The Perfect Place to Be.

Today was a all blue sky day with the temperature at perfect degrees. I found out the best place to spend some time sketching outdoors was at a local winery. Afterwards, sampling the product of the vineyard was an absolute necessity. We will return when the leaves are full on the vines for another sketch and more samples.

Missing My Dad

As I come across old photos, I'm enjoying sketching my Dad and remembering what we were doing at that time and place. This one is from a trip in TN. Next week I fly home with him to Jersey for his memorial and put him in his final resting place by my Mom.  It's going to be good to be with my brothers and their families and since I'm staying for a week, expect to see some sketches soon from my home town.

Air Museum

It was a beautiful day to visit the Palm Springs Air Museum. I got a chance to draw two of the old but still functional WWII planes. I took more pictures so I'm sure they'll be converted into sketches sometime in the future.

I used my liquid and graphite pencils then added a touch of blue sky with watercolors.

Weekend In The Desert

I love driving to Palm Springs for a long weekend. We left on Friday and stayed at a different hotel since Harley was coming along (Ziggy went to his favorite Doggy Camp place to stay). I'm always amazed with the hotels that allow dogs but have a weight limit of something very small like 12 lbs. Fortunately, I found this place that had no limit plus there was a large grassy area for dogs to play and run around. Needless to say, Harley had a great time and we'll be returning to that place again I'm sure.
So first the room and below is the cabana done with water colors and ink and below is the grassy area done with water colors and my new Sharpie liquid pencil that I was trying out.

I'll be using the liquid pencil again. It erases easy, allows for highlighting, and it works well with the water. I do see some lead spotting on the drawings but not to a point where it's bothersome to me. It's another fun tool for my collection and use.

Ocean Beach, CA

 I spent an extra long weekend at Ocean Beach to do nothing but taking walks on the beach, relaxing, sketching, walking some more, reading and napping.

 This is a sketch of the room and it was done after a very long walk on the beach. Harley is getting her first nap in of the weekend. My brother gave me money for supplies a while ago so I stopped in at Blicks in San Diego to look around and of course pick up some new things. This was done in my Moleskine with a new red ink pen a long with a set of Derwent Inktesnse pencils. Maybe I'm not using the pencils correctly,  I'll have to check to see if there are any instructions on utube.

This bus wasn't exactly what I had in mind that I'd be painting this weekend. I found it parked along side the beach parking lot and decided to give it a whirl. I'm glad I did because the following day it was gone to its next destination.  Ink and watercolors in my 6x8 Stillman&Birn Alpha (which is becoming my favorite journal book)

 

 This is the sketch I started sitting at the dog beach. I still have to finish it, add more dogs and people then color. My two dogs were needing my attention at the time. They loved the beach. Harley had been there before so she was a pro at beach walking and getting her feet wet in the ocean. Ziggy was a little apprehensive at first but with the help of Harley, he was soon zooming around the beach, digging for gold and just being a happy beach dog. I told my partner that we're going to begin taking a monthly day trip to this beach. It was great watching the dogs have so much fun.

Memory Plant

The plant that I received from my co-workers around the world. Now I'll be challenged to keep it alive until I can safely plant it outside.

Laundry Day

It always feel good to get a big chore done for the week. I did this quick sketch while the laundry was in the wash. The guy was so into the book he was reading, he didn't even notice me.

Day Two of Fresh Air

I could do this every day but work gets in the way. Which is why I am enjoying every day of my time off from work. Back at Elfin Forest and instead of sitting by the creek I picked a spot on the trail with a view. I was still in hearing distance from the creek so I had three very soothing and calm hours of sketching and painting.

Outside in the Sunshine

It was totally a great day. During the week, parking at Dixon Lake is free so I found the perfect overlook spot and spent the afternoon painting.

I might have to do the same thing tomorrow.