Started working on #decorating my #christmastree tonight. Hoping to make a few extra #ornaments this year. Maybe even do something with a poster or back drop. Haven’t gotten to much decorating for #holidays this year so far. It’d be nice to change that. Especially since I like to do all kinds of creative #decorative things in general. My tree looks even tinier in this picture than just being in my living room, it was almost like the photo amplified all that wall space or something. Maybe that #wreath I made years ago is almost as big as my little tree!!! Also I am getting in the mood to bake.

#bentrealm #holidaydecor #holidaymemories #holidayideas #making #christmas #christmasdecor #miniature #creativeplanning (at Show Low, Arizona)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqjHmxHHWhR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vh4ol4okry22

Yay! Only on day 10 of #nanowrimo and already at the halfway mark! I could actually win it this year! So #excited #amwriting
Now I just need life to cooperate enough of the rest of #november
For those who don’t know what NaNoWriMo is - it’s short for #nationalnovelwritingmonth where every November #writers from all over the world try to write 50,000 words of a rough draft of a novel. That would be a 175 page novel if you wrote it as complete by that point. But in the genres I write in it’s more like half a book. So even if I win this year I’d still only have about half a rough draft of a #novel but I am optimistic that if I break the ice winning NaNoWriMo this year it’s reasonable to hope I can ride the momentum through December and hopefully finish the rest of the rough draft by the end of the year. My home situation is the most conducive to these goals that it’s been since I first learned about it and started attempting every year (first sad attempt was in 2010). Plus if I can stick with this almost #dailywriting for more than 21 days solid it’ll become #habit so the theory goes. Which would be great! Sure I have attempted many times to make #writing a daily or near daily habit (by near daily I mean 6 days a week preferably), but it’s not a goal I give up on just cuz life was mean about it for the decades I’ve been seriously into writing. Eek that makes it sound like I am older than I am, I was a preteen when I realized I was really into writing.

#bentrealm #nano #novemberchallenge #writersofinstagram #ilovetowrite #betterhabits #goals (at Show Low, Arizona)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqBpxizH_rK/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=16z9knqhfsike

Got a late start on my #inktober #drawings This lady is #fishing on a #sailboat with a fairly gnarly spooky #mist & #storm sneaking up behind her. It also occured to me on such a small #boat that when she casts her line the fish hook probably snags on the #sail every now & again, particularly if the wind whips it a little closer to her while she’s casting so you can see the snag spots on the sail.
I used a small angled shader brush dipped in water to add some nice #shading effects to the #inking The water enhanced shading (which added an occasional blue tone in with the grey watered parts, the only ink was the black) was a last minute idea when I was finishing it that I liked so much that I decided I’d probably do all of this years with some watery shading.
I managed to do 3 Inktober drawings yesterday since I wasn’t able to start until then. This is the first one. The rest I will share gradually & in order. I am doing other stuff too so I’ll have other random things to share.

#bentrealm #arizonaartist #inktober2018 #inktoberday1 #inktoberart #artwork #sakura #pigma #micron #pens #pigmamicron #oceanside #scenic #showlow #prettyclouds #calmbeforethestorm (at Show Low, Arizona)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BouY5iVAj3z/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=x355qvysm6xp

Made this #poster awhile back & hung it over my kitchen sink. #motivationmonday
I shared an in progress pic of this a long time ago and finally remembered to share the finished & hung up pic.
This was inspired by a Brendon Burchard YouTube video about 5 Areas to Raise Your Standards - #health #focus #joy #boldness & #kindness
I drew a little #butterfly & a #rose on it which took far longer to pick out to put those on it than it did to #draw them. I made it so that I had something to look at while I do dishes, went with a #motivationalposter to help me stave off flashbacks & also to not get bored with the same picture, since this reminds me to do particular things more often, training myself etc. Unintended but awesome side effect of having it hang there for more than a year - I actually am a generally more confident person than before I hung it, since I see it everyday I actually remember to behave with those raised standards often enough the combo of them especially with the inclusion of boldness does a ridiculous amount to build confidence & combat my more painfully shy moments and certain social fears & worries etc. Pleased with it effectiveness thus far.
#bentrealm #homemademotivationalposters #homemade #handmade #motivation #motivational #thebrendonshow #highperformancehabits #highperformance #raiseyourstandards #healthylifestyle #useful #confidencebuilding #goodreminder (at Show Low, Arizona)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BosFkSigtgP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=yz18udftxunj

The most amazing discovery today: leftover #smoothie = an Italian ice! Why the hell aren’t people talking about this?! How is it that I’ve never heard of this? Do these people who make videos about #smoothies & #healthyfood have any clue how many times I have walked past the Italian Ices at the store & wished I knew how to make them at home and all I had to do was put a smoothie in the freezer overnight?!?!

