Sketching Plants and Remembering Pastel Techniques

Today was sketch day during Gene's PT.  It was cold this morning but warmed up to about 55º by 11:15 am or so when I was sketching.  I did sit in the car for comfort.  The cacti is by the entrance to the shopping area.  I hadn't really noticed them before.  The intersection is pretty busy turning off the frontage road to the mall.  Today there was no traffic.  The plants are well tended and look  very nice.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 180  https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-180-jan-9-21.8614/

The sketch is in the Ohuhu Mixed media sketchbook sketched with an Ohuhu .03 pen and watercolors.

In the class with Enid Wood we were talking about developing texture with pastels.  I remembered the class I had with Tom Christopher in Arkansas.  I went with my art buddy Lou Baggett.  She, Toby, Gene and I shared a house for the workshop.  We had a great time and learned a lot.  David and Lisa came too for the visiting part.  (You can put Tom Christopher in the search box at the top of my home page and see about the workshop and his techniques.

I did this painting using his stumbling technique to build texture.  I like it and his use of color.  Good memories.  

Twilight Pines

16 x 20 inches

Pasteboard

While looking for a good link to Tom, I rediscovered the videos on the website of the New Mexico Pastel Society.  They have a large collection of videos by some of my favorite artists that have given demos there.  They include demos by Enid Wood, Tom Christopher, Natasha Isenhour, Karen Margulis, Desmond O'Hagan, Michael Chesley Johnson, Doug Dawson and more that I haven't seen in person.  You should check it out and I will do the same.  I might discover some new favorites.

https://www.pastelsnm.com/videos

I laughed today.  The "kids" and I still do Wordle, Wurdle and other word puzzles.  Today the 6 letter word in one of them was sketch.  You get 6 tries to get the word.  On my 5th try I had the S and the T in the right position and had the E in the wrong position.  I stared at it for the longest time and tried so many ideas in my head and on the iPad.  When I saw it,  I couldn't believe that word hadn't come to mind after seeing and talking about it every day for the Hunts and just sketching.  Crazy.  Maybe that is why I like puzzles.  

Apples on the Loose - Pastel Sketch

A new Hunt and new list.  Fruit was on the list.  Apples are my favorite fruit to paint.  Always different and always fun.  Red is also fun to paint with.

 

For Scavenger Hunt 117 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-117-june-4-12-2024.6915/

Number 1 fruit - Apples on the Loose, Pastelbord 8 x 10 inches

I wiped off the previous apples, pear and lemon with a damp paper towel from the board.  The Pastelbord was dark green to start with so after the wipe off there was a motley gray background.  I left it aw it was with a bit of fresh green around the apples.  I had two apples in a bag.  To make a better composition I moved the front one to the back and off the edge.  It is always fun to be able to eat the models.

Carol Marine from Daily Paintworks likes to paint apples, too.  Her fall back item.  She has painted a few, you can see many apples on her blog.  Check this post, then hit the Home button or the link below this and look at her other recent apple paintings. 

https://carolmarine.blogspot.com/2024/06/splashy-apples.html

https://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/carol-marine-1

Carol is a fabulous artist, teacher, writer and generous person.  She has tutorials, books, and more.  She isn't doing workshops much anymore but has lots of "teaching" online.

Gesture Sketches

As mentioned, Crane was an item on the Hunt.  Gesture sketches of our local bird seemed a fine idea.  Gene rode his trike so I walked to the closest bench and sketched.  Pretty day.  I did some sketches with the crane or egret far away.  It was up to its bum in the water so couldn't see its legs.  Nice reflections.  I went back for the binoculars and the bird came up on a sandy spot and pruned itself a bit.  I got a couple of the little ducks and then a very quick sketch of the scene.  Everything moving and so far from the bench.

For Scavenger Hunt 97 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-97-dec-30-jan-7.6431/

 

Number 5 Crane - after looking at photos on internet I think it is a Great Egret not a crane.
Number 6 Cove

Remember these are names of Texas towns.

 This is a photo of the scene.

Later I was looking out the window and saw the Blue Heron, it wasn't around earlier.  It is a bit larger that the white Great Egret.

Comfort Cactus Sketching

A couple of the Texas towns are Comfort and Cactus.  I sketched in the living room in the BookFactory sketchbook with a Micron 03 to catch Gene in his comfortable chair.  He actually suggested it.  He will be surprised that it looks nothing like him.  Weird.  It was the second start, the first made the chair too big.

