Hiawatha wigwam

From time to time you see a tee pee on the south side of the Haskell campus.  This time I ran into the tipi (wigwams were I guess a more round top structure -am I right?) while riding through the center of campus.  The 'ol Hiawatha Hall is a recent idea of, say some 120 years. On the National Register it looks fairly permanent sitting there in its ancient local stone.  The tee pee on the other hand is really an ancient idea, although the cloth (?) and pole of which it is made are no doubt much more recent.  The near dwelling made to be transient, the far intended to be permanent.  Hiawatha, like a couple other structures in this row of buildings may slowly be loosing its relevance as it becomes more and more expensive to update.    At the last minute while passing by, I stopped, backed up my bicycle and did this quick drawing, which I touched up at home over the next couple days.  9" x 5" format with .9mm 2B lead.

white place in the fall sun

In an attempt to deal with a nondescript foreground and at the same time add a little fall color to the scene, I ended up with this piece.  It was conceived from a sketch done on recent road trip. Maybe I am getting better at catching in pencil a quick idea of something that could turn into a painting.  What do you think?    Canson 9 x 12 140# paper on the first of October when the grasses where drying up, the stag-horn sumac had been full red for a long time, but not all the trees had yet given up their green for the shades of fall.

Murphy-Bromelsick porch

 This place is easy to get interested in.  We have a painting I did hanging here of this place back in the 1980's that one of the kid's framed & gave me.  At that time it was still on Delaware St.  It is an interesting story of how it was moved to Hobb's park.  Also have a number of sketches black & white as well as color of it since being moved.   Every angle of this place is interesting. This drawing is done on 11 x 14 paper with the .9 mm B lead.
A few years ago we met one of the few surviving decendants of the Lawrence newspaper editor during Quantrill's raid.  He was using the old house as a studio for his ink portraits while tending the building during the hours it was open.
Below is a detail of the porch corner.

burr oak

The giant ghost in the tree is the result of cramming too much onto one page.  There are way more burr oak at least in this part of Minnesota, than in eastern Kansas it seems to me.  There are about 5 or 6 along this tree line at the edge of the kids woods. These are the quintessential oak tree.  Large and rounded and blocky heavy twigs with strong angles at each bend.  They are a beautiful tree.  They are especially rugged looking when they are bare, as these were on the 22 of October- one day before our daughter's birthday.  That was a month ago now, and they are still celebrating her birthday!!!

further shadows

An early morning sketch. The second I have tried when I rose before day break to take a walk and do some birding. No date or even a signature on this drawing but it was done a few days after the similar one of the pickup in the same street light.

long tin hill

Another study of sky hill and a little human activity in the middle. There is always a struggle between man and the natural world.  The vegetation, ie. trees & "shurruubburry" as well as the bugs, mice and mold are always trying to diminish the impact of man's efforts. Below is a detail of the painting.

wind'a chair

9/2/15   10:15     Killing time at the Lawrence Public Library one morning.  These are the new chairs at the new window in the north east corner of the new library. Don't ya get a kick outa' the shape? The Pentel .9mm is my weapon of choice- loaded with 2 B lead it makes a versatile tool; easy to carry and good for larger drawings, as well as smaller ones like this 5" x 9" sketch.

Patterson's buggy

Don't know why it took so long to take the time to sketch this buggy. It belongs to a Mr. Patterson who lives around the block. I have gone past it for some years I guess.  Finally stopped on the bicycle and came up with this.  Patersons are the ones who once owned  "Lunkers"- the bait shop up on 23rd Street. Greg Ostertag worked there once when he first came to KU for basketball.  At least he was in there dipping minnows one day while we were getting some tackle.  The ceiling was a little low for him, but I guess he was used to that.              This is another small sketch done with a Sharpie, in a hurry in a 5" x 9" pad.

After the bypass

This scene was on a quick trip out east to where the road work has quieted the traffic and made it possible for a few months to have a peaceful place to sketch. The bypass will not be done for a year, but the bridge over this road is nearly done, so you can get to this spot with a short drive.  The beans had not yet lost their green color.  There are a few 6 foot diameter concrete drain pipes sitting unused in the corner of the field.  This painting was started at the site, while only a couple end dumps went by.  Go figure.  I was sitting beside their shortcut for the day. Wish I could say that a few finishing touches were all this needed at home, but because of the trucks and the heat that day, I did a pencil sketch and headed for the house!  But the painting seemed to turn out ok.  It was done on 9" x 12" Canson 140 lb paper.   It was about 80 degrees at 3pm on a late August day.