Dallas the Pit Bull

Meet Dallas, she is my sister-in-law Michelle's rescue Pit Bull.  Since it is Michelle's birthday today, this is her card from Barbara and I.  This is a pencil sketch with an ink box outline and my 'Chop' of my initials.

Pied Kingfisher

This is a Pied Kingfisher, she is a native of Africa and the Middle East.  She might be found elsewhere but I have only seen them there.  This is a reference sketch based on observation of one for around fifteen minutes.  I made notes of colors and bands on the feathers.  This is a female and she is a cousin to the Belted Kingfisher which was yesterday's post.

Belted Kingfisher

TGIF, good riddances to that week.  Too tired to give much today.  This is a colored pencil sketch of a Belted Kingfisher.  I see these a lot in the summer on the shores of rivers and lakes here in Maryland and Virginia.  I have seen its cousin in the Middle East and Africa, but that is a post for tomorrow.

Niman Katsina

This is my rendition of a Hopi Niman Katsina, which is a representation of a Hopi deity associated with a Home Dance or Coming Home Ceremony.  Hopefully, I got that right.  I really like the simplicity of the design of these and the color.  I did my best to capture the color but it is never as good in 2D as it would be in 3D.  This I drew with pastel pencils and it gave me a gritty texture which I am undecided about.  This is a drawing purely for fun and for my own sketchbook.

Doodle Revolution

This last Sunday morning, I caught a story on CBS Sunday Morning News show about doodling.  One of the interviewees was Sunni Brown, author of "Doodle Revolution."  I am going to order the book but the gist of her story is doodling is a way to unlock ideas, improve comprehension, and to develop creativity.  Hallelujah, I now have proof I was not goofing doodling in those meetings.  I know my feelings of calm and better retention of the meeting's topics is not my imagination.  Another interviewee was a college professor who draws heads and encourages his students to doodle in his lectures.  It is nice to actually learn something good on the TV for a change.  Above is a doodle of a co-worker in a mass mandatory meeting.

Snow Day

So DC has slowed to a crawl, and I am not talking about congress, we have a snow storm and DC drivers are not too good at driving so everything is shutdown.  This is the view from my living room window.  It is a living room "Plein Air" oil painting.  All the fun of painting a scene from life without the hassle of snow, wind and cold.

Hopi Woman

So to complete a thread of Hopis, from child, to girl, to woman, this is a pencil and colored pencil sketch of a Hopi woman.  I did this sketch from the Hopi book I had picked up and throughly enjoyed.  The book is an expansion of a National Geographic article from the 1990s.  The Hopis are a very interesting Native American tribe located in the southwest of the US.  They live a life very close to the seasons along with an annual series of rituals and dances.