Rejected Photos and some art

I have been working on next years (2018) calendars. Every year I try to select the best photographs I have made over the past year and create calendars for family and/or friends. This year there are 3 different calendars.: one with bird photographs, another with butterfly photos, and the 3rd with, this year anyway "Landscape" photos. Not that all of the photos in the Landscape Calendar are really of landscapes. Feeling that just landscape photos would get boring (the area I make my photographs in is fairly limited) I included some photos that are more close up photos of nature, not long distant shots so I have fudged a bit.

The bird and butterfly calendars are in a way a bit easier to pull together, I just pull out my best photographs and select from there. Since I need 14 photographs for each calendar I usually don't end up with a lot of extra. Esp. as I don't want to repeat species in each year. But with the landscape calendar there are some months that are harder to make the final selection for. So this blog post includes my "rejected" calendar photos. They didn't make the final cut, but were selected as possibles.

The above photo was a possible March. For the Landscape calendar, photos are made in the month they represent. This one was made in March at Ponkapoag Golf Course, showing the Sugar Maples that line the road leading back to the Bluehills Reservation area around the pond.

The above photo was made in Ames Nowell State Park, Abington, MA in April. Powered boats are not allowed on lakes in the state parks, but some visitors bring inflatable kayaks or canoes such as seen here.

This photo was made in my local city park in August, and shows this year's swan family, parents and cygnets swimming away from me. I used another photo of the swans in the calendar, one I liked better, and didn't want to repeat the image, so this one got cut.

The photograph above was made at the Governor Ames Estate, Easton, MA in July. This is what I mean when I say that not all of the photos are "Landscapes". Still nature, but not a long distance shot. I really like this photo of water lilies, but it just didn't fit in for that month.

This photo was made at Daniel Webster, MA Audubon site in Marshfield, MA in June. It shows the fields where the bobolinks make their nests. The fields are mowed toward the end of every summer so that the trees don't take over, but it is done after the young birds have fledged so are out of the fields. I just liked the range of values and colors in this photo, but it just didn't fit so got eliminated.

Hope you enjoyed this peak behind the curtain so to speak and like viewing my "rejected" photos.

Lately I have been trying to get back to some of my other loves (drawing and sewing) so above are two bookmarks that I have been working on. I painted a made up landscape on some watercolor paper, then cut the paper into strips and added ink work over the painting. There are a couple of more that I need to finish, but these two are the ones I have done so far. I apply acrylic medium to the fronts and backs which not only makes them waterproof but pretty durable.

That is it for today. Per usual comments are welcome

Finishing Off Old Starts

 Most of what I am posting today was started last year. The above is the inked final of a piece I started a while ago in pencil but decided I wanted to ink it instead of leaving it as a graphite work. Problem was I didn't have any nibs that made a fine enough line and for this one I really wanted to use a dip pen with India Ink. So for Christmas I asked Santa to bring me some Hunts Crow Quill nibs, which Santa was kind enough to do. In anticipation of the gift I had brought the pencil version of this with me to my Sisters over Christmas and then did the inking there after Christmas Day.

This is done on Stonehenge toned paper, though the color isn't really showing up in the scan. Size of paper is 7 x 7 inches though I think what is in the scan is more like 6 x 6 inches. I don't have a name for it so if anyone has suggestions I would love to hear them. Just goes to show you can stipple with a dip pen, if you are careful.

 Again this was started last summer when I was first experimenting with using color washed cold press watercolor paper as the background for my ink drawings. The flowers here are Foxglove, both the larger flowers and the whole plants in the background. All are based on some personal photographs.

I used a dip pen with acrylic Sepia ink for this one, the nib is a Japanese Manga nib, so it gives a relatively fine line, not as fine as the Hunts Crow Quill but fine. I am rather pleased with how this came out, even if it did take way to long to finish. The good thing about art is that usually it will wait.

