Twin chairs

          Us old folk spend half our days in the Dr. office somewhere- and it is sooo fun- NOT!  But this day when Grammie came back to the waiting room, she had to wait on me for a minute so I could finish up this quickie. Lots of nice negative space, dark colors, and reflected light makes for a good subject in my book. By now if you have seen some other posts, you know I llike doing chairs.  Hey they are usually a ready subject, and they sit a lot quieter than the grandkids!

Out of the Bottoms

          

          So this is sorta what it is like on a rainy May day when the world is growing and no one is out and about.  The rain had slowed all but the necessary activities- like drawing in the rain. i had just left the creek bottom and was headed up the road but stopped at this corner for a few.   Cannot say I was over impressed with the results, but I like it better now. It would make a good watercolor...  Even though it is 2 days to Christmas, it is warm and rainy now, just not the new growth of spring, but maybe we can get inspired to go out and sketch!  

Mr. Hamilton's chair

          Nice if you have a few minutes in the evening when nothing is going on (ha ha!) to have some options to draw using negative space just for practice.   This particular chair came with us from Eudora, though it was bought in Lawrence at a garage sale on south Connecticut back in the '70s.  Never refinished, but it did get reupholstered by Linda Hamilton's father.  He did it as a thank you to Stephanie for her encouragement of Linda.  When they were leaving our house one day the old man threw it over his shoulder and they walked out the door with it.  It came back later from his shop in Leavenworth with this nice cushioned seat.

Oil cloth & Rocker

           A drawing of the full rocker was posted earlier, but this drawing was inspired by the recurring position of my hat when I come in from the wet weather in the colder times of the year.  A simple illustration of a simple moment.  MGH and I went by Vanderbuilts some years ago to see if I could find a hat like his.  This oilcloth hat was very similar, and as I recollect, on sale!  So I always think of Matthew when I put it on. The rocker came from the last day of my last full year at work. This was done with the flat Generals pencil on a day similar to what we are having now- rainy and cool.

Mary's Lake Elm

          Well although you cannot see a date on this photo, it was done last June. It is good to get some practice doing plants you see in the woods. I had taken an old bike 2 blocks over to the lake trail mid morning. I was hoping to find just what I did-  on the north side of the circle walk south of the Nature Center there was an elm sapling catching the sun just as I had seen it a few days before.  As I was standing there straddling the bike and sketching one of the girls from the center came by collecting leaf specimens for one of the classes she was teaching later that day.  The drawing was  a great learning experience for me.  I do not think an elm leaf made it to the class however.

View from the Bandstand

       

         This drawing was done during what was I guess one of the few warm spells in Georgia this summer on the 21st of August. A lot different then it is now in Colorado at 11 degrees and snowing.  It was about 5 PM when we arrived at the edge of the mountains and the town of Blue Ridge, GA. We had a little time to kill before the kids arrived for the weekend, so the ladies hit the shops along the double mainstreet, and I settled into the shade of the bandstand in the park for a few minutes of sketching.  It was warm, so the shade felt good.  No one else was around, so I had only to share the place with the wasps flying about.  Never did get stung, just bit by the sketchin' bug...

Evening Highlights

          It was evening and I was bored.  The chairs were reflected in the large mirror, with the light above my head reflecting off the arm rests in the mirror as well so I could see the lights and the darks very well.  A sketch was in order, and this is the result. Maybe a little more dark and somber that many, but a good subject for my recent most favorite tool- the half dried out "Sharpie".

Bagged

          

          This old tree sits on Connecticut on a lot between 2 houses.  Many such have been taken down long before now.  It looks like an old hedge tree, but it is far too large for that I suppose.  I have snapshots of this tree, but this is the first drawing, and it has needed doing for a long time.  Someone had cleaned up some leaves and bagged them, leaving a good pile still behind the tree waiting for more bags or more energy for the work.  The tree could tell lots of stories of past years, of past grandparents or parents or kids chased out to "clean up under that old tree".

Alley revisit

          I think there are other drawings, maybe even  a posted one that was done of this little spot. I had parked the truck near this alley, and was headed to the Farmer's market when I thought this might make a nice quick drawing. It is therefore a much more free sort of style, but I think it turned out. I did another at the same time of the market itself.  One of the few times I made it up there this last season. Too bad. Lots of good produce and good drawing as well.

