Scavenger Hunt from Life #84: Sep 15 - Sep 23

[wabbitt]

In the beginning one of my brother's gave the elephant to a girlfriend and he gave it to me when she returned it. The reason I have the elephant is because I gave it to a nephew and he passed it down to my sister's kids and they put it in my Mom's house, then my sister took it back and gave it back to me a couple of years ago. It has straw or something in it and is hard as a rock. Ha.

Joan wonderful sketches. No wonder they bought one! Nice work on color, texture and figures.

EP, hey ya! And hi to all.

Hello everyone. Lately I've mostly been sketching for myself, not necessarily from life, so nothing to post here. But that is why I started sketching from life, so that I could sketch from imagination.

But, as opposed to your families giving away your childhood toys, my mom kept everything. That's why Nekkid Barbie (& many others) are still with me, although she is hiding somewhere in my house for the last 3 years. She'll turn up eventually, maybe she's looking for Ken to get her RV & clothes back.

 

[ams]

Ai, nice work on the exam room. Love your colorful fish decoration.

Jo, lovely sketches of the objects on your desk.

Joan, good sketches while you waited for your car to be repaired. Love the lighthouse and gull.

Ned, nice work on the helmet. Have fun with your new waterbrush!

Ai, nice work on the gazebo. Better than I could do with direct watercolor!

Jo, what a collection of old toys. They are always ready and willing to model.

Joan, very nice work on the tavern. I'm not surprised it was purchased on the spot! I like the Cremosa Market too. I see your friend busy painting.

I usually work from photographs but I saw this moth on our kitchen window screen and had to draw him.

#1, "live". Ink and graphite in Stillman & Birn epsilon sketch book.

 

[Joan T]

Ai, thanks. It always feels good to have someone buy a piece of your artwork.

Jo, I'm glad he came outside to see what I was doing. Thanks!

Wabbit, welcome!!! So glad to see you here. I don't really know if I have any toys from childhood. When we moved the last time I got rid of a lot of stuff...and my mom got rid of a lot of stuff a long, long time ago.

Anne, I haven't seen you post for a while. Thanks for your comment. I like your moth sketch. I hope it isn't one of those spotted lantern flies which look so colorful but are so invasive and are destructive. NY State is recommending that if we see them we should kill them. I don't know if anyone else has them in their area. I saw my first one yesterday. It is hard to kill something that looks so pretty.



8 - outside - watercolors and ink

 

[Pine Cone]

My Fun First Failure in my "mobile studio" à la Joan

1(ish) - "multi-colored" and windswept - tall grass (greens, yellows, earth) (+++)
..... challenge - bonus adjective item
..... sketched freehand in the ProCreate app on iPadPro with an Apple Pencil.

It was so much fun to have a try at sketching as a homeless person in my "mobile studio" following in Joan's footsteps (or tire treads LOL). Thank you all so much for encouraging me to "go for it" (Individual comments to follow soon.)

I started yesterday (Saturday morning). I found a bit of tall grass that was blown by the wind, but seemed well-tended and pretty. I tried to sketch it but was completely baffled. Again. Everything I've tried to sketch since becoming homeless has baffled me. I had absolutely no idea how to approach sketching this grass. Anyway, I tried.

Then, today, Sunday, I found another bit of tall grass. Somewhat similar, somewhat different. More messy, just homeless really, along an untended side of a country back road. So I erased some of yesterday's sketch (with an actual virtual eraser because it felt more helpful for my dilemma than clearing or deleting, etc.). I continued the sketch from there for awhile.

But I was still struggling, and drove around some more, and found some shade, and parked and tried to fix this a little. But no matter what I did, it only ever got worse, LOL, but the whole adventure really was quite joyful. Terrible sketch, but loads of fun And entirely done in my mobile studio

So maybe this doesn't count as an item, because it was different days, different parking spots, etc., but I'm still posting it in the spirit of trying, and adventures, and fun.

P.S. I took a bit of color artistic license, because looking for so long at this kind of grass, and my sketch, had me craving corn on the cob, and I have no idea where to get any around here LOL

 

[Pine Cone]

2 — "outside" from inside - outside trees seen though windows of a building
..... challenge - bonus adjective item
..... sketched freehand in the ProCreate app on iPadPro with an Apple Pencil.

Interrupting the saga of the corn-on-the-cob grass (see above), I abandoned my mobile studio (freezing in the Saturday morning chill, and my car heater is broken), for what I thought would be the warmth of a business with places to sit.

They had the air conditioning turned up full blast.

It was colder there than outside, but there was a lovely view of some trees out the window so I decided to practice surviving in the cold, and re-learning how to sketch, at the same time.

Again, for the 4th time, I had no idea how to approach this sketch. But the trees were lovely, and I really enjoyed trying to learn. I was literally shivering though, and didn't really get much done before I had to leave, but I ended up happy with it, and so glad I tried.

