of your house, apartment, office, etc.
App: ArtRage with metallic oil pastel
It was dark at 6am when I made this drawing. I flipped on the outside light and watched as it sparkled on the snow and gazebo…❄
Day 19: Draw something you’ve made
App: ArtRage Tool: Crayon
Mama wearing a scarf and hat that she taught me to knit. My mother is a phenomenal knitter. She tried to teach me when I was young, but I didn’t have the patience to learn. When we moved her out of my childhood home into a senior residence in 2009, I scheduled weekly knitting lessons with her so I could keep tabs on her adjustment there. Over tea and talk she taught me to knit…☕
Day 20: Draw something “Dad”
App: ArtRage Tool: Pencil
These are my father’s hands wrapped around his harmonica. Long after Alzheimer’s had stolen his ability to remember my name, he could still play his harmonica without missing a note…
Day 21: Draw something old, vintage, or antique…
App: ArtRage Tool: Marker
This is an old Mickey Mouse marionette that I’ve had for a long time. The glove is teeny-tiny, but it works great…
Day 22: Draw a piece of clothing
App: ArtRage Tool: Brush
This is Mr. G’s barn coat that he wears to work with the animals. This coat has been seen by goats, horses, llamas, alpacas, sheep, cows, pigs, prairie dogs, peacocks, turkeys, doves, chickens, and an accidental rooster or two…
Day 23: Draw your foot
App:ArtRage Tools: Pastelle & Pencil
Now why would I draw my own foot when I can draw the adorable feet of my great niece, Gianna, on the occasion of her first birthday?
Day 24: Draw a piece of fruit
App: Sketchbook Express
Thank you for making today’s task a little more fun, Mr. Warhol…
Day 25: Draw a drinking glass
App: ArtRage
According to Mr. G, being a kid in 1950 was all about cowboys. This is a milk glass cup from the set my son used when he was in his cowboy phase…45 years after Mr. G. Wait! What? Don’t know who Hopalong Cassidy is? Google it!
Day 26: Draw a vegetable
App: ArtRage
I am officially crazy about carrots….
Day 27: Draw a book
App: Popsicolor
With a desire to transport myself to a warmer time or climate today, I came up with either seed catalogs or travel books. I chose to travel…✈⛵
Day 28: Draw an appliance
App: Sketchbook Express
Flying Toasters screen savers from After Dark… Had this on my first Mac…circa 1989…
Day 29: Draw something architectural
App: Sketchbook Express
This is the bearded man keystone from the Marble Arch in London…the arch has stayed in my mind since my month of teaching in the UK in 1998…
Day 30: Draw a chair
App: Sketchbook Express
This is my studio chair. I bought it used somewhere. I love it…
Day 31: Draw something you collect
App: ArtRage
How appropriate to finish the first month of the Every Day Matters Challenge with a drawing of Mona Lisa! Stay tuned for a new list for February…
The new month starts tomorrow, and I have a whole new list for you:
