Scavenger Hunt from Life #102: Feb 5 - Feb 13

[NedL]

Pine Cone -- I missed the end of the last hunt just because I wanted to get a lot of walking in before the storm came.... thank you for the nice comments!

Jo -- I like the 2nd one on the sketchbook page, nice sense of depth and really nice contrast with the different shading you did. There's something neat about the way a black line of ink can be used to make different tones. That one across the street has a nice airy feel to it.. the texture on that tree in the back looks great.

Joan -- I always love those ones you do with the sand and dune grass and somehow the old fence looks like it belongs there. That one is great. I like the way you did the background for the house. Your amaryllis is beautiful. It's ahead of ours, ours has the stalks with the big buds on the end but hasn't flowered just yet. The valentine's one is great, I often look at how you use bold colors and how it also make the softer colors stand out too, the soft fur looks great.

Robin -- not too big, the man at the pharmacy looks really cool!

Fletch - hi!

This is where I ate my lunch today. Retirement is pretty great.
#1 outdoors

photo:

 

[AiArts]

We went day trip to our cabin (about 120 miles from Bangkok)... the flower trees and bougenvillea are blooming. The bloom will subside in a few weeks...Both sketches were done in directwatercolor...It's unfortunate that we have to be back to BKK same day as I have Sunday class teaching.

#1 flowers ... from our yellow flower trees
#2 nature ... our rows of bougenvillea climbing on our yellow flower trees.

 

[Jo Castillo]

Thanks, Robin. Good work on the digis. The man is excellent and the stand and cup has great perspective. The hatching on the hair looks like your work!

Fletch, yes we still have cloth napkins. We used them in South America, paper products hard to come by in those years. So I still get them out when we are all together, they are looking pretty sad. I used the bandana type/western for BBQs and outdoor eating. Fun you noticed.

Ned, thank you. Ink and pastels are my favorite media. You are lucky to have such a good place to hike and eat lunch. Happy retirement indeed! Gene always says he can't figure out how he had time to work! I love your ink wash and lines. Beautiful photos.

Ai, nice you could get to the cabin even if it was just a day. Gorgeous paintings and so fun to see you in place painting. Hugs....

 

[Vivien]

Sorry I haven't been here much lately, and hi to Ai, Jo, Joan, Pine Cone, Fletch, Robin and Ned L.
I got some sketches done for this hunt.
1. Bottle - Apricot Mustard
2. Flower
3. Sub - made of Ceramic, Vase

 

[Joan T]

Ai, thanks! Sorry you are so tired. Hope that passes. Too bad you didn't have more time to spend up at the cabin.
The flowers and the paintings of them are really lovely. I don't think I've seen too many trees with big blooms like those yellow ones...and the trees are so tall.

Jo, thanks. I thought I had commented again but it doesn't look like it. I like your nature sketch. Looks textural. Nice!!

Robyn, I must admit I had never seen a Valentine bear/unicorn combination before. lol Maybe he/she was confused. I love the pharmacy guy. There's usually someone there to sketch. I think I've been to CVS pharmacy 2 days in a row. Ooh...cute tiny table and cup.

Ned, sorry about the storm knocking out your power. Hope you enjoy your hike!

Fletch, thanks muchly. Yes, that's a Valentine unicorn. I thought it would be something different to sketch. All the flowers on the amaryllis are drooping and turning brown now. I'll have to do one more sad sketch of it before I get rid of it. Love your rocky scene. That must have been a sight when the storm came in. Hope you didn't have much damage up there.

Vivien, it is always great to see your sketches when you drop in. Apricot mustard dressing sounds delicious and the bottle looks great. I like the lines of that vase and those yellow flowers. Nice!!

I was supposed to go to the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan today, but I wasn't feeling well. I have one of those colds that I just can't get rid of. I'm at the horrible cough part now so I didn't want to be around other people. Sitting in my mobile studio was much safer. Anybody need a carwash??

9 - people working at the carwash - watercolors and ink
10 - made of fabric (flags)

11 - free space #2 done at the Seatuck Environmental Center - watercolor and ink (It was warm enough yesterday that I actually got out of the car to sketch.)

 

[Vivien]

Joan - Thank you! I do love your watercolor sketches, especially the outdoor ones. i tried sitting in my car painting, a couple of times. How do you do it! Everything got in the way - the steering wheel, windows etc. I dont seem to have the knack. I changed to the back seat - that was worse I couldnt see!
Ai - Lovely photos of you sitting painting!
Ned - I like your paintings of the sea and rocks!

 

[AiArts]

Joan: Thanks... Love your wonderful details of the car wash and the awesome building, esp. the roof-line. Hope your cold gets away soon... and glad that despite you still have some coughing, you can manage to go sketch out in your car.

Viv: Thanks.... Beautiful glowing still-life set... love the flowers in the vase. The apricot liquid color in the bottle is super.

Jo, NedL: Thanks.

NedL: Awesome recording of the glorious rocks in your area. Cheers to your retirement.

 

[Jo Castillo]

Ai, just have to say again how beautifully you did the flowers. Hope you are rested up.

Vivien, your flowers and vase are great and the dressing is tasty from here. Mmmm. Nice ellipses on all. My son is a photographer and has to upload photos in his car a lot so he got a steering wheel tray for his laptop. May be good for sketching like Joan. Just put "steering wheel tray" on your search engine. Maybe if I had one I would go "out" to sketch more. Not expensive.

