Late Sun 'cross the Yard

          Been meaning to get this place on paper for some time. The 'ol boy who lives here came swinging by just to see what I was up to. Forgot to give him my card, but he seemed easily convinced that I was legit. I was stopped beside the road sitting on the bike in the middle of the ditch with my bag a few yards away by the fence. The sun was cutting across the lower corner of the new barn roof. Some of the grass and half the sycamore was highlighted- the rest was in shadow, including the stuff sitting just over the rise to the barn. This ride was in mid October and I still saw the swallow-tailed flycatcher above the same brush along the south side of the road. The drawing is condensed left to right quite a bit compared to the actual yard. Otherwise you could not get it all on paper, and besides the condensed version seems to put more “punch” in the drawing.  

Finally!

Well it has been “purtin near” 3 months since my last post. That is mainly because I messed up my account password or something just enough to keep me from being able to edit my very own blog. Well thanks to my nephew Ben for straightening it all out. They were here earlier this month for a short visit, and as they were leaving he volunteered to help get it straightened out. Over the next 24 hrs. or so Ben was able to fix my problem. I owe you a big thanks, Ben. And to Amanda for putting up with my “issues”! Sorry it has taken so long for me to take advantage of the fix. Well I seemed to have lost some of the drawing photo files that I was getting ready to post- hence the further delay. I know some of you out there have been waiting on pins and needles!

“1838”

Another drawing from our trip over Labor Day. Brown County State Park, in central Indiana. Beautiful place and lots of stuff like this to draw. Yes this was on the road, actually our destination, where we found the village by the name of Gnaw Bone. I had not “googled” the history of this bridge until I first wrote this paragraph on 10/29/13. I would suppose it has been partially rebuilt- at least for the skin- more than once in its 175 years. The style, the Burr arch truss, was apparently patented in 1817 according to Carole Rifkind in “A Field Guide to American Architecture”. You can see some of the arch in this drawing. (Well at least you could if I had a better photographer!)  This is similar to other bridges of the period. Here is a link to a technical drawing of another bridge using the same system:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Burr_Arch_Deer%27s_Mill_CB,_Sugar_Creek,_Montgomery_County,_IN_00002r.jpg

and another to a description of this bridge with more details, which answers some of the questions regarding its history. I had wondered at the time if it had been moved to this site, because I could not imagine a 2 lane bridge ever being needed at this site. Not sure yet where it came from. So here is the other link bridgehunter.com/in/brown/ramp-creek/ These links will help you get a feel for the history. 

Another "back roads trip" sketch on the Thumbnails page.  Good practice and a good idea to have the paper and pencil ready. If you missed the 1st one, now you can see 'em both. 

Mid May Stairway

   This was done 18 months or more ago, but sat in the truck long enough that it got rained on before being finished. So I whacked off the bottom where it had been the most wet, and finished it up during the winter. This was not only mid May, and a stairway in the middle of the house, but the house also is in the middle of town. I sat in the parking lot to do the sketch that is on the north of Central Junior High. Remember, the former Memorial High School...

I was going to post it before, but could not get the photography decent. Still not too good. 
    Hey, I am sticking some new ones on the Thumbnails page too. 

Gnaw Bone worn

        We had few minutes running down the Interstate south out of Indianapolis. We took the State Hwy west looking for Brown County State Park. We had been there years before with my aunt and uncle. This time on the way we passed these two structures sitting side by side. Returning back the same way some minutes later we stopped for a quick sketch. This drawing is one of the results of that side trip. These places look like they may be from completely different time periods.

        The town near there was Gnaw Bone, IN. One of the strangest names we ran into on our two week trip. Maybe the guy who built the cabin could remember why they came up with this name...maybe the dog that did the gnawing was laying on the porch of this place at the time. I would guess the road was not paved at the time. Probably not even graveled. The bone has long been gone, but the worn buildings are still standing.    

Two the Mills

This is from the back roads of Alabama, from last week. We turned around and went back to this junction where Stephanie had seen a small sign saying “SACO”. We had no idea what that meant until we saw across the road in the trees the Saco Volunteer Fire Department. One ol' fellow (my age?) stopped in his pickup as I was sketching this place, and said this was the corn storage at one time for the grist mill across to the east. Now it is just a hiding place for a load of trees headed to a mill... He also said the corner at one time was home to 13 businesses – such a statement is proof I would think that he had been around for some time. One was the grist mill, one was a cotton gin, one still is apparently the Sorrel Lumber and Pulpwood Company. The only evidence we saw of life besides this informant, was the new brick building across the large lot with a couple pick ups parked beside it in the shade. Well, I guess there was one other fellow there. As I was standing in the middle of the lot sketching, I began to hear some music from under this structure, but could not see anything under there in the darkness. Pretty soon an ol' pick up pulls out from there and around to where I was standing. This ol' boy wanted to know if I would be around long enough for him to see what my drawing looked like when it was done. When he found out I would be just a few minutes, he said, “well I have to be getting home now.” and off he drove.

