I had decided that I was going to be looser and a bit more painterly on this drawing. Nope. I am, however very happy with it. I have proven to myself that I can do realism. I love the freedom that working with layers in a digital medium gives me. Next? Possibly some regional flowers. I am also going to be goofing around taking more Domestica and Skillshare classes. It seems to be a good way for me to learn.

I feel I am getting the hang of layering and shading in Procreate. I am using brushes mimmicking pastels and pencils. I was v-e-r-y caught up in the minutia on this one. Next one I will loosen up a bit.

I have been taking classes on and off on Skillshare. I took “Pastel Succulents in Procreate” from Jennifer Nichols. I was surprised and pleased with the results. A simple class, but a number of awesome concepts. I’ll be practicing a few more using this technique.

The pandemic and quarantine reduced my work hours by about half. We had a pretty heavy tourist season this year in Grand Marais. In an attempt to stay safe (and I just don’t like crowds) I spent a lot of time alone. Hmm, what to do with myself? I have to say I am pretty blessed to be in a safe and comfortable place where my primary worries are not all around safety and survival. Still, there is time to fill. I have been knitting less. Natural shift I guess, I have what I need and don’t knit fast or steady enough to make money at it. I can tinker…

So, I wanted a vest. I bought a vest quantity of Peace Fleece for something warm and sturdy. I finally settled on Provincial Waistcoat from Interweave. I get the pattern, prepare to knit a gauge swatch, and kinda choke. There are a LOT of moving parts to this pattern, and it is primarily rib-ish patterns, which I wanted to avoid. Ok, no gauge swatch, and it goes on time out. Well, I took it out of the “time out” corner, dusted it off, and waded in. I am finding the way it was written hard for the dyslexic eye, but if I keep in mind what the pattern is trying…