Renee's 100 Days of Heroes

For the 100 Days Project 2016, I am drawing 100 super heroes (either fictive or real-life) every day. 

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It feels a bit like hubris to name myself as the first hero on my 100 days project, but I did. I have a lot of faults that I'm painfully aware of most of the time and there's a certain courage it takes to acknowledge the good qualities I do have. When I decided to try to do the 100 days challenge again, I was a little bit embarrassed, because I didn't complete last time. I was a little embarrassed, because I don't think I'm a very good artist. I was a little embarrassed because in general, putting oneself in the public eye is scary and vulnerable. Despite all that fear and embarrassment, I decided to do it anyway. And for that reason, I am my own hero. Because not just in this project, but in life I'm scared and vulnerable and embarrassed and flawed and I keep trying anyway. So here's to the next 100 days of reflecting on my heroes and trying, trying again and again to also be my own hero.

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I drew this picture for my mom, who used to sing the Kookaburra song to me, with added verses about poor kookaburra burning on fire on the 'lectric wire, and being run over by a train. Later, in Pioneer clubs Kookaburra was her name. It was a fitting name for such a friendly, laughing, colorful lady as my mom. When I was drawing this, local artist Cbabi Bayoc (who I loooooove) passed me by and laughed. "Hey," he said, "I used to use that same book as you a reference for my bird drawings." Cbabi Bayoc did a project called 365 days of Black Fatherhood, where he painted a portrait of black fathers every day for a year. You can see his fantastic work here: http://cbabibayoc.com/index.php/365

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I finished the final bird for Isobel. I wanted to draw three birds against backgrounds that complemented their color. They are meant to be viewed together as sort of a triptych. I am pretty pleased with the pictures viewed this way, even more so than each individual piece.

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Another drawing for my friend Isobel. Isobel told me she likes specifically female cardinals, which I appreciated because they are not as flashy as their male counterparts and are often overlooked. I have always thought they are quite pretty though, with their soft, muted hues. I had fun drawing this one; cardinals are nice to draw in trees, because of the lovely complement of the greens and reds and browns.

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My friend Isobel requested I draw her a blue jay a little while ago. This is part of three small drawings I'm doing for her. you can hardly see the blue jay in this one, but that tree is pretty cool.

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Birds with Kids Two: I was babysitting again today and asked my little friend Elianna to draw with me. She and I talked about how to draw birds: What were the basic shapes we saw? "A body shaped like an egg," "feathers on top of the head," "eyelashes if the girl is a bird." I talked to her about how pictures can be made more interesting if one adds texture. Elianna watched me fill my bird with dots and stripes and curlicues and said, "I think I will probably put some hearts and peace signs in here somewhere."

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Steps to drawing St. Francis 1. Draw a guy in a robe 2. Put a halo on him 3. Surround him with birds 4. You're done! Good job, it's St. Francis of Assisi!

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Went to my sister's house tonight and drew birds with my two sisters and our friend Susan.Once again, it was fun to set aside time to share the creative process with friends. It was also an encouraging day, because I think I drew the best picture I've done so far. It's exciting to think that I might be getting a little bit better in skills. Here's to 91 more days of improvement!

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woke up with the Wilco Song Hummingbird stuck in my head "remember to remember me standing still in your past floating fast like a humming bird a hummingbird..."

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I have always had a contentious relationship with watercolors. Our relationship goes something like this: Me: Am I doing this wrong? I think I am doing this wrong. Watercolor paints: Oh my god, you are doing this so wrong! Stop, you are ruining the picture! When I took a class on Chinese Watercolor Painting in highschool, the entire semester my teacher would creep up behind me and say, "You do this wrong. Here, let me fix." I ended up modeling for her, and she told me, "You very good model. Very nice, pretty." Good at modeling, not so great at painting. Hence it's been ten years since I've even tried to paint. One of my goals with the 100 Days Project was to to try to use mediums I'm not comfortable with, so the watercolors came out and this little European sparrow was painted.

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I got interested in birds partially through a brief dating relationship with a guy named Joe. He was mildly interested in ornithology, so I overexaggerated my interest. The relationship ended, in a way that was easy for him and painful and confusing for me. The relationship ended, but the birds remained. In short order after Joe, I promptly fell in love with hummingbirds, resplendent quetzals, kildeers, and finally crows. I guess in some ways I'm grateful to him for reintroducing the aves class into my life, but not so grateful that if I see him again I'll resist giving him the bird.

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I unexpectedly got called into a babysitting job today. When I got there, the kids were watching the Disney Channel, and my patience level for any of those shows is about 1/3 of a second. We promptly turned it off and worked on drawing. I told the kids about the 100 Days Project, and they drew birds with me. I am so delighted by their picture's vibrancy and whimsy, and so delighted for the closeness of sitting together creating and marveling in birds.

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"Many moons ago, there existed a birdlike creature of such great size, he could easily carry off a full grown deer in his talons. His taste, however, was for human flesh. Hundreds of warriors attempted to destroy the Piasa, but failed. Whole villages were destroyed and fear spread throughout the Illini tribe. Ouatoga, a chief whose fame extended even beyond the Great Lakes, separated himself from his tribe, fasted in solitude for the space of a whole moon, and prayed to the Great Spirit to protect his people from the Piasa. On the last night of his fast, the Great Spirit appeared to Ouatoga in a dream and directed him to select 20 warriors, arm them each with a bow and poisoned arrow, and conceal them in a designated spot. Another warrior was to stand in an open view, as a victim for the Piasa. When the chief awoke in the morning, he told the tribe of his dream. The warriors were quickly selected and placed in ambush. Ouatoga offered himself as the victim. Placing himself in open view, he soon saw the Piasa perched on the bluff eyeing his prey. Ouatoga began to chant the death song of a warrior. The Piasa took to the air and swooped down upon the chief. The Piasa had just reached his victim when every bow was sprung and every arrow sent sailing into the body of the beast. The Piasa uttered a fearful scream that echoed down the river, and died. Ouatoga was safe, and the tribe saved."

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Nothing particularly special about this one. I did it in a hurry and it doesn't do the magnificent bird justice. Watching gulls fly is truly a thing of wonder. Their wings are so specially adapted to flying long distances, the feathers look smooth as metal. The light glints off of the watery residue on their bodies, so they glide quickly, flashing wildly in the sun

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The Eurpean Greenfinch helps me give a shout-out to one of my favorite scientist, the illustrious Charles Darwin. Of course, the Galapagos Finches would have been more apt for the job, but I had such a lovely reference photo for the Greenfinch.

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Little Sparrow My internet username has been some derivation of Little Sparrow for a long time. Littlegentlebrowngraysparrow, LittleSparrow, MoineauPetit. I'm not sure what it is about Sparrows that draws me to them. It's partly because I've grown up in cities, and thus clutch at any little piece of nature I can see (I remember sitting on hot asphalt as a little girl, transfixed and tracing my fingers over and over moss breaking through a crack in the sidewalk). Sparrows abound in the city, little flibbertigibbits that flirt and fight and fly so close to you you can almost touch them. I think the reason I really like sparrows though is they are so small, so fragile. I can't look at them without my heart aching a little at their vulnerability. "I could crush them between my fists," I think. And then they surprise me, chittering angrily, flying at giant Robins and pigeons, dashing in between cars for bits of bread, bobbing right next to my feet and glaring at me as if I'm in the way. Despite that tininess, that fragility, sparrows are fierce. So I adopt the moniker myself, Little Sparrow, breakable yet bold, frail yet fearless.   Day One, House Sparrow (female) For Myself

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Practice. 7.9.2014