When I had a couple sketches done, I hopped back in the car with Stephanie, and off we drove to Troy.  

        Who can tell me when the moniker "thumbnail" began to be used? Long before the advent of the computer; but when and why?
        Well, anyway there is another "thumb" on the thumbnails page- that explains where some of the stuff in our yard came from...

Over the Pasture fence

        

       From 2 weeks ago on a short bike ride east of town. Stopped in the shade of some scrub trees along the ditch, and took a few to get this view on paper. Seems like I made a note of the variety of tree here, but cannot seem to see it now. There are 2 or three more along this stretch that are calling me back there. The nice thing about doing it from the Diamondback is that no one hardly knows I am in the neighbor hood, and if they do, an ol' codger on a bike is a whole lot less suspicious looking than if he were in a vehicle.

Spring Gate in Late Summer

         Once upon a time where N 1250 road runs south of Mary's lake and ends at E 1750 there was a cattle chute that was put together or patched with a number of rusty bed springs from before the day when box springs were in-closed with cloth. (You know you are old when you can remember as a kid reaching over the side of the bed and catching your fingers in unprotected springs!) The chute has now disappeared, but there is a sketch of that “Sprung Chute” around here somewhere.

       This old unused corral enclosing the weathered wood feeder is of a similar vintage and style, but has survived 'till today. And about a mile as the crow flies from that old chute... This drawing was done this week, after far too long a sabbatical from pencil and paper.  

On the "Thumbnails" page you can see how it is to use a little different pencil and style for doing quick sketches.

Oldie

This is an ink drawing from a long time ago. One of those scenes you just can't resist puttin' on paper.

Ok, we have been under the weather for a couple weeks...
Hope you all are doing better!  Here is a quick view of the latest trip across Iowa-  a little unusual view!

Cat Door

         How about another old garage? It is not hard to find a vintage garage in old Lawrence when you need something to draw! The ol' 2 car garage is a classic for sure. The note on the drawing says 12:30 PM. I was half listening to a football game at the time... The drawing was an effort to drown out the Jayhawks- who were getting beaten again!

        The title is sorta a guess of the least you might expect to be living in this one. You might expect a cat to come out from under the door, or to poke it's head in to catch a mouse off guard. Might even expect a 'black and white kitty' if you were real lucky! I am not sure anyone has been using the big doors, though “skunks” of the 2 legged variety could probably not be kept out if they were looking for mischief.

        This place like many is not too small but certainly is too rough to be used for your Smart Car. This garage was erected before town folk drove “boats” like the '59 Ford Fairlane. or monster SUV's for getting kids to soccer, or pick-ups for the weekend warriors!

        So who goes in and out these days? Maybe just the landlord on foot with his junk. Or maybe this is not much more these days than just a cat door...

The nice thing about cats is they help keep out some of the riff raff.

Check out the "mill" on Thumbnails.

Imaginary Chimney

        There is a chimney in the background, a more distant one, but the original chimney is missing. All we can see is the opening in the roof that the masonry used to occupy. The newer “stack” along with the newer buildings in the background are taking the place of the old. There are two chimneys- two distant chimneys. One distant in space, one distant in thought. One visible on the farther building; one visible only in the imagination. It has dropped from sight; it has not totally dropped from memory.

        Actually, the fallen chimney is still laying in a heap on the floor. I suppose the entire building will someday follow.

Sparta Missouri

   

    This drawing was done last summer on a trip to southern Missouri for a weekend with friends. You could find the place just north of the Post Office as you drive into town from the west. 

  If you have a few minutes, or can scratch some together, you cannot pass up a chance for a little sketching- unless of course you are out of state, playing with grandkids and doing projects for one of the kids....

thumbnail post

Well, here is a thumbnail that gives new meaning to the concept of a posted thumbnail...

"Double Snake Eyes"

        These places are interesting. Twin houses with twin numbers. The street numbers are 202 and 204 west 9th St. A friend of ours painted these places back in the 70's for a part time income. They also appear in a 1921 photo of the original Lawrence High School. How long they were there before that I do not know. The High School was at the time across the intersection to the south west; the stone foundation of which was used for the new construction that now stands on the site. Looking carefully at the old photograph, it is possible to see the entryway on the west house, and what appears to be an identically trimmed entryway on the east house. Twins often have a way of aging differently, and it seems these 2 are no different in that respect.     

