Gerald Cassidy - Motivating me to improve

This is my rendition of a charcoal sketch by southwestern artist, Gerald Cassidy.  I was blown away by his handling of the darks and lights and copied his work as a way to improve my own and to get me to think more in shades as opposed to just lines.  I don't know much about Gerald but, I plan to do more research on him.  I will see if I can find any on-line links for his work or his biography and will post it on a future blog post.

Native American woman - pencil sketch.

Art is a compilation of practice, practice, and practice.  This is a pencil sketch from a photo I picked up as an exercise in training my eye and skills on faces.  This old Native American woman has a lot of character and interest in the structure and lines of her face.

Clown Figure from Cochiti Pueblo

This another lunch hour quick sketch from the Native American Smithsonian Museum in DC.  This clay figurine is about 12 inches tall approximately.  I had to switch pens as one died and I finished the head with a ballpoint, hence the shine as compared to the matte of the other pen.

Apache Mountain God Dancer

I occasionally get to go to the Smithsonian museums on the Mall in DC.  The Native American Museum is great and I could spend a month just doing sketches of the things they have on display.  This is on permanent display and is An Apache Mountain God Dancer.  I did a quick sketch as I was doing at art lunch hour and had to run back to the office.

Fort Storey Lighthouse Virginia

This is a quick sketch of one of the lighthouses at Fort Storey, Virginia.  There are two there, one in from the days of George Washington and is one of America's first public works projects.  This is the new modern one.  We had to rush as a storm was starting to come in.  This is more of a reference sketch for a painting I plan to do in the future.  Eventually I would like to go back and do a plain air painting on site with both lighthouses.

Sparrows

Sparrows are some of the most common birds in the United States.  The top one is a male House Sparrow in breeding plumage.  The bottom one is a juvenile House Sparrow taking a dust bath.  I did both of these in colored pencils.

Happy Mother's Day - Alaska

Happy Mother's Day!  This is a sketch dedicated to my Mother.  My wife and I went on a cruise to Alaska last September with my parents.  It was a great trip and I started out doing some sketches while the ship passed by the scenery.  Unfortunately or fortunately the scenery was too spectacular to keep up so I reverted to just taking photos and really quick notes on colors and ideas for later paintings.   It felt like I was drinking from the visual fire hose.  I definitely want to return to Alaska but at a slower pace so it can be enjoyed and savored.