Someone asked about the technique, it is just semi short parallel lines made so they are drawn close together to create the tonal value I am looking for, not close together for lighter areas, and basically overlapping for the darker. I did do a pencil sketch, at least outlines prior to inking.

Now this piece is new. I did the background watercolor wash on a long strip of cold press watercolor paper and cut it in two to make two bookmarks. The design is based on some of the architectural features I photographed on buildings in Chicago over my Christmas visit. I used a dip pen with the Manga nib to ink this with black India Ink. I think it is kind of fun and am thinking about using more of my reference photographs for additional works. It isn't quite finished I need to give it a few coats of Acrylic Medium to waterproof and stiffen it, but I wanted to wait until the ink was thoroughly dry prior to bushing the Medium on over the ink. The size is 6 inches by 2 inches.

Two photographs from a recent visit to Daniel Webster, MA Audubon site in Marshfield, MA. The above shows a mallard duck taking off from the Green River. They were feeding on the river when I walked by and started them.

The above photo was made in the Bird feeder area at Daniel Webster, both Mr. & Mrs Cardinal. The male is top right and the duller female is at the 2nd feeder lower left. Love the new camera that lets me make these bird photos without them being totally blurry.

That is it for today, yeah, I have actually managed a 2nd post this month. Not sure I will get back to weekly updates but hopefully I will be able to keep up the bi-weekly ones. Per usual comments are welcome.

Happy New Year 2017

I want to wish everyone a Happy, Healthy, 2017. May some of your wishes/dreams come true this coming year.

I spent about 2 weeks in Chicago visiting my sister and her family, which is why the blog hasn't been updated. I take the train from Boston to Chicago (and back home), for me it is a straight run, though we do stop in Albany, NY to link up with the train coming up from NYC. It takes about 22/23 hours but I have room for my feet/legs, I can sleep and get up and walk around so I find this method of travel not at all bad. It may take longer than flying but I don't have to go through security, I don't have to pay to have my bag checked, I get a discount for being a senior and the tickets are less to begin with. I also don't have to put my car in long term parking someplace, so that is another expense I don't have. All in all I am happier taking the train than flying. Flying is no fun any more, and I don't miss it.

Enough about my personal life. Over the holidays I tried to get back into the groove of making some art. My efforts are taking too long, I don't seem to have the concentration to just sit and work for hours on something, but I am doing some art.

Above is a bookmark, about 2 x 6 inches on cold press watercolor paper. I painted the background with watercolors before heading to Chicago and I took some reference photos with me to have something to work on. The bird is a tufted titmouse at a bird feeder. I photographed this little one with the new camera so the photo I was working from was sharp with lots of detail.

I used the copic multiliners to ink this little guy, and I am fairly pleased with the results. Esp. as it has been so long since I did any drawing other than doodles.

Also done over my Christmas holiday. My sister gave me some Hunts crow quill nibs for Christmas, well I did ask for them, and the above piece was me playing with the new nib and India Ink. Again this is done on cold press watercolor paper that had been pre-painted. Just various designs and textures. Still I think it is kind of fun and it was a good way to start getting my hand back into the groove of using dip pens before moving on to a more challenging piece.

A slight digression here, my sister had to order my nibs on-line, no brick and mortar art store seems to carry Hunt Nibs, they only seem to have Speedball or some Japanese Manga nibs. The Japanese nibs are good, better than the Speedball nibs but not quite as fine and I was looking for, hence the request for the Hunts nibs. I have also discovered that my local art supply store no longer carries a brand name India Ink, well, they have Speedball ink, but I don't consider Speedball inks to be artist quality. I am planning a trip into Boston soon and hope that Blicks still carries a good quality India Ink. The store owner was telling me that some stocks just are no longer available for purchase here in the US, like Hunts nibs. All I can say is bother, how are students supposed to learn if they can't purchase quality supplies. Thank heaven for the Internet, at least there are still a few suppliers that carry those products.

Another bookmark, again cold press watercolor paper pre-painted, this one was also done with my copic multiliners. Just felt like doing stars. It didn't turn out quite the way I envisioned it but it will have to do.

