Sketches in Back Yard

It was a long day, putting away the Christmas decorations, or at least starting to pack them up. Gene, thankfully, took down the two trees, so I just had to box the decorations.

About 3:30 p.m. I decided to take a break and went out in the back with a snack and sat on the bench on the deck and sketched the Carolina Chickadees that hang out on the bird feeders. It was a beautiful afternoon, about 60 degrees, sunny and calm. Pretty quiet, just the birds. Strangely enough, no squirrels. Some neighbor must have put out something great for them to pick on. I used the ZIG Millennium pen in the generic sketchbook.



After the sketch of the birds, I did a quick sketch of a big limb on one of the oak trees that lean over the deck. They are pretty right now. A grayish color with the shadows very black and a very pretty bright green moss on them. I was out there about 30 minutes I would guess.



I received a package in the mail day before yesterday from my art buddy, Sue, in Michigan. She said she can't resist a gimmick. It is a daily calendar with a watercolor lesson a day with Dennis Pendleton. It says, "Award winning artist, instructor, and lecturer Dennis R. Pendleton provides a pencil sketch for you to paint each weekday accompanied by a watercolor technique tip and a fun fact from the world of art. Weekends show a colorful compilation of finished watercolor renderings of each weekday sketch. Styles vary from impressionistic to contemporary to primitive. This calendar will inspire your eyes, mind, and spirit throughout the year -- Enjoy!

Since Sue is such a great sketch artist and encourages me to sketch more, I will give this calendar a try. I'll give you the fact for today and we shall go from there, "Did you know? Dutch painter Rembrandt's most famous painting, now called Night Watch, pioneered a sense of action in portraiture. Previous portraits of groups and individuals were portrayed in a static, posed manner." There is a sketch on todays page titled, Paris Restaurant, and the tip says, "Mix yellow, red, and lots of water for the faces. Then, add a little blue in the jaw areas and more red on the cheeks."

So we shall see how it goes. I will do the first four days after dinner and maybe I will do this more often.