Blending graphite pencil with a paper totillion. I have seen these things called both totillions and tortillions. I buy them by the dozens. They are the best for smooth blending in small areas. As you can see in this portrait, it's at the stage of the dark areas being roughed in.

I find that the totillion is very useful for drawing the shadows and features of the eyes. Eyes aren't flat, they're round. The upper lid and lashes often create shadows on the sphere of the eye. The totillion gives me jus the right control of pressure in these small areas. They are also great for softening lines. The image above is only about 4-5 inches high.

Little Man enjoying the Sit N Spin I bought at the Kidsignments sale
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Let's Play Tag
I was tagged with this quiz by Jan
To answer the questions on your blog and then tag four other people is the idea, but I'm feeling lazy so I'll just answer the questions myself and not tag anyone else. I know, I am a spoilsport!

1. What is your occupation? Pencil Portrait Artist sometimes, Mom always.
2. What color is your underwear? white. yep, I know, boring...but you just had to ask.
3. What are you listening to right now? The hum of the computer's CPU and stuff clunking in the clothes dryer, the trash truck rumbling down the street. But if you had asked what I WISH I was listening to right now, I'd probably say Elvis Costello or ELO.
4. What was the last thing you ate? A peanut butter sandwich and a cup of grape juice. If I had crackers instead of the sandwich, I could have had communion.
5. Do you wish on stars? Not in a long time, if I ever did. Even though wishing on stars is free, I have not realized a noticeable gain on investment.
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? pink I guess
7. How is the weather right now? warm enough to check the mail in tee-shirt and socks, but not sure about the degree fahrenheit! Oh okay I just looked it up. 58 degrees.
8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My husband

9. How old are you today? Old enough to know better than to answer that.
10. Favorite drink? 3/4 Diet Coke with 1/4 regular Coke mixed in to make it taste almost 'normal' but cuts down on the sugar!
11. Favorite sport to watch? bowling and a nap...or Scottish games, if I can find 'em

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes, but nothing radical
13. Do you wear contacts or glasses? yes, glasses
14. Pets? One Sheltand Sheepdog. A couple of Betta fish I wouldn't mind flushing (sorry PETA!)
15. Favorite month? August
16. Favorite food? Pizza...are there other foods? I've heard rumors...

17. What was the last movie you watched? Back to the Future (the first one) at home.

18. Favorite day of the year? Any day I wake up feeling great.
19. What do you do to vent anger? Usually a kind of primal grunt/scream. I also draw my emotions...how I don't vent my anger would be a longer list.
20. Hugs or kisses? both!

21. Cherry or blueberry? Depends what, but I guess cherry for most things.

22. Living arrangements? husband and 4 kids, house in suburbian splendor
23. When was the last time you cried? Last week, when I thought about my Dad.

24. What is on the floor of your closet? My scrapbooking stuff
25. Who is/are the friends you have had the longest? Sue in Michigan I have known since Kindergarten. Rhonda from high school (I need to call her again)

26. What did you do last night? Took digital pictures of artwork, supervised my kids getting homework done and housework...etc etc.

27. Favorite smell? cinnamon is one favorite

28. What inspires you? John Singer Sargent's art, Norman Rockwell's art, Guideposts magazine

29. What are you afraid of? Major: bad stuff happening to any of my family. Minor: those weird crickets that look like spiders totally creep me out.

30.Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese
31. Favorite car? Town and Country Minivan, just wish I had one - I need something big enough for the whole tribe.

32. Favorite dog breed? Boston Terrier
33. Number of keys on your key ring? Hang on, let me check...8
34. How many years at your current job? 5
35. Favorite day of the week? Tuesdays, I usually get a lot done
36. How many states have you lived in? 3
37. How many cities have you lived in? 6
Dallas/Ft Worth TX, Warren MI, Sterling Heights MI, Savannah GA, Stone Mountain GA, Snellville GA

38. What was the last book you read? How To Get Organized Without Resorting To Arson by Liz Franklin.

I just paid some bills, it's my Friday thing to do. I only had a couple little ones to pay today, yay! Now I need to balance the checkbook - yes, I know I seem to have it backwards today, I should have probably balanced first and then paid bills. :) I also sent out my Home Occupation Tax form for the City of Snellville.

