Merry Christmas!

 

I added a little Christmas sparkle and shine to each printed card.  I hope everyone has a merry, merry, Christmas.  Stay safe, all! 

Crocus

 

We can all use a lift these days.  Never mind, spring will soon arrive!

Hydrangea

 

Who cares if it is raining or even snowing outside?  I'm having fun making spring inspired cards!

A Flurry of Card Making

 

I have been taking a course called Learn to Make and Even Sell Greeting Cards taught by Nicki Traikos at Life I Design.  This has led to a flurry of card making as I play with supplies and art bits I already have.  I'm having fun and filling up the card box for the spring birthdays at the same time.

These two were done with Finetec metallic watercolors.

Miss Sophia

 

I left the elegant colours of Miss Sophia true to the inspiration photo.  @mozarts_ride describes her so well in his Instagram post here. 

Vancouver Urban Sketchers Draw Interiors

 

The Vancouver Urban Sketchers ran a challenge to draw an interior.  I did this from the comfort of my office couch.

#DRAWBIRDSTRACTOR

 

I did this sketch for an Instagram challenge.  You can find the inspiration photo here. 

Miss Olive

 

Miss Olive is a 1954 Chevy Flatbed truck from New Mexico.  You can see the inspiration photo and read more about Miss Olive on Instagram @mozarts_ride.

Snow Day!

 

It was a snowy day in Vancouver on April 1, 1936.  For you Vancouver folks, this is Granville St. looking south from Pender St.  

You can see the inspiration photo on Instagram @vancouver__archives

Etchr Demonstration with Ian Fennelly

 

I found another demonstration by Ian Fennelly sketching an old truck.  It was sponsored by Etchr Studio back in March and it can be found on YouTube if you want to watch it. This is my version of the photograph that he used. 

Old Art Materials

 

The Vancouver Urban Sketchers are running an online event called "Old or New Art Materials".  I decided to sketch on an old book page.  The inspiration photo came from @mozarts_ride and can be seen here.  

Miss Ann

 

Miss Ann is sporting whiskey  barrels.  You can see what photographer @mozarts_ride has to say about her here.  His stories are always entertaining!

Hallgrimskirkja - Reykjavik, Iceland

 

The challenge on  Reddit r/drawstreetview right now is from Iceland.  You can see the streetview here.

I'm not sure what happened to this drawing - it looks more like a cubist face than a church.  I have a recent fascination with the art of Shirley Trevena.  I'd like to think that's where the influence came from, but it isn't anything like her art either.  Strange.

I'm tempted to say that it just isn't very good, but I had fun and that's what it is all about, right?

1937 Ford Pickup

 

An interesting background plays well with the Elegant Writer, so for this drawing I chose this photo by @mozarts_ride as my inspiration.

Happy Hallowe'en!

 People are going all out with Hallowe'en decorations in our neighbourhood.

Miss Emily

 

Thanks to @mozarts_ride for the photo that inspired this Elegant Writer pen and wash drawing.  You can see the photograph and all that he says about this 1940's International Harvester here.

Charles Bridge, Prague

 

I was asked to pick a Street View challenge for r/drawstreetview on Reddit.  I chose the Charles Bridge in Prague.  

I like the watercolour pencils in this cheap sketchbook but I need to remember not to draw on the back of the pages.

Truck Meets the Elegant Writer

 

Trucks are my favorite thing to draw (right now, at least LOL).  The Elegant Writer is one of my favorite drawing tools.  It was about time they met.

This is another Instagram Challenge, #drawwithmeSunday.  

Another Perspective

 

@jenloves2draw has posted another perspective of the #drawjensoldtrucks challenge I posted on Thursday.  You can find the photo here.

#drawjensoldcars

 

Thanks to @jenloves2draw on Instagram for this challenge.

Drawing Prague

 

I've never been to Prague, but @kimyest on Instagram made it possible with this photo.

I got out the pencil crayons to work in a sketchbook that doesn't love wet media.

Another Walk

 

You never know what will delight you in your own neighbourhood.  These pink flamingos appear once a year on our street; I think they celebrate a birthday.

A Walk in the Neighbourhood

 

My arthritis makes it hard for me to walk far these days, but I am grateful for a short walk on a gorgeous sunny day like today.

The weather forecast says that it may be cold enough overnight for some frost!

Sketchbook Choices

 

After working for months in two large mixed media spiral bound sketchbooks, I've become tempted by smaller, sewn journals once again.  The root of the change began with a course I'm taking with German illustrator Felix Scheinberger.  He's an urban sketcher and recommends an inexpensive A5 sketchbook - small enough to carry around and paper that isn't intimidating.  I've also been following closely the local urban sketcher Becky Cao, who uses a larger, bound watercolor journal.  Both prefer the stitched binding so that they can sketch across two pages.

I made one book for my Traveler's Notebook with my favorite mixed media paper, and dug an inexpensive A5 book out of the closet, and sketched them.  The inexpensive book is a bit too inexpensive; the paper isn't acid free and doesn't take wet media well.  But choices abound at the moment!

