Meteor Shower

"Meteor Shower"--sketch
8X6"
Pencil

Sometimes a painting sits around in my brain for a long time before I get around to executing it. This sketch is an example of one such idea.

I went with a friend to see a meteor shower about five years ago. Since we were living in a major city at the time, we had to drive to a park outside of the city in order to see anything. The sky was very clear that night, and there was a slight breeze through the trees. It was late September, so a few of the trees had lost their leaves. It was an amazing experience, something that I have always treasured.

I wanted to paint or draw something to capture my memory of the event right after it happened. But every time I sat down to do something, I just couldn't get the picture to look the way I wanted. Well, within the last couple of weeks, I started thinking about this painting again. I realized that now I have more artistic tools at my disposal than when I first had the idea for this painting. So I sat down and drew this sketch. The scene has changed slightly from my original idea, but I like it better this way. Sometimes a good idea just needs to ferment in the brain for awhile before it's put down on paper.

My Hopper Quest Continues...

8X10"
Pencil sketch

I've been reading a lot about Edward Hopper, hoping to glean something from his paintings, processes, and life experiences that I can use in my own work. I was particularly impressed by a statement of his in which he talked about art revealing something of the internal life of the artist. I also was amazed by a magazine article that showed several of Hopper's preliminary sketches for one of his paintings. What he started out with and what he ended up with were significantly different.

So I took all this in and decided to try a little different approach to my next painting. I thought about what was going on in my life and how I could represent that in a painting. I decided that I wanted to paint something that would convey the fragile nature of hope and faith. Drawing this scene was a very meditative experience, and I found myself losing track of time and place. Now that I've completed this sketch, I'm going to do two more with this same theme/subject before I start on the actual painting. I'm excited and a little nervous to see what happens.

Card Games

5 1/2X8 1/2"

Pen and ink

Talk about your unplanned projects...

This image started out as a simple sketch for a painting idea. I started with the outline of the cards. Inspired by the designs on the face cards, I started messing around with the background. Then a happy little accident occurred and took things in a completely different direction. Well, it wasn't really an accident, but it was certainly unplanned.

When I finished drawing the Jack of Diamonds, it looked to me like he was scowling. Now, why would the Jack of Diamonds be scowling, I wondered. It must be because he noticed something going on between the Queen of Clubs and the King of Hearts. In fact, he must be insanely jealous. He's gripping his sword, and I'm wondering if he isn't about to use it on the King of Hearts. Hmm...

A New Yorkie

"Yorkie"
8X10"
Pencil

I must confess that I am more of a cat person than a dog person. However, when I came across a picture of two beautiful Yorkshire terriers recently, I fell in love. No, I did not immediately run out and get a dog, but I did spend some time drawing one. For me, that is a much more rewarding experience than actually owning a dog. After all, I don't have to feed the drawing or take the drawing for a walk or let it outside to do its "duty". Plus, I don't have to hear any barking...except for the neighbor's chihuahuas.