Lombardi Popular sketch

Back to trees, I sketched this evening while the wife watches HGTV and plots remodels with my spare time.  Oh well, I prefer to sketch.

Aspen Study in pencil

Happy Monday, I use false motivation to keep me motivated for the regular job.  d to run around after work to help the daughter with car trouble, so did not have a lot of time to work on anything.  I did get a little pencil time and knocked out this study of Aspen trees.

Alaska Fjord Waterfall - part 2

Happy Sunday, I dug this out and worked on it today.  It is not finished but it is getting closer.  It is not unusual for me to put paintings aside and let it sit.  It helps with the frustration and sometimes confusion over what needs to be fixed.  Out of sight, out of mind definitely works.  I will work on the ground foliage, rocks, and the water.  There will probably be a few other tweaks I need to do but they will make sense when I make the adjustments.

Winter mountain stream - block-in

Tonight's post I worked on this block-in.  It is a bit frustrating though. This is a little harder so I am not real satisfied with it but I have plenty time to work on it and make it the way I want.

Rocky Beach and Surf - part 3

I messed with this tonight and worked on further refining the darks and the light lights.  The lines of surf coming in and the rocks all need work.  It is better but it needs more work.  I think it is coming along well.

Water Lily - part 3

So a few subtle changes on the petals and started adding a little bit of dry brush, i.e. thicker drier paint to make the streaky marks.  I think i will let it rest for a bit and look at it with fresh eyes in a day or two.

Water Lily - part 2

I have worked on the Water Lily tonight and further refined all the petals, shadows and colors.  It still has a ways to go but I will work on it through out the week and get it ready to finish up.  The colors of the shadows are the hardest to replicate in a believable fashion and to my satisfaction.

Leafy Tree Study

Monday Night pencil tree study.  I did not feel like painting so I switched to pencil study.  I am working towards the 10000 hours and it is still a ways off.  A little bit each day.

Water Lily - block-in

I worked on this block-in today of a Water Lily.  This is in oil and I decided to return to some flower work and at a large size.  I will start tweaking this tomorrow.

Rocky Surf and Beach - beyond the block-in

I worked the details on this surf scene.  I further refined the rocks, surf, and sky.  Everything needed work so it all got some adjustments.  The surf will need the most work to get it where I want it to be for completion.

Rocky Surf and Beach - block-in

I worked on this block-in tonight.  This will need a lot of work to get it were it needs to be.  This is done with oil painting.

Crazy Bristle Cone Pine sketch

A quick post tonight, thunderstorms every  where here in Maryland.  I sketched this in pencil and now I am getting off the computer before the power goes out.

Bugling Elk Birthday

My other brother-in-law Kelly's birthday is Wednesday so here is his card.  Don't tell him.  I am on the road a bit so I am posting this early.  This is done with watercolor pencils and pentel pens.

Crappie and Sunfish sketch

I have a couple of Brother-in-law birthdays coming up, so there is one.  This is for Gilly.  He likes to fish here in Maryland, so you get a lot of Sunfish and Crappie in your catch. Happy Birthday!

Snowboard James - Finished - 800th post

I finished Snowboard James today.  The adjustments I made were small as I did a decent block-in.  I made tweaks to the hat, the forehead, and small adjustments to the hoodie.  This is my 800th post.  The understated point of this blog is to remind myself to do art every day and to remember James.  He is missed and is a constant reminded life is short so do something.  Many talk about Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, but Post Traumatic growth exists also and is a better use of my time and energy.  Some times all you can do is focus on the better part of things and the time you have left.

Bonsai-like Pine sketch

More pencil work tonight.  I messed with doing a pencil sketch of a Bonsai-like Pine tree.  If you have ever been up to the timberline in any mountains you always see trees like this shaped by wind, sun and the blast of storm winds.

Lodge Pole Pine Study

Another small tree study done in pencil.  These are Lodge Pole Pines, which literally were used by the native americans to make poles for their teepee lodges.

Eastern White Pine Sketch

A simple pencil study of an Eastern White Pine.  I am trying to live by the motto from the German artist Adolph Menzel, "No Day without a line." or brush stroke.  A little bit every day.

Utah Desert Study

I worked on this Utah Desert Study.  This is not an original design, but I wanted to work on desert scenes.  I did the block-in months ago and was frustrated with it.  I dug it out tonight and worked on fixing it.  It is better now but it is still pushing me to be better at the color and values.

Summer Thundercloud study

Tonight's study is the start of a cloud study of Summer Thundercloud building over the hills.  I will need to add more color variations to the clouds to add dimension to the cloud structure.

Snowboard James

I worked on Snowboard James's hat, logo, face and googles to start getting it better refined and defined.  I still need to do some adjustments on the hoodie and hat but it has moved beyond the block-in stage.

Winter Tree Sketch

I have been working on this for the past two nights.  It is a pencil sketch of Aspen trees in winter time.  It is not an original sketch but something I am working on to develop skills.  I switch off between drawing and painting.

SnowBoarder James - block-in

I started the block-in on Snowboarder James.  I don't think I will do much with his Hoodie, I like the way it roughed in.  The hat, its Logo, the reflection on the googles, and the face will get the majority of Attention to finish this up.