This morning I started off the Zoom with June by refreshing myself on folding origami cranes, in preparation for helping at the paper crane making table The War Memorial’s Tree Lighting Event. I made several cranes this morning, and feel confident that my fingers remember what to do. They are expecting 800 people on Sunday so my fingers need to be nimble!

For the remainder of the Zoom, I worked on a mixed media drawing/painting based on a poem I wrote and read at the library event last night. I started out with a charcoal drawing of a clown. I wanted to continue to practice the technique of creating the drawing with one continuous line, never picking up the pen, or in this case stick of charcoal. This was my first attempt at a human subject in this style and charcoal is one of my least practiced mediums, so I set my expectations low. I surprised myself on how he came out. The charcoal was easier than pen for me with the scribble line style. I took some pictures after I finished the sketch just in case I screwed it up when painting it. Luckily the gouache paints I used didn’t interfere with the charcoal lines hardly at all. I like how it turned out with the minimal color in the painting. My older kids send me daily snaps so I returned theirs with a picture of my WIP using my favorite filter.

My husband finds him creepy in any medium- although he doesn’t like clowns in general. So this won’t be hanging in my bedroom anytime soon. I think I might try to experiment with adding my poem to the blank spaces in the painting. I think of if I can present the painting with the photo I’ll enter them into the Michigan Annual.

Clowns can be quite polarizing- do you love ‘em or loathe them?