Some still do sheets

     

 
       A simple pencil sketch that did not photograph very well as you can see...I think it will make a great water color, huh?

Windstrong flag

         

 
        It may look like it is caught in a stiff wind, but in reality it was hanging straight down in a slight breeze.  A flag moving in the wind gives you all kind of variety of drapery that you have to catch as you can. Lots of good practice doing quick sketches of a constantly changing subject.

14th & Mass

        8/6/14 was the date on the drawing.   12:30 in the afternoon.  90 degrees. Early August when the temp was heading to the upper 90's and I was looking for a subject I could draw while in the shade.  I had seen these shadows and highlights earlier in the week as I remember, so this is where I was headed on foot after parking a half block away. I was hoping it would look something like what I remembered.  It was actually bearable against the building in the little noonday shade it provided. You will recognize the title if you have been around Lawrence much.  Just north of the ol' Memorial High School, and east of a couple other places I have drawn in the last couple years.

Grandma's lamp

        

        This brass lamp came from OKC to Lawrence at Christmas time 2003 when Grandma & Grandpa came to the Rawhide house.  I think maybe it came from Colorado before that; or was it Springfield in the mid 1980's? Everything and everyone has a story to tell...      A nice subject for a quick sketch before we head home for the evening at the end of a busy day.

Grillin' in the Smokies

        The view along the side deck looking the direction of the road on up the mountain. This is the cabin we spent some time in at the end of August. This is the south side- the view of the valley is from the west deck. Well, actually I would say that the "south" deck was actually oriented a more like south west. Matthew is grilling the kabobs that were a great hit. Much more so than this drawing I suppose, which was done with a half worn out Sharpie on what is a linen like paper given to me by MGH's brother-in-law.

Blue Ridge Mountains

        

        Drawn a month ago on 8/22/14.  Tennessee and North Carolina can be seen from this deck. The Blue Ridge Mountains  of N. Georgia in the evening sun. We had a nice time for a couple nights here with the kids. It was a very relaxing sort of vacation, with lots of good vittles.  Thanks guys.  This is way north Georgia.

Bonanza Cottonwood

        If you do not have a pencil & paper in your hand, how much are you really learning about drawing; or about the subject in front of you?  Of course it is possible and even necessary  to make some observations that greatly improve your drawing even if you don't produce a drawing, but it seems a lot more productive when a drawing results.   Something this particular day inspired me to do this drawing- and it worked out.  That makes it fun. This was done with the Generals flat lead pencil. Our house is just across Bonanza Street from this large old tree.

       

        This drawing was done a month ago; 8/28/14      A hot day in Middle Georgia at the end of August.  It had been a very reasonable summer or so they had said. We seemed to bring the heat down with us from Indiana and Kansas. These places near the kids townhouse provide me with endless inspiration. I actually spent very little time drawing, as most of our time was taken up playing with our 13 month old granddaughter!

Rocker & old down

     

      Anybody know where this rocker came from? An ol' codger always needs a good rocker- right Dale? And the down pillow also was a gift...          
      I have done a sketch or 2 of this chair; finally one that "ain't too bad".  Actually this may be one of my favorite because it has the feel of the chair itself.  You may notice the first lines of the drawing that were left behind as the work progressed.  You can compare this drawing with the antique rocker I posted recently. This wood is a light oak, the other a very dark walnut finish from years ago.  The 2 chairs often sit side by side. The little, old and dark, and the tall, new and bright.

Old Dairy

        

        This drawing was done on March 10, 2014. Another day, I guess not yet really spring, but it sure felt like a day for getting out in the air and doing a little sketchin'. The wood  vernacular farmhouse sits at the top of the rise, with the surrounding outbuildings moving slightly downhill- mostly to the west, where newer ones have been added on. So is the march of time. Each successive swing of the hammer carries a different ring. Since this drawing was done, there have been more sketches of some of the details.

Mantle Lamp

       
       I think this little lamp was done as  a demo for a particular grand kid on a particular trip to a particular house on a...  Anyway it was a good time to catch some of the details a person sees at one point that they may never notice again.