For Scavenger Hunt 97  https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-97-dec-30-jan-7.6431/

Number 3 comfort - Gene in his chair (Date, uh, 1-3-2024)

Then I went into the studio and played in the dust.  I've been wanting to try some new paper recommended by Karen Margulis.  She has been doing pastels for years now and experiments, teaches and shares info.  I first ran across her on wetcanvas.org  She paints daily and her blog and videos are full of "how to".  You can learn a lot there.  https://www.karenmargulis.com/

She said she likes this paper and unlike UArt it does not buckle or curl.  That is a proponent of UArt that I dislike.  You have to tape it very well to a board to keep it flat.  I just put tabs on the corner of the LuxArchival, put on a little pastel, spread it with alcohol.  It dried in a few minutes (faster than water) and stayed flat and even.

 I just did a quick sketch, a very few layers but it seems to be very nice.

Number 4 cactus - the Christmas cactus in a bucket.  It is growing fast, I need to transplant the bucket is rusting away.  It is in a plastic container inside but evidently the water leaks into the bucket.

The setup.  I need to put my pastels away, I keep using the same palette over and over.  Maybe that is my "style".  

Hope you are having an artistic and wonderful start to 2024.

Happy Veteran's Day!

 Thanks to all our Veterans that have served and are serving to keep us free!  God Bless America!

I've posted this photo before of our Vets.  David and Gene.

You can roam through my previous posts here:

https://jocastilloartblog.blogspot.com/search?q=veterans+day

And for art I found this YouTube video by Karen Margulis about sanded paper that doesn't need mounting when you do a wet under painting.  I am ordering some  today!  I have been disappointed with the UArt in that regard.  If you don't have time to watch the video, here is a link to the paper.  https://www.dickblick.com/products/brush-and-pencil-luxarchival-professional-sanded-art-papers/

 

I've followed Karen for years on wetcanvas and her blog and painting videos.  She is very generous and a good teacher.  I found Karen's video helpful in using a wet under painting and painting mountains and flowers.

Karen Margulis, "No More Mounted Paper"

https://youtu.be/m1HeUc4ohvk?si=KrDcAxVECEbb-jlO

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Hunt 89 is Gone Sketches

Another Scavenger Hunt gone.  I got a few done this time.  I think these are numbers 10 and 11.  I didn't number them.  I wasn't going to post them but changed my mind.  You get the good, the bad and the ugly.  Oh, and the quick....

These are in the Strathmore sketchbook with a Sharpie fine line pen.  I thought I might add watercolor at home but was sidetracked and didn't do much of anything today.  Maybe they were too small to inspire color.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 89  https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-89-oct-25-nov-2.6141/

 

Number 10 animal -  they are very far away on the easterly pond.  The bumps are turtles, there are two black ducks and an egret.  Really.....

 

Number 11, outdoor item - the neighbor's house with a dock/steps down to the water.

At least I got in a little walk and some sunshine.  The turtles and all were enjoying the sun after the last few nights of cold weather.  It is warming up again and they don't know what to do.  No fall color here either, the trees are in limbo.

From TxSwagger.com, A William Blakely quote to go with that:  "Texas is neither southern nor western.  Texas is Texas."

The sunset was beautiful tonight.

From the Toolbox

Gene's toolboxes came in handy for the Hunt today.  Items were found in the garage.

This a new Hunt that started a couple of days ago.  I didn't start until today, late as usual.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 85

https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-85-sep-23-%E2%80%93-oct-1.6055/

Number 1 - Measuring tape
Number 2 - Hammer, one from the little tool box Jennie made in shop in school.  I'll sketch the box one of these days.  We use it for framing tools, nails, wire, etc.
Number 3 - needle nose pliers - three different ones from Gene's collection

These are sketched in the BookFactory sketchbook with a Micron 02.  The color was added with Zig Millenneum pens.

It was good to get started in this Hunt, especially since I missed class with Enid and did not paint with pastels.  Maybe next project...... I also missed the Austin Pastel Society meeting on Sunday.  Where is my pastel mojo???  Pastels are my favorite medium.  Hmmmm. 

Enid Wood is such a great inspiration.  https://www.enidwood.com/  Enid is constantly learning, painting and teaching.  She is so generous with her knowledge and experience.  She paints both traditional pastel paintings and abstract.  Beautiful and fun to see in person.  Showing in Austin in a couple of places, check her website for information.

