Owner: Travels with a sketchbook in....... URL:http://travelsketch.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2006 03:36:11 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: When I travel, I sketch...and then record it here. Plus info/links about history and facilities of places in Venice, California, Arizona, New Mexico, New England, London and UK. Site statistics:Click here
Sunday 24th September: The Interior of the Quaker Tavern B&B 2006-11-07 06:36:00 The Winter Fireplace8" x 10", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbookcopyright Katherine TyrrellIn Maine I stayed at the QuakerTavern
B&B which is located in West Falmouth - just north of Portland. It's a B&B which has a delightful if slightly quirky host in Donna Little. Donna is a committed environmentalist and certified environmental leader, recycler (she's big on regifting as her shop in the adjacent barn evidences) and historical society stalwart. I think she's done a great job in conserving the house - keeping what could be kept and carefully reinstating what was too far gone to preserve.The building is described as a country federal structure. It was originally built by a family of Quakers (the Halls) and dates back to 1780. Having read the information on the website I asked if I could sleep in the room which has original wet plaster stencil decoration on its walls. It comes complete with genuine traditional cracks in the plasterwork and w Read more:Sunday
, September
, Interior
Saturday 23rd September: The Farnsworth, the Wyeths and the rain 2006-10-27 14:49:00
"Red Head Yard Dog - in good company"pen and sepia ink and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbookcopyright Katherine Tyrrell
Well I know what the title says but the only sketches I've got for Saturday
are ones of the insides of restaurants! My trip to Rockland, Maine with Gordon and Kathy to visit the Farnsworth Art Museum and the Wyeth Centre involved an awful lot of rain - I had hoped to be able to see something of Penobscot Bay, but the weather was simply awful.
The way in which is rained would have been unbelievable, if I hadn't experienced exactly the same thing the previous Tuesday afternoon coming back from Vermont! What is it about rain in New England - anybody know the answer? It was a complete deluge of the variety which makes roads like rivers and renders headlights absolutely essential.
We stopped for lunch at the Beale Street Barbeque Restaurant in Bath - a little bit of Memphis in Maine! I really enjoyed doing both sketches - especially since it struck me that Read more:September
Friday 22nd September: Pemaquid Point Light - from top to bottom 2006-10-25 09:52:00 Pemaquid Point Light... is the delight of artists, photographers, and tourists. Pemaquid Point itself entrances both land and water visitors by the fascinating northwest-southeast varied veins of rock formation that look for all the world as if great giants had 'pulled taffy' while the rocks were in a molten condition." Malcolm F. Willoughby, The Boothbay Register, 1962Bottom Up (Pemaquid Light, Maine)8" x 10" pencil and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbookcopyright Katherine TyrrellI woke on the Friday
morning with an absolutely stinking head cold - but the day was saved by the owner of the B&B I was staying in (of which more in a subsequent post) producing something which cleared it up immediately! I was amazed and subsequently bought supplies to bring back with me for the next bad head cold!So - I started out later than anticipated and then had to get back earlier than the previous day as my friend Kathy was returning from her conference that afternoon. So naturally I Read more:September
Thursday 21st September: "In the footsteps of Winslow Homer - nearly" 2006-10-24 09:29:00 Massacre Pond, Prout's Neck, Maine (21. 9. 06)10" x 8", pencil and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbookcopyright Katherine TyrrellThis was a big sketching day - with three sketches done during the course of the day on top of a fair bit of travelling around.Prior to coming to Maine I had decided that I wanted to try and sketch at Prout's Neck as this was where WinslowHomer
used to have a house and where he often drew and painted seascapes. (This is a link to an example). Well that was the idea - easier said than done! I have a rant about the problems I encountered in the next paragraph which I would skip if you're not interested or have heard it all before!I really do appreciate how difficult it must be living in places which get swamped by tourists in the summer months - but I don't think I've ever been anywhere in the world that is so restrictive on parking as New England. In the UK we have the National Trust and where you have areas of outstanding natural beauty or histo Read more:Thursday
, September
Wednesday 20th September: A friendly warning from the local police! 2006-10-23 13:25:00
Sawyer Crossing / Cresson Bridge, Swanzey 20.9.06 midday
8" x 10" pencil and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell
On the Tuesday evening, after drawing art cards of apples on Monday night, Nicole and I then drew pears. An account of the fascinating experience of drawing the same subject next to one another on the same support - with different results - is set out in New Hampshire Pears on my other blog.
