recent sketches

I was a bit bored as I sat in our bedroom the other day, listening to an audio book. Not that the story is boring, but my hands had nothing to do.

So I sketched the doorway into our kitchen. The dark log beam ceiling is a bit hard to capture. Beyond the butcher-block counter-top is our cabin's front door.

And I sketched a necklace that just came in the mail. It has a bit of plaid --- my favorite "color" is plaid! --- and says "Sassenach" on it. A derogatory term for anyone living south of the highlands of Scotland. My ancestors came from England and the Scottish lowlands, so I guess I am a sassenach.

The term means "Outlander", also the name of the series of audio books I am currently listening to as I wait for the 8th book in the series to come out next month.

just for fun

I found this large, funny looking rock near our fire pit and decided to draw it just for fun.

It reminded me of our son Matt's comment when his family recently camped out at the lake. We were talking about music we liked --- Matt spoke up with a serious look in his eye, "I've been listening to a great new group . . . Simon and Garfunkle."

twigs, moss and lichen

This past week has brought thunderstorms through our area, breaking off bits of the local trees. I picked up a couple of broken twigs during a walk yesterday, wanting to sketch the odd moss and lichen growing on them.

Both types grow in abundance on the trees here, but I am not familiar with either one of them. I've been looking for a field guide of moss and lichen but have not found one as yet.

I especially like this tiny lichen that grows on metal boxes and rocks as well as tree branches. An odd shade of pale gray-olive green, it looks a bit fey.


I'm really a bit bummed this morning . . . I declined to accompany Bill on his morning walk because I woke up with a slight sinus headache. He returned, saying he ran into FIVE DEER walking down the lane we walk on.

more Texas wildflowers

The spring wildflowers around here have gone to seed, making way for the early summer varieties, scattered in the local meadows and pastures and along the highways.

journal silliness

Some days nothing I try to sketch seems to work. I decided to draw our little kitchen as I sat on the livingroom couch . . . . It soon became apparent that nothing was lining up correctly. So I declined to add darker lines, wrote "wonky kitchen" and turned the page.

Then I tried a pencil sketch out of a tutorial book on drawing landscapes. Either the book is uninspiring, or it just isn't my style of working. I added the book to a pile to take to the used bookstore.

Then I really had some fun! Even though this sketchbook does not take to watercolor, I still use a page now and then to think through palette changes. I miss watercolor, can you tell?

After reading some recent posts on Liz Steel's blog, I found that she is going to a smaller "Bijou" type metal palette box. They are very hard to find these days --- I have one but was curious if any others were for sale on eBay. I ran across a different WC set, a square tin from Daler Rowney, that positioned a travel brush on the slant. DUH! I had once turned this Neocolor II tin into a WC set but did not like that my favorite travel brushes did not fit inside. But of course they DO fit . . . on the slant!

Another of Liz's posts mentioned her chosen "basic" palette. So I thought it would be fun to try to put her choices in this tin and call it my "Liz set". The pans are attached with thinly stretched poster tac, but rubber cement might hold stronger. Nothing thick or the lid does not close properly.

I do still need to spray-paint the inside of the lid a white enamel, the better to mix paint on. Click on the picture and I think the list of colors can be read.

weekend sketches

Some random sketches from this weekend . . .

This old abandoned gas station is located near Old Baylor University women's building in Independence. I sketched it from a photo I took last month.

The following two sketches were drawn at church. I still feel intimidated to draw the people there, so I drew my bag. And later, a wee coin purse that was given to each mother present.

The middle one shows where the pages were tied into this hand-made journal, though I have yet to figure out the sewing pattern. The leather lace holds in five folios with stitches going through the spine of the leather forming the cover. The sketchbook was a gift from my son.

randomness

Sometimes I just have to pick up a pen and draw something . . . anything. Whatever is nearby.

Old Baylor University, part 2

On May 4th I posted a couple of sketches from Old Baylor University, the remains of the women's building. Today's post is from the men's side of the former campus, located in Independence, TX.

This structure is the old bell tower; all the buildings are now gone but the present park shows the outline of where they once stood.

This old well once served the whole campus. Even in Texas' current drought conditions, we could still see lots of water deep inside.

Baylor University eventually left this area, merging with the university in Waco, TX.

Mother's Day cards

I painted these postcards as a way of sharing a couple of our roses with mothers back in Kansas and Arkansas. Popping them in the mail today . . . neither my mom or our adopted mom in Arkansas are on the internet, so I thought I'd go ahead and post these. Happy Mother's Day to each of you!

Five of our roses in bloom, shades of coral, white, yellow and pink.

waiting for paint to dry . . .

I woke up this morning realizing that my brother's birthday is only 2 days away. Arggh!

I always paint a card for him. So this morning I grabbed a recent photo I had taken of a cow down the road from us and began. Paint sure dries slow when I need to hurry.

But eventually I did finish the card and it is in the mail. (I don't think he even knows I have a blog, so I know he won't be seeing this.)

the finished card, portrait of one of our new neighbors