Jewelry

An oldie. The gold ring belonged to my Father. The silver ring was a ring that I made in jr. high and the earrings belong to the wife.

See you next week.

Stuck on Sunflowers

I know, it is a lot of sunflowers lately. I have had requests to sell a couple, I have had requests for Mother's day gifts etc. So I have been doing more sunflowers. This one is about 5x5 inches. It may be finding a new home today. I started on a larger painting the other day. I have given up on it. It looked great after the drawing stage but quickly went down hill in the painting stage.

I will probably get a couple of posts up before our trip. I will be in Tampa, Florida next week. I do not think that I will have computer access. Hopefully, I will be excited with new sights and opportunities to paint.

SOLD

Off to the Framers

I have been doing a lot of sunflowers lately.These are about 2 1/2" by 2 1/2". Pen and ink and watercolor on a Moleskine watercolor sketch book. I think they will look good in a grouping in a single frame. I did these last night and this morning. I hope you enjoy!

Last of the Tomatoes

Some of last years harvest. Persimmon on the left and Rose de' Berne on the right. I couldn't find my favorite last year, Carmello. I finally found seed for it this spring. I put together my seed orders and got everything ordered. Came home that very night and listened to the news. I live smack in the middle of a Japanese Beetle infestation! No gardens for three years! I had to scramble the next morning to cancel seed orders. I will still plant a variety of sunflowers and peppers. It will have to be a garden for show and still lifes! I will miss the fresh picked tomatoes!

Juice S2

I drew this in my regular journal. The Paper is a basic copy paper so it does not do watercolor too well. It will take a really dryish wash. I drew this with a Hi Tec C pen. This is the one that got me a way from drawing in pencil and using a pen. Much riskier as you have to live with your mistakes. I think that it forces me to concentrate on what I am doing. the Hi Tec will bleed a little which is nice for the shadows. I really enjoyed doing this one.

Bored at Work Business Cards

Yep, another slow day at work on Saturday. I did these at my desk while waiting for three appointments that did not show. Not a lot of other traffic as well.

Pen and ink with W&N watercolors and a waterbrush.

Venice

After all of these posts I am finally starting to figure out the scanner and it's editing features. I am tempted to go back and rescan a lot of the previous posts.

We fell in love with Italy, and especially Venice, on our bike trip back in 1995. Still trying to scheme out a way to return! I need a Gelato fix!

Snack Time

I have been painting on the back of my business cards while at work. I usually let customers choose which card they want. I have fifteen or so in my pocket at any given time. One of my coworkers requested this one. It was hard to get the colors right on my scan even with 2.0 reading glasses I had a hard time seeing it on the monitor. The colors and the saturation are not quite right. The cards are 2" by 3.5". Now that I have scanned this I can pass it along to Maui.

Thanks for all the comments that you all have been leaving. It is very appreciated especially during this time of starting my blog. I look forward to building new friendships through our passion for art. Thanks for your encouragement!!

Sunflower

My wife brought home sunflowers last night! I tried a different approach this time. I drew them with a .18 rapidiograph and then applied the watercolor washes.

SOLD

Stand Tall

This is an old restaurant pot that stands about knee high. It sits out in the back yard. the dents were put there by a son venting his aggression. Better there than a hole in the wall. OK, there were plenty of holes in the wall too! There is no soil in this pot, only red lava rock about dime to quarter size. Every year a bird somehow loses a sunflower seed or two in the pot and it grows. They do not grow very tall but they are tenacious things.

Bartlett Pears

Watercolor with pen and ink details. It worked out to be a good combination. The ink is a brown ink from a Hi-tec C .25 pen. It is not waterproof so you can get some interesting effects with a light wash over the top. Pears are turning out to be one of my favorite subjects. So much variety and so much individual character.

YOO-H00

Just because! Life should be fun! What can we do today to break free from all the stresses and worries that chain us down? How can we stop these from taking over our lives? We have to focus on the here and now and what really matters in our lives. Somehow, find ways to enjoy each and every day and find the good in our lives and be grateful for what we have. I have been giving this a lot of thought since receiving an email from a friend yesterday. A while back , I found a quiet spot and some free time. I pulled out my journal and started writing a list of everything I am grateful for. It became a pretty big list. When you think you are done, add five more things. It soon becomes apparent how insignificant your list of life's complaints really are! Start today. Have a great day!

Hot

Craig's is my favorite hot sauce label. What a great face! Peppers from the garden and some Italian marbles. What a combination. This is one of the times that I had real problems with liquid mask on this paper. When you remove it, you remove paper, sizing, your under drawing and paint.

Visconti

One of my older paintings. This is a visconti fountain pen nib. I think it is the best looking nib on the market. Very Classy!

