More green beans, please!


What mother wouldn't want to hear her daughter say, "Can I have more green beans, please?"?! 

Hannah Mae and her usual pre-bed hunger. She didn't want to eat the rest of her Throw ‘er in there Asian Noodle Salad from dinner. She wanted cereal. Out of cinnamon toast crunch. I gave her the alternative of fresh green beans from Toppenish — dropped off on our deck by my parents last night. A big bag of fresh produce from Papa's hometown, and home of my dear grandmother. She was thrilled with that option! Have as many as you want! I will always affirm your fresh green bean intake.

Oh...and an idea what to do with green beans. Check it out here.

I now have a little stack of food-related drawings piling up, so expect more. Instead of trying to think of something different every day, I'm just going to go with it and keep on the food thing for a few days. Or all week. We'll see. Thinking about those ears of corn in the fridge. That asparagus too. And I am sure I can find something in the Leftoverist's collection of recipes to go with those too! 

I really should post Hannah Mae's drawings of green beans too! And her "pink green beans." So cute. We should draw together every night before bed.

Stand up tall!


Looking out my kitchen window at my neighbor's foxgloves. How quickly can I get this done while eating oatmeal, feeding Ezra and paying attention to the "land of wisdom" that Hannah Mae is drawing next to me?!

Yesterday I did the pen. I wanted to do flowers, but not have them look the same as the euphorbia. Wanted to add some text. The foxgloves were standing up so tall it made me think of this song Hannah Mae sings with her little friends at preschool "...stand up tall and we'll clap for you!" Seemed fitting. Especially since yesterday was such a day of praise. Praise for leftovers and launches. HM starting her first swim lesson last night. Blessings on Ezra at church on Sunday. Thinking about Michael's good-bye at NHM yesterday and praying he gets all the love and honor heaped upon him like he deserves. Thought this could make a good congrats card in the end. Finished this morning at breakfast with colored pencil. Colored pencil is the quickest I can do. Always seems so non-committal. 

Walk in confidence today! Stand up tall!

Happy birthday to the Leftoverist!

Sarah, this one goes out to you! Congrats to you on the wild success of your amazing blog. Like I said, it combines all your incredible gifts into one outlet — bursting with life, affirmation, hilarity and honesty. Your love for food. Skill in the kitchen. Giving your advice. Advice for cooking. Experimenting. Mothering. Connecting. 

Thanks to you, I now put red chili flakes on almost everything. Am often whisking up tangy dressings. Squeezing lemons and limes daily. Sprinkling black sesame seeds on slaws. Always looking forward to your next post.

I am so thankful for you, my sister. The best birthday to you, full of well-wishing comments spilling into your world of leftovers! I love you!

{ Visit www.inpraiseofleftovers.com : Banner design by Spill Studio }

Euphorbia {plus red + violet}




I'm getting one in before April closes! It's been way too long since I've posted a sketch.

For weeks now, every time I walk out my front door or pull up to our house, I look over at my neighbor's amazing garden {check out the logo + business card I designed for her landscape business — Horticultural Heritage }. This bright lemony, lime green plant with bunches of little flowers and pointy leaves. I am the furthest from a gardener, so I asked my friend Mary about these when I was at her house the other day — noticing them in her garden. Euphorbia. I told her I had been wanting to paint them for weeks. Finally, I got the chance yesterday while Ezra was wiped out from his 6 month check-up. Uncharacteristically sleeping for hours during the day.

My first attempt {which I may still post} didn't turn out quite right. I didn't use pen and found I couldn't get the detail I wanted. I can't help using pen. After I completed the single stalk, I still needed to pore over the details of the tiny flower — thus the close-ups.

I had planned to paint some red tulips, grape hyacinth and lobelia to balance out all the lime green — to incorporate somehow. Turns out I didn't feel like it. What I was mainly after was to get some of those bright reds and violets I kept seeing on my walks with Ezra and driving Hannah Mae to and from preschool every day — that bright, light violety lavender I was seeing as ground cover. What was that? Oh, lobelia {I had to do a search to find this out...I know nothing about flowers!}.

After I got the euphorbia done with pen + watercolor, I painted blocks of red and violet. First with watercolor. I thought I couldn't get the vibrancy of the violet with my Sumi pan watercolors, so I got out a couple pouches of the Japanese powder watercolors from Midori. I needed more time to figure out how these work. I thought they would perform like my other watercolors, but they are quite different. They dry powdery. I also couldn't get them to flow/blend right. I think I just don't know how to use them. So, I abandoned those {and made a powdery mess on the kitchen table} and turned to my gouache. I love gouache. I can always get the bright, opaque color I am after. Vibrant violet achieved.

I still want to try adding some vector patterning on top of these...maybe another day. Maybe I will still get to the tulips and hyacinth as well.


Me


After about 6 failed starts, I landed here. I think the last time I attempted a self-portrait was either in high school or college art class. This hat is really white, but I wanted some more color. Sometimes I wish it was orange anyway.

{ pen + watercolor + colored pencil }

HM's lunch box


I got home from lap swim around 10:30pm and was looking around for something to quickly sketch. 2 hours later and here it is. HM's lunch box (when she is not using her Hello Kitty one — in her words, she likes to "alternate"). I took full advantage of everyone sleeping — the pleasure of 2 uninterrupted hours to myself. Took much longer than I thought, but I had to take my time to get those feline details down. Turkey + pepperjack sandwich, Cameo apple, Club crackers and string cheese. Usually about 1/4-1/3 left over at the end of the day to eat on her way home or as soon as we walk in the door.

Pen + watercolor + colored pencil {with some digitally-added white highlights on apple}