Little Man (age 2-1/2) has been so cute lately. He has really picked up on some new words. Yesterday he told me something was empty. I was impressed that he knew that word and used it right. Later he played doctor for me and he fixed me right up. He made me drink imaginary medicine out of a tiny imaginary cup.

Little Guy (4 months old) has swollen lower gums in the lower front. I can feel those teeth under there. He has lots of drooling. I sure will be glad when those teeth pop out. He is going through about 4 bibs a day. If he was on Dune, he'd never have to worry about having enough body fluid to recycle. (oops - my inner nerd is showing!)

DearDaughter1 was feeling under the weather yesterday. She didn't have a fever, but I could feel pretty large lymph nodes swollen under her jawline, so I let her stay home from school. She has good grades so I felt she could afford to do that.

DearDaughter2 mysteriously became ill with the same illness (they both have DWGTSD : Don't-Wanna-Go-To-School Disease)...but I couldn't find anything wrong with her that I could let her stay home and keep a straight face, so I made her go. She really can't afford to miss even a single day right now.

She was stressed out because in gym class they were going to have to do some fancy stuff with the jump rope and she was afraid of being embarrassed. Poor thing, I would really hate to relive 6th grade.

In my spare moments over the last couple days, I have been reading a book called How To Get Organized Without Resorting to Arson: A Step by Step Guide to Clearing Your Desk Without Panic or the Use of Open Flame by Liz Franklin. I think I have finally found the magic pill for my organizing, paper, and life management issues. I'm a Visual Cross-Dominant with a lot of Sparklebrain traits - now, you'll have to read the book to know what I'm talking about!

When I say 'spare' moments, what that means is, I lay the book out and read a few pages while I'm giving Little Guy his bottle. Other people wouldn't consider that a spare moment, but I have to multi-task!

How to Draw a Pearl or Beaded Necklace in Graphite Pencil

This is how I do it - if anyone else has any tips to share, please post them.
I am always open to new ways to do things.

Before beginning, it's important to remember that pearls are really just spheres.

Are you comfortable drawing spheres? If not, you might want to work on drawing the basic ball shape until you feel confident with the dark, light, highlight, and shadow cast by a sphere.

After I have drawn the neck of the person and shading it to my satisfaction,
I start with a light, curved pencil line to identify the pattern the pearls should follow. In a real pearl necklace, the cord that the pearls hang on goes right in the middle of the bead, so that is how I consider my light pencil line - the mark for the middle of where the pearls should fall.
I then take my Staedtler-Mars plastic white eraser edge, or a PenTel Click Eraser and erase along that curve, leaving a very slight line visible.

Then use a circle template to help keep your circles uniform. Most circle templates will have dash marks on each 'side' of the circle. I use these to help space out the circles. I line up the marks to match both the previous circle and the pencil line guide. This keeps the pearl/circles straight and flowing as they would be if on a string...not haphazard with one up and one down, etc.

Once the circles are all laid out and you have them where you want them, you will see that due to the previous erasing, there is erased area around each pearl. The 'skin' of the person will need to be put back in around those pearls. I use mostly the side of a 3H or 4H pencil to put that back in. Then blend with a tortillion or some tissue rolled very tightly to get into those small areas.

The first time I drew this example, I drew the pearls much too large compared to the pearls in the photo. I am working from a very small photograph. So before you get into the blending and shading of the pearls themselves, make sure you take a double check of your work so far - you don't want to go into all that intensive drawing and shading if you don't have them just the way you want to begin with. Luckily I hadn't gone too far so I was able to just erase them and start over.

Once you are sure they are as you want them placed in your drawing, darken the edges of the pearls just a bit. You want some definition and depth, but you don't want the edges to be uniformly dark - that would create a coloring book or cartoon effect, and this is to look more realistic. So keep it light with a gentle touch. Take a B pencil and put a touch of shade to one bottom edge of each circle. It may be clear from your reference photograph where the light is coming from, and therefore where you shadow and your highlight should be on these pearls.
If not, then you might just have to pick your best guess about where the light would be coming from, and stick with that so your pearls will be consistent. A photograph taken from direct front with flash for example, will remove a lot of depth perception from the photograph.