Senior Potting

   

         I spend one or two times a week waiting at the Senior Center for Gram-ma Ruth to finish her activity, or have some lunch.  These handsome twins sit there in the waiting area below the window with their disheveled hair in a permanent frizz. Nice thing was that when I stared at them for a bit they did not glare back at me for my rudeness.
         It was not a large drawing- maybe 5x7 as I remember; and not much like the ones I've done lately. Done with a B lead Pentel. 
        

This pint sized rocker figures in the earliest recollections that Grammie has of the days at the Wildrose house; maybe even before.  It is as sturdy as ever still today, even after a few more kids and now a dozen grand kids from time to time ply its rockers.  Chairs are always a good exercise in seeing and recording negative spaces as they relate to each other.  Not a bad use of the flat led pencil either...

There are a couple windmills on the Thumbnail page you might wana see.

Brick Shadows

It was the warm morning early in the year when I took the bike up to the river. I had a few minutes on the way home for a couple sketches. This was  the 2nd.  I could wanted to catch a little of the shadows before the morning light changed. The shadow did move quite a bit while I was there, including a little talking on the phone...

Lofty Garage

        I had about 30 minutes maximum to kill when I saw this scene waiting to be put to paper. Not that I actually got this far in those few minutes; I had to finish it up over the next couple of days. The problem is not so much finding something to draw as it is making the time when the weather and other circumstances are cooperative.  

Civil War Rebound

      It can be intimidating to return to a previous subject. It can also be fun. In this case I had done both sketches and a watercolor of this civil war era house even before it was moved to its current location and turned into a museum of sorts.  But it was a beautiful early spring day, I needed a break from the bike for a few minutes, and the lighting was great, so this was the result.
        You can find it online and a great deal about the era just after Quantrill's raid. Drawings and info from former historical surveys, and lots of records and pics from when it was moved from it original location to Hobbs Park. 

In the Overcast Air

       

        The view east from the playground just south of Prairie Park School after a new snowfall when winter was unwilling to retreat from northeast Kansas. The geese were moving, but not many people. The ground was lighter tone than the air above. The wind had cleared the snow in odd patterns from the corners of the roofs.

Alternate Fuel

        7th & Michigan. From the days when a car trip to Kansas City was a long drive.  This is no "Flying J". But the light and shadows did fuel my appetite for a little sketching! The old gas station made a good subject in the mid morning sun.

portabarn

        This barn was moved to this site a number of years back and set on this concrete and steel "basement" - that is according to "little Al". The sketch was done after one of my recent (rare) days on the job.  Asphalt, concrete, wood and steel a little of everything here gives a lot of texture to the page.

Finally got the settings right...
Ok, Kim, the bird is about 5'6" I think

Started a new page for a whole different project. If you click on "High Jinks" you can see a little welding project. 

Peak over Palmer

        From a recent trip to the Springs, as it had been forever since we were there to see the kids. This drawing was done at the end of a busy week when I had a few minutes to retreat to the corner park.  We have many pictures taken from this spot w/ grand-kids and Moses dog. It was trying to work up another afternoon shower as the clouds were rolling in from the northwest.
        This is a perfect spot for viewing the Peak. The small natural park is Iron Horse Park. It looks over Austin Bluffs, Palmer Park (the actual park), Kissing Camels in the Garden of the Gods, and then finally Ute Pass heading diagonal at the north of the Peak. 
        

Evening Window

     

        A sketch of our daughters fireplace window on a winter evening before the bare oaks outside were totally obscured. Reflections add a lot of interest  to most subjects if they can keep from confusing the mind. Though there is not much reflecting in this window, the recessed light does add some interest.

Shadows on the Snow

          It is going to reach 90 degrees here the next couple days, so lets have one more snow scene before summer kicks in full speed. These shadows are hard to see now that the grass is fully green.

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Oak n' Elm

        Before the final burst of spring this is what we still saw; full of pale green now. Three houses down from us, these towers were nearly black in the evening sun. Looking almost as one massive blunt spire they weave together at this angle. They are irresistible when you need something quick to draw. Interrelated negative space from the ground to the sky.
        The farther oak is actually nearly hollow at the base -has been for years. Just waiting for the day it comes down. Me thinks the north one is a surviving elm. At one time they were a major part of the American landscape. Nice to have one around...
        You can look at the Thumbnails page for a close up detail of this drawing.
        We can post an older drawing of this duo in a few days for comparison as well.       

