One of the most exciting presents my daughter got for her birthday was the surprise package.I got the idea from www.sandrajuto.com . She got it from somebody else/Gina/.Anyway thank you, guys,for the idea.My daughter just loved it and her friends enjoyed watching her opening it.She said she hoped she would get more of those.
My little girl likes to draw and paint too.Isn't this panda bear cute? 
Last Saturday my husband took my daughter fishing and I had some more ME time.I used it sketching from life in our back yard.I did not take long to find an interesting subject matter.When I was done with one thing I just had to turn my chair around and start to paint a another one.I had been trying to do that for several weekends but every time something would happen and would stop me from doing that.I used my favourite watercolor pencils Faber Castell and ink pen Pilot.
These two were painted with gouache Faber Castell on watercolor paper
Strathmore.Their size is about 4 1/2 x 6 inches. 
. It is our cute little kitty Precious.This is her favourite pose and her favourite thing is to be cuddled and pat.She is about two years old.
two sketches were done with my non dominant hand ,in my case my right one.I read in a magazine that it is a good warm up if you experience a creative block.I have tried that before and I liked the effect you get using your so called "weaker hand". To draw and paint these sketches I used some faces from a magazine as an inspiration.I used ink pen, Pilot, and my favourite watercolor pencils Faber Castell.The first one was done in my sketch book and the second one on regular note book paper.The size is 6x9. 
Here you can find some sketches drawn from life.They were completed with Pilot ink pen and Faber Castell watercolor pencils in my sketch book ,size 6x9. Last weekend we had a parade in our city.
As I am a parade lover I try not to miss it and take advantage of it.I usually take a lot of pictures for my reference files.Really,where can you find so many people of different ages sitting and standing in so many different poses,clowns,beauty queens ,school bends,old cars ,old fire trucks and what not?So,this year I even managed to make some sketches from life.I could have done more if my daughter was not so excited and loud attracting people's attention to us,especially to me sketching.
Here you can see two more sketches from my summer challenge I have started inspired by the Wet Canvas web site. Both were painted with watercolor pencils.For the guitar player I used ink pen Pilot.The size of the sketches is 6x9.The photo reference is from my own photo archive.
or may be it is right to say my husband's garden.Gardening is his hobby and I am just an admirer.I like to take pictures of the flowers and the plants and recently I have got interested in buying decorations for the garden.
I did these sketches from life when waiting for my daughter at the swimming pool.I used Pigma Micron ink pen and Faber Castell watercolor pencils.The size of my sketchbook is 6x9.
I have planned to knit a warm set for the winter, a hat and a scarf for the cold days.I could never find the right time and the inspiration as well.I would look in the stores for something to buy but nothing would grab my eye.
These are the last two sketches of my summer challenge.They were completed in my Mead sketch book with Pilot ink pen and Faber Castell water color pencils.I used my reference photos from our trip to the small city of Decorah,Iowa.It is a charming little city with preserved old buildings,art galleries and cute gift and antique shops down town.In the first sketch you can see an interesting building downtown Decorah and in the second a couple of musicians singing for some kind of charity at the Farmers' Market.
These are my next ones from my summer challenge in water media.Both sketches are done in my Mead sketch book,size 6x9.The first one is completed with ink pen Pilot and watercolor pencils and the second one with ink pen and light watercolor washes.I like the ink pen pilot for its bleeding features when disturbed with water.It gives more character to the drawing.
