Art and Me

So here's the first thing I pulled out from under the bed. An art set. I got it about six years ago or so when my boyfriend at the time's aunt gave me a ... let's call it less than desirable sweater vest for Christmas. The vest came from a company called Coldwater Creek, and the only store we could find was wayyyy out in the valley. So we drove there, I believe with his family. The clothes were all the same, that is, way out of my age range, but they had all sorts of other things I was interested in. With my store credit, I picked out a set of eight beautifully hand-crafted wine and martini glasses, which are a pain to hand wash but always worth it; a tan throw that currently lives on the couch in the living room, easy to wash; and this art set.

When I saw it, I wanted it, despite my not-very-artistic tendencies. My boyfriend thought it was too much, too bulky and frowned but I promised that I would throw away all my old art supplies if he *let* me get it (in his defense, we were sharing a home by this point, but that still doesn't defend his position). So I got it - and of course never threw away my markers from third grade that may not work very well, but still smell like lime and liquorish and lemon and there was no way I was letting go of those instant nostalgia babies.

I'll admit that I don't use the art set much - logically it would be kept at my desk instead of under the bed, but I find it more accessible this way, and my desk is overcrowded as it is. But every so often I get it out and appreciate it. For this post, I decided to make something with the oil pastels. For inspiration, I headed to Illustration Friday, where the week's word is "swamp." So I drew this:
And I feel pretty good about it. I'm pleased with the sky the most, I think. I will try and remember to actually submit it to Illustration Friday.