A Mixed Bag

A few days of sketching so a mixed bag for your perusal. We went to Gene's eye checkup and I sketched there.  These are in the travel sketchbook with the Acurit 3, quickly as you never know when they will call your name.  In fact the man I was sketching was called and I had to finish from memory.  He is a little top heavy.  :-)

Number 3 shoes - he had on plain black or navy slip on sneakers. (The shadows on the paper are from it being wrinkled and I took a photo instead of scanning the sketches.
Number 4 lamp - pretty sure I've sketched this before

Today we walked around the lakes.  I took the Ohuhu sketchbook and a Micron 03.  I was going to put watercolor when we got home, but I like the landscape as is, so left the other in black and white as well.
 

Number 5, landscape

Number 6 cat - no cats in my world so substituting a far distant egret.  We were looking across the lake at the bench and bird.  The water should be up near the bench.  We do need rain.

An interesting article about plein air painting from Plein Air Today.  It talks about being prepared, taking your time knowing you can finish later.  

"Plein Air 101:  Mistakes to Avoid. Advice to Heed"

 

 

 

Copper Church in Colored Pencil

I was inspired to use my colored pencils, just for a touch of color.  Colored pencils take forever to do a "real" painting or drawing.  You might find it relaxing to color.  I find it a bit tiresome/boring as I want to just get finished.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 77

https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-77-jul-21-jul-29.5776/

Number 2, copper - About the only small copper item I have for the big group sketch.  It has some odd angles for drawing.  All metal and antique looking.

I was sketching with my feet up on the porch and listening/watching a video about colored pencils.  That was my inspiration.  You can watch on Draw Awesome.  They have classes where you pay and have instruction, but also lots of free videos here: 

https://youtu.be/mgRHedq7OkA

I did the church in Socorro with colored pencil on Pastelbord and framed with no glass.

 San Miguel Church
Colored Pencil on Pastelbord
8 x 10 inches

I got the idea from Nicole Caulfield who is an amazing colored pencil artist.

http://nicolecaulfieldfineart.blogspot.com/2011/01/framing-colored-pencil-without-glass.html

She hasn't posted on her blog in years, but the article is there.

This appears to be her current website.

https://sites.google.com/site/nicolecaulfield/home

Last of Hunt 70

Scavenger Hunt 70 ends tomorrow or today, June 3.  It is almost midnight.  This is my last sketch for the Hunt.  I went for groceries yesterday and had to be back but wanted to get "Public" done.  I thought the Library would be perfect for that.  I forgot my sketchbook of course so sketched on a coaster with a ballpoint pen.  Therefore, it was small, quick and messy.

For Scavenger Hunt 70   https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-70-may-26-x-june-3.5509/

 

I didn't number it and forgot when I numbered the next sketch so this is Number 11, three things in public - the Bastrop Public Library and the flags.  Only two things really you can't really tell what any of it looks like.  The library building is white limestone with metal roofing.  The flags are the US Flag and the Texas Flag.

Today I did a bit better.  I sketched in the large Canson mix media sketchbook with a Micron 03

 

Number 10  book you just or plan to read - Carol Marine's Daily Painting book.  It is so good and full of ideas for painting and marketing.  

Carol Marine is excellent at painting and teaching.  She is generous with her information.  She and her husband started dailypaintworks.com to sell her work and now have many artists there.  She has some free tutoring videos and some that are very inexpensive.  The site is a great one for artists that paint a lot.  You can make your own domain name, have auctions, connect to blogs and newsletters.  There are contests and challenges.  I recommend it.

carolmarine.com and dailypaintworks.com
 

She lived in Bastrop for a while before the fire.  We were always going to get together but when I was here she was traveling teaching workshops and when she was here, we were in New Mexico or traveling elsewhere.  After the big Bastrop fire burned their home, too, they moved to Oregon and now live in Montana.  She doesn't do workshops very often now so if you see one you should try it out.  She is mostly an oil painter but her advice is good for any painter.

Watercolor Challenge

I'm hosting the Water Media Challenge for April on creativespark.art this month.  I put up some of my photos.  I'm starting off with a scene in Montana.  I'm getting more used to using watercolor for sketching but painting is different.  

This is in a watercolor sketchbook, 7 x 9.5 inches, I bought in Michigan when visiting Sue many years ago.  It is about half full.  I want the sketches in it to be in watercolor so ....  You know I don't do as many watercolors as pastels.  

