Hobbies

[india7]

thesurlymermaid said:

Okay, here are some pictures of the portraits I have drawn. These are all famous athletes....I used to draw and sell them to people and made some pretty good money. It's chalk pastel and about 16X20.

Michael Jordan

Joe Montana

Magic Johnson

Okay, this guy was a Redskin for like, 5 seconds. He didn't cut it, he's not even in the league anymore.Heath Shuler

This one is from where I waited all day at a hotel to get Troy Aikman's autograph. Check out my bad hair. It's actually hard to see the portraits in this one....I kept the one where Troy is facing forward and gave him the profile one. Troy Aikman

Jesus, you're talented, Surly! Those are beautiful!

One question, slightly OT: What kind of digital camera do you have? I need to get a new one in order to get my paintings back up on ebay, and I need one that's going to show all the detail, like yours does. So, please spill - what kind do ya use?

[kafka]

Wow, you're all incredibly talented!!! Wow.

I know nothing about knitting but, Spordelia, I can only imagine the skill (not to mention the mindblowing amount of patience) those creations required. I'm quite awed by both.

india7 said:

Here's one

India, this one is my favorite, probably because of the colours which remind me of the Monet waterlily series. I'm a sucker for both the colours and the series. I'd love to have this painting.

That said, they're ALL excellent and you're hugely talented. HUGELY!!!!!! The brush strokes in the last photo you linked show amazing technique as well, by any standards, let alone for someone who is self taught.

thesurlymermaid said:

Okay, here are some pictures of the portraits I have drawn. These are all famous athletes....I used to draw and sell them to people and made some pretty good money. It's chalk pastel and about 16X20.

Michael Jordan

Bloody hell, I actually choked a little on my tea when I saw that. It's SO incredibly life-like and real. I think portraits are hard in general, let alone of famous people. Surly, you're extremely talented. You've captured the expression, the sinews on the body and so much more. I'm so impressed.

To quote Oxynia's comment earlier, Brava to all of you!!!!!

[thesurlymermaid]

Thanks, guys! I enjoy drawing. The reason sports figures are so great is because fans really love original collectibles. I even try and get autographs when I can.

India, I actually don't have a digital camera....those were taken with a regular camera and I just have a good scanner. Actually, we do have a digital camera and it's an absolute dinosaur. I intend to get a really good camera soon because we don't take nearly enough pictures, in my opinion.

[india7]

Sorry, Kafka, that one was sold years ago! But I'm glad you liked it!

Surly, I never get results like that with film and a scanner! They look great!

[Auroranorth]

I read. God, do I read. I'm a bibliomaniac. I've just started sewing- I hate shopping so I've decided to learn to sew and am taking classes. I used to garden but now live in a boarding house so have no place for it. I also do Krav Maga- it's the combat system used by the Israeli Army. On any given day, I sport multiple bruises.

[bossyboots]

Yay! I love this thread already. So let me get this straight: you lot are all incredibly attractive, and now I find out you're incredibly talented, too?

I spend my non-work time reading, watching TV, posting here, and quilting. Not necessarily in that order. I don't have any photos of my quilts on my work computer, so here's [/color]a shot of my "stash" (as we quilters call it), and I'll post more of my work when I get home later.

[sleepy]

That looks incredibly organized!

[bossyboots]

Yeah, I know. It's the only way to make sure I know what I've got. Well, and also, I like it to be organized per the colour wheel.

OK, here are some photos of my handiwork:

Love Across The Miles[/color] for my niece (and goddaughter) Grace who lives far away from me.

Twinkle Stars[/color] for my very dear friend's little boy.

My First Quilt[/color]. This one started it all -- I made it in my beginners' quilting class.

An Art Quilt[/color]. A more modern quilt, for my Mom.

Scrappy Stars[/color]. Shown in my quilt guild's biennial quilt show. This one is all hand quilted. I had to take a week off work to finish it in time.

William Morris Stars.[/color] I love William Morris designs -- the pink/purple fabric is Wm. Morris, as is one of the background fabrics. One of my fave quilts.

I love quilting. LOVE it.

[snarkypotato]

Oooh bossy I like that art quilt. Very cool.

Also I have to agree that your stash is incredibly organized. It reminds me of how I used to organize my crayons by color when I was a kid. Sadly my little OCD quirk was reserved only for crayons. the rest of my room was a pigsty.

And those pictures are great Surly and India!

We have some very talented people on this board!

[Deleted]

Bossy, those quilts are amazing. I tried piecing once. It wasn't pretty (I can be a little, shall we say, lackadaisical when it comes to perfect edges?

Surly, those drawings are amazing incredible. (I'm spending too much time thinking about Tom and Katie clearly. My vocabulary is suffering!)

And thank y'all for the compliments on the knitting. It's all one stitch at a time, and for some reason works with my total lack of patience. Perhaps I just like sweaters ;D. I watch a lot of TV while knitting, and I take it with me to band practice. Oddly enough, the possession of tiny sharp spikes of bamboo or steel has a contradictory effect on me - it makes me NOT want to kill the lameoid in my section. (The guy's been playing for 20 plus years and sucks like an Electrolux, and he reminds me of T-Bag from "Prison Break.")