Trout, part 2

This is another pen sketch for practice and reference.  It is not an original idea but is part of the 10,000 hours of practice anyone must commit to to master any skill.  I do these sketches also as a mental break and meditation.  It is especially good to decompress from the normal work day stress and the commute.

Merlin the Wizard - tribute to Alan Lee

Another artist I really like is the fantasy artist, Alan Lee.  Above is my rendition of his pencil drawing of Merlin enchanted in the woods.  Alan's edition is much better but I challenged myself to replicate his techniques.  He is one of the artist I aspire to be as good as in my own art.

Trout Sketch

This is an ink sketch of a trout rising to a fly.  I did this a few years back and did it from a magazine picture.  This is something I wanted to capture for later use in a painting, so I added it to the sketchbook for safe keeping.

Portland Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse

The wife and I went up to New England for the wedding anniversary.  In Portland Maine, we ate seafood and went out on Casco Bay to see the islands and the Lighthouses.  The Spring Post Ledge Lighthouse is one of the lights you can see out on the bay, which is depicted above.  This is a watercolor pencil sketch with ink outline.

Merlin

This is a Merlin, a small bird of prey.  This particular one was a rehab patient with the Utah Dept. of Natural Resources.  It had been injured and was being nursed back to health for release back into the wilds of Utah.  I did this sketch in colored pencils.

Quick Sketch - My niece Julia

This is a quick sketch of my niece Julia.  I did this two years ago, she is a pre-teen so I did not get a lot of time with her sitting still.  So you take what you can get.  Tomorrow, I will post some stuff from our trip to New England.

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.