How about another Thumbnail...

End Shed

       We passed this place again yesterday coming in from Minnesota, so thought it about time to post this November drawing. Too bad there is no snow to cool us down a little. The pocked yard extends all the way into the shed... You may be able to see the rolled corner of the tin covering the end post where the cattle crowd as they make the round into the cover. A nice clean white paint job shows someone considers this a going concern. 
       A pencil will not do everything for me, although there are some who seem to be able to make it so. There has to be a shorthand for the approximation of information in a drawing. Pencil will only go so dark, and the white of paper can never be as bright as the sunlight; But a good drawing can take you past all the shortcomings.

East of Mary's Lake

    

        This drawing was done just before my surgery in January. Standing in the trail heading back into the woods from the concrete trail on the east side of Mary's Lake you can “eave's drop” on the neighbors; or do a quick sketch of the view to the east. Some views are just the right combination of line, direction and shade that it makes it difficult to resist doing a sketch, and not too difficult to finish it! Although it does get more difficult to concentrate as the weather improves and the hedge woods green up, this drawing was done before the winter weather even arrived.

       On the thumbnails page I reference a sketch posted early on that is in Colorado Springs- just over the hill south of the Black Forest.
       Also there is a quickie done at the Melvern KS Quarry.

Snow Curls

        This and “Winter Holly” were started on the same day, March 15^th, 2013. Almost 3 months ago as I write this note. Lonnie's in N. Lawrence. It was a spot I had been planning on sketching for some time, but could not pass it up on a snow day. I was heading home after dropping Gramma off for the morning. The street had been cleared and the blade had left the typical curls of snow along the edge of the parking area which added a little extra interest to the scene.

        Why does someone continue to do these drawings? After all, I often have the camera along, even if my “smart-alic” phone won't take a photo! For some reason it is a pleasure to record only exactly what the mind, eye and hand can get together on the page.

"Visit beautiful Ruby Falls" on the thumbnails page!  No charge for this!  (Very low budget tour of the 3 state area - And no falls...)

the Renters

        One of the places that just looks to me like someone is living there, but the original owner has for one reason or another moved on- to a new house, a new occupation, or to a new world. These are the farm-scapes that I enjoy- lots of interaction between surfaces of earth, wall, roof and sky; interaction between shades from deep shadow to intense reflected light! Each building is a creation in its own right, probably in its own generation, with each new one coming some years later. The earlier ones replaced or enhanced by new additions. A barn, a shed, another one long and low built for what originally? The house came early on and was then also added to how many times?

Yet another sketch on the "Thumbnails" page. Done in a similar style to last weeks.

Quincy Triptych

       

        One of my favorite from a trip to Quincy when the garden was there. Cannot tell when this small building turned into a threesome. Has been a long time I am sure; though I have posted that drawing from '97 (From Deak's Mail Box) that has this shed just as the middle shed -though that is artistic license, or more likely just lack of attention or poor memory. That drawing was started in Quincy and finished, I suppose in Lawrence. This one is of the shed and the central tree. There are other drawings done (and to be done) from this little corner of the universe, but this 'ol weathered structure is a nice one. 

Have you been to the thumbnail page to see the sketch I am calling "Southern Hills"?

Exposed Wood

        Ok, here is one done the same day as the Well House. If you look up the hill behind the well house in the previous drawing you will see this little barn. Done in the winter before the snows started.  

Town Barn

       

        

        It has been around awhile. And only a few blocks off main street. I would suppose it held the horse, and perhaps even the cow- for the folk who raised their kids there and probably worked in town. The little “barn” had to have been in use long before people drove around in a “tin Lizzie.” Actually I wonder what the monster house on the property was originally. Looks like it could have been an hotel; and only “caddywampus” from the train depot.

White Redbud Season

        How about a drawing from this week. The pencil sketch was done 8 days ago now; it had been a few since I had done a sketch on location and I needed the opportunity to remind myself what is possible. The ink was completed today. The whole thing represents three to four hours of work; it goes a little quicker when you have no one but yourself to please with the outcome. It also helps to have a little cold wet weather for these kinds of things. I know, everyone is anxious for the weather to get with the program, but it is about the only thing that will keep me in long enough to do a drawing or two. Even at that it is all I can do to resist takin' a walk in the rain! (No one else should be out to disturb your peace and quiet!)

       I have thought for some years that this place might be an interesting drawing. I like the flowering trees that line the south side, and the fence, well... adds a lot of interest in black and white.