I also spent time working on a pencil drawing for my colored pencil series, and I also worked a bit on a couple of the colored pencil pieces I started last year. I do hope to finish the series this year, but we will see.

Thought I would share a few photographs. Above is the Chicago skyline from the Arboretum in Lincoln Park which is just outside the zoo. The photo is looking over the lawns toward the zoo and the city.

Above is Lake Michigan with a front moving in. It was actually a warm front, unlike the typical Chicago Christmas weather we had a lot of warmish days this year. Warmish is of course relative, but for Chicago in late December anything above freezing during the day is warm. After I left a cold front came through and put them back into the freezer.

We had about 8 inches of snow over this past weekend, the above photo was made in my local park, showing the frozen pond and snow covered trees. I just like the lighting in this photo.

If you want to see more photos from my Chicago trip visit my facebook page, link at the bottom of the page.

That is it for today, I won't say I have made a resolution to do more postings this year, but it is my intention. In the meantime comments are always welcome.

New Bookmark and Other scribbles

I have finished the inking on another new bookmark and have an image of it above. Not quite sure what is going on here, a chick dreaming of Easter Eggs, or something. Anyway this is what I drew and rather liked so just went ahead and inked it in. It now needs to be finished off, with a protective layer of contact paper and a tassel.

Two by six inches on Stonehenge paper, various colored pens, mostly Microns but the grey is a copic fineliner.

I did the above the other day for one of the WetCanvas Scavenger Hunts. It was supposed to be hand lotion and I used this tube of body cream as a substituent. Well the body cream can be used on the hands after all and I wanted to draw something fairly simple.

I used a copic black fineliner in the dedicated sketchbook I use for challenge drawings. I was trying to not do any cross hatching on this only directional black lines.

Another Scavenger Hunt image, a new hunt so a different series of possible subjects. The challenge for this one was to draw my favorite electronic device. Right now that is my Samsung tablet that can be used for reading books, listening to books, listening to music and playing games. Not sure which activity I spend the most time doing on this device.  Again copic fineliners in my dedicated sketchbook.

I was in Boston on Friday (which is why this update is late) and visited the MFA and the Greek Vases. I was starting to feel a bit tired as I had done some walking and shopping prior to arriving at the museum so sat myself down for a bit and sketched this vase. There are problems with it, as it leans to the right a bit and the neck is a bit longer in my drawing than the real life vase had, but am otherwise not to unhappy with it. Done in my sketch book with a technical pencil that I use for these drawings. The museum doesn't want attendee's to use pens in the galleries, which I can understand.

From the Ancient Greek and Roman Galleries I went to visit the Asian Galleries and there viewed some Japanese children's games, wood block prints on paper. Then I went down to the Chinese exhibit of women in paintings, Court Ladies or Pin up Girls? I was getting rather tired by the time I arrived in the gallery showing these works and will have to go back to revisit. But they are both beautiful and a bit off putting at the same time. Some I would not hesitate to classify as porn, others would have been considered erotic by the contemporary Chinese viewer while my modern western eyes thought them just beautiful images of court life.

In paintings where the women are clothed you never see even the tips of shoes, in the paintings where the women are nude they all have tiny feet and look like they are wearing booties. This of course is the depiction of the bound feet that higher class women in China were subjected to for centuries. Makes me shudder to even think about, their feet had to hurt all the time, but walking on them must have been extremely painful. Such a cruel thing to subject little girls to, all in the supposed name of beauty.

My closing photograph today was made in Boston Commons and is of a North Sea Mine that was recovered and presented to the City of Boston as memorial for Mine Sweepers in WWI. I didn't take the time to read the whole inscription on the plaque, it was windy and cold up on the hill by the war memorial. But thought this made an interesting photograph of contrasts, esp. as it has been just 100 years since the start of that war.

That is it for today, per usual comments are welcome.

Jan. Pen and Ink works.

