Scavenger Hunt Sketches - ball, heavy

I got a couple more sketches done for Scavenger Hunt 80. Tomorrow is the last day. My total will be 9. Out of 29, that isn't very many. On the other hand, I got some practice in. I can feel that these two are better. I took a little time and have been sketching for a few days in a row. It doesn't take very much time to get rusty. It is much like cooking, playing a musical instrument or any skill that requires practice. If you don't practice regularly, you lose the touch.



Number 8, ball. A baseball that Gene caught at one of the Longhorn games. It sits on a leather cup used to roll dice for a game we played in Bolivia they call Prudencia (prudence). Of course I don't remember the rules to play now. About 20 minutes with a Micron 005 pen in the NY sketchbook.


Number 9, something heavy. A carved rock from Bolivia. It is about a foot long and 10 inches wide and weighs at least 12 or more pounds. It is heavier than my 10 pound weights. It is roughly carved, maybe granite, a copy of a relic.


Speaking of baseball, the Longhorns are in Norman, Oklahoma, playing a series with the Sooners. The Horns won yesterday 10-7 and lost today 5 - 3. Read about it on Joanna's blog and the official page.

Pair of Sketches for Scavenger Hunt 80

Two sketches this evening for Scavenger Hunt 80 on wetcanvas.com. I used the Micron 005, blue, on my NY sketchbook that has become my Hunting sketchbook. This will make 7 whole sketches for the hunt so far.


Number 6, clip. Money clip. The dollars are very skinny. Does that change the value? :)


Number 7, something light. A can of light lemonade. Not a great top on that can. I wonder why pop and beer cans are so hard to draw. The ellipse of the top looks so round. Ah me.

More Sketches for Scavenger Hunt #80

This evening I did a couple of sketches for Scavenger Hunt #80 on wetcanvas.com. If you are new to my blog you can read about why I sketch and participate in these Hunts here.


Number 4, something with a hole in it. A little garlic pot. If you look carefully you will see why I cross hatched the background. I had the perspective on the lid very wrong and I do not erase. I sketch with a pen and this is a method of correcting my drawing. :)

Number 5, something shiny. A silver peppermill.

Wildflowers Photos

The wildflowers are so great. There have been better years I know, but we still get excited in th spring. My photos are along the highway mostly, but you can see the flowers all over in fields and any open area. Remember you can make the photos larger by clicking on them.

Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush

Median wildflowers.

Primroses

Crow in the wildflowers, you can see him pecking the ground for something on the right side.

Hole #14 today, pretty huh? That is a great thing about golf.

Not a very good shot, but this rooster was on Hole #13. Yes, a rooster, not a wild turkey or a roadrunner. Ha.

A few llamas down the road a ways. Something you don't see in many pastures around here. We passed them when we went to take some photos for a commission. Makes me homesick for Bolivia. Ahhhhh.

Baseball Win .. Replacement game

The game with Dallas Baptist in March was canceled for weather. The Longhorns have to play a certain number of games to qualify or determine placement for the College World Series. I don't know the particulars. They scheduled a replacement game with Texas Southern, a college in Houston. It was last night, Wednesday. The Horns were victorious, 7 - 4. It was not an easy win and we, fans, were a little stressed. Ha. Read all about it on the official page and on Joanna's blog.



I mentioned how hard it is to get photos after dark with lights and no lights. This is a shot of the stands about 5:45 p.m. with the game to start at 6:05 p.m. Not many folks around and it was superb weather. Joanna estimated about 400 people in the stands. Officially it was about 5,400 as they count tickets sold. Many of the fans were across the street at the girls softball game. They were playing Baylor, in a conference game, so much more "important". The girls lost 5 - 4. Ouch.

Scavenger Hunt #80 sketches

Not much time for sketching lately. I did the first couple for Scavenger Hunt 80 on Sunday and am just now posting them. It is late so this will be short. Yawnnnnnnn.


Number 1, Cardboard - a small cardboard box. Number 2, a Micron 005 pen in burnt umber. About 20 minutes with a blue Micron 005 pen in my regular Hunt sketchbook.




Number 3, Something red, my red pencil sharpener that I keep in my art bag. About 10 minutes with the Micron 005 in blue. Another 5 minutes or so to add the red colored pencil.