Brick by Stone

        

       

         On a bike ride to the river a couple weeks ago. Trying to be heart healthy here.  Perfect spring day. One of 3 drawings those 3 hrs. These buildings have lots of character; character that they probably get by being owned or occupied by a "character" huh?  Many of these places have been around since before the turn of the last century- 100 plus years. I guess you would have some interesting details if you had been around that long as well...

        Once again done with a Generals flat led pencils, which are basically a carpenter pencil with a softer lead. 

Drawin' on the couch...

Not sure what drawing that is sitting there clipped to the Plexiglas board with the typical clips, the way I use to finish one started in a sketch book. Done in the winter while we were still cooped up in the house. I like the way the General pencil can give a painterly look even though the pencil is very obvious. The wide strokes are about 5/16" to give you some scale. This is a drawing of a little different subject. Good to do something to expand the mind a bit...
      The ol' couch came from the kids quite some time ago.
   

Snow Day

        Even when you are locked up in the house due to the nasty long winter, the sun will eventually squeeze through the clouds long enough for a sketch out the back window on a snowy day. This drawing was done on a day when it was too cold & wet to sit outside. Done with a Generals flat lead pencil of about 5/16 inch wide. 

Stone Cold

        This subject is easy to return to because of its innate interest as well as the fact that it is very close to home. I think I have posted other sketches of the place. It sits at the entrance to the O'Connell Ranch. It has been a long winter, and most people even by the time I did this drawing early in the season, were ready for winter to just stop! But I get lots of motivation from the snow covered world, even in the bitter cold. I hope you are not too sick of winter to enjoy a little more snow on paper anywho...

Betwixt old and new

The landfill when we first arrived in Lawrence was just east of the river west of the railroad and I guess south of Midland junction. This farm has been around since long before that, juist north of what is now a city park. This is south of the RR, US 59 and the current landfill. This is another sketch done in too big a hurry, but the results are kinda fun. Would be a good motif for a watercolor..

Buck Creek School

This drawing was done the last day Al G. worked at Hamm. I drove out there to see him get his rocking chair, though I had not worked that week. Stopped at the n curve headed back to town and did this sketch. I have photos of this place but not in 15 years of driving past the corner.  

Cab over & Done

     

    
        This odd fellow was sittin' with his head down and his tail up behind the round house apartments off 4 Wheel Drive.  Probably spends way more time like this than running! I was on a walk waiting for the car to get a new wind shield. I had forgotten my coat on a breezy 45 deg day, but sitting in the sun behind a tree I was able to keep out of the breeze and in the sun. The neighbourhood hound dog was making sure everyone knew I was there; barking and watching me with no fence between. I am guessing he figured I was more entertainment than danger. Did this sketch on a sheet of 11x14 Canson Recycled paper with a flat lead Generals pencil- something like a carpenter's pencil; nice combination for a quick idea of the lights and shadows.

Barn from the '80's

          The idea for this drawing came from a trip with our youngest into the city for a Dr's visit when he was still an infant.  We actually made two stops that day on the way in for a late appointment so I could explore a couple sites. Neither still exist, though they both became subjects of ink drawings. I am actually not sure in this case if I worked from a sketch or a photograph I took at the site.

From the Border

           Done from the old Borders building now the temporary library. Same westward look as the Earnst one, just a block north. (I'll have to post it later I guess) Cold snowy morning, but I was in the children's section leaning against a bookshelf, keeping myself warm, and getting some drawing done at the same time. Not too many kids came by looking for books while I was blocking a chunk of the isle, although there were still some schools in the area closed for the recent snow. 

        This drawing indicates a trend.  I have been thinking it would be nice to get some sketch or something done each day.  For some reason, however, my schedule seems to be a little full. What with chasing around with Grandmother Ruth, doing extra errands because of the snow, working on income taxes, etc there does not seem to be a lot of time.  Well, I did this drawing while I had an hour to kill down town.  I spent about 20 minutes, maybe 25 on this sketch.  I think I spent only about 10 more minutes or less touching it up at home.  It is just an observation of what the back of Mass. St. looked like that day. These drawings are fun to do, and I have done a number of them in the last weeks, though some are not worth much, I was satisfied with this one. Hope you like it too. These spontaneous, quick ones may give you a lot better idea of what is going through the artists head than a more finished or studied piece.  They give you a quick idea of what the scene was like, without a lot of distracting detail. 

