heavy lunch

     
           We have spent the last week and a half recovering from a hectic end of July and beginning of August.  By the time of this sketch we were waiting for a connecting flight in Minneapolis when this pilot showed up with his dinner.  I would suppose him to be on a tight schedule perhaps.  You can see the wrap around his burrito or whatever with his jowls drooling in it. You can also see his black Captain's cap stuffed between the bars on his luggage.  No, I did not do him justice in the weight department.  I cannot ever remember seeing a pilot this chubby- not that I fly enough to know if there are some.  But I couldn't resist stretching the girth just a little. Seems like a perfect definition of the phrase, "feeding your face".                      
           I had taken along a 5" x 9" Strathmore 60 lb pad of 100 sheets which gave me ample space for sketching on the way north without being too cumbersome in the backpack.  This is actually one of the last full sketches I did before the trip ended.

"skiff a snow"

          It has been over two weeks since anything has been posted here; but I have an excuse or two: one week at Ozark Family Camp (as we have done for 36 years) and part of this week at a High School reunion 1500 miles from home.                                                                                                 Just in case you are dreaming of some cooler weather, maybe this drawing will help.  It was done from the living room window on a chilly February day about noon, if you can tell by the shadows. There had been just a "skiff" of snow as Gramma Ruth would say.  When the neighbors backed out they left these trails of dark crossing the shadows. It was one of those irresistible scenes that just gotta be put to paper. For some reason or other the simple pencil drawing reproduced pretty well...   Don't always have that good fortune.   5" x 9" format.

Stella

                Did this small drawing  for the neighbor as a gift to her daughter. It was a birthday gift; Stella was her baby. The date of her birthday is the same as mine, so I could remember when it needed to get done!  It was done from a photo, so there was not a great deal of resources to get creative with the drawing, but it turned out ok.  All pencil of course. 2B and 4B with 0.9 and larger leads. Finished size about 8" x 10".

Rare vagrant from Africa

          This sketch is of the corner of a planter beside our front walkway.  One of those done just to catch the shadows as they were. Drawings like this are good for training the hand to be quick before the mind forgets what it saw or the sun moves too far along its course.                                                            
The bird on the top came with Grammie's sister when she returned from Africa.  The miniature mail box came from a friend up the street who for some years made made stuff like this in his shop.  We have other stuff around here that came from him.  The square links of chain came from a load of "heavy shorts" purchased as scrap and used for counterweight in a Northwest crane.  The wood for the planter came from the deck of a quarry scale when it was replaced with steel.   Oh, you didn't want all that info?
         The drawing itself was done in one of the numerous sketch pads kicking around the place waiting for a change to get used again.

rain stacking

         
             Yes it is a rainy morning for sure, just like many this summer.  After rising early for a quick walk that ended up not so short, we waited around here for the storm to arrive.  The sky got pretty dark, and the storm finally arrived just when Grammie was leaving, so out came our biggest umbrella.   Just before the storm broke, I had retrieved these 2 small chairs from the porch and stacked them inside the door beside the piano to wait for the wind to die.  Looking for something to do before the weather cleared there sat these 2 posing for a picture so to speak.    Well I had been thinking for some time that they needed drawing.  As usual, I noticed the negative space that defines so well the relationship of the various parts in a visual sense.   You know, negative space is a vacuum that sucks my pencil to it!   In this case, draw the negative spaces around (and through) the chairs, and you just about have the chairs.   (Another lecture?? ple-e-e-e-e-s-s-e!- -- )      
             This drawing was done on a Plexiglas drawing board with 11" x 17" cheap photocopy paper clipped to it.

Near Clarksville

           The thing that caught my eye about this scene was the relationship between the two buildings, especially the roofs with the contrast in color and tone, with 2 contrasting fences leading off into the distance.  This sort of thing is what makes a good focal point of a painting.  I think the rear building is actually the new home built on the old place.
           It is easy to miss catching the focal point in a sketch by being distracted with other details.  They are all so interesting!  Yet if you let yourself be distracted by detail you will probably not get across the point of emphasis that originally caught your attention.
           This painting was done with (primarily) Windsor & Newton water colors on 11"x 15" Canson 140 lb paper.  It was done in the late winter from a sketch drawn late last summer on a trip to Middle Georgia.