Fengdu Ghost City

 

I used my Sailor Fude pen again and I'm not fond of the Noodler's ink I put in it.  Or I'm not fond of the way that I'm using it.  I bought Noodler's because it was known to be pretty waterproof; it isn't as waterproof as the Uniball fineliner I have mostly been using for drawing.  On the last two drawings I inked over it again after painting; I didn't bother with this one.  I may try using it as if it is water soluble ink.  More experimentation needed.

All Eyes on the Board

 

All Eyes on the Board

My friend Janice recently posted some pictures on her blog that she took in New York.  My favorite was this one of the public library outdoor reading room where you can take out books and play chess.  I loved the red umbrellas as well as the people focused on the chess board.  

Although the photo was taken in 2009, I bet that it has been well used during the pandemic!

Playing with the Sailor Fude Pen

 

I filled up my Sailor Fude Pen with Noodlers (somewhat) Waterproof Ink for a calligraphy session recently, and used it to draw this neighbourhood digger.  I had to go over the lines after painting; the ink isn't perfectly waterproof.

#photopaintchallenge

 

@kimyest took this photo on a rainy day in Annecy, France and included it in the #photopaintchallenge.  I chose it to draw because of the interesting foreground figure as well as the lovely buildings.  You can see the photo here.

#challengemotodog

 

I loved everything about the photo by @sedmogjula10 that inspired this challenge.  You can see the the original here, on Instagram.

Robinson Memorial Park Cemetery

 

A week ago we interred my dear mother's cremains at Robinson Memorial Park Cemetery.  The weather was terrible that day, raining harder than I have ever seen it here.  The cemetery is a lovely spot, and I used a photograph taken on a better day as the inspiration for this drawing.  Rest well, mum!

Wheels Off the Ground

 

We're back at the 1996 Indy today, photograph courtesy of John Denniston.  It's a great photograph, but I found the composition difficult for sketching.

r/drawstreetview on reddit

 

Amsterdam, inspired by Google Street View

Before September dawned, I didn't know much about reddit.  Maybe I had my head in the social media sand, but Instagram, Facebook and blogs were enough for me.

I started to notice reddit coming up in my Google searches, and then I read Reddit 101, a blog post by Vancouver urban sketcher "The Sneaky Artist".  As I read, I became increasingly convinced that reddit might be social media for people who are interested in ideas.  I have been accused of "thinking too much", so I thought I would give it a try.

I started on reddit by subscribing to the r/urbansketchers community.  I was only browsing for 5 minutes when I saw a post by someone starting a new community based on an an idea that I have been thinking a lot about, virtual urban sketching.

Reddit user u/CptTimWhiskersTheFox posted the following about his new community:

If you're like me you'd like to get out and do more sketching around the world but are limited due to funds, time, or any other reason, perhaps you'd be interested in participating in the subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/drawstreetview/ that I've just created.

The idea behind it is to post an image/place every (approximately) two weeks and members can draw it in their own style and share with the rest of the community. It could be a good means of meeting other sketchers or sharing techniques and inspiration.

I've posted a subject for the first session and will be working on my own interpretation! I would love to see other's take on it!

Members can also share their own subjects and adventures in the drawing-street-view world; posts using it as a medium pop up enough on other subreddits that it would nice to have our own community.

My user name on reddit is "love-to-learn-things", and I'm learning about reddit, Google Street View and sketching by participating so far.

Miss Hilda

 

This drawing was inspired by a photograph by @mozarts_ride.  He says the following about it on Instagram:

1940-41 Ford Fire Truck... I spotted "Miss Hilda," while driving through the town of Knab, Utah.. She's a wonderful old fire truck, but her days of putting out fires and rolling in town parades are over. It is nice that the town honors her by having her on display outside the small fire station.... I'm proud to say that my son-in-law is a Fire Fighter in Houston, Tx.... God Bless all of our "first responders" that put their lives on the line every day so that we can enjoy the life that we live...

Neighbourhood Construction

 

Construction is something else we have a lot of in our neighbourhood. I like a challenge and there are no shortage of diggers to draw.

Austin Minis in the Hood

 

We seem to have a lot of Austin Minis in our neighbourhood.  I like them because they are small and cute, so I drew a couple of them.

Indy

 

John Denniston's blog recently featured the photographs he took at the Indy in Vancouver in 1996.  You can find them here.

This was very fun to draw!

Ritchie's Homecoming

 

This photo from John Denniston's The Car Project inspired me to do something with an Urban Sketching feel, although it can't be strictly classified as that.  It is photo #33 if you are following along.

The photographs are black and white so I can paint my cars whatever color I like, and this convertible had to be red.

A Nice Round One

 

Life has been getting in the way of sketching and blogging lately, but I do have a few more that I did from the lovely photographs of local photographer John Denniston.