Sunflowers

Sunflowers from last years garden. These are small varieties, eighteen to twenty four inches tall. The left one is a "Junior" and the one on the right is a "Big Smile". I have given up on hte large varieties. Anything over about six feet is too much work to get rid of at the end of the season! The twelve footers are like chopping down trees and removing the root ball can be a big chore too. Then it takes weeks to get rid of them in the weekly trash. If you cut the stalks to six or seven feet you can line the perimeter of the trash can and extend your volume of trash upwards! But, you then risk the the trash collector dumping the whole load in the street. Small is better!

For My Pentrace Friends

This one is for my friends over on Pentrace. This Sheaffer and lock belonged to my Dad's Dad. I think that I got the fountain pen collecting gene from him. The lock is now one of my grandson's favorite things to play with. He calls it the locker. It hangs on the wall in my den. He will always ask first and then carefully get it down. When he is through playing he will then put it away. That does not happen with the other toys, so I know he senses this is different and special.

Vices

Most days begin with a Frusion. Good stuff! The Diet Coke is now caffeine free and less guilt. I drink a lot more water than I used to. I am just not ready to give up the Diet Coke.

Old Shoes

These are my gardening shoes. They started life as my work shoes at Chuck-a-Rama. I wanted a good durable shoe that would last. I don't remember how much I paid, but it was more than the average price for shoes. They are Redwing shoes. They are about 30 years old now! I still like wearing these, they fit just right and are very comfortable. I think they are due for a good leather conditioning treatment!

Can't Beat 'Em

This is Dad's old sprinkler. It has been around as long as I can remember. It is broken and rusty and is full of character. One of the funest paintings I have done.

Old Friends

I am not sure what I would do without these old friends. They have seen a lot of use out in the yard and in the garden. It was a fun watercolor project.

Hot Chocolate

I grew this pepper in my garden last summer. I decided to cut this one up and throw in a salad. When I sliced it open it was so cool looking I knew I had to paint it! It ended up being better looking than tasting!

Tiger Swallowtail

Another business card. This one took longer than normal. A lot of stippling. I have decided to keep this one and it will now reside in my journal. I am moving in the direction of combining my journal and my sketchbook. I have to finish the journal that I am currently in. I have a new journal that is filled with watercolor paper. I am looking forward to moving into it! I am doing some art in my regular journal. It is a challenge to add watercolor on paper that is very similar to regular printer paper.

Bartlett Pears

I painted this on December 12, 2006. It was the day of my Uncle Fred's funeral. He had sufferred much. He was a good man and very generous with his time in helping others. I am glad that I have had the chance to know him.

I think I am getting better with the scans. I have to weight down the book so it makes good contact with the scanner.

I rescanned the image. But I do not know how to eliminate the old image.

Pomegranate

I will be posting some of my pictures from my most current sketchbook. The sketchbook is a Cavallini Medieval Journal with paper from the Amalfi coast. I used it for a journal for awhile. The paper was horrible when written on with fountain pens. I finally gave up on the journal. I came back last summer and tried watercolors on it. I did not want to waste the 2/3rd's of the remaining pages. It took light washes rather well. It does not like erasing or liquid mask, though. So, it did pose some challenges. The pomegranate was a pretty good challenge both to draw and to paint.

I went out and bought a new scanner and I hope the pictures come out a little more true to life.

Fishy Business Cards

Some more examples of my business card art. I try to tell my customers to not throw away my cards, they might be worth something someday! Yeah, I know I am dreaming. At least I hope they hang onto the card and when they want to buy a Subaru they will come back and see me! I have had some good feedback from these cards. It is also a good way to use my downtime at work. I have a lot of downtime.

More Peppers

Peppers have been one of my common themes. This one is on Arches Hot pressed paper and is 3 1/4 by 4 1/2 inches.

I have been trying to draw and paint on a daily basis. I have been getting closer and closer to that goal. I have appreciated Danny Gregorys' books, especially Every Day Matters. For years when I have not been painting it is something that has nagged at me almost daily. I have gotten past those fears and I am moving forward. I had a really negative experience back in the early 90's. A week long paint out with a nationally honored artist. It was years before I could pick up a brush again. So, to answer her question, "this is the artist I turned out to be!" It is where I am now and we will see where I go from here.

New to this Game

I am way out of my zone on this. I am an old fart trying to learn some new tricks. I will attempt to post pictures of some of my art that I have been working on . I would appreciate feedback, try not to be too brutal!

I have been doing pen and ink and watercolors on the backs of my business cards. They have taken watercolor more like hot pressed watercolor paper. These are quick paintings, in the two to three minute range, each. Any advice on scanning these images and making them look better would also be appreciated. This is the peppers group.