Barn in a Vineyard

This is a made up scene from the sketch posted below. As Pam was driving I did sketches of grape vines as we drove thru wine country. I worked on a surface called Sabretooth Cream in a variety of pastels. The sketch is from my Stillman and Birn sketchbook.

Parker fountain pen and watercolor.

Aggressive Floral

The second painting from last Sunday's visit to the gardens. I was painting while this lady told Pam and I her story. I know for sure that I can talk while painting. Maybe that is evident in the painting and I just don't see it yet. We were sitting in the shade because I had to cool off from a painting that was done in an hour of full on sunlight. I actually drenched my shirt completely. Luckily it was made of tinsel which drys fast and breathes.

I'm starting another sketchbook.

Urban Sketcher

A fellow painter sat down near where I was sketching. I took a picture of her for a later painting. I liked the guy across the street that is to the left of her forehead. The attractive part was the light in the background bouncing against the darker foreground. I first did the watercolor underpainting and then followed up with Rembrandt and Terry Ludwig pastels.

Sleepy Model 1

She sat next to the window on my most recent flight home from California. And she fell asleep...

Pre Painting Sketches

Exploratory sketches.

More Sketchcrawl

During the sketch crawl with Plein Air Austin members I got in a few marker sketches. I must say I'm a fan. You can lay down a sketch much faster with the broad strokes. The markers were the Prismacolor brand. They didn't generate the toxic smell that some markers make.

Sketchcrawl Sketches

Two sketches from Saturdays sketch crawl. I didn't crawl very far.

Protest Prep Sketch

This is a practice sketch for a larger set of paintings. It's set in Boston, MA. The police were readying themselves for yet another protest march against our ongoing wars. I will work in both pastel and watercolor for this image. I took this photo just before the marching began. In the actual image the dominant color is the canary yellow of the police vests.

From The Sketchbook

Sketches and Paintings

These are a few sketches that I used for subsequent paintings which are also included. The sketches are done in pen and the resulting paintings are in pastel and watercolor respectively.

This is a compositional sketch done in prep for a painting. I have previously posted the painting.

This sketch was executed on a train ride from Richmond, California to Dublin, California. This guy sat in front of me during one part of the ride. The guys in front of him were fun to sketch because of their body gestures.

This is a sketch from the 167th District Court. The guy with his hand near his mouth is a fellow blogger and prosecutor. Of course I have the jailer next to him. Above them is a defense lawyer and a man waiting in the audience.

Dublin I The Process

Both paintings were done from the sketch in the middle. I like to explore an image before committing to a larger painting. Also, its fun to work on an image in multiple mediums. It tends to exercise the problem solving muscle a bit more.

From the Sktechbook

These are sketches of people that are in my family or connected to it. Everyone always assumes that I am drawing them so they sit still for about five minutes and them marvel at the sketch. Some get offended that I don't sketch them. Its fun and good to do.