Aspen Reflections

I nice quiet pen and ink for a nice quiet day.  I worked on oil paintings and some practice exercises.  I should have something to show by the end of the weekend.  For today, this is an exercise in using ink to capture landscapes.  It is not my design but is one to practice to improve technique.  I was very happy with this and plan to use the style on some landscapes I have planned out.

Palm Tree

For the impending holiday, the 4th of July, what could be more American than a Palm Tree blowing in the wind?  While not the normal image, it is very beachy and if you are in Florida or other southern coast areas you will see and enjoy palm trees blowing in the breezes or maybe even a hurricane.  This is a pen and ink rendering of a sugar palm.

Lope eared rabbit

Long day at work, so here is a sketch of a lope-eared rabbit.  This is more of the practice for improvement.  Every bit counts. 

Thumb Nail sketches

A Thumb Nail sketch is a technique of catching an idea or image or a visual shorthand to work out which composition will work best for a scene.  Above is a Thumb Nail sketch of a simple adobe church in New Mexico.  I liked the simplicity of it and the color notes I took which I did not scan capture the turquoise sky opposite the dry pale yellow of the adobe with white wash wearing off.  The eaves are unpainted but the window and doorway are warm little blue.  It should make a ggod painting when I get a round to it.

Acoma Pottery

This is a sketch of an Acoma Pueblo Indian style pottery jar.  I liked the design and the colors, so I sketched it and used markers to get the colors.  Since the artist used earth tones it was easy to use the markers and get the colors right.  I intend to go back to New Mexico and do paintings of the four seasons in the Land of Enchantment as the state is known by.  If you have never been there I would say drop everything and start planning now.  It is the most unique of the 50 states in the U.S. 

Autumn Moon Aspens

This is part of what I worked on today.  This is the first lay-in of color on an oil painting based on a scene I captured back in 2010 in Colorado near South Park.  (Yes, there actually is a South Park in Colorado).  The full moon was rising over the Aspen Grooves near Kenosha Pass on Route 285. 

My cousin, Troy Willis - RIP

One of my earliest memories of my cousin Troy Willis, was of him and me reading Richard Scarry books and Troy rolling out his patented laugh and unabashed giggles at the pantaloons of Hilda Hippo.  We were probably 4 or 5 years old so "pantaloons" were the height of funny.  I will miss that laugh.  He passed away on June 12th.  This memorial service will be tomorrow.