Then on Wednesday
morning, after a good look round the delights of Keene with Nicole and Lizzie (and a visit to yet another art shop which unfortunately is closing down its art materials section) I left Keene to drive to the coast of Maine.
However I decided that before I left New Hampshire that I should try and visit at least one of the covered bridges in the area. There's a whole bunch of them just south of Keene round about the Swanzey area.
Sawyer Crossing or Cresson Covered Bridge in Swanzey was built in 1859 or so it says on the sign Read more:September
, warning
Tuesday 19th September: The grass is greener in Vermont 2006-10-19 18:19:00 Bert Dodson in Vermont
8" x 10" pencil and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbookcopyright Katherine TyrrellWhat's the ultimate challenge? Well my personal artistic 'top ten' has probably got to include doing a quick sketch over lunch of the man who wrote one of the best selling books about drawing - and then trying to colour it afterwards purely from memory!My sketch is of Bert Dodson, the author of "Keys to Drawing". This book, published by North Light Books, is on the shelves of many people keen on learning how to improve their drawing. It's certainly sat on my shelves for nearly 20 years ever since I was able to find time for art again after I finally came to the end of my long haul through post grad qualifications/degrees.When I planned the trip to New England I had no idea that Bert lived in Vermont within a 'day trip' driving distance of Nicole. I knew he had a new book coming out as we had corresponded off and on. Anyway, he emerged from under all the page proofs at Read more:September
, Tuesday
, grass
Monday 18th September: Apple orchards, maples and a chocolatier 2006-10-14 12:19:00
Burdicks, Walpole 18.09.06. 1.45pm
8" x 10" pen and sepia ink and coloured pencil in Moleskine notebookcopyright Katherine Tyrrell
On Monday
morning I crossed the border into New Hampshire to visit with Nicole Caulfield who lives on the outskirts of Keene with her husband Mike and their delightful daughters Katie and Lizzie. Nicole is a fellow founder member of Fine Line Artists. and we have been corresponding for over two years although we only met for the first time in Albuquerque in July this year when we went to the CPSA Annual Convention - and saw one of her works "Diner Reflections" in the annual exhibition.
Keene is probably most famous for being the home of the record for the most pumpkin Jack-o-Lanterns in one place (ie 28, 952 - the next record-breaking attempt is Saturday 21st October!
The morning was sunny and Nicole drove Lizzie and I north to a hill high above the wide Connecticut River that runs north/south and forms the border between New Hampshire and Read more:September
, Apple
Sunday 17th September: Rocky Neck and Rockport, Massachusetts 2006-10-13 11:43:00 The tree without a name9" x 12", coloured pencil on Saunders Waterford HPcopyright Katherine TyrrellThis is the first time I've had both blogs with the same image - but I rather like this one!On Sunday
, I had another bright and sunny day and took a trip across to Cape Ann which is a peninusula north of Boston - and just north of Marblehead. It's home to:Rockport
- a seacoast village with a harbour which is home to the world famous Motif No 1 painted by many artists over the years and reputed to be the most painted subject in North America andRocky
Neck which is said to have the oldest working art colony in North America at 200 years oldRocky Neck is an on the periphery of Gloucester and was to all intents and purposes closed - at least for for lunch - although most of the galleries seemed to be open or planning on opening. I was rather disappointed as I hadn't brought anything for lunch. Luckily I caught the tail end of Sailor Stan's breakfast where I sketched the enormous sunfl Read more:September
, Massachusetts
Saturday 16th September: A visit to an art store and Walden Pond 2006-10-12 14:12:00
Late Friday afternoon I drove back from Cape Cod to my cousin's and it rained all the way. By the time I got back I was so tired from the work done at the workshop coupled with the drive that I decided to abandon my original plan of going to New York for the Pastel Society exhibition on the Saturday
. This also meant I did not have to get up at the crack of dawn and sit on trains for a long time in order to get there and back and have more than a couple of hours in New York! In any case Saturday morning brought a brilliant sunny day and it was far too nice to be inside for too long.