Remember that the pearls themselves will cast some shadowing onto the person's skin. If not clear where that shadow would be, take your best educated guess. It's better than not having enough depth and contrast in your artwork.

Don't be afraid to get that kneaded rubber eraser going on those pearls. Pick out the highlight. Tap the pearls' edges with the kneaded eraser to soften them. The pearl necklace should be enhancing the person in the portrait, not detracting from her smile and eyes. Take a look at the artwork from a few feet back.

Drawing necklaces - or any other jewelry, for that matter - can send even the most calm person into anxiety attack. Take your time, and if you find yourself feeling frustrated with it, it's time to stop for a bit. The smaller the pearls you are drawing, the more often you will probably need to take a break. It takes practice, be kind to yourself and patient and you will eventually feel really comfortable drawing necklaces.

Darla
Darla Dixon Portrait Art & Illustration
http://darladixon.com/

[You are welcome to share this post on the Internet or in print, provided you credit http://www.darladixon.com for the information].

With 4 kids, I do about 3 loads of laundry per day. Sometimes even
four. It is key not to ever let it pile up. Another tip is to NOT take
it to your bedroom or bed for the sorting. What will invariably happen
is that you'll get distracted or just not get it all sorted and
delivered to its proper place before bedtime. Then what happens at
bedtime? We go, SWOOSH! - and throw it all on the dresser or whatever,
where it's left to languish for months or even years LOL

It's best to clear off your kitchen table and do all your wash in one
day if possible. I sort into piles by person, which saves on the time
to get each pile around to the right room.

I also think it's energy-efficient to keep the dryer going. The dryer
has large heat coils. It takes a lot of energy every time they have to
heat up. So I have a load drying, a load washing, and a load that's
been washed, but needs to be dried, in a plastic basket waiting to go
into the dryer as soon as the current load comes out.

I have so much laundry because I have 4 kids, and the youngest are 2
years old and 4 months old. But if you feel like you need to do 3
loads of laundry a day to JUST catch up, then your problem may be that
you have too many clothes. Weed everything down to what you actually
wear. If you haven't worn it in a year, then donate it and get it out
of the house.

I have twin 12 year old daughters who often throw stuff in the laundry
basket that are really NOT dirty that they need to be washed again.
I have given them guidelines, but they usually go in one ear and out
the other. I just pick some things out and refold or hang them, and
the girls never know the difference...lol. A big laundry time saver
would be for me to hold THEM responsible for doing their own laundry
now. After all, it's not so difficult...they can work the TV remote, a
GameBoy Advance, the computer/games, and all kinds of stuff like that.
I think the washer and dryer are simple enough for them to handle now.

I actually don't hate laundry, I know a lot of people do...but it's
not really hard, it just takes time and focus to remember that you're
working on laundry. A lot of times a timer will help remind you to
move the laundry from the washer to the dryer if your problem is
forgetting and letting the clothes get all mildewy.

Darla
http://darladixon.com/
Special thanks to Lauri (Professional Organizer) of
http://www.clutterologist.com
for the blog topic idea!

Today's celebrity news has it that Britney Spears was photographed driving her vehicle with her 4 month old baby* in her lap,** instead of in the back in a car seat. She said it was a mistake, but that papparazzi photographers brought on the instinct to just get out of there, and that's what she did.

If this happens in the future, she can get in the back seat with the baby, lock the doors, strap child in car seat, then climb over into the front seat to drive. If I've done this with my chubby and tall bod, then Britney can definitely do it. It's the safest way to put children in the car, whether you're a celebrity or not.

*my baby's the same age as Britney's!
**you can take the girl out of the country, but not the country out of the girl! (my catty comment for the day)

This is a long blog post with rambling thoughts and happenings because my Internet connection has been down for a couple days now. For that reason, I haven’t been able to post to the blog.

At first, I thought the problem was on my end of the connection. I disconnected the phone connections and modem, waited the usual ten seconds, and tried to reconnect. Still no go. Finally got it figured out yesterday – the network router-thingie has a problem. Our laptop computer is dead now, so we don’t have to use the network router anyway. So once that was taken out of the loop, everything has worked fine.