Better late than never I guess, the above pen and ink drawing of a farm house is from the December WetCanvas pen and ink forum challenge images. I started it back in December and just never got it done. I even took it with me to Chicago but ended up not working on it, not feeling in the mood to do this type of pen work.

Size is 4 x 4 inches on Bristol Board Smooth. Done with my smaller nib technical pens. This is mostly line not cross hatch, the toning is just lots of thin lines close together. I am still playing with pen techniques, for this drawing I didn't use outlines just directional lines. Not sure about the trees in background, They don't exactly look like trees, but I am not sure it is necessary that they do. The house is the focal point, trees are just in the background and wouldn't really be noticed by a viewer.

The WetCanvas channels/forums have one dedicated to drawing plein air, or rather from life, no photo references. Part of their usual activities is to generate a list of things to draw from life, it isn't quite weekly since each "Scavenger Hunt" list runs for 9 days but it is frequent enough. I have been missing this kind of challenge. The Everyday Matters group used to have a weekly theme but new themes haven't been issued for over a year. Anyway I may not join this group very often but felt like it this past week.

So above is my own vegetable peeler drawn from life. This little guy is old, dating back to when I first went out on my own, oh over 40 years ago. But it still works just fine so I have never replaced it. Drawn in the sketchbook I had previously dedicated to the Everyday matters drawings I used graphite to show my peeler.

I haven't done a new bookmark for ages and figured it was time that I got back to making some, so above is the finished drawing part of a new bookmark. Done on Stonehenge paper with colored pens. Fish, more or less based on the fish I drew for #Inktober. Still needs some finishing details including a tassel, but at least I have it started. I worked on this while listening to an audible book I borrowed from the library. Need to get more books to listen to this way, lets me draw at the same time I listen.

I don't think the above is finished. I am thinking about adding color. All it is right now is a stipple background for the darks. I drew this first with pencil and then stippled around the drawn shapes. Once I had the stipple mostly done I erased out the pencil and made corrections. I just made up the design as I went along with no particular image in mind.

Still thinking about what colors to add. I will be using colored pencil as this is done on Bristol Board Smooth which doesn't like water. If I had used hot press watercolor paper I think I would be using some of my Inktense pencils, but because I didn't think that far ahead I think I will go the safer road and just use regular colored pencils.

A photograph from last week. We had a light dusting of snow on Friday morning, here is a photograph of the sky and rooftops showing clearing clouds and that snowy frosting. Looks monochromatic, but it is really a color photograph, just not a lot of color to show in this one.

That is it for today. I hope to get back to being more productive than I have been art wise. It does seem like I need to take these little breaks from creating. Anyway per usual comments are welcome.

Finished Mandala, and some pen and ink

Since I have in mind some ideas for another Mandala I finally had the motivation to push through and finish the one above. It is done, or as done as I am going to make it, it is even sprayed with its protective coating.

The art work was done using colored pencils on Bristol Board Smooth, with pen and ink outlines, size is fairly small as far as my Mandala's go, when I started this one I didn't want to commit to a lot of time, so it is only about 7.5 inches in Diameter.

I use various types of Derwent pencils (Artists, Colorsoft, Studio and Signature) and my newer PolyChromos. I usually layer all of my colors though the outer band blue is just one of the Poly's. Flowers are semi made up but mostly based on real flowers, daisy's, roses, pansy's, and poppies.

This is actually my 7th Mandala, though I only have 6 in my possession as I somehow managed to loose the first one I made back in 2009. For some reason this type of art work appeals to me. I usually choose a theme before I start working then select images to illustrate and expand on that theme. As for colors I seem to pull in a wide range, for this one there are a lot of complementary pairs, blue/orange, yellow/purple, so it makes a fairly dramatic statement.

The beagle above is from a Challenge reference photo in the WetCanvas Pen and Ink Forum. Because of #inktober I did not managed to work any of the October images, but really liked this reference of a Beagle for November and wanted to see what I could do. I used my 4x0 technical pen for this work.

