Not much painting yet, but a fair bit of sketching ...

It's not a very finished drawing, but I like the pose.

Clifford, a decidedly cheeky pony living at a rescue in Washington state. The woman who runs the refuge is a saint for all the animals. I like to help how I can. I will paint Clifford, and send it to her. Hopefully, [as she has done before] she can raffle the image to get some funds for supplies.

One of the emus here at the environmental farm ... waiting to be painted.

A few cute chicks, waiting for a paint brush, too.

A nearby farm. I've had the drawing for years, and now I feel I am finally able to approach it with a better sense of values, shapes ... composition in general.

Hmmmm ... we shall see. My idea is to paint this in all seasons. Must work on different backgrounds and light source to get the best effect.


This should keep me busy for a while! I'm also going to work on a proposal for the land/animal manager here to have some small classes here, drawing and painting the many subjects available here - animals, old buildings and farm implements, scenery ...  ONWARD!!!

NOTES FROM MY SKETCHBOOK

quick sketch of a wall in the barn

more barn utensils

some quickie outlines for a background idea I did not use

One of my good neighbours loves sketching and art. I was over at her place, the two of us in her garden, absolutely lost in the moment of creating.

more garden sketches

Bruno's hind end - trying to get more accuracy and life to a  painting I'm doing for a friend. His horse is sadly long gone, so all I have are photos, and they really do not give me the information I need, so Bruno is the substitute model.

Lots of horse bums, and a distant tree done when he was moving too much to get a decent sketch. 

curly-leafed willow that lives in the pond

more finished drawing that I was going to use to do some dogwood 

more bums

another willow - I'd love to find a way to get that scintillating appearance of leaves in sunlight - I think it involves spattering

a somewhat gnarly-looking birch study for the painting class

I try to get an hour's sketching a day. I generally find it more relaxing than painting. Working with Bruno is interesting - I let him loose on the back lawn, and sit down on the grass nearby [hoping he doesn't seriously spook and forget I am there and run over me!] Maggie usually comes over to sit with me, keeping a sharp eye on Bruno - she has a healthy respect for his size.

Finally ... finally ... I think my attitude toward painting is taking a good turn. I have tried for years to paint what people want, and have become thoroughly disillusioned with the commercial end of art.  I am happiest and create my best work when I paint what I want. So I will be doing commissions for friends, doing other works experimenting with techniques, colour, format, etc.  And I will continue teaching and drawing.

Thank you for visiting!

Winter ...

This was Maggie yesterday, having a blast in the snow, but glad to get in later by the fireplace.

I HAD to get a photo of this jogger  - wearing shorts at 8 AM at minus-I don't-know-what cold!!!

Bruno, showing off his new blankie. He has 2 older ones that were keeping him dry, but becoming heavy with retained moisture. He is warm and snug even at -10C.

Haven't been doing much serious painting - just farting around, trying different effects for some hollyhock leaves ...

   ... and trying some big swaths of paint to get the look of a forest's edge. I really do not get along with sedimentary paints.

Doing a lot of drawing though - trying to get the proportions and perspective right for a painting I am doing for Scott, my farrier. We initially started off with Scott, his horse and his dog, and, at Scott's request,  have moved on to including all his past Border Collies [three of them]. The only photos he has of the older dogs are not digital, so it's difficult to make them out from 4 x 6 inch prints. For the shapes, I am googling Border Collie photos on the internet; the colors will be fine from the old photos. 

Some sketches of coyotes - was thinking of putting them by the woods' edge in a painting.

Bill, aka psycho-kittie - my sister's cat, and he really is completely unpredictable.  He has this odd trait - his eyes turn from light green to a very dark almost black; it really looks as if he is possessed!

A LOT more coyotes.  I was getting frustrated - they were looking  like house-pets, not wild animals.

I quite like this sketch so far, but feel the horse at 3/4 profile [not full profile as this is] makes a more powerful image.

So here it is, at my least-liked time of year. And a close friend [his wife and I are very good friends] is in hospice. All one can do is to always continue trying to see the good and the beautiful in life.

As always, thank you for your visit! 

ALWAYS on the Day before I Have to Go the Office ...

I decided to psychedelicize the wasp ...

This is another oldie I would like to re-work. I'd keep the same composition, but change the colors.

And another one that is crying to be re-done. This is from my botanical stage. :)

Still working on detailed sketch.

Possible values for background

More of my scribbled sketching

It seems the day before I head to the office, my mind is full of ideas that I want to paint. After a day slaving over hot mouths, so to speak, I am too drained to do any decent painting, so it's a bit frustrating.
The sketches are for a landscape I'd like to do, inspired by the movie "The Name of the Rose". I LOVED it - the scenery, the characters, the plot, the time period ...  I would call the era the end of the Dark Ages, still very grim, but with some intellectual light peeking through. The protagonist is a rebel, almost a heretic, and the story revolves around several mysterious and bizarre murders at an abbey. It brings in aspects of medieval peasant and religious life, religious schisms so prevalent in the era, the Inquisition, and many other sub-plots. All is set in the depths of winter, in an isolated abbey in northern Italy. The scenery and cinematography are fabulous! Parts were filmed at the Rocca di Calascio in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is this bleakness and darkness, yet with a glimmer of light, that I will be trying to portray.

As always, your comments are most welcome. :)