Category: Journal

Posted on

Looking Ahead for the Second Half of 2021

Veterans Float on July 4th, 2021

I thought it would be a good thing to look ahead for the second half of 2021 now that the excitement of Independence Day has subsided. What does the future hold in store for my art over the next few months?

Summer

As the temperatures and humidity begin to rise painting en plein air will happen early in the mornings and on clearer days. We’ve had a bunch of rain in the Hill Country over the past week but looking ahead it’s time to get out and take advantage of the nice weather. Last week Ilene and I took a walk around the train at Lady Bird Johnson Park and I scouted some landscape areas I’d like to sketch and paint. Continue reading “Looking Ahead for the Second Half of 2021”

Posted on

Quarantine 2020

Pears

COVID 19 quarantine 2020 is over forty days old for most Americans and as an artist I’ve tried working harder and using the time to hone my skills. Interestingly I see where many artists find that with all that time on their hands they feel less like painting.

We began our COVID 19 quarantine back in March when our Archbishop directed that we limit services to no more than 10 people in the church at one time. It came at about the same time as President Trump and the US Centers for Disease Control recommended gatherings be kept to less than 10 people. Continue reading “Quarantine 2020”

Posted on

November Is Almost Gone!

Oliver Legacy Elite II

November is almost gone and I haven’t posted in over two months…what’s up? Well…let me tell you. In mid September we drove up to Hohenwald, Tennessee to pick up our brand new Oliver Elite II travel trailer. We knew when we “landed” last year in Fredericksburg we’d be selling our 40′ motorhome and downsizing to a travel trailer and it FINALLY happened.

Along the way Ilene and I took plenty of photographs so I could come back and sketch/paint some of our experiences but I haven’t gotten around to them yet. Why you ask? Well…let me tell you. Continue reading “November Is Almost Gone!”

Posted on

Urban Sketching

Carol Hicks Bolton Antiques in FBG

In the course of improving my drawing skills and learning watercolor I ran across the group: Urban Sketchers a global community of “urban sketchers” started by Gabriel Campanario, a journalist and illustrator in the Seattle area.

I think it was Teoh Yi Chie at ParkaBlogs.com that introduced me to the urban sketcher concept. Continue reading “Urban Sketching”

Posted on

Artists Journal

Happy Flag Day!

One of the reasons I decided to get serious about painting and drawing was I saw it as a way to keep track of our journey as retirees. I’m not really sure where I  got the idea of drawing/painting as we traveled but it’s certainly turned into quite a habit.

What I do know is on January 5th of 2018 I started my first sketch book and in December of the same year I drew my last sketch in that book. I know that in the beginning I used pencil but by the end I was mostly doing pen and ink. In fact, if you look closely at the picture above you can see the sketch on the other side of the page showing through…the sketchbook was designed for pencil, not pen and ink…oh well. Continue reading “Artists Journal”