Watercolors Made Simple

 

I'm taking a new on-line watercolor class, Watercolors Made Simple.  It is taught by a Canadian artist from Ontario; information available here.

2nd Vaccine Urban Sketching

 

An artist friend encouraged me to join the Vancouver Urban Sketchers group when she saw an online event for showcasing vehicle sketches.  This inspired me to do some REAL urban sketching (i.e. in real life, not from a photo).  Forced to hang out after my 2nd COVID vaccine I sketched this.

It's a totally different experience and I'm very rusty, but you have to start somewhere, right?  And in two weeks I'll feel more comfortable being "out and about", so who knows?

1915 Casey Jones Rail Auto

 You can't get any better than a train and an automobile all in one!

This is sketched from another inspirational photo by @mozarts_ride.  Here is what he says about it on Instagram:

This is the 1915 Casey Jones Rail Auto. The rail auto was used as an ambulance and a rail bus to transport miners from the mine into Silverton. It was restored in 1918, using a Cadillac Series 51 auto chassis, engine, transmission, driveshaft, and differential. The white bus enclosure, rebuilt in 1929, holds up to 12 people. (Now you know the rest of the story.) “Casey Jones you better watch your speed: Trouble ahead, trouble behind; And you know that notion just crossed your mind….”⁣

Snowdrops

 

This was a piece I did in the Flat Brush Flowers 5 class with Violet Smythe.  Snowdrops are one of my favorite flowers; the first flowers that I see signaling the coming of spring.

1957 Studebaker Truck

 

Photo reference is again courtesy of @mozarts_ride on Instagram.  His post is brief this time:

1957 Studebaker Truck. So surprised to see this old truck with 5 bales of hay on its bed. Each round bale of hay can weigh as much 1,100 lbs.

Miss Rosa

 

During the recent Canadian west coast heat wave, I was driven underground, living in our basement.  I did manage to draw a few trucks, however.  

Here's what @mozarts_ride says about his photo inspiration on Instagram:

1961-64 Chevy Corvair 95 Truck ... I spotted "Miss Rosa," a wonderfully restored Corvair 95 pickup with the famous "rampside." One never knows what they will find while driving the back roads of west Texas. She looks very different, when compared to today's trucks, but this little truck was popular for a short period of time. Would you drive a truck like this? 😎
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."If Chevrolet's Corvair proved not to be the stake through the heart of Volkswagen that the GM brass hoped it would be, you couldn't blame the division for lack of effort. Chevrolet spun out the lineup in every direction it could think of, offering not only coupes, sedans, convertibles and station wagons, but also a line of forward-control light trucks that included two pickups, the Loadside and the Rampside, to take on their counterparts from Wolfsburg." ..... "Fully restored, factory-correct Rampsides and Loadsides are beginning to appear more frequently at shows, and the best examples are commanding $10,000 and up." (Hemming Motor News "1961-'64 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside and Loadside" by Dave LaChance)... Now you know the rest of the story...

Miss Marion

 

Photo reference still courtesy of @mozarts_ride on Instagram.  Here's what he says:

 

1940s Dodge Power Wagon...I spotted "Miss Marion" while traveling the back roads of Tonopah, Nevada. She's the only Power Wagon I have ever photographed with a box built onto the back. This truck was once owned by the Nye County Search and Rescue Organization. 😎
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,Tonopah is an old mining town, located in Nevada, that was founded in the early 1900s. "As the story goes, Jim Butler was camping around Tonopah Springs, the spring of 1900 when his burro wandered off. 😎

.While chasing it, Jim picked up a rock to throw at it and discovered some promising looking ore. He continued his journey and showed the samples to others, who showed little interest. After returning to his home in Belmont, Butler told a young attorney named Tasker Oddie about his discovery. Tasker had a friend who taught chemistry in Austin, and he enlisted the teacher’s help in assaying the sample." (Tonopah Historic Mining Park) In the end, Jim Butler became very wealthy...