Tulip Sketch and Baseball

I volunteered at the Crisis Center and while the phones weren't ringing I sketched some tulips that were sitting on the desk.


They were so pretty. I sketched the tulips on pink paper with my Pilot pen. I found some markers in the drawer and colored them.

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It was the second game of the series with Kansas today. The Horns won 6 - 1. It was a closer game than it looks. They have some good hitters. Joanna will have a post about the game and the official story is here.

Chance Ruffin pitching. He sure kicks high!

Hook-em came up in the stands near us. It is a surprise that he has been at the games.

The scoreboard with the last Kansas play in the photo. The next photo I took had a blank score, I guess it was in between the set up to have a headline like "Horns win Big" or some such.

Baseball photos, Camera notes

The Longhorns opened their first Big 12 Conference series with a win over Kansas. Yes! 8 - 5. Good and interesting game. Read all the scoop on Joanna's page and official stuff here.



This is Preston Clark, left, and Jordan Danks keeping limber between the first and second inning. Unusual to have Preston Clark out in left field, he is the regular catcher. He has been injured and his experience and good bat have kept him playing as DH (designated hitter) and now outfield to keep him in the lineup. They used Brandon Belt, first base, to pitch to a lefty last night so Preston even played first base while that went on. :) In the meantime the replacement catcher, Cameron Rupp, hit two homeruns. Wow!




This is the instant replay of Cameron Rupp's first homerun. I didn't have the camera out for the actual hit. :) They even shot off the fireworks which I missed, of course. At the end of the game, I tried to get the fireworks and score, but being dark my photos didn't come out. Blurry as I can't stand still like a tripod. Oh well.

Speaking of cameras, I would like to give my Casio Exilim a plug. (the new ones are 10 megapixels, mine is 7) We bought our first one in 2003. They have a flat rechargeable battery and are just amazing. (Looks like the battery is a little different now, I have 3 batteries now to interchange as well) They have almost instant on. When we are traveling, I can bring up the camera and get a shot going down the highway and not miss a thing. The battery holds a charge for a long time, too. It will go through the weekend of baseball games where I take up to 80 photos a game. I also take the large photos just in case I get a good one to print. Gene has another brand that uses triple A batteries and they die in one day and 50 photos. I'm not paid by Casio, but I love the camera. We have had three. The first lasted about 5 years, well it still works. Sometimes a little slow to focus. It was dropped and banged around, rough handling. The second, I closed in the tailgate of the pickup. It still works, but you can't see the screen to focus. I'm using the third now. The only thing some may not like is on the newer two, there is no view finder, you must use the screen. The screen is large and clear, though. It has automatic and about 35 other settings, cropping, lining up, movies with sound, playback with sound and many more features. Way more than I use. (I see on the new one that you don't have to set settings or set to take movies, cool.)

Acrylic Painting, Hometown Sunset

How about a painting? I painted this a while back and just haven't posted it. This is on a board with the Colourfix pastel medium on it. It was a brick red color to start with. I like the way the acrylic feels on it when you are painting. The rough surface is a little hard on the brushes, though. This is the Community Church in my hometown of Magdalena, New Mexico. It is intended for the show there this July 12 -13, but I could part with it before then if you like it. :) It is unframed at this time.

Hometown Sunset
Acrylic on Board, 9 x 12 inches

I'm thinking about how to present my show this year. Last year I had most of the new paintings framed in black gallery style frames. I think this might look good in a gold plein air frame. Guess I will have to try it out and see.

It is difficult to decide on framing. Some buyers can ignore the frame and frame it to suit themselves. Others will not buy a painting if they don't like the frame. Frames are expensive and hard to keep looking nice when the paintings are moved around. I have been painting in standard sizes for the most part to keep framing costs down. Custom frames are really expensive. Some artists frame everything the same for shows. Usually in black or natural wood for paintings with mats. Plein air painters tend to go with the flat gold frames about 3 inches wide.

Perhaps since this is a small town with no frame shop, I should go with what I like and think looks good on each painting. Hmmmm. Do you have any ideas on this?

Hunting on #78, thumbs up, etc.

A new Scavenger Hunt, #78, has started. I decided to get a jump start this time. These are in my regular sketchbook with the old Micron 005 pen. You would never know it is the same thumb, my left, in all the drawings. Good thing you don't have to identify me from the sketches. :) They are all Sketch #1 with the challenges to sketch the thumb in the different positions.

#1, the thumb pointing at me. Needs more shading for the perspective. Thumbs look strange in this position.

Pointing up and down. Holding on to the sketchbook flattens it a little.

Pointing left and right.

Thumb with the fingers curled around it.

And pointing away from me. The thumb got large and the hand is small, looks weird.

Sketches, Stones, Charango and Stack

We watched TV tonight so I sketched for Scavenger Hunt 77 again. They are in the regular sketchbook for the Hunts with the Micron 005. One of the reasons I like the Hunts is that I don't have to think of something to sketch. For example the item for number 5 just says musical instrument and I can sketch any musical instrument we have or interpret it differently to maybe sketch a radio or MP3 player instead. On my own, I usually sketch landscapes. This way I have to look and draw. Good for the eye.


#3, stones. About 20 minutes. The odd shaped one looks like a little chicken in real life. In my sketch it looks more like a sheep to me. These rocks sit on a shelf in the hall. There must be about 60 in a wooden bowl. We saved each one for some reason. I'm pretty sure the chicken we saved for the shape. The one on the back left is egg shaped, but rough not smooth. The others must be for where they came from and that is ??? Hmmm.


#4, a pile of something. A stack of DVDs and VHS tapes on he coffee table. How are they balanced like that? Who knows? I did not move them.


#5, a musical instrument. This is a charango from Bolivia. It is beautiful inlaid wood on the top and has an armadillo shell for the main part. It has 10 strings divided into groups of two. Beautiful sound when it is played correctly. None of us can play of course.

Pastel Demo Horse

I was wandering around wetcanvas.com and found a post by José Carrilho, a wetcanvas friend from Portugal.

He points to a web site of Mary Herbert, artist in the UK. The demo of a horse portrait is great and you will find much info on her site.

See you back here next time!

Sketches for Hunt 77

It is already Scavenger Hunt 77 on wetcanvas.com. Wow. I haven't been sketching and I'm out of practice. It is amazing how the skills sag when you don't use them. It is the same in all skills. If you don't speak a language for a while you stall when called upon to use it. If you play a musical instrument, it is the same. If you are new to my blog, you can read here about why I sketch the way I do.

Here are my sketches I did on March 8, such as they are. In my regular sketchbook with a Micron 005 pen and a little colored pencil. The color makes the sketches look better. :)


Number 1, cutting board and knife. 15 minutes. I rarely use this cutting board. I thought the round shape would be handy, but it takes more room to store and except for round cheese it is sometimes to short. That is a paring knife on it so you can see it isn't large.



Number 2, place setting. Very old items if you call forty years old.