Getting Back into the Habit

 I've been on a bit of a break for the last month or so.  I spent my time focusing on other things, while those things may be worth while I'm not sure they are of as much value to me as making paintings and drawings so I've decided to get back to the drawing board and easel.  To ease my way back in I decided to renew my daily charcoal sketching habit.  I do my 15-20 minute charcoal sketch right after showering and dressing, at least I always intend to.  I do miss some days but do make it to the easel to sketch most days.  Here are the sketches I did this last week.

This one is based on a photograph I took somewhere along the South Fork of the Ogden River.  I'm currently working on a painting based on this sketch.

This sketch is a view down a farm driveway from a photo I took in Provo, Utah.

One of the benefits of being an artist is your eyes and mind become open to the beauty of the mundane.  Something is simple as a ditch and tree trunks in winter becomes an interesting composition full texture and subtle color.  This sketch is based on a photograph I took on the Jordan River Parkway.  The scene was right at a trail head.  I did embellish some.  The fence line was actually the edge of the parking lot and concrete posts.  I'm sure I'll get around to doing a painting of this one.

I decided to try some vertical compositions, the first of which is simply a couple tree trunks in a winter landscape. This composition is about as simple as it gets yet I think it could make a worthy painting.  The actual scene was in Murray park and there was a lot of clutter in the background that I simplified.

I've actually made a painting of this scene, I decided to make a charcoal sketch as well.  The scene was on a farm somewhere in Smithfield, Utah.  While wandering slowly on the backroads in the area some sunlight glare caught my eye, I stopped the car, got out and found this scene.  Again, something simple but is compositionally interesting, just a little farm ditch.

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