I spent breakfast time and early morning eyeing up the trees at the rear of my cousin's house with a sketchbook and a camera and trying to work out how to sketch/draw/paint them - but didn't get very far.
I also wanted to visit
:
the Charette retail art store in Woburn and
Walden Pond which is a designated national historic landmark due to Thoreau's association with it.
Walden Pond is credited Read more:September
w/c 11th September: More sketching at mealtimes 2006-10-11 15:41:00
The View at Breakfast 13th and 14th September
8ampen and black ink and coloured pencilscopyright Katherine Tyrrell
I really like sketching when I'm sat at a table waiting to order or for the food to arrive or when I'm inbetween courses - or even while I'm actually eating!
However, the latter is reserved for when I'm on my own - such as at breakfast at the place where I was staying in Chatham. It had beautiful gardens which could be seen from the window of where I sat for breakfast. I did the pen and ink drawing the Wednesday morning and then used the coloured pencils on the Thursday morning. I really messed around with this one and used lots of different colours to try and get the effect of the foliage which was looking post summer if not quite autumn.
Dinner at Squires, Chatham 12.09.06. 9.30pm
On the Tuesday evening, Sally did a slideshow presentation for the workshop people and members of the Cape Cod Pastel Society - which was very well received - but it did me
w/c 11th September - More Cape Cod seashore 2006-10-10 14:59:00
"Kite Surfer at Chatham Light" 11.09.06. 6pm8" x 10", pencil and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbookcopyright Katherine Tyrrell
The pastel workshop finished at 4pm each day. So, if I got my stuff packed up and stowed away reasonably quickly (which as many pastels artists will know is easier said than done!) I could get out in the late afternoon and early evening to sketch in the surrounding area.
The workshop was based in Chatham, so the first evening I went to see Chatham Light and its beach. (warning - parking is very difficult). The lighthouse was a bit too close to sketch easily - but looking out to sea I could see some people in the water. It turned out that they were kite surfing - using the kite as their sail and periodically taking off about 20-30 feet in the air. I'd never seen kite surfing before but it looked far more exciting that traditional surfing or even kite flying - even if the kite surfer I watched only managed to land and continue surfing in about 1 Read more:September
, seashore
Sunday 10th September: Cape Cod National Seashore 2006-10-09 12:31:00
The Path to Nauset Beach 10.09.06. 5.50pm8" x 10", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbookcopyright Katherine Tyrrell
Sunday
morning I drove 130 miles down the 495 to Chatham on Cape Cod
where the Sally Strand Pastel Workshop was to be held, starting on Monday.
Driving in a new place is quite exciting but can sometimes be very slow. Once over the bridge to Cape Cod, I drove south to Hyannis and tried to drive along what looked like a coast road but wasn't. It was also more touristy than I was expecting and when I turned nearer the coast I found out very quickly just how easy it is to get mixed up and lost on Cape Cod. There are endless small roads that twist and turn and I was very glad I'd borrowed my cousin's map of the Cape Cod area as I'd have been well and truly driving round in circles for hours without it! And I'm used to roads that aren't on a grid systems and don't go in a straight line!
Once I'd got to where I was staying in North Chatham Read more:September
, National
Saturday 9th September: Concord and Caulfield 2006-10-08 08:23:00 I'd formally allocated Saturday
as being my rest day for recovering from the journey - but there again it was also my friend Nicole Caulfield's birthday. Fellow Fine Line Artist Nicole lives in New Hampshire and she was kindly offering me hospitality during this trip.
