Bugling Elk Birthday

My other brother-in-law Kelly's birthday is Wednesday so here is his card.  Don't tell him.  I am on the road a bit so I am posting this early.  This is done with watercolor pencils and pentel pens.

Crappie and Sunfish sketch

I have a couple of Brother-in-law birthdays coming up, so there is one.  This is for Gilly.  He likes to fish here in Maryland, so you get a lot of Sunfish and Crappie in your catch. Happy Birthday!

Snowboard James - Finished - 800th post

I finished Snowboard James today.  The adjustments I made were small as I did a decent block-in.  I made tweaks to the hat, the forehead, and small adjustments to the hoodie.  This is my 800th post.  The understated point of this blog is to remind myself to do art every day and to remember James.  He is missed and is a constant reminded life is short so do something.  Many talk about Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, but Post Traumatic growth exists also and is a better use of my time and energy.  Some times all you can do is focus on the better part of things and the time you have left.

Bonsai-like Pine sketch

More pencil work tonight.  I messed with doing a pencil sketch of a Bonsai-like Pine tree.  If you have ever been up to the timberline in any mountains you always see trees like this shaped by wind, sun and the blast of storm winds.

Lodge Pole Pine Study

Another small tree study done in pencil.  These are Lodge Pole Pines, which literally were used by the native americans to make poles for their teepee lodges.

Eastern White Pine Sketch

A simple pencil study of an Eastern White Pine.  I am trying to live by the motto from the German artist Adolph Menzel, "No Day without a line." or brush stroke.  A little bit every day.

Utah Desert Study

I worked on this Utah Desert Study.  This is not an original design, but I wanted to work on desert scenes.  I did the block-in months ago and was frustrated with it.  I dug it out tonight and worked on fixing it.  It is better now but it is still pushing me to be better at the color and values.