 

[eyepaint]

Joan - Yay Friar's Tavern! Lovely work with the lady painting at her easel. Is that a real creature - the moth? How pretty! Yahoo green details on the house
Jo - hello !
Wabbit - hello! Will we get to see Nekkid Barbie again soon? Oh maybe she's off doing the Barbie movie and she'll come back eventually.
Anne - ooh imagine finding this lovely moth on your window screen ... until I read your text I thought it was an embroidery piece or something on burlap
PineCone - yay mobile studio! Yay artistic license

 

[AiArts]

Done from a cafe in neighborhood on my cellphone

#4old -- a rattan screen partition, which remind me of Art Deco

#5 new -- table modern style

 

[AiArts]

Ams: Thanks...delicate touch of moth sketch

Wabbit. Thanks...glad to hear from you...miss the naked Barbie

PineCone: Thanks lovely trees and grass.

Joan: Thanks. Lovely outside structure. That real moth looks so pretty.

 

[Robin Gillis]

Hi ya’ll, So good to see your sketches. lovely and fun quick and immediate offerings.I hope to contribute .
Nedl - thanks for surefire list
Let’s keep sketching

 

[Pine Cone]

Oops - sorry Ned my bonus adjective on #2 was on your list too so I'll change it...

2 — "outside" from behind glass - outside trees seen though windows of a building
..... challenge - bonus adjective item
..... sketched freehand in the ProCreate app on iPadPro with an Apple Pencil.

The original post is above

 

[Pine Cone]

Ned and Joan said, "go for it!" — Thank you so much - I had a lotta fun, and I hope to be doing more from my "mobile studio"


Ai — Wow your sketch of the students is exceptional - fantastic proportions, wonderful details, lovely inclusion of more distant students, instinctive sense of the room itself - a true work of art in its own right

Cool hanging fish also, love the colors, and love the photo too! Love your park picnic place - looks so fun and spontaneous and makes me happy to see Lovely art deco screens too, complemented by the modern table!


Ned — Cool helmet, both your sketch and the pic! Looking forward to more watercolors with your new brush


Jo — I don't know how you do it - I missed these scenes with your stuff, many items, many shapes, they always draw me in and I always want to see more - both your desk sketches are perfection to my eyes Wonderful elephant story - look at those animals, beautifully drawn with their happy eyes hugs to all your stuffed animals


Joan — Thanks again for urging me to "go for it" and sketch from my "mobile studio" - you mentioned that is "fun and relaxing" and wow, it was exactly that I got so absorbed that my other thoughts fell away, and it was very special!!! BUT, I don't think I'll ever have the courage to sit across from a house like you often do. I worry it would make people around here nervous to see somebody in an obviously derelict 25-y.o. rust bucket staring back and forth at their house, and "taking notes" on an iPad (or so they might think). I don't know. Maybe from a distance. Houses are another thing on my list of areas of biggest weakness, or never even tried before. So gotta find a way that doesn't upset anyone.

Your complex Nissan sketch is wonderful! And I love the car and the seagull, both representing types of freedom, and with gentle colors, soothing to my soul I agree with Ned about the rhythm, etc.

I had to laugh about your coffee table - I can relate even though the mess has now been relocated to my mobile studio lol

Your tavern painting is wonderfully full of soul - love the colors, all sagey and rusty and wise The owner will treasure this painting I love the softness of your superb Suzala painting - gentle and vibrant - beautiful, and full of life and meaning And terrific zoomed-in sketch of the house and foliage - wow!!!


Joan and Jo — I like your suggestions to Ai and Ned about direct watercolor and using waterbrushes. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do any non-virtual art in my mobile studio, but I'll try to remember this advice for the future.


wabbitt and EP and Robin —


ams — wonderful sketch of your "visitor" - excellent detail!

 

[Jo Castillo]

Gene rode his trike and I walked. Nice cool morning for a change. I walked to the first bench, west side and sketched straight across to the south and turned and sketched to my right. In my new travel sketchbook I got yesterday from my daughter and husband, they gave me new colored pens but this paper is not for heavy/wet ink. Its a 5.5 x 8 inch Canson Drawing pad, just 70 lb. (Green color if you google) Nice for drawing. Used a Micron 03.
Number 4 outside - lake and Number 5 huge - the huge Loblolly pines probably 50-80 feet tall??

50-

 

[Jo Castillo]

Hey wabbit! Fun to see you. Yep Barbie must be in the movies!

ams, anne, fun to see you as well. Great sketch of the moth. Theyu are interesting for sure.

Joan, that dangerous moth is sure pretty. Love how you sketched "outside" with broken frame. Cool.

Pine Cone, you have been very busy. Good to see some of your work, even unfinished. Big challenges.

Hi again, eyepaint.

Ai, very cool find of the rattan screen. Funny table.

Hi, Robin!