We decided the best compromise was that she should have a 'day off' from being a young Mum and would drive down to where I was and then we'd then 'do something'. Which is how we came to visit Concord
. I don't tend to sketch much on the first day - so this post is mainly photos in and around Concord.
I found Concord to be an amazing centre for a number of different aspects of American history. On April 19, 1775, the American Revolution - the war between Britain and 12 British colonies - began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord - a clash of arms known to history as "the shot heard round the world."
It was also home to a number of very well known authors - Nathanial Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph W Read more:September
Friday 8th September: "A different mode of transport" 2006-10-06 14:54:00
"10 minutes from Boston"
10" x 8";
Sepia pen and ink and coloured pencil in a Large Moleskine sketchbookcopyright 2006 Katherine Tyrrell
I hate the start of a journey when I'm on a 'big trip'. There's so much to think about - and this time matters were not made any easier given the new carry-on baggage restrictions at airports to combat terrorists. Anyway, there I was, in a foul mood as usual when setting off (having mentally run through all the check lists for the nth time in the last two weeks and repacked my baggage for the 3rd time). To reduce tension levels I now fly out from Manchester Airport which is near where my mother lives - as I'd be 'looping the loop' before I even set foot on a plane if required to go anywhere near the nightmare called Heathrow. I've always said how nice Manchester airport is - nearly as nice as Stansted which is my favourite airport of all. Until this trip.
I arrived at the airport not knowing which terminal the flight goes fro Read more:September
, Friday
, different
, transport
Travels with a sketchbook in New England, USA 2006-10-06 00:50:00 This is my provisional summary of the next set of entries relating to my trip to New England
in September 2006 and the resulting sketchbook
. [This summary will be updated periodically as I complete the various blog entries and publish and link to them - latest update 23rd October]The main purpose of my visit was to take a 5 day Pastel Workshop with Sally Strand on "The Colour of Light" (which will be covered in my other blog 'Making a Mark' as it's not really about sketching). This meant that my first week (11-15 September) was spent on Cape Cod - based in Chatham.As I was in New England
, I decided that this was the most wonderful opportunity to see as much of New England as I could within the usual constraints of time, budget and the different locations of people I knew. It makes such a difference when you travel to the home areas of people you know. I always get a much better understanding of a place when I do.My main base was the Massachusetts countryside, northwest of Boston, wi Read more:Travels
"Under Cover": an exhibition of artists' sketchbooks 2006-10-05 17:45:00 My other blog "Making a Mark" includes my review of "Under Cover
" the exhibition of artists' sketchbooks at the Fogg Art Museum in Boston. You can read this review here http://makingamark.blogspot.com/2006/10/under-cover-exhibition-of-sketchbooks.html
Links:
"Under Cover" an exhibition of Artists' Sketchbooks at the Fogg Art Museum
Fogg Art Museum: "Under Cover"- Artists Sketchbooks
List of exhibits
Technorati tags: art , artist , drawing , pen and ink , pencil , sketch, sketching
Other people's sketchbooks 2006-10-04 12:00:00 Just a reminder - inbetween my sketching trips (New England is coming up!) - that I have included in the side column links to other people
's sketchbooks of their travels.
I haven't done a count up yet but in terms of countries that people travel to to draw / sketch / paint I think France might just be out in front!
Laurelines gallery of Travel Sketches feature a lot of scenes from France. Laura has just started a month's stay in Paris mostly dedicated to sketching and art generally so hopefully more from her soon
Judy Nijholt-Strong lives in the Netherlands has just returned from two recent trips to France - Champagne, Picardie and Normandy - with lots of sketches in her Moleskine. Judy also aims to go to Paris on her next trip.
Cindy Woods, based in Richmond Virginia, is an indefatigable sketcher on trips (and is currently on yet another trip!) and writes about her trips in her blog - Learning Daily. I've included links to her Flickr sets relating to sketchbooks for
San
Tuesday 1st August: Flying home and some reflections 2006-09-30 02:30:00
On Monday I tried to pack. Which in the end amounted to deciding what was going to get forwarded to New England for September to save carrying it home and bringing it out again............
