Happy New Years!

So Happy NewYears! This is the New Year's Red-Tailed Hawk.  I hope 2014 is better than 2013.  2013 sucked.  I plan to draw more, paint more, and write more on these blog posts.

Mallard Duck

This is a colored pencil drawing of a Male Mallard Duck.  I like to keep a record of all the birds I see and ID.  I then try to draw all of them.  This is one of the most common ducks out there in the uS and Europe.

Puget Sound Ferry

This is a pencil sketch of the Puget Sound Ferry near Seattle.   Get to Seattle and ride this ferry, it is well worth your time.

Kenya Thunder cloud and rainbow

Sunset in Kenya near Nairobi.  Sunlight catching the thundercloud and rainbow.  Enjoy

The Rescues - Australian Cattle Dogs

This is a pencil, white chalk and colored pencil of three Rescued Australian Cattle Dogs; Marley, Husker, and Harley.

Hope you had a good Christmas

A little winter sunset for Christmas Day.  Enjoy

Merry Christmas to you all!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's Birthday.  She and my Dad are a huge animal lovers.  I sent her as a gift a sketchbook of my practice animal sketches.  The final sketch is of their rescue Australian Shepard, Marley.   So have great day, Mom.

Roadside Pennsylvania Part 2

This is the same scene from yesterday but it is on grey paper with charcoal and white chalk.

Roadside Pennsylvania

This is a road side view I captured during a summer drive through Pennsylvania.  I caught this out of the corner of my eye and quickly captured the view and fleshed out this sketch as the passenger in the car.  The road side in the Keystone state was spectacular, with light green grass, white, orange, pink, flowers.  Mixed in also was a dark brown amaranth spikes.  Nice typical summer sky with big puffy clouds.

Polar Bear with Pickelhaube

I use to belong to a support group at work and this was our symbol, a polar bear with a pickelhaube or old german helmet from 100 years ago.  The support group would meet at various bars in downtown DC and would imbibe to de-stress.  Thank God, I am not in that job anymore.  If you need a bear in a helmet time to move on.

Three Wise Men - Arches National Park style

This is an oil painting at night of a rock formation named Three Wise Men at Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah.  This area should be on your bucket list.  I might run away and go live there.  Edward Abbey wrote about this Park in his book, Desert Solitaire.  It is interesting to read it after having visited there multiple times.

Geese study

This is an oil painting study of geese flying south.  It was an experiment in sky and palette knife on the tree.  Hopefully, the geese have flown by now.  Not that it gets real cold in DC.

More Zebras

This is a sketch of another Zebra from Kenya.  This one was at the Nairobi National Park, just outside of Nairobi.  It is strange to go from a major african city to lions and Zebras in less than one kilometer.

Grey Crowned Crane

This is a quick sketch I did in Kenya of a Grey Crowned Crane.  They were common and loud.   He was one of the easier birds to sketch as he mostly stayed on the ground.  I used a black Pentel Pen and a red Pentel Pen for the head and the cowl.

Alaska Fjord

This is a pencil sketch of one my favorite landscapes in the Tracey Arm Fjord in Alaska.  We went and saw this in September, which is a great time to visit.

Two Masted wooden ship

A simple pen and ink sketch of a two masted wooden ship.  This is part of the nice thing about living near the Chesapeake Bay, plenty of wooden ships and fishing vessels passing through or on display.

Zebra

I feel like my Zebra friend. Wearing stripes all week long at normal work only to be sprung out on the weekends.  This is a pen and ink of a zebra from Kenya. 

Vervet Monkey

Some days I feel like this Vervet Monkey I saw in Kenya.  Sitting on a log and wondering WTF.

Delicate Arch at Night

This is an Oil painting of Delicate Arch at night.  A visit to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah is well worth the addition to the bucket list.

More co-workers sketches

Since it is a snow day for DC.  (No one can drive in it so the authorities have given up on us).  I figured I would post a co-worker meeting sketch.  I have been caught a few times on this activity, but I am actually better at listening while sketching than if I let my mind glaze over in a meeting.

Another Blog for sanity and Creativity

http://blog.tigerpens.co.uk/journaling-keeps-you-sane-and-healthy/#more-6306

This is a link to another blog posting about the benefits of capturing thoughts, emotions and other things in some form.  This is a post about journaling and writing.  I think of my art as a visual journal to capture (However imperfectly) the things I see and feel in the world.  God knows I appreciate the feedback my art gives me daily.

Cumbre and Toltec Railroad

This is a pencil sketch of the Cumbre and Toltec Railroad in Southern Colorado/Northern New Mexico.  It is well worth the trip down there to see the train, ride the train and to see the San Juan range of the Rocky Mountains.

Snowy Photo for a Snowy Day

A Snowy Photo of Lake Hiawatha at Red Feather Lakes Colorado.  I thought this was fitting for a Snowy Day in DC.

Hoping for a Snow Day

I am hoping for a Snow Day so I can play hooky and go out and enjoy some snow on the beautiful landscape.  A Winter Wonderland.

Happy Weekend and Monday morning wish

This is what I want to have my house look like on Monday morning.  DC will panic and I will have a three day weekend or a snow day.  Both are wins.

Another Traveller in life

A fellow traveler in the Metro of life.

Fellow Traveller - Backpack Girl

This is a quick sketch of Backpack Girl.  A fellow traveler o the Metro.  She was a good model for a short time on the platform.