 

Take a peak at the Thumbnails page.  There is a simple sketch posted that helps show how to remember and render shading quickly. Let me know what you think.

Well House

        Done 2 months ago as of this writing. It was a great day for walking and sitting and sketching for a while in the afternoon sun. As previous drawings have indicated, there has been some good snows since this date- three at least that I can think of. This is just to remind us that there were times this winter without snow on the ground!  The ol' boy still runs a few cows in this pasture that is totally surrounded by the town and has been for longer than I can remember. Not hard to find either. I have walked past this during 3 surgery recoveries that I can think of right now. For whatever that is worth... We can see the well house from what used to be the rail line to Baldwin, and is now a bike path. In the mid 80's the rail line still ran north of 23^rd Street.  In the '70's trains still delivered paper to Color Press just north of 23rd.

Fair Evening

        In the fall of the year. A fun record of the light and shade in the evening. Not actually during the county fair, but at the county fairgrounds  This is the place (just to the left of the tree about 50 feet) where in the 70's we recovered Shannon's bike that was taken from under the carport. I think all the kids remember that story.  

Winter Holly Church

       

        The remains of a late snow. Five days before the start of Spring. Believe it? Of course we had snows after this one! This is about the 3^rd sketch I have done that included this church over the river, and the tracks. I will probably do more. Snow changes everything, refreshes the brain and inspires the eye.

Snow on the Divide

        A scene from the Colorado foothills. East of Palmer Lake, before you get to the 2 lane North to Parker. It is a place that just needed to be put to paper. There had been a good covering of snow though now the trees had cleared. A little snow helps keep the "lights" light and the "darks" dark. Mostly horses in the Black Forest now and has probably been that way for years, but I betcha these folk have ran some cattle in the past though none were obvious this afternoon. There is plenty of hay on the east end of the yard...

        We were visiting our kids who lived just a mile or so west of here when I got a quick start to this little project. It has taken 2 years for me to get on it, but here it finally is.

“Sammy” at the Piano

        The thing came home from work one day. With a broken foot it had landed in the trash bin, but I figured the grand-kids would find a use for it, and they did. One summer it watered many a dandelion. Later it served as a planter. When it arrived on Bonanza Street, it still had a lid and a handle. It has been a hard life for a yard decoration...but even an old beaten up samovar can have its moment of fame...  

From Deak's Mail Box

        Here is a drawing from 1997. This is from the east side of the first road turning up into Quincy. The kids had been married a couple years at this time. We may have gone quail hunting with Deak that day or maybe it was one of the later trips. You can see the old Methodist church in the background. The artist has taken some liberties with the drawing. (Oh well, ya get caught some times.) I did not feel that the goal was complete accuracy. If that were the case no drawing would ever get done. Pencils have a way of interpreting things in their own way. There are places where accuracy is important. Art is not always one of them. There are other things to be recorded besides shape and tone. If you want it literal, use your phone! But after all it has been a while since you could even trust a camera image let alone a digital one.   

Ol' Hedge

        

       Most hedge rows were planted when? Before the turn of the last century? During the WPA? They were an essential part of early farming practices. I do not suppose any of the existing trees are that old, but I may be wrong. Some were here before we moved into the area 30+ years ago. The trees grow old, die and the wood just gets more hard and more dense the longer it stands. It was a warm winter day with me just in a frayed jacket. I was not able to see any sign of life in this ol' fella, peeled of its bark, hard and dark. Where it stood at the south end of the ancient row it leaned as if it were trying to escape from the row across the fence into the creek below.

Over the Tracks

        If you follow the railroad out of town north toward Midland Junction you will before you get to the junction pass this place which is over the tracks to the west. If you keep on in that direction you should arrive at the river and the site of the old time Lawrence landfill of the early 1970's. This is the Kaw River bottoms; and the November sun is dropping fast, so catch the shadows while you can! Light and shadow- that is what makes a visual memory.   

Mud Work

        Done on a rainy day of which there were few last summer when they were getting the footings set for the new bridge on 23^rd Street in Lawrence. The date on the bottom says 7/12/12. We had very little rain in the spring and even less as the drought worsened over the Mid-west. But this day I sat in the truck a few minutes with the window cracked and the drizzle trying to spatter my paper. Wanted to get some remembrance of what it was like when they had the bridge torn out. They were setting re-bar boxes for the pillars of the bridge. Why they had the boom up in the rain I am not sure... Nor am I sure why it took such a fancy bridge (or a bridge at all!) but it looks pretty good now that it is done. Maybe now it also needs another drawing?

