Illustration

This amicable beaver didn't mind our comings and goings on the dock at all as he sat on a submerged rock munching on his lunch only a few feet away. Besides the great fishing, Canada is a splendid place to view wildlife. This animal drawing which I am rendering in Pastels is from a photo I snapped just coming in to the pier off the shores of the resort, down from the cabin where we stayed. I've a stash of photos from a variety of little journeys we've taken that I can work from. Sometimes it's … [Read more...] about Pastels, and Pastels on Mi Teintes

Often when I'm driving, working in the garden, or perhaps out for a run an idea will come to me. It may be a phrase that I might include in a manuscript or a thought about how I could construct a figure or painting. It's too diffucult to carry a sketch book with you at every moment, so often I need to put something down on paper from memory. You can lose some of the flavor from the moment of inspiration, but it is still best to record what you recall. Sketch (drawing) is not only the perfect … [Read more...] about Sarah as a Sketch

Gardening for me has always been not only both a joy and drudgery, but a way of life.On my parents small farm, with eleven mouths to feed, we desparately needed to grow our own food. But there was great joy and satisfaction to the task.  The garden was where I learned the uniqueness of each vegetable and weed, and my mother and elder brothers and sisters found unique ways to keep me and my younger brothers and sister engaged in the garden activities.  We made forts out of the piles of weeds, … [Read more...] about Gardening

In preparation for a commissioned line drawing of Leonardo DaVinci's Last Supper I discovered that he had done several preperatory figure and layout studies before settling on the final arrangement of the twelve apostles. During a breakout session at a religious studies gathering that I attended a few years ago the group was asked to reflect on a devotional passage. Allowed to sit alone anywhere on the grounds I chose to go outside to consider what meaning the selected words had for me. Before … [Read more...] about Figure and Layout study for Mother Earth Painting

A quick line drawing or pencil sketch of a pose (portraiture) or character study can become the basis for a portrait. One of the reasons I like to carry a camera or sketch book with me is that you never know when you’ll see something that will inspire your creative spirit. In this case I was allowed neither. As the mother of the bride I’d have looked silly carrying my usual bag of paper and pencils, and no one was allowed to use their camera in the church except for the photographer. So I had … [Read more...] about Portraiture and Character Study