Pbltttt... Baseball

The Longhorns lost game 27 tonight to the Rice Owls, 7 - 3. The Horns had 5 errors again. Shucks. The pitching was great with 16 strikeouts, but the defense had some problems. Rice is not in our conference, but there is big rivalry. They won the series. We played them in Houston for the College Baseball Classic (L 4-10) on March 1 and again in Houston on March 11 (W 9-1). The story on the official page has some great photos. You can read Joanna's take here.

DEA on TV

You may be interested in a new TV series, DEA, on Spike TV. The first show is Wednesday, April 2 at 10:00 p.m., Eastern time. The program follows a task force in Detroit. We shall see how accurate it is. It is supposed to be very good. We will have to tape it as we will be at the baseball game.

We have an 'in house' critic to see how accurate it is. :) It will be interesting to see how things have changed as well. Maybe I can get Gene to write a review after this first episode. Hmmm.

More Excitement Last Week, Jason is home!

Jason's Iraq Vacation is over. He is back in the good old USA and we are happy about that. Thanks Jason for your service for our country and keeping us informed about daily life with the troops through your blog. We really appreciate that. :)

Last Saturday Art Event

Last Saturday as I mentioned on the baseball story, I went to Lockhart to the spring fling, The Rites of Spring.

Regina Burchett, my painting buddy, had a booth there. She shared her booth with Diana Weems. It was nice to meet Diana, nice work. Great cars!


Regina's booth looked great.


I really love to look at her pastels.


It is always interesting to see all the art and enthusiasm of the artists. There was another artist there from Bastrop, well Cedar Creek. Jeannie Coleman had some great sculpture there, my first time to meet her. Her work is bronzed at the foundry in Bastrop, Deep in the Heart Art Group. Very good to have a foundry in our community.

There were many events and exhibits around the square that I couldn't take a look at as I had to get to the baseball game.


The pie eating contest looked fun and the pies looked good. The fellow on the right wiping his face was the winner.

Another time we will spend more time there. Small towns in Texas have a lot to offer. Yesterfest is coming in Bastrop, the last Saturday in April. It is a fun day with many children's activities and a chance to learn about the 'good old days'.

Baseball Sunday Win and Monster Shot.... Yes!! Photos

Nebraska did not get the sweep. How great is that? Pretty great. :) The Horns had some teamwork and hard work and won 12 - 3 on Sunday. We won the error game, too. That was the consensus in the folks that sit around us at the stadium.

There was a record breaking moment at 3:30. Kevin Keyes hit a home run over the Green Monster. Wow! UFCU Disch-Falk field was opened on February 17,1975. The Green Monster is the fence in Center Field, 400 feet away from the plate. In all these years only 33 players have cleared the 20 foot high "Monster". This makes 37 times, so a couple did it twice. Amazing to see. Preston Clark and Kyle Russell on the current team had their spectacular shots last season. We will be looking forward to seeing them do it again. You can see the high fence to the right of the scoreboard in the photos on this post.


Of course I did not get a photo, but I did get the scoreboard, after the fireworks of course. Ahhhh.


Here is Kevin getting congratulated as he went to the dugout.


The pitchers were celebrating long distance.


The score at the end of the game.


The handshaking at the end of the game. It seems like some of the players know each other from school or summer leagues sometimes. Nice to see when they do and get a pat on the shoulder or hug.


The young fans 14 years of age and younger are invited to run around the bases occasionally. Sunday was a day for that. They are all sizes from the tiny guy out on the first base to second base line to the older kids.


This man was carrying one and going with the other. He was wearing flip flops and putting the child he was carrying down to touch the bases. He and the little runner were very tired when they reached home plate.

You can read more on Joanna's blog and the official Longhorn page. More photos there.

More baseball misery, but....

The Longhorns lost again. A shut out, 0-2 to the Nebraska Cornhuskers. What a game. Joanna writes about it here and the official news is here.

The pitcher for Nebraska, Thad Weber, had 108 pitches, complete game and the shut out. He didn't play in high school, his hometown was too small to have a team! He played in a junior college.

Longhorn pitchers, Austin Wood and Cole Green, did super, too, but ....... Here's hoping there is no sweep and the Horns are victorious today!

Photos are hard to get in the evening, but here is Hook-em, the Longhorn mascot, the Chick-Filet cow and Ron. :)

(Art note: I went to Lockhart to the spring fest or whatever it is called, post later after the game.)