Watercolor dries lighter in value.  I was surprised that the water came out  so green, it was more neutral blue green on my brush.  The shadows were more purple on my brush as well.  I'm sure mixing with the green did that, but it didn't "look" as brown when it was wet.  I need to practice all that.  The light bush in the upper middle was too dark and I used some white gouache to make that lighter.  I was putting the purple behind it to make the contrast and you see the brown results.  Complements really make their counterparts show.  They say it is because your eyes don't blend complements so they move back and forth.  I'm not sure, but something works.

You can see the photos and paint along with us here:

https://creativespark.art/threads/april-2023-watermedia-challenge.5321/#post-89725

I painted this scene way back in the old days from life in oils.  I was using water miscible oils and had some of the same trouble getting the light on the bush.

Jacob's Creek, oil on panel, 10 x 8 inches

Something I've learned painting outside is you have to go lighter than you see because it looks darker inside on the wall.

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I have been reading about Michael Chesley Johnson since my first workshop I took in Montana after we moved to Austin when Gene retired.  That would be 1994.  I was looking for a workshop with him because he was in New Mexico and we could stay in Magdalena and visit with family.  It didn't work out time wise.  In the meantime Michael moved to Maine, then Sedona and is now back in New Mexico.  Sue and I finally signed up for one of the workshops in Arizona and then there was a problem with one of our schedules and we cancelled so I've only known Michael by internet.

If you have been thinking of or trying abstracts you will find this post interesting.....  From Michael Chesley Johnson's blog:

Abstracting the Landscape: Workshop with Scott Gellatly

https://mchesleyjohnson.blogspot.com/2023/03/abstracting-landscape-workshop-with.html

 

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The Longhorns won against Oklahoma State last night 5-3.  Hopefully they will do it again tonight.  Hook 'em Horns! 

You can read about it here:

https://texassports.com/news/2023/3/31/no-21-baseball-opens-osu-series-with-5-3-win.aspx

 

I decided to sign on to ESPN+ to watch the game.  What a racket.  It has gone from $6.99 a month to $9.99 a month in one year.  It wouldn't be so bad if I watched more sports.  But.....  

I did get hooked to the end of the Texas State - Arkansas State game when the Longhorn game ended.  I tuned in and it was the bottom of the ninth.  Texas State was behind one run.  They tied the game and went into the tenth.  Arkansas State went ahead a run in top of the 10th. TX State got two on and a walk off single so won. Ty Harrington, retired coach from Texas State,  was the color guy on ESPN.  That made it more interesting. 
 

The announcers for the Texas game were the worst I've ever heard I think.  They were not interested in the game at all.  Rambling about old times and old major league rules and not understanding the new NCAA rules.  Pitiful and I paid $10 for that.  I will try again tonight and listen to Craig Way on the Longhorn internet broadcast and watch with no sound.  The Longhorn broadcast is always behind a few seconds but their talk is usually about the game.  They also know about the competition and tell about the players and strategy.

Digital Plein Air

My last sketch for Scavenger Hunt 27 is digital.  I sketched on my iPad on the porch, so this is a digital plein air as opposed to the air conditioned plein air in my previous post.  I used the app, Brushes.  I am more familiar with that app so I don't have to spend much learning time.  I don't use layers or any of the fancy stuff.  I do use different brushes and some that use shapes like the one in the trees in this sketch.  I try to make it a real sketch by not using the "undo" and "eraser" very much.

 

Number 11, vehicle and Number 12, people/figure/self portrait

I usually go for the easiest and fastest items to sketch.  It is stretching this to call such simple shapes a vehicle and person.  This is the last day of the Hunt so I don't feel as obligated to be complicated.

The OutdoorPainter newsletter has a good short article by Richard McKinley.  McKinley is one of my favorite pastelists.  He lists 7 tips for greater expression in any media.  They have a pastel of his to begin the article.  I like that he uses lots of purple.  To me, this painting is more purple than usual.  Nice.  I reviewed the 7 hints this morning to pick a favorite or most important, but I like them all.  Good advice.

https://www.outdoorpainter.com/7-tips-for-greater-creative-expression/

 

James Gurney has a link to a 9 minute or so video about sketchbooks at the Tate.  Interesting.  Near the end one of the artists talks about using a sketchbook as a learning tool.  I was thinking if I was a teacher I would give the students a small sketchbook at the beginning of class and see how they use it planning their projects.  Would be interesting.

