A Waterfront Sketch

An early morning skecth of a local charter boat down at the beach. Pen and ink on water color paper...thinking about adding some color to this but am a bit hesitant. Need more practice with colors so I guess I'll give it a try later this week.

Land of Enchantment

I have just returned from a week in New Mexico. I was out visiting my Dad for his birthday getting a little time away from work at the same time.

I hoped to get some time to sketch and was rewarded. I did manage a few sketches, including on the plane on the way out. I was doodling in my moleskine using a .03mm mechanical pencil. I used it much like a technical pen, trying not to erase anything.


I was doodling eyes – animal eyes (EDM #33), cartoon eyes and human eyes then started doodling hands and then sort of launched into a drawing of my hand (EDM #10) holding the pencil.

This hand I drew when I was in high school – many years ago.

While I was in Albuquerque I drew a couple of sketches at my Dad’s place – on of his fireplace. . .
And one of the exterior. These were done with pen and ink and I played with some watercolor crayons on the exterior sketch.



Then I went back to doodling some pencil and pen and ink of motorcycle parts. . .
In a younger lifetime I had several motorcycles and I still enjoy the mechanical details of all that power crammed into such a small package (relatively speaking). Some of the new “Choppers” are quite creative. I will have to see if I can capture some of the ones parked out side “Paynes Biker Bar” down town.

Practice! More Practice!

Try as I may I cannot seem to get enough practice but I have managed a few sketches this last week. But first I will put up one from last month that I didn't get scanned until last week.


While I was in florida I walked past a building that cought my eye. The thought of a 24 hour dentist was intreaging enough but the sign below made it laughable.

As I sit in my office in the morning I am watched by a small wooden sculpture that my son gave me upon his return from vacation in Mexico. I quickly drew this sketch of it in my Moleskine.

the sketch on the other side is one of those portable backgrounds used for taking ID photos. As I waited to get yet another ID card I decided to sketch it. I experimented with using Prismacolor Art Markers. I was surprised to see how much it blead through the page...won't us them in my Moleskine again. I originally got the Prismacolor markers for coloring some of my wood turnings because they do penetrate..guess I should have expected the penetration of the Molskine page.

This weekend I went down town to try my hand at sketching some of the old buildings in town. I'm not really satisfied with my results. The sketch might have been better left uncolored. I put to much detail in for a wash - I need to work on that alot. I also need to work on my color mixing - cannot seem to get the colors I want.

I still seem to be trying to put lots of details into a drawing - I need to try to simplify the sketching. I guess the need for detail is a carry over from past times, for example:

EDM #32. This is a sketch of a race car engine - made from a photograph as reference. Does this count as something metal?

Catching up a little

I have finally scanned some of the sketches I did last month on a trip to Orlando, FL. These were my first sketches in many years...so I will also include a couple flash backs as well. The first is a quick ink sketch I drew while waiting for a colleague to join me for breakfast. I was sitting in the atrium of the hotel and I looked up to see 14 floors of balconies that facinated me...


I drew this in my Moleskine sketch book and added some watercolor afterwards. I was trying to capture a wash like affect sort of like this sketch I did in highschool...


Another sketch here of the stopwatch on the table in the restaurant where we had lunch...


Again this was done in my Moleskine adding watercolor afterwards...


Right now I have just returned from a few days down at the Folly (what we affectionately call our weekend/retirement place). It is located in a small town on the Potomac River. It has been pretty well forgotten for the last 50 years. I had a little time to sketch and decided to try one of the EDM(#3) chalenges to draw a wallet, purse, or bag.


Later this weekend I will try to get some of the other sketches posted as well.