Joan, hope you are feeling better. Lines at pharmacies will drive you crazy!! We had a cough for a couple of weeks, too. The car wash sketch is amazing. Love the colors, lines, trees, all of it!! The Environmental Center has some great shapes, I can see why you picked it to sketch.

 

[Jo Castillo]

I think this is the second wipe off on this paper. Mix of soft pastels.
Number 9 bottle, 10 fruit, 11 metal - a small individual cocktail shaker
8 x 10 inches. I started this yesterday and got so tired of it that I am stopping now. Don't care to spend 3 hours on a sketch. I didn't put in the cloth, the plan was to use it with red stripes. I also moved the pear as it wouldn't stand up without the towel. Odd pear, maybe that was the problem. Oh well, on to the next adventure.

 

[AiArts]

Jo: Thanks again... Wow !!! .. glorious on the fruit&bottle still life... I am smiling, big time.

 

[jmfletch]

Ned, nice rocky seascape with great pen work and washes. Will pint out that if Ai had done this we woul$ have also gotten to see lunch.

Ai, what a beautiful place to escape to. The flowers and your painting of them makes it even more inviting. I so want to stroll down that path.

Vivien, love your shading. The flowers are pretty. The bottle is well rendered but I am fascinated by the vase.

Joan, love all the flags snapping in the wind over the car wash. Like how you captured motion. The Environmental Center gets only one comment ..Great. Saving that one to study how to do shingle roofs.

Jo, you know you make PineCone and me scream when you wipe off one of your beautiful pastels. This is another beauty. Love how you complain about such a great piece.

Still trying to learn watercolors. Starting to get the hang of it.
Keep sketching
Fletch

 

[Joan T]

Vivien, I move the front seat back as far as it can go and I paint on my lap. I try to keep my supplies balanced on a board between the seats but I usually hold my small water container in my hand because I've spilled it too many times. It is all balance. lol I can appreciate what you go through. I also sit in the seat on the left side of the car (where the steering wheel is in the US because if I sit on the right there isn't enough room to move comfortably and my paints are on the wrong side).

Ai, thank you.

Jo, thanks. Don't you just hate uncooperative fruit? They tilt, they roll, and they fall over. lol This came out nice even with your problems. I like the highlights and reflections on the bottle and the shaker.

Fletch, thank so much. Shingle roofs are hard. I can never decide how much detail to give to them. Maybe less is more. lol But I don't practice that much.

 

[Vivien]

Jo - Love your pastel still-life! Ive been a Pastel Artist for many years but lately have been working in mainly pen & ink and watercolors, as pastels were giving me breathing problems. Ive changed to Pan Pastels and love them, (not so much dust) but they took a bit of getting used to after the stick pastels. I discovered PanPastels can also be used with pen &ink and many other mediums.

Fletch - Thank you. The vase is a tiny little ceramic vase. I like mini- flowers and am always on the lookout for litte vases to display them in.

Joan - Thanks for your explanation on painting from your car. You did inspire me to try it a couple of times and yes I had to move to the front passenger seat to paint. I wasnt happy with it though. People kept coming past the car staring in the window to see what i was doing, and my little dog, (who was in the backseat) kept barking at them - so it was chaos! I will give it another try though, as the weather here is not always great for sitting outside!

 

[Jo Castillo]

Fletch, thank you. You know how many sketches we end up with, impossible to keep more than photos if they aren't in a sketchbook. I also have a shelf of sketchbooks! I put my frustrations on my blog if you are interested. Link in my signature. You make me smile.

Thanks, Joan. I sort of paint that way in the car. Need to do it more.

Vivien, thank you, too. Yes Pan Pastels leave much less dust. I like watercolor and pen for sketching but since I'm not "painting" much I sketch with the pastels, too. Love playing in the dust. Sketching in the car is a challenge in itself. We have an SUV and can sit on the tailgate, weather permitting.

I sketched in the BookFactory sketchbook with the Micron 03. About 6 x 8 inches and took about 15 minutes.

 

[Vivien]

Jo - So cute bear and monkey! They look very happy to be sitting there with each other!

 

[AiArts]

#3 made of metal -- King-Taksin monument
#4 paper -- Klenex tissue paper
#5 wood -- Klenex box

 

[Joan T]

Vivien, lol I can imagine the chaos trying to sketch from the car with a little dog inside.

Jo, your monkey and bear look very happy hanging out together on your easel. Cute!

Ai, I like your strong lines in the sculpture. The tissues look nice and soft.

12 - odd shape (greenhouse) - watercolors and ink
13 - nature

13 - indoor flowers (early for Valentine's Day) - Procreate

 

[AiArts]

Jo: Super cute animal buddies...

Joan: Thanks.... Wow... love both pieces... the details in green house are amazing down to the open flag... and the digi flowers are stunning !!! Happy Valentine's...

 

[Jo Castillo]

Thanks, Vivien. I'm pretty sure I will get a new animal buddy tomorrow.

Ai, your tissue box is so nice. Well done as well. Cool sculpture, looks solid. Thanks, love my animal zoo.

Joan, the greenhouse is exceptional and a clever find. Beautiful flowers well done digitally.

 

[Joan T]

Ai, thanks so much! Happy Valentine's Day!!

Jo, thanks. I hadn't done a digital sketch in a while so I figured I'd play a bit.

I have some fountain pens in assorted colors that I rarely use. Thought I would do something colorful like Robyn.

14 - glass milk bottle (filled with water) - continuous line in ink
15 - cup
16 - fruit
17 - made of wood

18 - bag/purse - ink