drawing

Your POV – The Lens From Which You View – and why it matters!

/ Penny L Howe / 19 Comments

The Lens we view from

Did you know that the “HOW” you think about a thing can make a huge difference in your life and to those around you. No, seriously this is true.

I’m referring, not so much, about WHAT you’re actually thinking or doing, but the process behind the WHY you’re thinking or acting in a certain way. How you’re “seeing“ things happen to and around you.

And, It affects your health, big time. It affects your ability to make wise choices for yourself and those you care about too. Let’s see how this happens.

It all has to do with the nature of your focus, the actually starting point! Depending on your education and personal experience, you have a certain way of focusing/viewing  a variety of things (assimilating new information) . That’s where your POV begins, for even as you take in new information, your preformed ideas and thoughts (achieved from already existing memories of experiences and life’s learning lessons) will be the true lens from which you will view new and different things.

With me so far? So even before you really understand some new change occurring, your mind is calling up what you think you already know and deciding how you are going to feel about it. The true beginning of your focus and personal Point of View.

If there is a negative experience associated with what you are viewing or experiencing, then your current POV is going to incorporate this negative feeling, coloring your perception of current events, (the happening in the now of things) based on your very emotional memory from the past. Likewise the reverse is true with positive learning lessons. In other words you’ve already decided, to a degree, how you may feel about something new before you have a complete understanding of what it’s all about. So in effect you will not be truly viewing things as they actually are.

The key to having a healthy point of view is by expanding your focus slightly to see through known experiences (your personal lens), making this only a place to begin – for moving beyond. A “lens” that can be adjusted. Innovation occurs at this level of view. Increased comfort level begins here too.

What all this means is that the more comfortable you are within yourself and how (the manner in which) you view a thing ultimately gives your POV a healthier balance, a better sense of being in control of yourself and events unfolding around you, and of course this affects your overall health along with those you connect with.

Think about it!  As always the view from your eyes stays unique to you, how healthy it will be therefore also rests with you.

View wisely my friend, and have an excellent week ahead!

~

With sincere affection to all my world wide friends, those I know and those I’ve yet to meet,

~ Penny

Time Out for Art – Shadows of Light and Dark!

/ Penny L Howe / 39 Comments

Yesterday was Time Out For Art at Zeebra Designs and Destinations. An every Thursday affair where Lisa encourages you to take a break and draw! I’ve really missed participating in the last few weeks, and am pleased to be only a day late this week. Although, I was drawing yesterday, I didn’t get it posted until today. Be sure to check out her wonderful blog.

For me drawing is one of the most relaxing things I can do, my mind letting go of day to day worries and focusing on the art of drawing (or painting, or sculpting, or writing, etc ….) while listening to music. A creative outlet!

Recently I’ve been working on a sketch for a blogging friend in England that many of you know, Ute! She sent me a photo, and while I’m still working on the actual sketch that’s more in keeping with the photo itself, I decided to experiment with Light and Dark and Ute’s face.

So I imagined that a bright light was illuminating her features from the left, washing out most of the detail on the left side of her face with shades of darkness and shadows on the right.

This is what I came up with: What do you think Ute? (And yes, I had already asked her permission to do this).

Ute - Shadows

~

And here’s her photograph!

Ute

An excellent photo of Ute – and the owl’s a hoot! LOL

Be sure and visit Ute’s at Ute smile, she’s a delight! And she just returned from Spain where she not only spent time with her mom but also visited another excellent blogger and friend, Ralph – visit him too, his blog is excellent!

Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy your weekend my wonderful friends!

~ Penny

Time Out for Art – A blending of styles!

/ Penny L Howe / 69 Comments

I love the “The Kiss” by  Gustav Klimt. (A very well known piece of art). I also like “Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh (another well know piece of art), so I decided to blend, (somewhat) the two styles in my rendering below. And of course there’s a bit of my own style in there too.

(Credit to Wikipedia for prints of each painting)

Gustav_Klimt_016             Van_Gogh_-_Starry_Night_-_Google_Art_Project-x0-y0

I call my rendering Love. I was fascinated by the gold coloring and romantic symbolism of Klimt and equally fascinated by the mesmerizing swirls and hues of colors of Van Gogh,  The result below!

drawing by Penny

First I drew the figures and swirls in pencil and then sketched over the drawing with different colors of Ink. Darkening the background between the swirls. The colors are more vivid in the actual sketch and the gold sparkles in the light, which was an interesting effect for me to try!

All in all, it was great fun playing with the colors. I also enjoyed placing the two, slightly surreal lovers in a very affectionate and loving pose!

I hope you enjoyed too!

Today it’s Thursday which means it’s “Time out for Art” over at Zeebra DeSigns & Destinations be sure and check out Lisa’s Lesson for the day. A wonderfully entertaining post, moving and inspirational as well!

Thanks for stopping by, Have an excellent day today!

~ Penny

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Time Out for Art ~ Curiosity and little girls

/ Penny L Howe / 55 Comments

Curious by Penny L Howe, 2013

~

There was a little girl who just had to know,
about every little thing, everywhere she’d go!
Girls need to understand things
the Why, the How, the Who,
little girls are curious – it’s just what we do!
*
Growing up to be mysterious
or so it seems to men.
The truth is we stay curious,
the What, the Where, the When!
*
living life and loving
the things we do the best,
Well, and staying curious
for knowledge is our quest!
My case I therefore rest!
*

“Go Girls!”

