You
know, ANY type of face, nature, the face of a flower, photography,
drawings, paintings, AI. There just needs to be a face in your blog post, a
link back to my blog and please use the image below.
Thank you.
After last weeks drawing a bird I have become entranced with drawing bird heads. So this week you get this one.
Starts like this.
I used graphite for the beak.
Getting color in
Ended like this. I tried to get a better photo of the eye. It's very shinny and looks wet but my camera won't capture it.
I've not been very well these last 5 weeks and I'm just trying to use my time creating fun art. Not going for realistic.
I forgot that the month of April is sjogren's awareness month. Yes the same purple ribbon as lupus and for good reason.
Along with lupus I was diagnosed with sjogren's (show grens) about 4 years ago.
Approximately 30% of people with lupus also have sjogren's as a secondary autoimmune. The primary signs of sjogren's are constant dry eyes, dry mouth, difficulty swallowing or speaking and extreme fatigue. Sjögren's syndrome have an increased risk of developing cancer, specifically non-Hodgkin lymphoma
In both sjogren’s and lupus, there are high levels of
antibodies (proteins produced by your immune system that are meant to
attack germs) called SS-A and SS-B. Having high levels of these
antibodies in your blood is a sign that your immune system isn’t working
as it should. Both diseases share similar immune system pathways. In both, the immune system becomes overactive and attacks the body’s own tissues and organs. These shared immune pathways help explain why lupus and sjogren’s
disease can occur together, why symptoms may overlap across multiple
organ systems, and why diagnosis can sometimes be challenging.
So with all of the things that lupus already attacks add sjogren's to make it doubly difficult.
Autoimmune diseases often do not occur in isolation. Many people with an
autoimmune disease have more than one autoimmune disorder, a pattern
sometimes called autoimmune clustering or polyautoimmunity.
The last 5 weeks have been hell for me. My blood work shows both lupus and sjogren's off the chart in a bad way. One day I will feel better and the next it feels like a Mac truck has hit me. I still have to function no matter what. I have friends tell me, "You don't look sick." I think I will have a T-shirt made up with.
I don't know where I'm going with this post. I'm very exhausted and my body hurts. I think I just want all of you to know that people with autoimmune are not weak, we don't want pity. We just want to be treated like everyone else.
Nicole
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Hi Everyone!
I have always been fascinated by bees and have watched some very good documentaries about them. I do believe this is one of the best. The Secrets of Bees.
I grabbed some trailers to show how great this 2 part series is. This is 1 minute
These next two are shorts
The hive
Bee being born
I'm hoping at some point National Geographic will but the full series on their web sight as they a have done with other docus. For now the series is streaming on Disney+ and Hulu, which I don't subscribe to.
I was able to watch, "The Secrets of Bees" on the History channel last night. It is truly and amazing 2 part series that everyone should see.
From what I can find it will stream on Disney+and Hulu on April 1, 2026. There are other places to stream but all are $3.99 to watch it. I do believe it is worth the price.
It was a quiet weekend, except for the no Kings protest. Sunday, both Mr. M. and I created art and watch Jeremy Wade, (the fishing guy). I like it when I don't have any obligations to take care of.
Here are my monsters this week.
Now for those who like the pretties.
That's it for me. Wishing all of you a happy Monday and a great week
I think I have blogger problem fixed. Please try to link up and comment.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
SITAR is about ANYTHING art. Your art, someone else's art, writing, photography,
the art of cooking, the art of sewing and textiles. Sharing historical
art, street art, a story about art. Do you have a question or need help
with art? Write a blog post and link it up here. We will all try to help
with it. My only rule is that if someone asks for critique it must be done with generosity and consideration.
This is a place of learning, encouragement and inspiration.
Lately, I feel like I'm having trouble drawing eyes. I will sketch a face in and realize the eyes are way off on the side of the head. Here is an example. I got so frustrated with this that I just crumpled it up and threw it away. I retrieved it from the garbage. That's why it's all wrinkled.
I had erased the one eye so many times that the paper was shredding. You can see how far apart the eyes are.
It was the same with this piece. That I salvaged it by adding an eye patch.
Most of the time when I sketch out a face, I just do it. I rarely put in guide lines.
However, my Nan told me to do the 1/3 method. That the outside of the nose should line up with the tear ducts of the eyes, and ends of the mouth should line up with the middle of the eyes. Easy right?
In fact I don't even think about it I just eyeball it and put in the features.
However, for some reason I see the eyes too far apart. I have had to start measuring eye placement.
Not of the whole face just the eyes. There should be one eye length between the eyes. I'm not putting in all of these line to draw a face. My dyslexia would go nuts.
I think I have shared guidelines for a face in an older post, but it doesn't hurt to review the lesson again. Maybe this will help some one with portraits.
There are so many ways to measure features and some of them are pretty extensive. I'm just not into that. I need and want easy.
Lately, I get everything sketched in then I actually take a ruler and put light marks on where the eyes go.
Here are more examples of proportions of the face. This one just doesn't make sense to me but it may to someone else.
Also, I'm not putting in numbers either.
Drawing for me has to be fun and instinctual. I don't want to follow some mathematical equation to draw a face.
Give me the general measurements and let me go for it.
My question to all of you is, how do you start your portraits?
A reminder, FFO Portrait challenge is
April 24th. There is still plenty of time to create one, two or all of these expressions.
Happy, Sad, Tired, Surprised, Anger.
That's it for now. I look forward to seeing you in Sunday in the Art Room.
You
know, ANY type of face, nature, the face of a flower, photography,
drawings, paintings, AI. There just needs to be a face in your blog post, a
link back to my blog and please use the image below.
Thank you.
This last month has been hell with lupus and especially the last 2 weeks.
I'm much better now.
So I really haven't been able to draw.
I've had a few people comment and email me asking about what is lupus. Most of you know that May is lupus awareness month and I will be posting most days for that. For now, Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease where antibodies attack healthy tissues and organs causing widespread inflammation and damage to the body. lupus can attack anything and everything from skin, joints, muscles, kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, thyroid, digestive system, eyes, and other organs.
This last few weeks lupus decided that it would attack my large intestines with OMG pain that moved into my kidney.
As I wrote, I'm much better.
I did sit down today and got this created.
This is the first photo taken
I do draw other things besides faces. 😁
Here is the finished piece.
My niece got married last week and her new husband took her to Italy for their honeymoon. I only have 2 photos so far. They are going to, something like, 10 cities.
This first place is their room. Can't remember where it is, but this is a palace that was turned into a B&B.
She looks very tired here. Jet lag.
Here they are in Florence.
They will be visiting Naples where our family is from and visiting Punta Campanella. Obviously our last name.
It's a marine protected area. I know they will have so much fun there.
Now it's time for some AI.
These look pretty good. I might attempt to draw one or two of these.
It's feature time. I have to say, that I am very impressed with all of the artists who join in. Thank you.
Ended like this. I tried to get a better photo of the eye. It's very shinny and looks wet but my camera won't capture it.
Nicole 
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