Watkins Museum

        If you have been around downtown Lawrence long, you will recognize this vintage bank building. Look at the park to the north of the drawing and that is all you need to do to date this piece; the park has been completely redone since those days some 25 years ago when the drawing was done. This is one of those pieces that I located a couple years ago while organizing some of the older stuff in storage... The drawing itself is India ink done with a stick, or maybe a toothpick but taken from an original long lost pencil drawing done while sitting in the alley a half block east of Massachusetts Street. This image posted actually is from a copy of the ink drawing.   

Shadow Frost.

Dark Ice

        Here is one of those probably originating in '08 when the kids were living in Quincy. We had arrived in a borrowed truck in the middle of the night crashed at the place there, and woke the next morning to frost covering everything. You may still see some frost on the bales retreating to the left; but the actual scene was a lot lighter than this that morning. But the large tree was still a little dark underneath, and the atmosphere was so “mid-evil” that it lead me to this rendition. The place leaves one sometimes with the feel of the Shire and one might expect Bilbo Baggins himself to emerge from the wood.  

I found the old pen drawing from Mary's Lake. It is on the "thumbnails" page...

Sunrise Greenhouse

        The first time I remember going into this place was when we needed a manger scene for Christmas while we lived on Craig Court on the east end of 15^th street. It was later than 1975. I don't think we had been in that house long. When I brought it home the three kids were pretty happy with the purchase. We still have that set. I wonder every time we pass the greenhouse just how long the “smokestack” has been there, what it was first used for, and why it is still standing. Makes a very unusual scene; harks back to days before we were here. This line drawing was completed over a recent sketch with which I was not too happy at the beginning. I think now that I am glad I did not pitch it. It's good to get some record of a significant corner in town before it changes -which I am sure it will. Hope to get back there before then!

New sketch on the Thumbnail page from Mary's Lake...

From the Window

     

        Here is another piece from Thanksgiving. After all, that is one of the goals of this spot- to get more current drawings out there for “all you all” to see! This one is again from our trip to Minnesota in November. This one had lots of potential for different lighting depending on the time of day and the cloud cover, but this is as it was when I started the drawing. I was a little disappointed that it did not convey the bleakness that I had sensed when I first noticed the scene, but I guess it still conveys some of the impact of the moment at which it first caught my eye. A pencil, a paper, a hand and and eye, and an artist should never be without entertainment! With a little observation a person can learn a lot and convey something new.

The Pilings

       Here is another piece from a recent trip. The manure pile in back of everything is waiting for the spreader. Maybe for the garden... Spring is coming. Well, with the weather we are having it is hard to remember it is winter now!

The Clearing

        The old 2 story farm house has company; a newer “rancher” has been built down to the west. The simple barn has no activity behind to wear the grass or to need an honest fence. The old clearing may soon be dotted with cedar. No one has talked yet of clearing out the 2 story- but it may be just a matter of time. The original folk have left some time back. Everything in this drawing is moving downhill to the north except the clouds; they are rolling south. After a dreary morning it was good to see them go. The sky was clearing; the sun was bringing some cheer to the scene. The doldrums are leaving the artist. 

Shell

        The thing kicked around in the flower patch by the front door for awhile when the kids were younger. At some point it migrated inside. There it became a subject of this drawing. It had suffered a hard life. The thing was a good 5-6 inches long. It looks here like it is still sitting in the corner by the porch in the setting sun. This drawing is probably 25 years old or so. Not much here but dark and light - and hopefully some emotion. How can something as simple as a beat up old conch stir emotion? Ask Vermeer... 

        Don't forget to take a look at the new Thumbnail.    

Bald Cedar

     The storms of the Gulf of Mexico produced in years past many of what were called Bald Cypress- Cypress trees with the tops torn off by hurricane winds. Some of those mammoths were 10-15 feet in diameter. This drawing shows us the Kansas version. Cedar trees that have suffered a similar fate from Kansas storms, whether tornado, or something less violent. There do seem to be a number of these old wizened specimens though maybe not the size of the ancient trees. Cedar trees, especially early on seem to lean with the prevailing winds, or leaning up hill all seem to be headed to the same ridge. There are millions of younger cedar taking over abandoned pastures as small acreages are left untended. But it is the older ones stuck along the creek draw, or on the silent farmyard itself that have survived the blows of many a spring storm. Though they have lost their crown and may never be as tall again, they do not give up spreading and thickening up. They give a sturdy image.

      This house along 24 Highway heading east from the Tee Pee is now gone. Glad I got this one done before it was downed. Though I do think the trees may still stand.

      There are some recent additions to the Thumbnails page you may want to see.

      Also there is a NEW page – the Kids Korner – where you can get a little encouragement to get the kids drawing...