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2022/06/sketchbooks-and-their-people.html

 

When I was working on the big coffee table sketchbook I got away from using it to plan and experiment and other things, like lists or reviews.  It sort of defeats the purpose of calling it a sketchbook.  Some of my other sketchbooks have baseball scores, grocery lists, phone numbers of people or hotels, scores from our games of cards (Telefunken) and notes from art classes.  And, of course, the Scavenger Hunt lists.  They tell stories and are much akin to journals and diaries.  I date the sketches and some of the books cover several years with lots of memories.  I think you remember better with sketches than photos.

If you don't carry a sketchbook .... you should.  I thank Sue Modrak for pushing me to sketch all the time.  Yay for Sue!  We haven't seen her for a few years.  It is about time for a meet up.  Don't know how we can do it, but we shall see.

 

Complex and Oval

Items on the Scavenger Hunt list were complex shape and oval.  I fix hard boiled eggs for Gene and to keep them separate from the  raw eggs I put them in a half carton.  That would cover those two items.  I sketched on the footstool in the living room and had Jeopardy! on.  These are in the 9 x 12 sketchbook with regular paper and done with a Zig Millennium 05.

Number 4 complex shape - egg carton
Number 5 oval - egg or at least it is supposed to be.  Not as noticeable in real life, right?

 

I was a participant in a great site for learning, even had a lesson posted there.  They have changed and it is more or less an on line school now.  I subscribed to their newsletter and I get free lessons once a month.  Check out Drawspace.  The classes are very reasonable and could be used for teaching.  They are user friendly and helpful.

https://lessons.drawspace.com/upgrade

 

Guess what?  We don't have any doctor's appointments for more than a week I think.  I decided to do some exercise and sketch.  Gene rode his trike so we didn't walk.  That is a better start to the day than driving to Austin in the car.

 

 

Sketching Crisp

Gene and I went off to get some Buc-ee's Beaver Chips and see where the local fire was.  When we were kids it was always something to do to go follow the fire truck and see what was up.  We did not find the neighborhood fire.  We did hear the sirens in the night, but thought it was an accident on HWY 21.  Pretty sure it was bad and a home or garage was lost.  It was posted on Next Door but we haven't heard yet what happened and if the family is OK.  We lost our home in the big Bastrop fire of 2011.   Something like that always happens to someone else, right?  My heart goes out to our neighbors.

Joanna mentioned how good the fresh potato chips were at Buc-ee's so we had to go and see. 

A plus with the chips is that "crisp" was on the Scavenger Hunt list.

 I sketched in a 9 x 12 inch Canson Universal sketchbook with a Sharpie pen.  Number 3 - crisp .

Gene said the "chips" looked like poinsettia leaves so decided to add color.  Not sure if that helped or not.  you decide.

I added a bit of colored pencil.  The chips are sliced long ways on the potatoes so they look a little like banana chips.  Regardless of the shape, they are so good.  I don't know how Gene left a few of his.  I ate all of mine.  I'm pretty sure that Buc-ee's plans it that way as they are just in a small open paper bag by the sandwich kiosk.  Thanks for the idea, Joanna!

 

Our friend, Kelly Borsheim, is in Italy and working away on her art.  She does painting, photography, and is a number one sculptor.  She is making holes in a rock which will be a swan.  Have a look, always interesting....

https://artbyborsheim.blogspot.com/2021/12/stone-carving-swan-sculpture-putting.html

 

 

 

From the Porch Sketch and Watercolor

It seems that the porch calls for sketching.  Maybe that should be the name of my blog or  should I start a podcast?

I did sketch out on the porch this morning while having my coffee and snack.  I used the iPad, pencil, fingers and the app, ArtRage.  Using different apps makes me think and try to remember how to use them.

For Scavenger Hunt 690 https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/topic/scavenger-hunt-690-aug-14-to-aug-22-2021/

Number 1, above my head - our new ceiling fan.

This is watery geraniums. 4 x 6 inches on Strathmore Watercolor Postcards

Bag Blog, Lou, http://bagwag.blogspot.com/ was talking about Strathmore watercolor paper and some of the problems she had with it.  She is/was painting a watercolor a day for a month.  I said I had never used Strathmore watercolor paper.  I did not like Strathmore pastel paper.  It has a grid and is slippery like it has plastic or something.  Watercolor paper probably holds more pastel than the Strathmore does.

