What I did on my Fourth of July

Our daughter Kerri had my wife and I come to her work at the Rolling Hills Country Club to watch the fireworks.  I took advantage of the waiting time and sketched Kerri working the Bar at the tenth hole.  She was busy making drinks and hustling around for supplies.  I practiced memory sketching and catching glimpses of her profile and the rear 3/4 head shot.  The front 3/4 head shot did not work and has been erased from memory and the world.  I did these with a drink, a mechanical pencil, and a small sketchbook.  It was a great evening.

Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July!  A mountain watercolor study for the holiday.

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.