           Once again you can see closeup details of this painting on the Thumbnails link.

floor lamp

       
Here is another simple sketch but not one done 35 years ago.  Yup, I am switching between paintings, finished drawings, and sketches with no apparent plan-  just what seems to be interesting enough to post.   If you have been in our living room you may recognize this relic.  Not sure where this lamp came from, but it has not been around here as long as we have.  Showed up sometime in the last 20 years maybe.    It took me a bit to get this light pencil to reproduce well enough to make it worth posting. The lines and the shadow created by the shade make for interesting sketching.  I was trying to catch the contrast between the negative space of the main shadow and the bright lines of the brass lamp as they cross the shadow.

Tin Topper

Here is a watercolor done last winter when the weather was restricting somewhat outdoor work.  The sketch was from my pile of thumbnails done on the road, but not sure where or when.  The lines of the  tin roof and the shadow working its way across them caught my eye.  Even with a quick pen and paper, I often do not catch very well the first impression that caught my eye. Is me memory really that short?  "Aye, aye matey."            The detail posted on the Thumbnails page may help you get a feel for the process, but don't look too close...

below Midland Junction

Here is another painting that was done from a sketch.  The sketch was done on the way home from the shop one day when I was hoping to add a little more creativity to the day.  It was the fall of the year, as the corn was brown and waiting for harvest.
This piece is about 12" x 15" done on Canson 90lb. paper.
You can check out a close-up detail on the Thumbnails page.

knob hill

This was a fairly fast watercolor done from a pencil sketch that was also a quickie.  The idea here was to turn a sketch on file into a complete painting. This is good practice for a fluid painting with a lot of wet on wet moving into adjacent areas of color, yet leaving enough white paper to maintain a bright and airy impression. The lines of movement are pretty strong and it is clear where the lighting is coming from.  These are the kinds of things you look for in a layout.  Easier to do when the composition is kept simple rather than when there is a lot of detail.  Let the accidents of the water and paint suggest some of the detail you were intending.       Done on 9" x 12 " Canson 140 lb paper.  You can see a detail closeup of the house if you switch to the Thumbnails page above.

sketch

Here is a sketch somebody may find interesting.  Done some 30 years ago, it was stuck in some old stuff I was sorting.  Gramma's present initials and our daughter's former initials are the same.  These, I suppose you can tell, are not -at 93- Gramma Ruth's legs!!       This 3" x 5"  pencil drawing was done on some cheap paper, and is showing its age, so the photography is not too good.

Fairground stone

A quick trip just looking for a spot to do some drawing brought me to the Douglas County fairgrounds.  The old barns always make a good drawing, but today I was focusing on this stone building; has to be the oldest on the property. Rumor is they are going to update the fairgrounds. You can about bet that this and some of the barns will have to go, so better get some more drawing done.      Done in a 9" x 12" pad with a extra fine Sharpie and some pencil shading.

24 Bottoms

           This painting was done from a quick sketch drawn one afternoon after leaving work...  No date on the painting,   but it was a sketch from late last year I'm guessing.  I like these linear river bottom landscapes.
           I took the advice of a  friend and added a copywirte notice to the image for downloading.  Hope it does not distract from your enjoyment of the painting.  If you are interested in using one of my images, zip me an email at jsharvey.harvey@sbcglobal.net.
          There is also a detail or two on the Thumbnails link.

Old records.

           

                This particular painting was done in the studio from a sketch executed on location.  You may remember the sketch from last year but when looking through old posts, I couldn't find it.  I finally did the painting, but am just now getting the photography to where the colors are acceptable enough to post.  The combination of the old crank phonograph with the recordings still inside, the handmade cloth, and the basket of collected reading material were significant enough to merit a painting.   If you want to see a  closer detail,  jump over to the Thumbnails page...