While writing  my comment I looked down and was surprised to see that I have a pad of Strathmore Waterolor Postcards on my desk .. unused. I had been using Cotman Water Colour postcards and brought out my spare pad and it was Strathmore.  So before retiring for the night I got out my mini kit of watercolors and played in the water.  The paper did not take scratching well at all.  Scratching can make thin stems or the lines on leaves.  This paper tears.  I guess the paper is OK if you don't need any special effects.  

Rae Andrews, I know from the Austin Pastel Society, is an amazing artist in several media.  She wrote a new watercolor book, Dancing Brushes - a Fresh Approach to Watercolors.  I couldn't resist and ordered it.  Just maybe I can learn a bit for my watercolor practice.  It won't be here for a few days.  I will let you know how it goes.  She is a generous and talented art teacher so I am looking forward to the book.

 http://raeandrewsgallery.blogspot.com/2021/08/dancing-brushes-fresh-approach-to.html

Not Painted Cactus

I should have painted this cactus for the Southwest Challenge for August.  I have such a hard time getting excited to paint from photos.  I sketched in the big book with an Micron and Zig pens.  I figured at the very least I would sketch and in the big book to fill another page.  Yay!

A new cactus bloom for me from Kay's photos.  Very simplified, I didn't include any of the background.  It is about 8 x 10 on the page.  The paper is white, I didn't have very good light and the book is too big to scan my sketches.

I need to sketch something red for the Hunt.  Kay put up a photo of bell peppers red and green which I thought of doing in pastel.  Won't work for the Hunt as the sketch has to be from life, not photos.  Hmmm.

Day before yesterday I sketched in the big coffee table book as well.  I was at my computer for Enid's pastel class.  We were given some time to paint and I didn't have any pastel ready to paint so I just sketched the front door.  Was that cheating?  Hmmmm.

Another page in the book done!  Number 4, keypad for Scavenger Hunt 689 which I'm hosting.

Enid's class was interesting and good for me.  My computer actually stayed connected for the hour and a half.  Surprise.  Enid has been painting icebergs.  The colors and textures are amazing.  You can see some on her page.  enidwood.com   She was using a variety of pastels including pan pastels.  She demonstrated how using the sponge with pan pastels can smooth out some of the texture.  She was using hard and lost lines along with dark and light colors and values to bring out the texture.  There was some beautiful transparency in the ice as well.  Fun to see.  And, I got to virtually see a few other artists.  It is always good to work with other artists.  We had a show and tell at the end to see what others are working on. 

***  ** ***  **   **  ***  **  ***

I ran across an interesting idea to use alcohol to blend colored pencil.  Maybe that would make it go faster for me.  It is a technique that requires practice.  Maybe it would work good on the Pastelbord to fill in the tooth of the surface.  I will check it out.  It looks like you could lift some color as well.  Would that work for highlights?

You can read about it on the Empty Easel blog.

https://emptyeasel.com/2012/07/16/how-to-blend-colored-pencil-drawings-with-rubbing-alcohol/

Don't forget to come back here.

Give Me Your Green

An item on the Scavenger Hunt was "green" with a challenge of "not nature or food".  Hmmm.  Then I thought of greenbacks.  I've never seen more than a few hundred dollars at one time.  It must be interesting to see piles of them.  Maybe that is why crooks get so greedy.

Number 4, green - a two dollar bill, half page in the big book with a Micron 02.

Gene had one he carried in his wallet that he got when he first started working about 65 years ago.  It has been gone for a few years.  Maybe lost in the fire in 2011.  Guess he didn't have it with him.  He quit carrying a wallet and uses a money clip.  Hmmm????

This is a fairly new one and has been hanging on the shelf above my computer, thus the curve in it.  There is an unbelievable amount of detail on paper money.  That is the reason I didn't sketch it larger.  Best to look at this in small size.

For Scavenger Hunt 620 http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1476639

The RedDotBlog has current and useful advice.  It is from the Xanadu Gallery in Arizona.  This post is helpful for those that are trying to or are doing art full time:

https://reddotblog.com/9-tips-to-help-you-better-manage-sporadic-cash-flow-in-your-art-business-19-2/

And this one for writing better e-mail news:

https://reddotblog.com/crafting-professional-emails-for-better-art-business-communication-2-2-2/

But of course the best advice is to actually create more art.  That is what I should be doing.  Sigh....

