Station 17

Himself took on the roll of art director in suggesting I do a series on the fires stations in my suburban city.  There are seven and I’d already done one, Station 11 back in April.  My, time flies even when you’re not having much fun.

This is Station 17 and also King County Fire Department 40.  It’s another boring building so I parked off to the side to at least get an interesting angle.  A firefighter came out to see what I was doing and was concerned about the parking location.  He didn’t tell me to leave but advised awareness.  So I left after doing just the drawing and painted at home.

The station nearest me is the newest and has an interesting hose-drying tower.  I’m hoping to sketch it when they have one of the engines outside as I’ve sometimes seen.

Pygmy Owl again

A couple weeks ago I sent a number of photos to the manager of Sketchbook Skool to use in the “Draw This” weekly challenge in the Skoolyard group.  A couple weeks ago she used my  Dinkelsbühl photos.  This week it was my photo of a pygmy owl taken some years ago on the Oregon coast.

Compare it to the sketch from 2012.  This looks “direct to watercolor”, without ink lines.  I certainly got the face better in my current one! 

Virtual York

I joined Urban Sketchers Yorkshire today in their new-ish “Virtual Yorkshire Sketch” group on Facebook as they sketched in York. This is the Perky Peacock coffee shop on the Lendal Bridge. It’s from my own photo, taken during an October 2019 trip.  I wish I’d gone in for a coffee then as the photos of the interior show a beautiful, funky half-timbered place.  The Lendal Bridge is one I crossed when I walked from our hotel to York Minster and the Shambles.

I had sketched with USk Yorkshire in Skipton during that trip.  So it’s very nice to join them again, if not in person.  I’m 8 hours behind so my morning sketch was posted to their group in the early evening.

Porch of July

First, I watched Tina’s niece Kristen Koyama and her husband Mark H Rooney live streaming a taiko performance. Sketched from the computer screen as they drummed.

Then went to the front yard to do an Independence Day commemorative sketch.  I borrowed the title, “Porch of July” from the Taiko event.  We don’t have a large flag to hang on the house.  I put out this smaller one.

I’m also continuing the bunny statue series with Porch Bunny.  She holds the flag as the “In Distress” configuration.  We are definitely in distress this year.

The real yard bunny was spread out flat in the grass, as though she was trying to cool down.  It’s only about 70 degrees in the shade.

In the heather

I have two rabbit statues. One is “Porch Bunny” and the other is “Kitchen Bunny”. This is Kitchen Bunny. Himself took on a new role as Art Director and suggested I sketch these buns in different places around the yard. So this is Kitchen Bunny in the heather in our front yard.

It’s day 3 of World Watercolor Month.

Big and Small

Noticed these two vehicles during a walk in the neighborhood.  I liked the bright red bike, so tiny next to the huge truck.

World Watercolor Month starts today.  It’s not a stretch for me since I use watercolor in just about everything.  I might have something everyday but I won’t be following the prompts.

Journal days 110-117

I skipped day 110.  Moving on…  Lots of bunnies and crows this week.  And COVID. Sigh.

Dinkelsbühl

This is from my own photo, lent to Sketchbook Skool for the weekly “Draw This” challenge.  The last time we were in Germany was at Christmas time, so this is from a previous spring time trip.  At that time I had not yet come back to analog art.

I really need to use a t square ruler or something to get the vertical lines!  My astigmatism results in leaning towers and I just don’t see it while I’m drawing!

Journal days 104-109

After watching the class Expressive Pages: Journaling the Everyday by Judith Cassel-Mameton Blueprint/Craftsy, I’ve started a daily visual journal (again).  Here is the first week, though I missed Tuesday this week.   The days number at the bottom of the page refers to the number of days in isolation.

The book is a Stillman and Birn Beta, hardcover, spiral bound, 7×10 inch

Another stab at the ‘Vette

The neighbor’s Corvette was outside again today.  In the morning there was no shade in which to sit.  When I went out to get the mail at 1400, I noticed I could sit in the shade in my yard and sketch it parked on the street.  The top was down today.