~ Penny L Howe, 2013

~

Today is Thursday so it’s Time Out for Art over at Zebra Designs and Destinations! I drew a curious little girl and wrote a poem to go with it! I hope you enjoy, thank you!

~ Penny

penny

Weekly Photo Challenge: Curves

/ Penny L Howe / 30 Comments
Curvy snowcat by Emma, copyright 2013

A very curvy Snow cat ~ shaped by Emma

Hello.

As you know I don’t normally do photo challenges but this weeks WordPress Photo Challenge of curves sounded like fun. Also I wanted to submit a drawing for ‘Time out for Art’, also I wanted to write a brief post about the summer of things versus the winter of things, also Emma had asked me to showcase some of her creative work. (As if that’s ever a problem, lol).

download

A cartoon drawing by Emma. Having fun building a snowman in winter.

~

One of the things we females do extremely well, is multi-task so without further ado. My photo entry for the Weekly Photo Challenge of curves (Emma’s). The drawing, for Lisa’s of Zebra Designs and Destinations: Time out for art (Emma’s). Expressing herself through her art form, drawing multiple drawings per day is the norm. for her.

And I … well I sit here viewing both Emma’s creative molding of a snow cat (she loves cats), a cartoon drawing of a snowman (she makes her own cartoon videos) depicting the fun we can have in winter on even really cold days while out on the patio this morning where it’s a warm and breezy blue skied day outside!

There you go! a Challenge, a time out, some feel good feelings of sharing a young girl’s creativity and a reminder that, yes indeed, summer is just about here and celebrating the difference between the two seasons.

Here’s the Artisan herself: Emma (And yes she designed and colored the hat and shirt)!

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I’m going to sip a little more coffee as I publish this, everyone have an excellent weekend!

~ Penny

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A Bee on a Dandelion – time out for art

/ Penny L Howe / 39 Comments

Several weeks ago, Lisa, at Zebra Designs & Destinations (& playamart) started a delightful artistic activity – Time Out For Art – every Thursday. All who enjoy (or want to try their hand at this creative and relaxing activity) pick up a pencil and sketch, then share their pencil drawings by linking to her weekly Time Out For Art post. As a result of this gathering of artistic activity, I’ve decided to spend more time drawing. I’ve rediscovered just how much I enjoyed sketching, something I’ve done very little of, in recent years.

A few weeks ago there was a dandelion plant thriving in the lawn. Prior to it’s removal I sat down and sketched it. I sketched very quickly. There was a bee on one of the dandelion flowers.

dandelion sketch

I used just a few placement lines and circles for the the initial layout, the bee did not hang around long. Then I sketched in more details (the bee long gone by now), went inside to refine a little more of the detail and shading.

It was overly ambitious of me, afterwords I realized there was just too much detail for me to do it justice as a true pencil sketch (and too little time as well). So I shaded in various grasses and dandelion petals and bee and then to bring out a little more detail, I pen and inked in some of the sections and added a smidgen of color. So not truly a “pencil sketch”. Next week I’m going for a more stand alone object so I can really focus on the shading detail of a less complex subject!

So there you have it. To some a weed, to me a dandelion wildflower, to the bee, nourishment! p.s.- if you look real close, there is a dandy ‘lion’s’ face peaking out from the left upper most dandelion flower in the sketch! 

Thanks for stopping by, be sure to enjoy your day today!

~ Penny

plh

A Very Special Sketch

/ Penny L Howe / 37 Comments

This is the second week of my participating in Lisa’s (Playamart – Zeebra Design) wonderful Timeout for Art! If you like to sketch or even think you might like it, check it out.Timeout for Art:  Through A Child’s Eyes     Creative fun, and great therapy for calming the inner conflicts of your mind.

sketch

When I picked out the sketch shown here. I did not know her title for this week Through A Child’s Eyes and the fun quote that went with it. We were commenting back and forth just before she posted it and I shared with her that I had a special drawing to share.

Imagine my surprise when I saw her title because my drawing concerns things as viewed through a child’s eyes. Artists (This includes all creative souls by the way) are kindred spirits indeed.

This drawing in my sketchbook is unfinished (just a little shading and details not completed) but all the more special because of what it does contain. (notice the child like drawings)

Ever since I was small I would draw things around me, I still do.

About six years ago I was visiting my daughter and her family and decided to sketch little Jack and his older sister Jordan who were intently watching a TV show.

I drew in the main details of their back sides and some of the pieces of furniture, part of the lamp, tv and so on when Jack decided to leave the room (of course) so I began some of the shading and filling in of the drawing. I figured I’d finish the rest of the detail and the shading the next day. I set the drawing pad aside for the day.

When I looked at it the next day, the very youngest member of the family had added her own art to the drawing. She was very proud of her work. She pointed out to me the picture on the wall and the characters in the TV, the clock underneath and so on! The sketch became priceless to me, just as it was!

It’s a few years later now and at the ripe young age of 11 Emma loves to draw more than anything else. And she’s good!

My message for today, draw for the joy of it and if you have children, be encouraging if they show an interest in drawing. It’s a very good thing to do!

~ Penny

Penny L Howe