My Art Work

I will get better.... I promise!

2012-02-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

It is already more than one month into 2012 and no new postings here yet! Perhaps I can embarrass myself into getting into a drawing/painting routine. I still am struggling to keep at it and not sure what the problem is.
If I start putting up my sketch book doodles, I expect that will spur me on to do more practice since the sketch books tend to be pretty rough and ready and not really ready for "prime time"...not that this blog is prime time!
The only thing I've done in past while of any note is the bird identification cards I gave Adrian for Xmas and I did not scan them before they made into his Xmas gift pile; i only have drafts/preliminary sketches. I'll have to borrow them so I can scan them. I do have a photo of all of them together which I will try to dig up and post.

Mountains

2011-04-25T19:27:00.000-06:00

Not sure why I included this; the scan has washed out the low values so it looks worse than it is. I will try to do another using my camera and see if it helps.
This was my attempt at using water-soluble graphite.

Grand Mosque, Manama Bahrain

2011-04-25T19:25:00.000-06:00

This was done the weekend before the uprisings; lucky timing on my part.

Quick sketches from coffee shop in Karlsruhe, Germany

2011-04-25T19:23:00.000-06:00

Near MEC store in Victoria, B.C.

2011-04-25T19:22:00.000-06:00

Mosque in Khobar, Saudi

2011-04-25T19:20:00.001-06:00

This has really faded from the scanning process. I drew this one since it is very different from most mosques in Saudi: this is coloured and typically they are plain white.

Book characters - version 2

2011-04-25T19:18:00.000-06:00

I have a plan to do a book for Adrian and the characters will be birds; this was second batch, in pastel. Colours are faded from the scanning process, not sure why.

canoe cove marina - new paint job

2011-04-25T19:16:00.000-06:00

Fisherman's pier in sidney B.C.

2011-04-25T19:15:00.000-06:00

Something new, almost

2011-04-25T19:14:00.001-06:00

I've still not done any drawings other than messing about in my sketch books, so I've decided to post some of them from various times this year - if only to show that i'm not completely dead in the water.

These are in no particular order.

Doodles from a newspaper: a pencil and an ink contour drawing.

2011-04-25T19:14:00.000-06:00

I'll let you figure out who they are.

Is this necessary??

2011-04-25T19:12:00.000-06:00

This is the new home of Indian billionare, Amdani. It is 27 stories and has a staff of over 500 to run it!

Chimp

2011-04-25T19:10:00.000-06:00

Yikes...no new postings!!

2010-12-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

I will try to get more postings done in new year; I have not drawn much since I've been working in Saudi - i seem to have "drawing block" of some sort. I would have expected that drawing should be a good stress relief etc. However, i don't seem able to get inspired; i'll work it out and get more stuff posted in 2011.

For now, happy holidays and a happy new year.

Practise makes perfect.... or at least better

2010-03-21T15:31:00.000-06:00

I came across a quote attributed to an 'old school' art teacher who answered, in response to the question "how do I improve my art?", " take a stack of paper equal to your height, draw until the stack is gone and you will have got a lot of bad drawings out of your system".

I have to do more drawing and stop worrying about how 'good' it may or may not be. I seem to have 'drawing block' again and I need to just draw. Of course, I won't inflict the results on you via this blog!

Raven - Charcoal

2010-03-18T23:41:00.001-06:00

Second Raven in charcoal;

Raven-- pastel

2010-03-14T03:55:00.001-06:00

More experimenting with pastels.

Pencil Raven

2010-03-14T03:37:00.002-06:00

Not happy with this but I've put it up now. I'll try to fix the shading on the feathers.

Portland Island-sunset

2010-03-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

A flock of ravens is called a .........

2010-02-22T23:11:00.002-07:00

I wanted to check that what I read was correct that a flock of ravens is called a "coven of ravens". According to http://www.birdnature.com/groupnames.html it is NOT. A group of Ravens is a "congress" or an "unkindness". Other interesting ones are a "tidings" of magpies, a "parliament" of owls [ I'm sure a flock of owls is probably as rare as a sitting of our own parliament!], and a "host" of sparrows. Since unkindness sounds disparaging, i'll go with a "congress of Ravens"

No drawings yet, just trying to be sure the title is correct.

New Series of drawings

2010-02-21T22:18:00.001-07:00

In order to get over some recent 'drawing block' I decided to set my self a bit of a challenge; I will do a series of drawings of Ravens, using different media. I chose Ravens because I find them a fascinating creature. Stay tuned for the upcoming "coven of ravens" posts!