If you want to see the photo from The Car Project, it is #30 of 43.

I do like those nice round old cars!

How to Choose?

 

This was inspired by another of John Denniston's photos from The Car Project.

When Janice sent me the link to her cousin's website, she said she would be interested to see which photos  I would choose to draw from.

This one had me at the car, but the Midas sign was definitely a contributing factor.  Thanks, Janice!

My Cup Runneth Over

 

I couldn't resist a photo with a car and a shopping cart.  It turned out that the bucket was pretty fun too.

My friend Janice found the photo for me.  Her cousin, John Denniston, is a retired newspaper photographer, and still loves to take pictures.   He did an entire project devoted to cars, and you can find them on his website here.  

If John isn't too appalled I'll do a few more.

Vintage Dump Truck

 


@mozarts_ride spotted this 1940's International Harvester dump truck in Silverton, Colorado.  He took a photo that inspired this sketch.  You can see it here.

I Couldn't Resist

 

I couldn't resist getting out the metallic paints for this vintage Dodge.  Once again, I was inspired by @mozarts_ride, who had this to say about his photo:

1930 Dodge ....The Dodge is an American brand of automobile manufactured by FCA US LLC, and is based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Founded originally as the Dodge Brothers Company machine shop in the early 1900s. The original factory was located in Hamtramck, Michigan from 1910 - 1980. Today Dodge cars are built in Canada, Mexico, Detroit, Illinois, and Ohio.

Miss Georgia

 

I love the patina on this vintage chevy.  Check out the photo by @mozarts_ride on Instagram here.  

Here is Miss Georgia's biography:

1949-50 Custom Chevy Panel Truck... This is another of the wonderful beauties that can be found in Nelson, Nevada... I spotted "Miss Georgia," while visiting Nelson Ghost Town.. She's had a little bit of custom work done in the past, but she now rests in a nice place enjoying her time left on this earth. I'm sure she has traveled a many miles and could tell so many wonderful stories, if only she were able... Just use your imagination, and think of all the wonderful travels she has been on... 😎
.
."The third generation Panel Truck (1948-55) was made on the Advanced Design Suburban rolling chassis and was the last to offer canopy express models. The Chevrolet Advance Design panel truck was and still is the most popular vintage van vehicle, with its unique rounded design responsible for that, which lead to the development of the Chevrolet HHR Panel (built 2006-2011)

Bonjour, Madame

 

I drew this for a Vancouver Urban Sketchers challenge, "A Memorable Urban Street Scene".  The reference photo was taken in Beaugency, France, in 2005. 

#drawtobyscar

 

@tobyurbansketch challenged me with his drawing challenge #drawtobyscar.  He went for a run with a friend and was "utterly fascinated with this burnt out car".

Miss Susie

 

I'm not quite as old as this truck but she might be in better shape. LOL  Photographer @mozarts_ride has this to say about my namesake:

1949-50 Chevy 3100 Pickup... I spotted "Miss Susie" while driving through Nelson, Nevada. She's in pretty good shape and if someone had the time and money, she just might roll down the road again.. 😎 This style of Chevy truck was known as the Advance Design.... "The Advance-Design is a light and medium duty truck series by Chevrolet, their first major redesign after WWII. Its GMC counterpart was the GMC New Design. It was billed as a larger, stronger, and sleeker design in comparison to the earlier AK Series. First available on Saturday, June 28, 1947, these trucks were sold with various minor changes over the years until March 25, 1955, when the Task Force Series trucks replaced the Advance-Design model.".... (Wikipedia, "Chevrolet Advance Design").... Now you know the rest of the story...

Half Finished

 

I was drawing my office/studio when the heat became too much for me, so this was left half finished.

One Truck, Two Takes

 

Who would think that these two drawings came from the same photograph?  I did the drawings and I can hardly believe it myself LOL.  I wonder what the photographer @mozarts_ride will think when he sees them?

Here is what @mozarts_ride has to say about his photograph:

I spotted this nice old 1951 Ford F-1 Pickup truck, while driving the back roads of west Texas. "Miss Anne" was resting proudly in her owners front yard, and I was happy to squeeze off a few shots of her. She looks like she could still one day roll down the road again.... 😎,,, Did you know... "The first-generation F-Series was marketed in eight different chassis (based on their GVWR), giving them their model names; the F-1 was the lightest-capacity version with the F-8 as the highest. F-1 through F-3 pickup trucks were offered (forming the basis for panel trucks) and the bare F-3 chassis served as the basis for a parcel delivery truck. The heavier-duty F-4 chassis was produced as a light-duty commercial truck. The F-5 and F-6 were produced as medium-duty trucks in three configurations, a conventional, a COE/cab-over (as the C-Series), and a school bus chassis (as the B-Series, no bodywork rear of the firewall). The F-7 and F-8 were heavy-duty commercial trucks, marketed under the "Big Job" brand name from 1951." (Wikipedia, "Ford F-Series (first generation")... Now you know the rest of the story...