Alaska Iceberg

We went on an Alaskan Cruise in September.  Part of the cruise was to travel up the Tracey Arm Fjord.  Even before we got to the Sawyer Glacier we saw some of the icebergs which had calved off the glacier.  It was an interesting combination of Green water, Blue and White ice.  This is a pastel on grey colored paper.

Afghan Man

This is a black and white charcoal drawing with a little blue pencil.  I really liked the folds of the clothing and his beard.  He had a great smile and very intense eyes.

The Pie Maker

This was a quick sketch of my daughter's friend, Bambino.  He was the pizza maker and I sketched him while we waited for ours.

More train stuff - Durango & Silverton

This sketch kept me busy and distracted a few years back while I waited for my truck to be repaired.  It is of a another narrow gauge train.  This one is the Durango and Silverton Line out of Durango, Colorado.  Until the steam engine was invented no one traveled faster than anyone else for a millennia or more.  Traveling on horse back was your only option for ground transport.  Then the steam engine could have you traveling consistently at at least 30 mph.

Happy Thanksgiving!! Wild Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving!  This is a colored pencil sketch of a wild turkey.   The real McCoy.  I keep a journal of all the birds I have seen and identified.  My count is at 235, I have sketched or photographed about 1/3 of them.  So enjoy your food coma and the holiday.

Pre-Thanksgiving Travel

Ok, so this is not from Thanksgiving travel.. I am staying home.  This is for all the hardy souls battling the weather and the delays.  I sketched this on a flight back from Florida.  Happy Thankgiving and travel safe.

Rio Grande Narrow Gauge steam engine Oil Painting

This is an oil painting of a Denver Rio Grande Steam engine in southern Colorado.  It is a narrow gauge train, which the company used initially because it was easier and cheaper to build in the mountains.  Some of these still operate as tourist lines independent from the big railroads.  A small piece of the past still chugging along.   This particular line is gone but the mountain remains and just down the valley is the Cumbres and Toltec railroad.  It is definitely worth the trip to ride and see.

Capt Tom Tug boat

There is not a lot of boat traffic on the Potomac River, but do get an occasional tug pushing a sand barge.  I saw thew Capt Tom pushing one and though he would make a good pen and ink drawing.

Bear and Staff Pub - London

Since it is the weekend and I really don't want to go to work, I will keep with the Bar theme.  Last year, I went to London for work and managed to slip out for one evening for some pub and sketch time.  This was the bar at the Bear and Staff, I had to massively simplify and sketch quickly.  The bar maid was the hardest to capture since she was a whirlwind of activity, as all good bar tenders are in a busy evening.  This sketch was accomplished with the help of 40 Shilling Ale and Strong Bow cider.

Bar Fly - W Bar in NYC

I don't usually hang out in a Hotel Bar but, I did like the looks of W Hotel's Bar in Manhattan, NY, a few years back.  A fun quick sketch and if you don't like it - I can blame the Single Malt Whiskey.

Eye Doctor's Office Equipment

Have you ever noticed the equipment at the Doctor's Office is always the most intriguing?  I visited the Eye Doctor and sketched the eye test machine while I waited.  It was a longer wait than I expected and I got to finish up more of the device.  Great use of time.

Delicate Arch, Utah - Oil Painting study

I did this small oil painting study when we lived in Utah.  This is of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park.   The family and I have hiked up to it many times and it has been a treat each time.  The arch and surrounding terrain is beautiful and the light is always changing.  One of the best shows in nature. 

Rehohobeth Beach Watercolor

Barb loves the beach, so I try to get her there, unfortunately it is not as often as I would like.  I did get to Rehohobeth beach in Delaware and enjoyed a little watercolor while she beachcomber.

Catch and Release - Trout Sketch

I enjoy an occasional fishing expedition.  This is a sketch of a friend's trout before release back to the river in Colorado.  Fishing is another activity to help preserve sanity.  Pretty much anything outside is good.  SO get away from the TV and get outside.

Airplane - EA-3B Skywarrior

This is a quick sketch about 15 minutes of an aircraft parked outside the NSA.  You can see this if you go to their museum.  I think they have four aircraft but this one was the most interesting to me for a sketch.

This was Veterans Day

So I had a peaceful Veteran's Day.  I went to Sky Meadow State Park in VA.  I did a Plein Air painting with professional artist and all round great guy, Armand Cabrera.  This was some of the last foliage still surviving November.  I will use this outdoor study for a studio piece.  I have a few things I want to change and improve.

Alaskan Fjord studies

Sometimes a painting comes together easily, some times it takes some work, the artist's abilities do not always meet the requirements of the vision.  So I experiment on small canvases to get my colors and design right.  Later, I will complete a larger more detailed painting.  So enjoy the pre-work.

Have a Great Weekend!!

So when I worked downtown, I would commute on the Metro and I would sketch my fellow travelers. These two wait for the train.

Arizona Desert -colored pencil study

I have always loved sunsets and the Arizona desert produces spectacular ones.  I experimented with colored pencils to try to capture the colds.  

Co-workers - Models or Victims?

I have a fair amount of training to attend at the 9 to 5 job.  Some is great,  some good, and some only fair.  The left side of my brain listens and the right side sketches my co-workers, i.e. free models.  These worked out pretty good.  The victim drawings (bad ones) will never see the light of day.

Totem Pole study

This is a study of a totem pole, similar to some we saw in September in Southeastern Alaska.  This was done on grey paper with tempera paint. I plan to alter this and re-desig it for a full painting.  Enjoy!