El Dorado time

     This is an India ink drawing done from a pencil sketch. Seems like the good angles are often found over the top of someone's fence.  I think here we were sitting in the parking lot at Brahms on Central in Eldorado.
Does that look right JEH?  Maybe it was on the way home in Emporia.  Tell you the truth, I cannot remember...

You can go to the Thumbnails page to see a quick sketch from North Lawrence this fall. 

Mount Vernon Church Road

        A little off the beaten path between Atlanta and Macon. Well worth the trip back in there for the Labor Day hike and picnic we had with the kids and in laws. This old Georgia relic just across the park we were spending the day in was quick study on the way out after a nice day with the family. It does not take long to get down a few details of a place like this. Takes a little longer to finish it up later in the peace and quiet of home; but it is done much more easily when you do not have to consider what the owner will think of the work!

        You might think this place came from out in the brush just a piece from where you call home. Minnesota, Kansas, Oregon, Vermont, Colorado... well for some it might be a little stretch. And actually unless you are in the deep south I don't think you will be seeing that particular tin roof any time soon. Am I right? Never have seen one in Kansas that I can remember.  This is the same tin that is on the roof of the Elberta Depot of which I posted a drawing last month.

        Not sure what the purpose of the tarps over the porch are. Probably not protection from the north wind in Georgia in September. Must be protection from prying eyes like mine, standing a few yards across the road; or from eyes coming and going from the park.  

The Full Chimney

          No you can't see it from Kentucky Street. That is where most people are when they buzz past here without a glance. This place has been here longer than Grandma Ruth! She always asks me if “The city of Trees” was founded in 1921- the year she was born. “Well, no Gramma, it was founded before the Civil War – when you were born the town was already almost 70 years old”.

          It is only from behind you can see a full chimney, though I am sure the stacked sun rooms to the south were not there in the first edition. So then, originally you could see the full chimney on the south as well as some fine brickwork. A tall wall that I hope you can still see remnants of inside the sun rooms. I did not study the place from this angle just for the “stack” however. There usually is more interest in the back of an old place than in the front; and besides, there is less landscaping to obstruct the view. 

          There is little doubt what has been going on here at this place for years. It has become income producing apartments. The 2 main extensions themselves were probably not original, let alone the 4 smaller rooms beyond those.  The owner now has a different focus than the original one that built the place. And a different interest. Less interest you might say. Was that why it looks like the drawing itself fades to nothing at the bottom? Maybe the artist lost interest as well, or had a different focus. Or maybe he just ran out of time.

Elberta Depot

        The building in the back of the depot is an old one room store, with 2 attached “privy’s”; one for “white” and one for “colored”, as it would have been said “in the day”. Things have changed a great deal since then, and since the time this depot was full of peaches leaving Middle Georgia for markets all around. The actual new depot building just south was built during the time of the II World war, and is now the museum in downtown Warner Robins. I do not know if the Elberta Depot as it originally stood was raised on piers as now but that is a southern convention. That was about 1918 when it was operated by the Georgia and Southern Railroad. You can hear the steam chugging, the whistles blowing, and feel the weight of the engine as it rumbles to a stop for another load of peaches! Probably no heat in the building. I suppose it actually was a busseling local depot for passenger service year round in a place which now has been pretty much passed over by development. One thing for sure, there are a whole lot less of these classic depots to be found around the country, and it is nice to see this one.

Here is an interesting link to the recent Journal World article that gives some history of more than one church building of interest.  One is about the one I posted a drawing of in in April of 2013.

http://www2.ljworld.com/photos/galleries/2014/jan/11/old-churches-converted-new-uses/

Ditchin' the 'ol Plant

          They were digging out some of the lines that ran through the old asphalt plant before the dozer and the scrapper take over the job. All the equipment including the scale is gone, but the shack is still standing. The “plumbing” has been dug out to make room for the new South Lawrence bypass. This place has lots of variety that most residential or even public places may not. It is like an industrial Stonehenge with the concrete pillars and landings still standing before the coming of the “hoe”. This drawing was done in late in the summer, when fall was being felt, on a windy rainy day. It was before they fenced off most of the area for the 3 year construction project. I was somehow able to get over there on the bike with a sketch pad, and make it back home without getting me or the drawing too wet.