Bison Sketch

2010-02-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

This is a large format [18 x 24"] charcoal sketch I did as preliminary to a final drawing that I have not gotten around to actually doing yet.

For Adrian -- "Backyard Friends"

2010-02-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

This is a set of ink drawings I did early on for Adrian. However, I don't think his Dad thinks of these as "friends" when he is trying to protect his garden!

Sun Flower -

2010-02-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

I'm still struggling with the pastels I got for Xmas from Leah; colour ramps up the complexity another order of magnitude from charcoal/pen/pencil.

new cow toy

2010-02-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Adrian was admiring a bouncy wooden toy at Eidleweiss and so I was given the challenge of making such a toy. I drew a cartoon cow head and then carved it out of a piece of maple. the body and feet are from purchased wooden items. Grandma did the ears from leather.

I cannot find a low tension spring to make it bounce properly, so for now she will sit on his own potty!

I've not given this to him yet so keep it a secret if you see this before he gets it.

Wyatt's new blog site

2010-02-19T19:33:00.002-07:00

I've helped my friend Wyatt with a simple blog site for him to help catalogue both his sold and unsold art work.
Check it out at www.westernskies101art.blogspot.com

Zen Drawing?

2010-02-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

I drew this with no plan in mind while listening to a radio program and it was a very relaxing experience. I've since stumbled across a whole genre called "zentangle" which is a form of unstructured doodling that has been used in everything from mediation to anger management. Google it and see what I mean.

I'll post a zentangle that i've done soon.

Portland Island - ink wash

2010-02-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

From my sketch book.

Chinook Arch

2010-02-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

I drew this from a photo that Mike took from Nosehill while on a bike ride.

WoodWork#1 - tricycle

2010-01-18T14:06:00.003-07:00

I made this for my grandson, Adrian, for Christmas. It is solid maple and all the shaping was done by hand since I don't own a lathe.

Wood Work?

2010-01-17T12:14:00.002-07:00

I quickly made this blog as a demo to show a friend what he could do for himself regarding a webpage without having to find someone with html skills. He is an artist who needs a way of showing clients what he has done and what is for sale, since he doesn't have a permanent studio space.

Now that I have banged this together I may keep it and expand it. Perhaps I'll put up some of my wood working efforts - these can be thought of as art as well I suppose.

Stay tuned.

West Coast Scene

2010-01-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

Old Barn

2010-01-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

Every abandoned building has a story to tell.

Elephant closup

2010-01-17T12:06:00.002-07:00

Have had some good comments on this from art site I belong to.

Art and homeless

2010-01-17T11:36:00.003-07:00

Went to the concert and art show at Grace Presbyterian church last night. The concert was commissioned by Lands End Chamber ensemble. Backup chorus and some writing was by a singing group from the Drop-in Centre. Afterward there was an art show of works of artists working out of various shelter/homeless agencies.

I was made aware of this by Wyatt, my friend I met at the Foothills shelter. He took up art a short while ago and is making amazing strides. I will put a link here to his web site once it is finalized. He has started selling his art and has some corporate commissions. I remember him telling me his schedule of practicing various techniques each day which reminded me of what I already knew: I'm not going to get better by thinking about it - practice, practice, practice !

More to come

2010-01-17T11:33:00.003-07:00

My scanner died a few weeks ago and taking photo's of art isn't the same , especially with my lack of proper lighting,etc. So, once my replacement scanner arrives, I will post some of my sketchbook pages,etc. I'm trying a few things from lessons such as drawing the same subject over a number of days and seeing how the interpretation changes as familiarity with it grows.

I will also try to overcome my reluctance to show my "failures" and to stop waiting for the 'masterpiece' to appear!!...could be a long wait!.

Elephant group

2010-01-17T11:29:00.001-07:00

I imagine that over time there will be a number of elephant drawings here as I find them a fascinating animal. I don't quite know why, perhaps it goes back to my early childhood reading of stories of India.

Aspen grove

2010-01-17T11:27:00.003-07:00

Drawing from my imagination... testing of technique to represent grasses,etc.

Trapped: charcoal

2010-01-17T11:23:00.003-07:00

Inspired by article on justice/or lack thereof/ for the poor.

Pastel #1

2010-01-17T11:21:00.002-07:00

My experiements with my new pastels continue.... not happy with this but it is getting closer