Christmas Eve at Busch Gardens, Tampa FL

Family came down to Florida from West Virginia to spend Christmas with my two sons, Terry and I.  The boys' father and family arrived on Sunday the 23rd staying at an RV park north of Ocala this year since the boys now live in Ocala.  Prior to that, they stayed at the Holiday RV park in Leesburg.

Due to work schedules, we all chose Christmas Eve day to spend time together at Busch Gardens.  Part of the group spent time attending several of the Christmas shows while the rest walked around checking out various animals as well as a few of the shops near the entrance.

My leg and back gave out on me fairly early and my youngest son was struggling from a back injury about a week or so ago while at work.  We both felt fine when we first arrived at the park but the standing and walking soon took its tole on both of us.  With that being the case, we didn't cover very much of the park this trip but we still had a good time.  We'll save the rides and exploring the rest of the park another time.

In checking out a few of the shops, I came across this one resin figurine I just thought was perfect for winter / Christmas / Holiday season and living in Florida.  Up north we were used to making snowmen but here in the south not so much......ha ha.  This beach sandman was perfect!

Fabriano Venezia sketchbook using Wolf's Carbon pencil #B.  Used a damp brush over areas and finished with dry strokes and shading.

At another shop, my youngest took notice to my fascination with a hand crafted family statue.  Before we left the park, he slipped back into the shop to buy this for me.  I absolutely LOVE it!!!  I love the material it's made of (Kisii stone / soapstone) which part has a pink tone to it while the rest is off white with the brown specks.  It's smooth and heavy.  This is about 10 inches tall and weighs just over 2 pounds.

Hand crafted by Kenyan Artisans.

Worked in Stillman & Birn large Beta sketchbook.  Statue is only mechanical pencil, watercolor and flecks using Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber watercolor pencils.  The wording using the TWSBI Eco pen with Urban Grey ink.

Worked in the Fabriano Venezia sketchbook.  This one ended up as a blooper with my taking a white gel pen to cover up the hatch marks in the main ring.  My marks made it look like it had a furry texture........lol.  The gel pen I used was the UniBall Signo Broad, UM 153.

Hourly 5-Minute Sketch Challenge

Four years ago July, Jean MacKay shared a challenge she worked by sketching something every hour for so many hours she had set for that day.  I worked this challenge timing myself 1 to 5 minutes (tops) for each illustration. 

Worked over four years ago:

New hourly challenge I worked yesterday as an example for a project I hope our FAST group will work at one of our get togethers in the coming year.

I used my new TWSBI Eco pen with DeAtramentis Urban Grey ink in the Fabriano Venezia sketchbook.  My helper who timed me was Alexa.  :-)  For this one, I chose not to worry about adding shadows as I am considering adding color and would prefer to add shadows with watercolor rather than pen and ink.

Flowers from Husband

Saturday, my husband went grocery shopping and upon his return, surprised me with a bundle of flowers.

One stem out of the bunch bent over the edge of the vase but didn't break or split so I left it.  It's Tuesday evening and the stem is still going strong.  The fact that it's by itself, it catches my attention at every glance.

Worked in the Fabriano Venezia sketchbook using my new TWSBI Eco pen with DeAtramentis Urban Grey ink.

I'm really liking this ink!  It's a bit lighter than Noodler's Lexington Grey ink and for sketching I prefer an ink not real stark as many blacks are.

The nib on my new pen tends to be a dry feed, which I also like.  The ink dries faster and the lines thinner than my TWSBI mini with the same size nib which feeds wet.  Both nibs being Extra Fine.