This #awesome Italian ice was accidentally made just by putting the rest of my accidentally too large smoothie in the freezer, overnight, hoping for the best.
Smoothie had:
ice, frozen strawberries (store bought, no added sugar), frozen bananas (these I bought a few bananas & cut them up froze ‘em myself since they need to be eaten within a couple weeks of freezing their time in my freezer was up, the bananas were the reason there ended up being extra), some pineapple chunks (canned in pineapple juice, so no sweeteners, these were in my fridge leftover from the can I opened for stir fry a day or so prior), decaffeinated iced tea (brewed at home with decaffeinated green tea; I never add anything to my tea, hate lemon in tea, haven’t used sugar or sweeteners since the time we ran out of sugar when I was 5 years old and drank tea without sugar for a week & when we had it again I couldn’t go back cuz it was disgusting after a week of unsweetened (I did wonder why the heck my adults had been putting sugar in my tea in the first place); my favorite beverage is cold clean water so that does make sense). Did not add (or use anything with added) sugar or sweeteners at any stage with any of the ingredients, the fruits in this were sweet enough for a smoothie on their own, and also apparently Italian ice, too. If I had been making a milk shake I would have added milk & juice instead of tea & ice cream instead of ice. Just threw the stuff in the blender & added more tea as needed, and believe me it really needed it.

#italianice #discovery #homemade #homemadedessert #nosugar #nosweeteners #healthyrecipes #easyrecipes #recipes #cooking #happyaccident #notonadiet #nodiet #fruit (at Show Low, Arizona)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoQO_Mtgglr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1oz5gb2ld08qo

Just finished this #landscape #painting for an auction that’s in a few days. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, which is great cuz in the early stages of the painting I thought it was not going to work out it was such a mess. Then I decided “well, I’ll keep with it, do my best to continue it and if it doesn’t work out I can just start a new painting tomorrow.” Apparently that did the trick. That was a relief. It’s such a nice feeling finishing #artwork days before it needed to be done by. Admittedly I was worried I might not have a piece done in time to donate, but I had hoped. So yay!!
#bentrealm #painter #paint #watercolorpainting #watercolor #watercolors #lake #trees #sky #clouds #artwork #arizonaartist #showlow #showlowaz #arizona #finishedart #finishedpainting #yipee #detailed (at Show Low, Arizona)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnX9fD9AGdc/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1y9ltn2zkycq

Doing some #roses in my #sketchbook for #practice The 1st 2 I tried to follow along with the #rose page in one of the #art books I recently checked out at the library. Trying to get better at remembering to do more regular basic practice #sketching As you can probably see I didn’t stick strictly to the way the book showed, I took it closer to finished #drawing style than #sketch Even though I used some thick paper paperclipped to the book to help me focus on the step I was on, the steps in the book take very different approach to drawing than I do, parts of which I found overly nonsensical, especially since they clearly erased some spots before the next #penciling stage. Still I like how mine turned out. I intend to #draw more roses on the rest of the page later.
I put a #wirewrapped #leaf #charm I made on the sketchbook.
The book I am #practicing from here is Draw 50 Flowers, Trees, and Other Plants by Lee J. Ames with Persis Lee Ames.