I did technically blog yesterday, but I put it into a little program you may have heard of, called Microsoft Word. I knew you could not stand to be without all the minutiae of my life. So here it is:

DD1 tortured DD2 in the morning by not letting her out of the bedroom. You know, the classic hold-the-doorknob-from-the-outside ploy. Lots of screaming, door slamming, and name-calling ensued. Apparently, this is what passes for entertainment when you’re 12 years old.

DD1 spent some time away from her valuable sister-torturing time to shoot video of me with the digital camera. I was giving Little Guy his bottle. There is some old woman in the video…I realized it was me. Ugh! Well that’s what happens when I am awakened at 2:30 am to give a bottle. The time before that, it was 4 in the morning that I had to get up and give Little Guy a bottle. I don’t know why he is suddenly waking up so early. Probably the teething pain is keeping him from taking enough food before he goes to sleep, or it’s a growth spurt.

I put Little Guy on his back this morning, and he rolled to his side. I helped him bring his top leg over and that brought him all the way to his stomach. He had such a cute look of surprise on his face, and then a burp and a smile. I think there will be a lot more rolling from now on.

Little Man is eating what he calls “Chocolate Ball” cereal…I think it’s Cocoa Comets or something. He likes to eat that while watching Dora the Explorer.

There are multicolored plastic toys all over the living room floor. Watch your step!

Take this quiz to see how money and investment savvy you are.
I only missed one question! Who says artists are hippies?!? LOL

Please report back here to let me know how you did!
http://www.sec.gov/investor/tools/quiz.htm

I'm giving serious thought to purchasing a tablet and stylus so I can draw digitally into a pc program. The Wacom Intuos3 6x8 is the one I am considering. I think it will open up new possibilities for my art, and at least allow for me to make more print-ready or web-ready images.

I emailed Jay Montgomery and he was nice enough to point me in the right direction. I'm glad I asked Jay about it, as I was initially looking at models that would be too basic for my ongoing needs. If you would just want to have fun with your digital photos, then you'd only need a basic model, that you can get for about $100.

Jay writes:

"I highly recommend them! The new ones are the Intuos3 line and they come in several sizes. Just as good if not better. They are quite pricey but if you use it a lot it will pay for itself many times over. I very rarely trace a drawing using the clear flap on the tablet. I usually just create a new layer in what ever program I’m using as a base. I would get at least a 6x8 or 6x11 depending on your monitor size and if you want to use the tracing flap on the tablet. Click here to find out what kind/size you need. "
http://www.wacom.com/tabletwizard/index.cfm

For lack of anything else interesting to blog about today, check out this Monk-e Mail.
http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/
You type it, the Monkey says it, and you can email it!

What a day!

We took our two smallest ones (the 4 month old and the 2-1/2 year old little boys) to the pediatrician today. Little Guy (4 months) got 4 shots...two on each chubby thigh, and Little Man (the 2 yr old) received one shot on his right thigh. Oh boy the screaming that went on! They are both in great health, judging by their lung capacities. I just love all my kidlets...I praise God every day for them, they are so adorable.

Then we came home and I have worked on our taxes ALLLLLL afternoon. I'm using TurboTax Premier. I am just about done. I am just waiting for confirmation on one figure, then I'll only need to print and file. Today I've lived on corn chips and diet root beer. There's nothing more exciting than a completely ruined Friday afternoon. All things considered, TurboTax makes it pretty easy. I have to control my control freak personality so I can get it done. Ooh, the paper! Ooh, the receipts! Ooh, do I put this figure here...or here?!? I thought for about 10 minutes about hiring a CPA to do my taxes, but since I'd have to get my stuff all organized anyway, I figured I might as well do it all. That last figure is the only bugger...

I received a voicemail from Jackie Ginn at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce that my comments about blogging were in an article in the Gwinnett Business Journal. I thought it was going into the Gwinnett Magazine...shows what I know. I begged the reporter to not let me look like a dork, so I hope it's okay. After all, she's a reporter, not a miracle worker. If I have a low dork ratio in the article, I'll post it into this blog :) Jackie swears that I came off very professional sounding. I guess the begging worked!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by to see me :)