Plus I wrote the provisional summary of all the posts for the trip. (Since then, I've been updating this so that it includes links to all the correct titles for all the finalised versions of posts relating to this trip.)
So.........on the morning of Tuesday
1st August
I drove myself to San Diego airport in good time for my flight, had a quiet panic (it was very nearly a loud panic!) when I couldn't find the car rental place and then sat around watching planes - and sketching (see above!) - before flying home.
So time for some reflection (both then and since) - what did I learn on this trip?
Artwork
I probably produced more work within a three week period than I've ever done before (albeit much smaller than I normally work).
Having a travel sketchbook to complete is a great incentive for Read more:Flying
Sunday 30th July: The end of my drive down Highway 1 and the start of "concrete freewayville" 2006-09-30 00:52:00
Hideaway Cafe - looking towards Zuma BeachPen and sepia ink and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbook10" x 8"
Mel Gibson got caught speeding on Highway
1 in Malibu on 28th July and was arrested for drink-driving. I came through on the 30th July with no such excitement but there again I was observing the speed limit and it was daylight.......... I even had sun for the first time in what seemed like a long time!
By now I was really tired from all the driving and just wanted to get back to San Diego. Unfortunately, first of all I had to negotiate the mammoth concrete
freeways of Los Angeles which was not something I was looking forward to!
I prepared for the onslaught by stopping at the Hideaway Cafe in Malibu for brunch. For such an out of the way place (it was up a very steep drive
) I was really disappointed that there were not more stars to collect autographs from ;) and was about to sniff with disappointment when the couple next door sent a small child off to collect an aut Read more:Sunday
Saturday 29th July: The best breakfast of the trip - at the Big Sky Cafe! 2006-09-05 23:22:00 Saturday
Morning at the Big Sky Cafe, San Luis ObispoPen and sepia ink and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbook10" x 8"
I left Morro Bay under a cloud - you think I jest? Take a look at the photo! I know they do things bigger in the USA - but I wasn't quite expecting this to apply to the clouds.
I should be able to see a great big rock sticking up out of the ocean instead of which all I could see was a bit of rock and an awful lot of cloud. The marine inversion was obviously going to persist for a bit!
I drove down to San Luis Obispo for breakfast. Nice small town with a proper main street and proper traditional shops and trees on the side walks. It had a really nice human scale to it. I looked around for somewhere to have breakfast and ended up heading for the place where people were congregating outside. Turns out they were queuing to get in - but seating 1 person is easier than seating 3-4! ;)
I had the best breakfast of the whole trip at the Big Sky Cafe - high
Friday 28th July: Driving down Big Sur - at last! 2006-09-04 13:03:00
Bixby Bridge, Pacific Coast Highway8" x 10"Pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbook
After I left Point Lobos in the early afternoon, I continued down Highway 1 and along the coastline of Big Sur.
Big Sur is the coastline and immediate area inland which stretches some 90 miles (145km) along the coastline between the Carmel River and the San Carpoforo Creek. It extends about 20 miles (32km) inland. It's a truly amazing coastline with great views - both along and down(!) and seeing and driving down Big Sur is something I've wanted to do for a very long time.
The marine inversion continued for the most part. Here's an illustraton of what I mean.
Note also the steep sides - this is not a road to take your eye off the road so you can admire the view - you need to use the various stopping places en route to do that - and you'll be in good company as everybody else is doing the same thing!
Driving
south down Big Sur (as opposed to north) means you get Read more:Friday
Friday 28th July: "The greatest meeting of land and water in the world" 2006-09-03 13:49:00
"The meeting
of land and sea, Point Lobos"
12" x 16.5"Coloured Pencils on Colourfix
Where on earth could be described as "the greatest meeting of land and sea on the earth? Point Lobos is the answer according to the artist Francis McComas and the Point Lobos State Reserve website
Landscape artist Francis McComas's brief but extravagant comparison remains unchallenged. All who come here agree that the beauty of this tree-clad headland is unequaled.