#bentrealm #arizonaartist #showlow #showlowaz #artistsoninstagram #artofinstagram #artshare #flowers #flowerart #artsupplies (at Show Low, Arizona)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnKPLPqgLBj/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zvs8swi5bume

This sweet #skull with a #sword & a #rose sticking out of is a tiny piece I did 6 years ago (2012) #tbt and I loved working on it so much. I was so proud of it when I finished for so many reasons. Aside from just plain liking the composition despite spending very little time … composing it, it was when my efforts to learn how to #draw #skulls really began to click and pay off. I don’t think I had shared a photo of it prior to today. It’s on an artist trading card, and from what I have heard lots of artist’s find it trickier to draw that small than much larger. For me it’s the opposite, intricate detailing is something I can really get lost in #drawing I keep it on this cool display box in my living on top of a shelf near my TV so I can get inspired to remember getting around to draw more stuff I enjoy working on soon, so that life can’t ever knock my artistic plans and goals too far out of my mind. Eventually I will get to coloring it in my computer making variant cuts and then sticking it on stuff in some shops of mine. But in the meantime it sits there giving me some intense death metal “go draw stuff until your hand falls off, raise your hand from the dead stitch it back on and then draw more rinse repeat refuse to die and then keep doing it FOREVER!!!” care bear stare. Clearly it’s my friend and it’s got it’s s*** together better than I do, and I should hang around it succumbing to it’s wizened hungry influence.

Got lots of stuff in the works & a few things should start rolling out on my blogs again to so bookmark my website bentrealm.com and explore it gradually falling madly in love with my unique wild empire! I just spent the last year healing enough of my life’s wounds to return to my baseline personality, which frees me up to have more time to resume putting out Bent Realm stuff

#bentrealm #atc #artisttradingcard #tbthursday #funwithwordplay #arizonaartist #art #swordandsorcery #gothic #fantasyart #pencildrawing #pencilart #tattoo_artwork #deathmetalart (at Show Low, Arizona)

Got to do a little bit of #sketching on this #ink #sketch in my #inkandmarker #sketchbook while still at the library earlier, after that Zumba class. This sketch is almost done now, just needs a few more touches. Been doing ink & marker #abstract & #geometrical inspired mega #doodles with #sakura #pigmamicron #pens & #prismacolor #markers since the last Inktober as a way to #practice my #lineart #work & hand control & fine detailing and to #warmup before other #art

Every piece I do like this will go up on all kinds stuff to buy in this one #shop of mine (Orbital Slag) I hope to launch this month since this month is the 23rd anniversary of Bent Realm Studios. The Orbital Slag shop is listed on the shop page of my website & I hope to get some stuff posted in the Orbital Slag shop starting tonight & all through the weekend, hopefully that shop won’t take longer than I expect to get the 1st few items in it.
http://www.bentrealm.com/p/shop.html

#bentrealm #showlow #arizona #showlowaz #arizonaart #arizonaartist #abstractart #pigma #artwork #ilovetodraw (at Show Low Public Library)

Just tried #zumba for the very 1st time! Didn’t know much about it & have trouble with the mirroring parts of these kinds of #fitness classes. The moves have to go through extra filters in my head due to facing the opposite direction (the symmetrical moves translate much faster!) as the instructor lady. Who was very nice btw. It took me the 1st 15 minutes of the hour to get enough of the hang of it to not feel like I was going to punch somebody out (TKO, yo!), or full on faceplant then be tripped over.
Went much smoother after a lady saw me struggling with the strobe light thing hitting my peripherals painfully during some do-si-do’s. Seems to be part aerobics part jumping jack part electric slide rest dance moves. I freaking love to #dance so that really helped. And though my knees threatened to murder me slow if I did the high impact moves the way the instructor did so I had to partially invent my own choreography for some of the moves I apparently did very well for never having done or seen Zumba before. Also, discovered I know way more #salsadancing moves than I ever imagined, and lots of 1920’s moves too. Wore the wrong kind of pants too jeans cuz I need to do my laundry and forgot it mattered to be done before the free Zumba class at the #library = my knees kept getting caught in the pants in the too hot room, pants kept trying to fall down too cuz all my non-legging pants no longer fit and the scarf I use as a belt only could do so much especially with my knees catching & yanking. It was much smoother after I tied my flannel shirt at my hips to hold my pants up better (eh the elbows were catching anyways), even if I wasn’t used to wearing a workout top in front of people.
Definitely up for trying Zumba again sometime if I have the chance.

#bentrealm #fitnessmotivation #dancing #nofilter #nomakeup #showlow #arizona #showlowaz #librarylife #lovetodance (at Show Low Public Library)