To Draw and Paint

I had a bit of time today and decided to draw another image for the sketchbook challenge. This month we are supposed to draw things that are highly prized. The mask I drew is highly prized, as it was a gift from a man that had very few possessions in life. Our family went to Bali a couple of years ago, and we hired a man to drive us around to different parts of the island. He was a wonderful man, that taught us so much about life in Bali. He explained things to us in such a kind way, and one evening wanted us to go and meet his family. Compared to families in North America his family did not have much, but we enjoyed a cup of tea with his family in his yard outside his house- I felt very privilege. While we were there he went inside, and brought out this old mask and gave it to my husband (who had been looking at old masks one day on our trip). The mask is treasured not so much for the mask itself, but for the gift it was, from such a kind individual that gave our trip to Bali so much meaning.

I also had time to paint a picture...... but painting this picture took me about 4 hours!! and I struggled with it every step of the way. It is done with acrylic paint, and I have only painted a handful of faces with acrylic, and they were all last January...... I know to get better at it I have to practice, but my creative time is so limited so I will have to decide if I want to spend it trying to paint.

Highly Prized

I have joined the sketchbook challenge for 2011. Every month we will get a new theme of which we can use whatever medium we want to interpret it. For January the theme is Highly Prized. The two pictures I did for this theme is of the above bird.....

and this kind of strange looking frog. (I have never drawn frogs before) I choose frogs as one of the things I highly prize as they are indicator species that help us know whether the environment is healthy or not. They are very sensitive to pollution and habitat alteration, and therefore many different species of frogs are going extinct. I love listening to frogs in the spring during the few weeks when they are extremely vocal.

If you want to see more people's interpretation of this theme go here, or if you would like to join the group, learn more about it here. If you are already participating let me know!