Hunting for 618

It was rainy and gloomy all day yesterday.  I had previously decided to sketch the item "something you see while sitting inside your car".  The plan was to sketch the dash and then sit in the car and sketch "outdoor scene".  This was before the rain.  I went out with the big book and it barely fits to sketch on the drivers side.  It was too rainy to pull the car out, would have to run the wipers so I just sketched the gear shift and part of the dashboard.

I came back in the house and sketched from the dining table for the outdoor scene.  I have sketched the back lakes many times.  This particular view of the bridge had been covered by trees.  They took down a cluster of trees because of the pine beetles and now we have a clear view of the bridge.

Scavenger Hunt 618
Number 7, something in the car - Micron 02 in the big book

Number 8, outdoor view - toward the easterly lake - Micron 02 in the big book, left out many trees with my artistic license.

Someone had a wedding down by the bridge on Saturday.  The official photographer was the woman in the white shirt with pink sleeves on the right.  Hope her photos were better than mine!  I took several photos and this one was the only one with the bride partly showing.  She had a beautiful long lacy dress.

Number 6 for the Hunt was a pastel sketch.  I only spent about 20 minutes on wiped off paper.  The little wart hog is so cute/ugly.   It speaks a couple of "voice" statements from the Lion King it seems.  I'm not sure why I hadn't sketched it before, it was from Christmas.  Thanks, Gene.

Number 6, animal - stuffed Wart Hog.  After I typed that I thought, he's not really stuffed, right?  Should be stuffed toy.

Gene and I finally put up the paintings that Christy, Nick and Lisa painted 4 years ago in Kentucky.  Carolyn painted, too.  It was her first painting so she took it with her.  A fun time.  The paintings look great in our dining room.  (The paintings on the right of the door are by me, Lou Baggett and Carolee Clark)

I posted when we had our Margarita painting party here:
https://jocastilloartblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/road-trip-sketches-photos.html

Good memories, eh?

Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, pastel artist, oil painter is living in Italy as I told you before.  She is offering workshops there.  Oh, I would love to go.  She is a superb artist and so knowledgeable.  I'm sure her workshop would be a great experience.  Think about it!

https://borsheimarts.com/blog/152289/library-of-dreams-what-is-your-desire

Shelf, Calf and Shipping

I sketched in the big book in my studio today.  I wanted to use my iMac for the reference photo for the calf sketch.  Then I decided to just sketch my rain gutter shelves for Scavenger Hunt 616.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1475231

The calf is from a photo by Donald Smith in the Southwest challenge for January.  I like cows and calves.  This one has his head through a fence or feeder of some sort.  Not sure.  I sketched it first without the fence but with no body the head looked strange.

The calf still looks a bit strange.  I've never seen a black calf with a brown foretop and ears.  Very interesting.  I used a variety of pens and Inktense pencils for the sketch.

For the Scavenger Hunt, #7 shelf - my gutter shelves or part of a couple.  Full of paintings and sketches.  Some should be tossed and a couple should be framed.

Jason Horejs at Xanadu Gallery wrote a great article on shipping.  Some good hints.  I haven't shipped a painting in ages but I did very similar shipping.  Always use the best equipment you can afford, both for painting and shipping.  Being professional helps your image/brand.

https://reddotblog.com/how-to-ship-paintings-a-step-by-step-guide-for-artists-and-galleries/

Last Decade a la Maggie Stiefvater

Looking over my blog reader today (I use NetNewsWire) I found Maggie Stiefvater's Decade.  Wow, she is amazing and awesome.  (Awesome is a word that Gene really doesn't want to hear.  It is so overused and the meaning has deteriorated.  He said I can use it in the original way for Maggie.)

http://maggiestiefvater.com/a-bullet-point-decade/

She has accomplished so much.

I first started noticing Maggie on wetcanvas and did my first blog about her in 2007.  She was an inspiration then .....and still is.  She started her art blog in 2006.

You can see my blog posts here.
https://jocastilloartblog.blogspot.com/search?q=maggie+stiefvater

Maggie is mainly an author now.  She is an incredible artist and her art blog, which she doesn't update now is full of super info on drawing, painting, business end, time management and so much more.  You should check it out, here:
http://greywarenart.blogspot.com/

I wonder about my decade, hmmm.

2010 was one of my most productive years with 43 paintings posted on my website.

All Washed Up

Pastel on Pastelbord, 7 x 5 inches

This is one of my all time favorite paintings and from 2010.  You know it would be apples, right?

Maybe I'll highlight more of my decade a bit later....