 

[NedL]

I've still been busy trying to get my car fixed up ( doing some of the work myself, but now it needs more from the mechanic ) but hopefully will sketch some more soon.

Ai -- I like the "wonky roof", I don't think the sketch would be as good without it. The rattan makes a neat "impression"! The table made me think of an Oreo and now I want a cookie

Joan -- thanks! I'm hoping with the smaller waterbrush, maybe I"ll carry the watercolors with me more. We'll see! The tavern and the market are both great. I like the teal-ish green color in the bellport one. Never heard of a lantern fly before, but seeing that picture made me look it up because that doesn't look like any kind of fly ( flies have 2 wings! ). It's a kind of leafhopper or "planthopper"... some of those can be very pretty. Too bad that one is such a pest.

Jo -- great sketch of the stuffed toys. Like the meandering story of that elephant. And I really like the trees in the 2nd one from today!

EP -- thanks! I think it's this "triple eight" one
https://www.amazon.com/Triple-Eight-Certified-Sweatsaver-Skateboarding/dp/B07YQJQ2G7/?th=1
Oh, and yes you were right the lamp in the last hunt was oxidized copper!

wabbit -- hi!

Anne -- cool moth sketch!

Pine Cone -- of course it counts. The windblown grass looks cool! If you had fun sketching it is not a failure but a success. Do you know that "calm" feeling you get when you are drawing, looking at what you are trying to draw? To me, if I feel that, then it was a success, no matter what is on the paper. I like the texture on the tree trunks and branches.

Robin -- hi!

 

[ams]

Thanks for the comments on mine.

Joan, we have been told to kill lantern flies on site too. There were more last year so I'm hoping we have made some headway. The problem is that they aren't native to here so there are no natural preditors.

Joan, nice house sketches.

Pine Cone, I like how your grasses came out. I find trees quite challenging. I think you did quite well.

Ai, some fun digital paintings.

Jo, lovely pen and ink sketches. My favorite medium!

 

[AiArts]

Done with a 6B pencil of a mouse on my work desk

#6 right- side up
#7 up-side down

 

[AiArts]

A digi. Done on my cellphone, about 30 minutes.

#8 outside
#9 inside

 

[Jo Castillo]

Ned, wish you luck with your car. Bummer. Thanks on the trees. I spent a month or so one summer in New Mexico just doing trees, mostly in pastel.

Anne, thanks for coming back to comment. I love pen and ink as well. Once and done!

Ai, look at your pencil mouse. Cool. The digi chess set is amazing. Good work!

I sketched in the Canson large mix media sketchbook with new Piochoo dual tip brush pens, 24 colors. Pretty nice but wet and I got ink on my hands so added some dots to the sketch. Ha.
Number 6, multicolored - a blue wine bottle from Lubbock, Texas, Llano Estacado Moscato wine (empty) with a topper from Bolivia knitted by our maid who became family over the years.

 

[Joan T]

Yikes!!! There's been a lot posted here since my last comment.

Pine Cone, I'm glad you gave mobile studio sketching a try. It is fun and a comfortable way to do it. Your grasses came out great...love the colors you used. What a shame that the business had the AC turned up to an uncomfortable level, but you managed to get the sketch of the trees done. Nice work on the bark. I sometimes get approached by people when I sit and sketch house. Their questions usually are something like, "Are you having trouble? Can I help you with anything? Nobody has ever been nasty and nobody has called the police. lol Thanks for your kind words about my sketches.

EP, yes that is a real moth. They advise us to kill them when we see them but I have a hard time killing living things. Here is what we've been told about them. This was the first one I've seen, but I don't know if I would have noticed if my friend hadn't told me about seeing one earlier in the day.

Ai, thanks. The idea that the moth is so pretty sort of creeps me out. I like your work on the rattan screen. It does have an art deco look to it. Nice simple lines on the table. Good thinking for upside down (mouse). The chess board and pieces came out great.

Jo, your outdoor sketches around the lake always make me smile. I hope the heat has been a little more tolerable for you down there. After I squashed (sadly) the lantern fly I thought to myself I should have sketched it. But I didn't know how long it would stay put. I love the bottle with the colorful cover that was knit by your maid/friend.

Ned, many thanks for your kind comments. I hope you get the car repairs done soon.

Anne, thank you. I don't do gardening so I haven't noticed the lanterflies before. But my friend and I encountered two in one day.

I started working on this painting a few weeks ago and I think I used the veggies in one of the hunts. I didn't think it was quite finished and my plein air group went back to the farmstead this morning so I added some flowers in the foreground and some hanging Indian corn.
9 - small flowers - watercolors
10 - large sunflowers

 

[AiArts]

Joan: Thanks. Gorgeous fruit stand. Fruits look so juicy.

Jo: Thanks. Bravo on the blue wine bottle with the fabric wrap. So beautiful ... well done sketch.

Ned and all lurker: Thanks.