Sketchbook Pages

I painted this watercolor sketch while on the Nevada Watercolor Society paint-out this last Saturday. The paint-out was scheduled for 1 p.m. so the temperature had warmed up enough to paint outdoors. After we finished painting we had a very nice conversation and my painting partner that day - Sandy- allowed me to see her paintings. There were three of them and they all had a very calligraphic quality to them. It was a nice afternoon.

Sketchbook Pages

I recently read a wonderful book called 'The Creative License" by Danny Gregory and in his book one of the first examples he gives to jump-start you into drawing is to draw a bagel. So this sketchbook page is my hommage and thanks to Danny Gregory.

Sketchbook Pages

Sketchbook Pages

Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008

The sketch on the left is from "Desert View Overlook" on Hwy 158 up in the Mt. Charleston area. It's looking across the valley into the Sheep Mountain Range. Bill and I parked and walked out to the point along the trail (there is a railing there because of the drop-off.) There was about a foot of snow and on the trail it was packed to slippery ice. I sketched the view and began the color wash but after a few minutes I noticed a lot of chunks of ice in my brush tip and on my pocket palette. Apparently it was so cold that the water was freezing as I was squeezing it out of my Niji brush! Since it was too cold to paint we decided to head back to the car. We did see a beautiful red-tailed hawk from this area as well as the distant view. The sketch on the right is from a high point along Harris Ranch Road on Hwy 157. We parked the car, ate our lunch and sketched. Bill decided to take a short walk while I painted so he started to put his boots on. His boots that had been sitting in the garage for a couple of years unused. He then found a mouse nest in one of the Sorrels made from fluff pulled from the inner liner. There were also strips of computer paper, leaves, string and one gold wrapper from a chocolate coin! We found it quite amusing. Good thing you can get replacement liners for boots.

8" x 11"

Original Watercolor

Not for sale

I have started making my own sketchbooks (after reading Cathy Johnson's book "Creating Nature In Watercolor" in which she mentions doing this.) This little painting was one of the first I painted in this new sketchbook I made from 90 lb Fabriano Artistico. I was able to find this lighter weight paper in the Jerry's Artarama catalogue and it is a nice weight for watercolor sketchbooks. It's a nice change to be able to sit down with one of these sketchbooks in my lap and finish a painting in one sitting. I am so used to working on studio paintings for a week at a time.

Sketchbook Pages