A New Sketchbook Project

Well, just what I needed, another project . . . but maybe it is. I never seem to make the time to post unless I give myself a deadline or an event of some sort. So I signed up for The Arthouse Gallery's latest Sketchbook Project Vol. 4 .

They assign you the topic of your sketchbook, which I was concerned about, but I got "Postcards" as my theme. I can work with that. I'll be ding the picture on one side, and the "postcard message" on the other. A bit challenging for using watercolor, because the paper is pretty thin, but that's the plan for right now.

So following is my first entry. I won't probably post them all, but I have to return the book by early December, so I'm going to try and crank them out.

Wish me luck, and enjoy.

Virtual Paintout . . . Ponte Vecchio, Firenze, Italy

I thought this was a pretty cool concept when I read about the Virtual Paintout the beginning of this month. Of course it took me until now to get an entry done and posted, but I did.

The concept is that you go on Google Earth and this month was Florence (Firenze), Italy. You find a picture someone has linked to the map of the city, and you sketch or paint the scene.

I liked the light in this view of the Ponte Vecchio, but I dont' know anything else about it. I had fun working on it at lunchtimes though. Hope you enjoy it.

Home Depot for exotic flowers . . . who knew?

OK, maybe not so exotic, but I didn't know they had orchids. Really nice and really easy to care for, so far. Just add ice.

Colors didn't come out exact and the scan washed them out a bit more, but it's a close representation.

Year Old Sunflower - it held up pretty well.

I guess after waiting a year to draw this, it's not surprising it took me a week to post it. But I do like how it turned out . . .

Now the columbine is blooming and Pam bought an orchid today that is calling me to draw it. All I need now is some time.

June SketchCrawl . . . finally posted.

So I finished the second sketch first, and the first sketch last . . .and that doesn't make a lot of sense, which is normal for me. This month we were down on Whiskey Island @ Wendy Park for our crawl. It was a perfect weather day with a cool-ish breeze and a bright sunny sky. Well attended with about a dozen sketchers/photographers, and I brought my uncle along, who was in from Colorado Springs. He is an awesome artist and I think he enjoyed this "crawl" concept more than a little.

Having gotten there a bit early, we both started sketching right away (hence my first sketch, which is the catamaran). But I didn't get too far when the group arrived and we all headed up the coast to the old abandoned coast guard station. We stayed there long enough for me to finish that one, and I'm pleased with it as a fair representation. Then I finished the catamaran from photographs over the next few days. Another fun crawl; and thanks to Josh for finding this out of the way little jewel. I'll be back . . .

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New Sketch . . . Old Trip

. . . OK, maybe not an "old" trip, but over a month ago. I'm still working from pictures of the San Fran trip and filling in the blanks in my journal. Maybe someday I'll travel at an easier pace, but for now, I'll take a bunch of pictures and sketch when I get a chance.