Apples finished....

These Little Green Apples are finished and on my web page. I toned down the bowl and am pleased with the results.



I finished the red apples painting today. It is on my web page and I also finished the demo and it is on my page as well.

It is always amazing to me, even after all the paintings I have done, to see how one tiny stroke can make something look crooked or out of whack. Look at the close up of the apples and you can get an idea. That gives me an idea of a post ... to show one of these problems. Check back..



I plan to show these paintings in Magdalena at Peppers Gallery in their show on October 6 and 7. They will be offered for sale as a pair or individually.

I will also make some tile items with the apples on them for sale in my on-line store. I hope to finish that project tonight.

Sketch at Elephant Butte

Here is my pen sketch. About 15 minutes yesterday while visiting with Gen. Micron 05 in my generic sketchbook. The sketchbook is not sturdy, by the way. The Canson has held up very well and the generic wire holder is loosening and not holding as well when I fold it back to sketch. I'm pretty sure it cost about half what the Canson cost and for practice it isn't bad, but if you care to save your sketchbooks forever, it would be worth the difference to get the Canson. They look the same, except the Canson has a logo imbedded in the cover. The paper is better as well.

Just being out and sketching or painting opens your eyes to color, shadows and the beauty of our world. Truth or Consequences is far from the garden spot of the world, but the dam was built in 1916 and facilities were built back in the thirties and the terraces and big cut stones are just amazing. We need to really support our park services and help maintain these wonderful spots.

No Sketch

Yesterday, we stopped off in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, to visit friends and play a little golf. Gen said they were having a plein air paint out this morning at 7:00 a.m. so we had to stay. We left the house about 630 to arrive at Elephant Butte for the sunrise. Gorgeous morning. I did a sketch across the lake but I failed to take a snapshot of the sketch, so will post it tomorrow. Consolation is a photo of Gen and some of the other artists. About 10 artists attended.



Pretty good considering it was a big art weekend with many openings and exhibits. A Sierra County weekend of art.

Also a photo of the view across the lake that I attempted with watercolors.


I did not anticipate painting when we left Silver City, so only had watercolors and colored pencils along with my sketchbook and pens. It was my second attempt at plein air with watercolors. I am just not experienced enough yet with watercolors for quick work. I will not be posting the result!

Check back for the apples finish and the sketch for today.

Little Red Apples, continued

I will be away from high speed for a few days and may not post as much, especially pictures.

I worked on the apples some today. Will post some of the work, but will not go into as much detail. I will be putting the demo on my web page ... working on it while I am away.

Here are the photos..This is the set up.



Adding some detail



Next, more detail on the first two.



The apples almost done and the cloth.



And a crop of the detail....




Check back to see the finished work.... Let me know what you think.

Birds, Headstones and Cake

Eclectic sketches from the Scavenger Hunt #10. We were in Magdalena and on dial-up at 10 cents a minute, cost not as important as just taking too long. Ha.

The first is the birds out Mom Frances' kitchen window. She is 89 and just loves to watch and feed her birds. But, drat, they won't be still to sketch. Hummers, sparrows and house finches.



The second is headstones. Luckily we were in Magdalena so I sketched the headstones in the Knoblock family plot. There is such deep grass and wildflowers (weeds there) that I couldn't really see the headstones.





I had never noticed how pretty the fence is with the crosses on top. Always too busy looking for ghosts when I was a kid, I guess. Some of the weeds and prickly stickers are waist high. (Forgot to take a pic of the stickers I sketched so will post it next) It was pretty there, but hard to get around .. watching for rattlesnakes and such! Hard to concentrate as well. Not my favorite place to go, but I got the sketch .. very quickly I might add. Mom Frances was telling us that a few years ago, she and Velma, the oldest daughter, were cleaning their plots and decided to burn the weeds. The wind came up (very normal in Magdalena) and the fire got out of control. They were arguing about going for help. "You go", says Mom. "No, you go!", says Velma, etc. Finally Velma went. She got to Ambers, the volunteer fire chief and he said, "Let it burn, they are all dead so no one will get hurt!" "But my Mom is there!", says Velma. So he got the fire-truck and went to the cemetery and by the time they got there, Mom Frances working so hard had it almost out.

The third is coffee cake at Mom Frances' as well. Gene likes that before breakfast with coffee and she likes to eat it for dessert.



The sketches are in my generic sketchbook with one of the Micron 05 pens. As usual no erasing or correcting about 15 minutes each.

This is my exhibit at Peppers Gallery in Magdalena.