The important part of this drawing to me is actually the paper. On one of my trips into Boston with the subsequent visits to Dick Blick I found and purchased a couple of pads of Strathmore 400 toned papers. Strathmore makes both a grey and the above tan. The paper is a lighter weight (only 80lb) than I would prefer for pen and ink, but the surface is fairly smooth and hard so it takes ink fairly well. The paper is slightly lighter in real life than in the above scan, but I really like the contrast of the black ink against the toned paper. I can envision using both black and white conte crayons on it, fun stuff.  

Not sure what I am going to do with the above drawing on a  6 x 2 inch piece of the Toned Grey Strathmore paper, maybe make a bookmark out of it, though it needs to be backed with something more substantial as the paper itself is a bit too light to make a bookmark with. I was just doodling with various pens including some with colored inks, can you see the green? Again the scan makes the paper look slightly darker than it is in real life. Still I like the colors and am happy to have this option to work with.

Even though it is getting late in the year there are still a few trees around me that have color and leaves. The above photograph was made in a local park last Saturday. Love how the sun was lighting up the upper left area of the tree. The sky could have been a darker blue, but one takes what one can get.

That is it for today, per usual comments are welcome.

Gourds, more gourds and a flower

Back a couple of weeks ago I made a pen and ink sketch of 3 gourds from various reference photographs. That drawing reminded me how fun it can be to draw gourds and their odd shapes and bright colors. So I visited the WetCanvas photo reference library and downloaded several more photographs of gourds. Using one of those references I created the above colored pencil drawing.

I first drew the gourds in pencil, then outlined them in ink and finally added color using multiple brands of colored pencils. I didn't spend a huge amount of time on it. I am still working on my Chipmunk drawing, so am saving time spent working in detail for that. Still I am not displeased with how this came out. The bowl is a bit wonky but I think I managed to give some feeling of depth and roundness to both it and some of the gourds. Drawing was done in my sketchbook.

While I was drawing the gourds in the bowl I thought it might be fun to make a bookmark using various gourd shapes so drew the above image. The three gourds were taken from different reference images so their position is my composition.

Bookmarks can be tricky to design as the are long and narrow, and I find I prefer the image to be vertical, after all that is how the bookmark will be viewed when in use. Gourds which can be long and narrow seem to be a perfect subject.

Done first with pen and ink I then added colored pencil to the image. Of course it still needs a bit of work before it is a finished bookmark, but so far I rather like it. To be honest I like this one better than the last couple I drew with the heart motif.

The above image is slightly misleading as this is actually a small watercolor ATC (Artist Trading Card). Pretty simple, and fairly quick to draw and paint. I used my watercolor pencils for color on this one, just applying enough water to active the color.

I am currently reading a book on Watercolor painting, Painting in Watercolor by Kate Gwynn. It is part of the Artists Handbook series and was published in 1982 so it is old. Still watercolor techniques and methods haven't changed much from then to now. I think there are now more watercolor pencils than there were back then, but otherwise paints, papers and brushes are pretty much the same. Book is from the library, and the only one I saw on that particular visit.

I have also been spending a lot of time in the WetCanvas watercolor forums, reading threads that have to do with selecting colors for a pallet, various papers to use, and other technical aspects of watercolor painting. The end result is I have watercolor painting a bit on the brain, didn't feel like working on the other piece I have in the works so did this little guy.

It is in a way killing two birds with one stone as the Sketchbook Challenge blog theme for February is Windows. So here is a little watercolor of a plant sitting in a window. loosely based on one of my cyclamens (I have 2, one red, one pink) that are sitting in my northern exposure bedroom window.

I am thinking about painting some more Watercolor ATC's, they are small so quick to paint, but also allow some practice with watercolor.

I made this photograph last week prior to our latest snow storm, and on a day when we had some sun. These are just grasses in an open lot, but I rather like the color/value contrasts, with the browns of the grasses against the white of the snow and then there are the shadows, a cool/warm color pallet if I ever saw one.