The Reserve is 3 miles south of Carmel just off Highway 1 and the website indicates it has a very great deal to offer - and I agree...........
Point Lobos State Reserve has outstanding passive recreation values, such as sightseeing, photography, painting, nature study, picnicking, SCUBA diving, and jogging. In addition to the spectacular beauty, nearly every aspect of its resources is of scientific interest. There are rare plant communities, endangered archeological sites, unique geological formations, and incredibly rich flora a Read more:Friday
, water
Thursday 27th July: Carmel by the Sea - and a marine inversion 2006-09-02 18:53:00
Leftovers from lunchPen and sepia ink and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbook 8" x 10"
On Thursday
I decided to go to Carmel pr 'Carmel-by-the Sea'. I've always been intrigued by it as a place, ever since I learned about it when Clint Eastwood was Mayor!
The above sketch is as colourful as it got that day as the whole of the Monterey peninsula seemed to be suffering from a marine inversion. The sky was grey, the clouds were very low, the sea was grey - and the 'plein air' was hovering just above 60 degrees - where was the sunshine?
I did try to do a plein air pastel painting on the beach - honest - but it was soooooooooooo cold! Sitting still means you get a lot colder than when moving around. I found after not very long that I just couldn't focus and was continuously thinking about long it would take to turn back to my hotel and go and find as many layers as I could. It wasn't as if I hadn't come out prepared - but I was still very cold. So I have a pastel w
Wednesday 26th July: Driving Highway 1 - the Pacific Coast Highway 2006-09-01 01:21:00 Pescadero Marsh (neat to Highway
1)Wednesday
26th July 11.45am 60 degrees F (foggy)sepia ink and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbook 8" x 10"Louise dropped me off at San Diego at about airport at about 5.30am so that I could catch the 6.45 flight to San Francisco and then the connecting flight to Monterey which would get me in about 9.00am. Almost the first thing I heard when I got to the check-in queue was that the San Francisco flight was late and I'd miss my connection.We'll draw another veil over the next hour or so except to say I declined the offer from United Airlines of a replacement flight which would get me into Montery at 8.00pm in the evening [raised eyebrow smiley!] and accpted the offer of a credit voucher to be used on a subsquent flight. Instead I flew to San Francisco and picked up a car there which fortunately was not a big deal as it could have been (thumbs up for Alamo!).We'll just have a minor digression here while I remember what it was like in the airpor Read more:Driving
, Pacific
, Coast
Tuesday 25th July - a 'rest' day 2006-08-30 02:13:00 Kathy and Gordon flew back to New England and I washed and repacked for the next leg of the trip - including the pastels - and fixed final bookings.
The weather continued to be distinctly odd - it rained and then continued to be humid!
My plans were as follows:
Wednesday morning very early: fly to Monterey and pick up a car
Wednesday/Thursday: stay in Monterey/Carmel area for two nights
Friday: drive down Highway 1 - the Pacific Coast Highway - stopping enroute in the Big Sur area between Monterey and the MorroBay/San Luis Obispo area
Saturday: drive down to Ventura, stay overnight
Sunday: drive via Malibu and then avoid as much as I could of Los Angeles and back to San Diego
get as much drawing done as I could...........
Did anybody notice the use of the past tense? ;) More tomorrow..............
Technorati tags: travel Read more:Tuesday
Monday 24th July: 2,000 miles later - Louise drives the desert with style 2006-08-29 01:57:00
"Louise
drives the desert with style" 1.30am, 24.7.06. 118 degrees Fpen and ink and coloured pencil in moleskine sketchbook 8" x 10"
On Monday
we were crossing two deserts during one of the hottest heatwaves the USA has ever known. Louise did it in style!
