China Bicycles

Earlier in the year, I traveled to China for work.  I did not get to see as much as I would have liked but what I did see was interesting and unique.  Lots of bicycles and tricycles, like the sketch of this one I did in colored pencils.

San Antonio Cross - Block-in

This is a block-in of a Woden Cross in a pot in the court yard of a Mission outside of San Antonio Texas.  I will finish the wall detail, add detail to the cross and and the flowers to the pot to finish this painting.

Beach Rocks - Block-in

I started this block-in of Beaches Rocks in oil paint.  It is pretty rough as I did not have a lot of time but paint on canvas is good every day.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! This is my card from this year.  It is a combination of pencil and marker.  The angel on top is the angel from the 2011 Christmas card.

Back to Painting

After a big break caused by time, work, and sickness I sat back in front of the easel and put paint to canvas.  This is the block-in fro a sunset on the Chesapeake Bay.

Lady Sketch

This is a sketch made after the style of Frank Franzetta.  Frank was one of the best illustrators of all things fantasy and the comics of his day.  This is a copy of one of this heroine's faces.   I liked the style of it.

Moose Silhouette

This is today's artwork, I did this in pencil as a value study of a painting I am considering doing,  I am experimenting with getting the right composition.

I am back - Flight Sketch

I am back from work travel.  I was gone for two weeks and was sick a bit also.  I did this sketch while on my flight.  It is real simple but I need to be back on the doing art wagon.

Catch and Release

This is a sketch I have done in watercolor pencils.  It is a catch and release of a nice big Trout.  You color in your basic tones with the pencil and then use a watercolor brush to blend it in and then you can add more colors to make it better and add depth.

Nude Back Twist Sketch

I sketched this in pencil as another exercise of practice and observation.  Just more practice towards 10,000 hours.

Block man sketch

Block man sketch in pencil.. This is the way to simplify a body and get the basics down on paper.

Cardinal Card

I did this Cardinal as a Get Well card for a co-worker's wife.  She is from Indiana and Cardinals are the state bird, so I did this male bird in clored pencils.

Skully Profile

Long day at the Day job, quick sketch for the night fun!

Cast Foot study

This is a pencil study of a foot cast.  I have been working late so not as much time spend on this as I should have but it is an okay practice piece.

Hand sketch

Happy Monday!  Hand pencil sketch for tonight's posting.

Shadow Sphere studies

I have been cycling through various skill sets for improvement.  I have been focusing on the monochromatic work with charcoal and graphite pencils.  These are the skills needed to improve all skills in drawing and painting.  These are pencil graphite studies of spheres with different overhead lighting and background darkness.

Woman Head Sketch

I worked on this sketch today after the weekend running of the errands.  Hopefully I will paint a little tomorrow.  This is done with Graphite.

Happy Friday

An odd experiment in perspective, I did this from an art book and I don't think it works or represents the concept.  It was easy but not real productive.  I might have missed something on this but I am done for tonight.  Tomorrow will be better.

Women's back sketch

Tonight's post, a simple pencil sketch from a photo.  I used a stump to blur the edges to make the muscles and definitions of the curves.

Male Torso Back

This is a graphite drawing of a Charles Barque lithographs from the 19th century.  These were used to train artists in form and shadows.  So I am tracking on skill developing in an old style.

Kneeling Man in charcoal

Tonight's practice is a kneeling man in charcoal and white chalk done on tan paper.  More tomorrow practice, practice, practice.

Downward Face sketch

Not all work is as successful as one would like.  This is an okay copy of a sketch but I was not completely happy with it.  It is necessary to make many attempts and trys at a task before one has a big breakthrough and something which is closer to what one wants.  Everything is progress even when it does not seem to be.

Head profile sketch

More practice with a Conte crayon, this is a profile sketch and a small nose study.

Fabric Fold study

This is a colored pencil study of folds in clothing.  This is a copy of a Degas study of a long dress or toga like clothing.  So Happy Friday, I am still working towards mastery and ever little piece is a step towards it.

Charcoal sketch Women's Head

So, I am back from a long run of work and stuff.  I have been missing my artwork.  This is a sketch done in charcoal.  I have been needing to get some more drawing time, so I have started with this one.