That is it for today, per usual comments are welcome.

Watercolor Still Life and stuff

Above is my watercolor version of a Wetcanvas Pen and Ink Forum Feb. challenge photograph. My last update included by quick pen and ink version. I am pretty happy with this watercolor version, esp the onions on the left.

Done entirely with Winsor Newton watercolors, no pencil, no pen and ink, well except for the signature. The actual painted area isn't that large, only about 6.5 x 5.5. Painted on cold press 120lb Canson watercolor paper. This is new territory for me, and one I am not entirely comfortable with but feel it is a good move. There are going to be more watercolor paintings in my future.

Since valentines day is only a week away I thought it might be fun to make a bookmark with hearts. So far this is what I have accomplished, pen and ink with colored pencil. I used a variety of pencil manufactures and several different reds and pinks.

Background is ink circles, it is faster to do then stipple but gives me a grayed surface which I sometimes want. Over that I added some white colored pencil to add some texture. I don't feel quite done with hearts just yet, something is sitting just out of sight, so will have to play around with this theme again.

Above is another of the Feb. Wetcanvas challenge photographs done in pen and ink, just a quick sketch of this Bird of Paradise flower with a tree in the background. I see lots of errors as I didn't draw it in pencil first just went for the ink. Done with the 00 Technical pen in a sketchbook.

I love Bird of Paradise flowers, when I was in High School I had a friend whose family actually had a potted Bird of Paradise that would bloom for them in the middle of winter. For years I wanted a plant of my own, but was never able to get any of the seeds I could get my hands on to grow. I should mention that we were living in CT. no where near the the tropical environment that is the native home of these flowers/plants.

This photograph is from the other day, as I was on my way home I saw this little bird sitting in the bushes outside a neighbors house, not sure of the species, but I was surprised to see it out and about in the falling snow. It's feathers were all fluffed to help keep it warm, even though the day wasn't that cold.

That is it for today, per usual comments are welcome.

Bookmark, Still Life, Figure and more snow

Just a short update today. I have been working on the above bookmark design for a while. I started it before Christmas but somehow after a quick start it just didn't jell for me and I had other things to keep me busy. Anyway in the after Christmas blahs I decided that I either needed to get it done or bit the bullet, toss it, and start something new. I decided to just finish it and see what would happen.

I finished the pen work last night and added watercolor this morning using some of my watercolor pencils and a damp brush. I like the colors but the ink work doesn't totally work for me. Still after it is dry I will start to finish it off as a bookmark.

After a trip to the grocery store the other day I came home with 2 apples and an orange. I thought the 3 would make a reasonable still life so pulled a bowel out of the cabinet and made an arrangement with them for a quick drawing. I feel it is important that I manage to draw from life a few times a week, meaning I need to observe for real what I am drawing, not just working from imagination and/or photographs. Observation skills need to be nurtured even if the results are pretty ordinary.

Done with graphite (2B pencil) in one of my new sketchbooks. The orange is already history as I was worried it was getting a bit soft, made a nice evening snack. Two apples don't quite a still life subject make so it looks like I need another trip to the grocery store.

A week ago Monday was December 30 and I attended the long pose session for that week since there wasn't going to be a short pose session New Years Eve. Above is the drawing I made that evening.

Not sure how I feel about it, Some areas I like and other areas I am not happy with. It has been several months since I attended a long pose session so for the most part I feel I didn't do that badly. Think I need to mix up long pose vs short poses a bit more this year and see if I can get my groove back.

I am closing with a photograph I made last week after our snow storm. The wind had blown this pattern in the snow with a bare spot in the upper left and gradually deepening snow radiating out in rings. I have no clue why the wind would have swirled just there but it does make an interesting image.

That is it for today, per usual comments are welcome.

Figures, a bookmark and a drawing

Been working on another bookmark. Course right now all that is finished is the main design, still needs some work before it is finally finished. It may have to wait a bit as I need some sunlight to pick the embroidery floss color for the tassel. I will probably go with a red orange.

