The Rocky Mountains

This is a large pen sketch of the Rocky Mountains near Estes Park Colorado.  This was a bit of an experiment to try and capture the different foliage, trees, rocks and mountain slopes with just pen.  I enjoyed this one but it eats a lot of time.  It was easy to get lost in this one, just like the scenery.

Even the Quick Sketch is more important than you know

The quick sketch can capture things of importance you don't even realize at the time.  This is a quick sketch I did back in May of 2000.  It is of my son James at age 14.  We went fishing at Deer Creek Reservoir in Utah.  We went with a co-worker, Larry and his son.  Larry brought a syringe for filling the worms with air to make them more appealing for the Yellow Perch we were fishing for.  James and Larry's son (about 8 years old) ran around flipping rocks over and killing bugs with the syringe by injecting air in them.  So the boys had fun, and James caught 8 perch to my one.  I teased him that he kept catching the same one as we were releasing them back into the reservoir.  We also saw Western Grebes on the water and I sketched our Perches.

Sketches developed

 So continuing with yesterday's theme, these are to quick sketches or even doodles of old steam narrow gauge engines in Colorado.  You can see the use of what ever paper or notebook is available.  They are part of the planning process.  The next step for these more detailed pieces is to complete a more detailed sketch.  Like the one below.  Both sketches are waiting to be converted into oil paintings, though the above one needs more work to flesh out the concept.  Above is the Georgetown loop, below is on the Durango and Silverton.

Idea Factory

Ideas and inspiration are funny things.  You never quite know when the thought or idea for some artwork comes to mind.  I always try to have a notebook or sketchbook close at hand at hand.  Some times the ideas are not too sticky in the brain and need to be captured quickly.  Some times they are burned in, sometimes they are fleeting.  Not all get sketched.  I have run across written notes and not remembered the original thought so they have been lost.  I found this bear in an old office notebook, mixed in to meeting notes.  I don't remember the source or the thought behind it.  I had a little bit of a bear stage a few years back and this was one of the small sketches.  This is ball point pen on ruled notebook paper.

Family Affair - Part 3

So its been a long week, so I return to the family affair pieces.  My Dad did this western themed pen and ink back in the early 1960.  It's an old school look at a Ruger revolver which will be powerful enough to stop or at least scary that bear in the background.

Buffalo

More Western theme art.  I did this quick watercolor sketch of Buffalo or American Bison a few years back.  It was more of an experiment.  If you get the chance, check these American Icons out.  There are herds all over the western US.  I have seen them in Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma, and Wyoming in Yellowstone National Park.  Just be careful them will gore you if you violate their space and they can stomp you, so respect the beast, its there field or stream too.  

Trout Flies

One of my childhood memories was of trout fishing in Colorado.  My parents owned a cabin in northern Colorado and we would spend time there and fished.  Occasionally, I sketch trout flies like these above.  I don't remember these flies's names but I know the bottom two are a Salmon egg fly and a midge fly.  I actually sketched these from memory while waiting in the theater to see the movie, Avatar.  I liked the sketches better than the movie.