Cast Sketch

More work on basics, this is a pencil sketch of a cast portrait.  This is part of the practice and what is necessary to get better at drawing.  It is a decent start butmore work is needed.

Happy Early Birthday to my Sister

Happy Early Birthday to my Sister, Michelle.  She has three Pugs and this is one, Pippa.  I have been traveling and busy at the regular job, so few posts.  I will work on fixing that i  the coming days.  This is a colored pencil and ink pen card.

Henna Tattoo - Pencil Drawing

My wife, Barbara got a Henna tattoo during a trip to Africa and I decided to sketch her "Tat" in pencil.

Patrol Boat Detail

This is the close up of the Patrol Boat from the Scratchboard of Moon, Clouds, and Patrol Boat.

Moon and Clouds and Patrol Boat

I continued to work on the scratchboard.  This is a picture and doesn't really get all the detail but it is too late tonight to get a better one.  I added the sea waves and I have been working on the patrol boat.  I I done with the moon and clouds.

Moon and Clouds - Scratchboard

I have been busy at work and this scratchboard is not a fast medium.  Scratchboard is a piece of wood covered with white clay then covered with a layer of black paint.  You can then scratch with different tools to remove the black ink and expose the white clay.  It is slow and I have worked on this for a while.  I have not been happy with the results so it has dragged while I think about it. This is for a commission and I will post the other part of this tomorrow.  I need to finish the clouds on the right and finish the lower part which I have not shown you yet.

Desert Study

I worked on this oil study this evening.  I had done the block-in a while ago and wanted to work on getting it better.  I added the clouds and worked on refining the foreground and the cliff faces.

Little China Girl - Sketch

I traveled to China so I got a few pictures to draw.  This little girl was at the Great Wall.  I sketched this tonight after work.

Lyon France Fountain pencil sketch

I am back from work travel.  I will be back to posting more regularly now.  This is a fountain with a Lion head spout in the courtyard of the Art Museum in Lyon, France.

Girl Portrait - block-in

I worked on this practice piece of oil sketch of a girl's head.  I have all the basic information in place. I will make minor corrections to capture the details and make it more accurate.

Charcoal Head study

This is a charcoal head sketch done quickly.   Long weekend of catching up and no time for art.  So I think I will want to redo this one and make it better, especially in the eyes.

Quick Sketch

I worked on this quick sketch in pencil.  Its okay, not all is good but all are necessary to get to where I want to be.

Warbler and Cherry Blossoms

Happy Sunday!  I returned to watercolors after a long break from it.  This is a Warbler and Cherry Blossoms.  I used ink to outline and define the blossoms.

Head sketches for more practice

Some more sketches from a practice book.  These are pencil sketches and took about 15 minutes per head.

Head Sketches - tonights

Tonight I penciled these head portraits.  More practice on heads to get better.

Autumn Monarch - Finished

Since we have had a rainy cool day, I worked on a few things but this one is the best.  I feel comfortable with this one now.  I added small tweaks to the foliage and I worked on the Monarch's head and antlers.  They are small changes but they made sense to me and I am mostly happy with this now and will consider it done.

Happy Birthday Tiffany

Today is the birthday of my oldest daughter Tiffany. I did her a card with a colored pencil sketch of her dog Einstein the Corgi.  happy Birthday !

1000th post

I started this blog about four years ago after the death of my stepson, James.  It was and a is a way to honor him and to remind me to seize each day and to do something with each one.  I don't always post each day but I come pretty close.  This is a scratchboard moon.  Scratchboard is a white clay applied to a board and then covered with a black paint/layer.  You scratch the surface and expose the white clay.  This is part of a bigger project which I will be showing in the days to come.  Some of my James art is below.

Portrait study

I blocked in this portrait study. This is not an original but it is a way to practice on painting faces and heads.  This is the start and then I will go in and add the half tones and the rest of the facial structure.

Ear Study

Happy Friday, i worked on another black and white study, this time of the ear. It is okay, but hey that is the point, keep practicing and practicing until you get it right and can do it easily and with mastery.

Mouth and Nose study

More of the face studies in black and white oil paint.  A simple exercise in quick practice of drawing with a brush.