Car Pool

           Another sketch done downtown on a "Sr. Center day".  It was not raining for a change so I could walk the half block over to the "Train Park" as we call it. There are plenty of benches to sit on, though next to the "Municipool" they are not always available on a nice summer day. There are too many moms shuttling there kids to the pool, and waiting in the park for classes to finish.
           This sketch, done while sitting just a bit below the street level was the result.  The panoramic paintings of Lawrence done in the mid 1800's reveal that this entire park area was once a creek running through town to the river. Would be interesting to see a pic of the first bridge across this depression. Though it has been back filled along with basements of a house or 2 some of it is still pretty low and fills with water after a heavy rain. The city's drainage cannot hold the volume of the natural setup.
           Done in a 5x9 sketch pad on heavy paper with a extra fine marker and some pencil.

Waiting at the window

It had been 2 days since the kids had seen Mom & Dad.  Amos seemed to be able to sense the excitement as they were driving up. While the kids were headed out the front door, Amos was watching patiently at the window.   Found out later, he may have just been watching for a squirrel...   In this case, maybe not. It took Amos a bit to get used to having me around the house when Mom & Dad were gone, but he did not seem the least bit confused when suddenly there were 2 men in the house again.  Maybe we smell the same.
Be sure to check out the sketches on the Thumbnails page the last couple days.  Some of Amos; you might like the comments.
This sketch done with a Sharpie extra fine is in a 5" x 9" Canson pad of 98 lb stock.

Piano nap

        This drawing was one of a few done in middle Georgia this April.  Our youngest grandkid was taking a nap so I took the opportunity to do a sketch. The pillow was tossed on the bench for a little more interest in that part of the drawing.  The shoes in the corner, however, were in their usual resting place.
Piano is a big deal.  Everyone but me knows how to play it.  Even the 2 year old Anna wanted to help Grammie play it the morning we left for home. Grammie had sat down to entertain us while breakfast was getting on when Anna started pulling a kitchen stool to the livingroom. She had intentions of adding a little descant to Grammie's tune. And so she did!        
        This is small for a drawing of this detail: 9" x 12" on Strathmore Sketch I believe.
        The Thumbnails page has details of a couple recent posts, which may help you see the process of drawing and painting a little better.

frigid fuel

Thought it time to post a sketch or two of a less finished variety.  Did this simple fun sketch while sitting in the passenger seat of Grammie's car.  She was doing the driving for some reason; probably sos I could draw. So draw I did.  Once in awhile a quick sketch does turn out....    It was a cold day in February, which is pretty hard to remember in 90+ degree weather with sky high humidity!

Pike's mist

           3/13/15 is the day this watercolor was done.      
           6" x 14" on Canson 140 lb. paper.
Rumor has it that ol' Zebulon saw this peak at some distance, but chugged right on past it later as he was too close to the front range to see it over the foothills.  The story is something like that. So Pike missed the Peak, and it has been misting on the Peak now and then ever since.... This painting was from a sketch done way out east on US highway 24 headed into town from Limon. Turns out to be the perfect subject for a painting.  We have come home in the past with 20 or 30 jpgs of the Peak from different angles, different weather and different times of day.  They all are unique. Hopefully so is this painting...that is one small advantage of working from a sketch. The details become less important as you attempt to catch the inspiration of the original drawing.  Not to say that I did not refer to some of those gazillion images primarily for color reference and a couple impressions of detail.
           Speaking of detail- try checking out the Thumbnails page for a detail on this painting.

"BURL"

Done on 4/29/15.  It was 65 degrees according to my note, but because I was sitting in the shade, and it was a breezy day, by the time I finished this and one quick sketch I was actually shivering and glad to get into the truck that was warmed by the sun.  I have been seeing these rail road cars sitting on this siding and thinking it might make a good drawing .  Well, here it is.  I finished a few details up at home. Now this is getting written a month later on a day when the temp  is again about 65 deg. F , but does not seem nearly as summer like today as it did a month ago... go figure.  Maybe because of all the cloudy weather and the much needed rain.