Sketches Hunt 94, Impression, Pastel note

I accomplished a little in art today. We went to a fiesta down at the St. Vincent de Paul Church and took some photos, maybe for painting.

Folks loading up to ride the train. The gal on the right was the conductor. She was full of energy and laughing with the kids. Yelling out, "All aboard" and blowing the whistle and ringing the bell. They were having fun riding it around the block.


Here at the house I sorted my pastels so I can have a light weight box to carry with me for plein air painting. I have a box of Rembrandts that I purchased a couple of years ago that held 60 pastels in two trays. I took the pastels out and replaced them with more pieces and a variety of colors that should be more than enough for a painting or two.

This will do until I find another pastel box I like better. Most of the inexpensive ones don't have good padding and the nice ones are super expensive. Maybe Gene will make a wooden box this size when we get back to his tools and I can use these same sponges. Hmmm.


My system for sorting may not be for everyone. But I am used to it. It is a mixture of brands. I keep my dark Unison and Ludwig pastels in their original boxes. Also the Nupastels. I separate colors warm and cool, then dark to light. I don't use many browns, just a personal preference. (I don't wear beige or brown either.) Whichever method you use, I believe it is like a regular palette and you should put out your colors the same every time. You become used to it and do not have to spend time searching for your colors.

I also keep out the ones I am using for a painting on a tray or paper plate so again, I don't have to look for them. This way I use a more limited palette and keep the painting coordinated.

After that we sat out on the front porch and watched the people come to church, there is parking across the street for the church down at the next corner. I love people watching. I also played games on the computer to run the battery down. It is supposed to be good for the battery to do that.

I took out the sketchbook and worked on Scavenger Hunt 94. In the NY sketchbook with a Pilot Pen (regular ball point pen) and colored pencils. I like using a regular pen sometimes because you don't have to have such a light touch. I find with the regular sketching pens like the Micron and ZIG that you have to have the light touch or you damage the points. I have ruined several before the ink ran out. I didn't want to have to think about that today.

Number 7, mousepad. Gene's mousepad is a jigsaw puzzle with a photo of a stylized flag on it. Very irregular pieces. Interesting to see and it works well. We haven't taken it apart much so it is nice and flat. About 20 minutes.

Number 8, reminder. The corner of my iBook with the Stickies reminders open. A New Mexico landscape is the desktop photo on the screen. About 20 minutes, too.

Number 9, impression. The impressions in the stepping stones in the front yard. about 10 minutes with the Pilot Pen only.