The inspiration for this was my memories of poppies blooming in the late spring, love those large bright orange flowers. They are such a splash of color. I added tulips in the front of them though in reality tulips would be finished by the time the poppies start blooming. I wanted another flower shape and was feeling a bit tired of daisies/sunflowers. Besides using tulips let me pick up the orange of the poppies.

It was fairly quick and fun to draw, have to start thinking about what to draw next. Oh yes done with pen and ink first then added color via colored pencil, back to my more usual method of working.

Since I made such a mess of the basket the other day I though I would try my hand at another symmetrical object. This ink bottle was at hand and seemed a good choice. Still some errors but I am happier with this drawing than I was with the basket.

I have a small blooming Christmas Cactus maybe I will give that a go next.

From a couple of weeks ago, we had another couple modeling short poses for us. I don't have a lot of drawings that I liked from that session, but above are the five I consider my best effort. Top pair are short poses of about 5 minutes. Bottom grouping of three drawings were 10 minute poses.

Not sure why I felt so off that evening. Probably focusing too much on details, like faces and not looking at the overall image. The male of this couple is quite slender so not the easiest figure to draw.

As a close another photograph from my visit to Houghton's Pond last Saturday. Our weather this week has been not wonderful (read no sun) and I have been busy trying to get stuff pulled together for Christmas. Winter landscapes are so stark mostly browns and greys with a few pine trees to add hints of green.

That is it for today, per usual comments are welcome.

November Flowers, Figures and Fall

Been playing around with another bookmark. The idea for this one sort of came from my checking out a feed on a flickr account that I just started following. The owner of the account is into Zentangles and has a lot of images of Zentangle textures. At this point I can't recall if the weave I used for the above background was one she used, but it doesn't really matter as it was looking at what she had done that inspired this drawing.

Not sure I went with the right colors for the flowers here, but it is what it is. Still needs to be finished off with a tassel and protective film but otherwise I consider it done. Done with technical pen and colored pencils on a heavyweight paper.

Above is a drawing where I was playing around with the concept of laying down color and then using a technical pen to add line over the color. Usually with colored pencils I work the other way around, laying in the ink and then adding the color but for this drawing I wanted to see what would happen if I reversed my usual method. Kind of fun, wish I had used a bit more variety of colors, but I am going to think about this and maybe play with it some more, impressionistic colored pencil work. Adding the ink after the pencil allows the ink to have more shine.

Back in October we had a short pose session with a couple. Scott calls them a Barbie and Ken duos even thought the models usually don't have much in common with the dolls. They are a challenge to draw as you can end up with a tangle of limbs, and trying to make sense of them can get tricky. I try really hard to draw what I see but... Not totally thrilled with these drawings. Sorry about the quality of the photographs, didn't really realize how the sun light would impact the final image until I had the photos in Photoshop. Then I didn't feel like re shooting them so I just went ahead and cropped them.

Top grouping are 5 minute poses, the bottom poses were from 10 to 15 minutes.

I missed the following two weeks of sessions. Tuesday nights seemed to become my night for not feeling well, not really sick but also not feeling well enough to spend three hours trying to draw and mingle with fellow artists.

What a difference a couple of weeks and a couple of rain storms can make with the amount of leaves on trees. The above photo was made the end of October, love that red. I was photographing trees surrounding a parking lot that afternoon. A stream runs next to the property and this tree was on the other bank of the stream. Had a cop in a patrol car stop to ask what I was doing, thankfully my Cannon is fairly large so when I lifted it and said making photographs of fall color he left me in peace.

This photograph was made this past weekend at Ames Nowell State Park. There are a couple of men in some sort of craft out in the middle of the lake fishing. They stock this lake but not sure how many fish are left after the summer season. It is a popular place for folks to come and fish. Anyway you can see that there are very few leaves left on the trees. Color is pretty much gone for this year, now to get through the next 4 months.

That is it for today, per usual comments are always welcome. I will make responses as allowed by Google.