Scavenger Hunt from Life #71: Jun 3 - Jun 11

[eyepaint]

Ai - thanks for the name of that place. I've checked out the website and seen so many lovely photos of it .... and am drawn to the relaxed way of life ... how is it for bugs? Does the place float up and down - do you feel the wake of boats?
All who sketch outdoors - how do you deal with, when you sit under a tree, how do you deal with the, um, droppings from a bird? I sketched outdoors tonight and it was a lovely temperature - however there was a bird who "visited" me. When I take photos of my sketches tomorrow in the daylight you'll see evidence that a bird was around and provided, um, texture? personality? to my sketch. Thank goodness it was on my page and not on my clothes .... I should check my clothes in a mirror....

 

[AiArts]

#15... from the kitchen of our homestay ...aka...my breakfast...done in directwatercolor

 

[AiArts]

EP: plein aire or urban sketching type always have all kind of challenges in their own...but to be at the spot, absorbing the scenes and/ or their back stories are really special memory of you...something more meaningful than "painting"...I am getting old...so I pick a decent spots to sit first...then look for the scene from thete.

 

[eyepaint]

Ai - lovely food dishes. I have a chair under trees that often gets bird droppings and I have to clean it off before using. Yesterday I moved the chair forward so I was still in the shade but apparently there was a branch still overhead. As to your comment about finding a spot to sketch, I read where the late Robert Genn endorsed finding a comfortable spot to sketch and how that helps make decent art ... and that there is likely to be another sketchable something (view or object) if you just turn at that spot 1/4 turn.

Here are my sketches of two flowers - begonias and Zinnia - with complementary bird evidence

Cheers,

 

[Joan T]

Kay, how cute to have the hat on the fencepost! I wonder if someone lost the hat. Nice sketch of it.

Joe 1, thanks for the information. I will have to give procreate a try at some point. You are doing well with it.

Fletch, thanks so much for your comments. It seems that after doing these challenges for so many years I don't hesitate much to do the watercolors directly. It just takes a little more planning in my head.

Robin, thanks. The garden center had tubs of what looked like kale/swiss chard growing in front of the displays of flowers. It looked so nice growing there.

EP, wouldn't a sketch tour with Ai be a fun thing to do? Physically I'm not sure I could keep up with her. lol My knee has been bothering me so that may be next on my agenda to have taken care of. l read your comment about the birds in the trees. I've never really had much of a problem with those, but the geese like to come over and try to take things that don't belong to them...like paper towels and paintbrushes and they leave a mess everywhere. Seagulls can't be trusted either. They are worse with their droppings than any birds sitting up in the trees. lol Nice sketches of the begonia and zinnia...with a bit of a contribution from the birds.

Ai, your breakfast looks so yummy. I could enjoy shrimp and noodles anytime. What are the spiny fruits that are in the background of the photo?

9 - something for entertainment (one of our local movie theaters) - direct watercolor

 

[Jo Castillo]

Thanks all of ya.

Bghisly, ahhh, how different keys are now. Love your idea. The bug is still not something I would want to see.

EP, thanks. Porch is screen only. We don't get many hummers because we skipped a year. Mostly ruby throated and some plain ones that are ?? Bolivia was so interesting. We lived in La Paz which is above the timber line but because it was near the equator almost anything grew as the temp was 80s in sunshine and 45-50 F at night. I loved it there and we adopted two kids there to give us 2 boys and 2 girls. Your sketch in the yard is fun. Chairs are hard to capture for me. You did well.

Ai, love your coffee/tea sketch. Spoon looks pretty good to me. Your snack looks yummy and different. The flags are so delightful and "airy". Your memory boats are super with the surroundings to remind you. The sketches there are so good.

Joan, the tomatoes were such an accident. I think the few left may be ready by tomorrow or the next day.

Kay D, Triduana, how fun to find the post with head warmer. Ha. Love your sketch, such nice lines and shapes.

joe1lt, your use of the iPad is perfect. I don't use mine as much now since I have a new iMac and a large screen iPhone. I rarely use any program except Brushes and don't use layers and such. Just some different brush styles. I have some better "paint" apps but I'm just not as interested in the digital painting. Use it mostly for sketching when I don't have a sketchbook handy. You are really advancing in your work.

Hi Joe, we have 4 bridges and a boardwalk in the almost 1 mile around the lake/pond. I can see two of the bridges from the house but they are a little distant for detail so I usually just leave them out. I leave out "hard" stuff to draw, so it was fortunate that I couldn't see the whole trucks and other equipment in the fire station. Ha.

Robin, happy to see you. Thanks for stopping in. Hope you are having a smooth day and week.

I went for salads for dinner last night at the Roadhouse. I noticed the BBQ place next door is interesting so had about 10 minutes to sketch before the food came out. In my travel sketchbook with the Acurit 03 pen.
Number 5 (I think forgot to number them) business - Steadfast Barbeque in old barnwood with tin thing on top, not sure what it is, doesn't have weather vane arms. Hmmm.