It was an odd day. We were all really tired after the very long day on Sunday. It had also been a long trip overall - Louise calculated late on Monday that we'd done about 2,000 miles on the trip altogether. I know I felt like I couldn't look at anything more. My eyes/brain simply did not want to try and absorb any more scenery given the surfeit I'd enjoyed the previous day. I took very few photos that Monday - but that was also in part because the scenery changed and then stayed the same for a very long while. However I did do three sketches.
"Cloud crossing the Sonoran Desert" 9.00am Mon 24.7.06. 101 degrees Fpen and ink and coloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbook 8" x 10"
From Prescott, we headed for Yuma thr Read more:later
Sunday 23rd July: Big clouds, big holes and big rocks 2006-08-28 02:06:00
20 miles outside Flagstaff, 6000 feet, 98 degrees Fcoloured pencil in Moleskine sketchbook 8" x 10"
After breakfast, we travelled on from Gallup, along Interstate-40 and alongside Route 66, crossed over the state border back into Arizona and had a debate about whether we going to go and look at the Petrified Forest or visit cliff dwellings at Walnut Canyon. Pressures of time meant we couldn't do both - and in the end we opted for the latter - while keeping an eye out for dead tree rocks along the road side...........
As we approached Flagstaff we saw terrific cloud formations - of a lot less worrying variety than those we had seen the previous Tuesday. I photographed and sketched them in the Moleskine and had a go at trying to match coloured pencils to cloud colours - never an easy exercise. I also started to make a record of temperatures on my sketches - the car's dashboard said it was 98 degrees outside.
Walnut Canyon National Monument is a very big hole. It's 20 mi Read more:Sunday
Sunday 23rd July: Back in time to Route 66........and a bit more 2006-08-28 00:21:00
On Sunday
I did three sketches before we even had breakfast!
This sketch of an extended family at their Sunday morning breakfast in Gallup was done in pen and ink in my moleskine between sitting down and my breakfast arriving on the table.
We were up early as we had a long trip to get to Prescott,Arizona by the evening. We set off after saying goodbye to Nicole who was flying back east. We watched her jog off in her running gear (Nicole heaves a sigh of relief due to the absence of any photos from the photo opportunity presented by us driving by as she jogged along!)
Our planned route had to be changed because of the extreme hot weather being experienced in the southwest. Louise had originally planned that we should travel back through Arizona via Flagstaff and Kington Arizona and return to California through Death Valley - one of the hottest places . The increase in temperatures that weekend meant that was no longer wise - and our journey home was not going to be without
Blogger is not working properly 2006-08-26 19:05:00 Apologies to anybody who's not getting the feed for this blog (although there's a bit of me thinking you're not going to see this either!).
Blogger
is neither updating Technorati (according to them I last updated 10 days ago) nor is it showing archives in the way it should on this blog - despite Blogger working
fine with my other blog.
Why? Who knows - it's a mystery to me............and I don't seem to be able to find any way of fixing it.
I'm at a loss as to what to try next so I'm falling back on that old chestnut of 'blog about it and see if somebody in the Blogger/Technorati blogworld sees this post, investigates the problem and it goes away' technique
Technorati tags: blog software , Blogger , blogger software ,
Technorati
Plein Air Sketching - the Sandia Mountains 2006-08-24 11:58:00
You will recall that in my post about Friday 21st July Plein
Air Sketching
and a Banquet I said I was in a quandary because the sketches are still in California. Well - it's sorted as you can see above! Louise has scanned the images and sent them to me. I've arranged them as the images are intended to be when developed - you can click on either of them to see a larger image.
So a recap and more details about approach and process, given I wasn't sketching on the run and actually had time to think about what I wanted to do and how to design the 'picture' before I started.
Just after 9am, after much walking around, I sat on a tiny patch of grass in a car park attached to the north of the Winrock Shopping Centre in Albuquerque looking across to the east at the Sandia Mountains over the tops of the trees. Nice and quiet and unlikely to be interrupted.
I was fresh from the slideshow the night before and my analysis of what gave a drawing impact and thought I should really Read more:Plein Air
Recommend Site To A Friend