This morning from the porch in the Canson Mixed Media large sketchbook with Blick gray markers.
Number 6 concrete or made of stone - some concrete building blocks piled by the shed. Pretty much square cubes.

 

[Jo Castillo]

I missed a whole page of sketches.
Ai, I love your breakfast. Mmmm shrimp and noodles. The fruit looks interesting. I recognize bananas! Ha.

EP, beautiful lines on your flowers, they really flow and have nice gesture. The extra bird drip adds something, but not sure what. Ha, ha. Our birds are farther between but we have grackles that hang out at the grocery stores and anywhere food might be dropped and they are awful for dripping! Very pesky and dirty birds.

Joan, ahh, a movie theater. We have one left here. They have a bowling alley there and other games like pinball. I've been to two movies and bowling once. Your sketch is outstanding.

 

[Joan T]

Jo, thanks. We have a few small movie theaters. The one I sketched is really popular and for some reason it closed. There was a big uproar about it and finally the original owners were allowed to reopen. I've never been inside. Wish we had a bbq place nearby...or maybe I'm better off. lol Good sketches. I like the one of the cinder blocks. The dark negative space sets it off nicely.

 

[AiArts]

#16 --unusual that I own...a few day views of Thai fishing communities at Chumphon river homestay...done in directwatervolor.

 

[Jo Castillo]

Joan, our movie house is the new style with 3 or 4 rooms for different movies. Not many of the old decorated ones around the area. Most are used for live music instead of movies or plays.

Ai, awwww, love the boats.

 

[Joan T]

Ai, thank you for taking us along on your trip. Love the boats and houses.

10 - made of concrete or stone - direct watercolor

 

[AiArts]

#17 sub. made of paper with made of bamboo or local wood membrain, local hats...directwatercolor ... I am going back by train at noon and should be back to Bangkok home tonight. Chao !!!

 

[Jo Castillo]

Ai, cool hats, hope all went well on the trip home. You took us on a nice trip!

 

[eyepaint]

Joan - thank you. Agree it would be a challenge to keep up with Ai. (I also suspect it would be a challenge to keep up with you, sketching on location). Mmmm movie theatres are not common any longer ... but I recall they had air conditioning and it was a treat to be inside on a summer afternoon. Oh no the woman on that statue has no arms!
Jo - love your stories from life in Bolivia. Could you please remind me why you were living there... missionary work? I wonder if the "thing" on the roof at the BBQ place is an old discarded something that looked cool so got hoisted up on the roof? For example, I've seen cool tables and lights being made from old spools for cables on the job site ... Yay the concrete/stone in markers. May I ask what are your markers?
Ai - lovely sketch and photo of the view from the homestay. What is the reason for the boats to have such cheeful colours instead of bland old grey/steel/brown/wood..... Yay hats! Did you buy them on your holiday? Is it noisy trying to sleep on such a busy waterway?

 

[Jo Castillo]

EP, here you go a link to the markers.Blick Studio Brush Markers - Grays.

Restricted Access 2023

As far as living in South America, Gene was with the Drug Enforcement Administration DEA. I did volunteer at an orphanage so worked with some of the missionaries. Ha.

 

[AiArts]

EP: Thanks. Thai things are commonly colorful ... we never thought of any behind reasons.... Hope one day, you can be here to check out all of our colors. Yes, some boats can be noisy but not too bad, in general, it is not that loud. Those hats belong to homestay decoration. I just borrow from them to sketch.

Jo & Joan: Thank you. I got back to my Bangkok home OK... Wow... what a change from riverside homestay to a super megametropolis.

 

[Joan T]

Ai, nice work on the hats. Your photos made me feel like I was traveling with you.

EP, thanks. Thought about using the statue of the woman and subbing "has no arms." lol

11 - water - direct watercolor
12 - made of glass (windows)

 

[Jo Castillo]

Ai, now you can rest after vacation. Always necessary.

Joan what a neat bridge and view you found. Lovely colors and design.

 

[AiArts]

Joan: Thanks so much for hosting. You had done so many beautiful sketches. I wish I had your energy and great subjects nearby.

Thanks everyone for kind support of my sketches and for joining this Hunt with your cool arts. They have enriched my heart every time I see them.

 

[Bghisly and daughter]

Got an urban sketchers meeting and had no time. Everyone, I love love your sketches.
Ai, love to see Thailand through your drawing, its a Dream of mine to visit one day.
The bug isn't as dangerous as it seems. Poor soul you see them wandering everywhere in the town just searching for food. (yes, I love bugs, lol)
I managed to sketch some different flowers for the hunt
#6 flowers and challenge
Opuntia ficus indica in flower

And some sort of orchid I didn't identified yet but that grows directly on the ground. And the blue ones are plumbago