Sketchbook Wednesday #1

 This is the first of a weekly series sharing sketches from my sketchbooks.  Yes, this one is a day late as I intend these posts to go up every Wednesday. 

1947 Mercury Convertible Sketch

The first sketch was done using a Tombow Fude pen for the line work and gray markers for the tones on bristol smooth paper and features a 1947 Mercury convertible from a reference photo I took at a local car show.

"Abandoned 1950 Chevy Flatbed Truck Sketch"

The second sketch is done using brown (sepia) pens and markers.  I intended to do most of the line work using a small brush pen but it turned out to be dried out. The linework is done with a Faber Castel brown pen, the tones were added using Tombow markers all on bristol smooth paper. The subject is an old Chevy medium duty truck with wheels stacked on it's bed from a photo I took at the Erickson Ranch in Wallsburg, Utah.

"Vintage Model A Ford Hot Rod Coupe Sketch"

And the last sketch features a Model A Ford five window coupe hot rod equipped with a V8 engine with dual carbs. This sketch was done using a Tombow Fude pen for the line work and Tombow gray markers for the tones on bristol smooth paper.  I used a vintage photograph as my reference.

So, keep an eye on this blog in the future for more sketches posted every Wednesday.

Sketching for Sketching Sake

 No, I'm not advocating for mindless doodling, however sketching without a specific purpose other than experimenting, practicing or testing new compositions can be a very productive of an artist's time.  I decided to spend the last week just sketching in my sketchbooks rather than do any production art.   My first round of sketching was to just fill several pages with small sketches of hot rods based on photographs I've taken at car shows.  I went straight to pen, starting with one element of the car and sketching out from there.  Each small sketch took about five to eight minutes and I fit five to seven sketches on each 9x11 page. There was no rhyme or reason, no planned composition, just fit a few sketches on each page and overlapping doesn't matter.  This was good drawing practice.

Model T Ford Hot Rod Sketches

Model A Ford Hot Rod Sketches

1932 Ford Hot Rod Sketches

I decided to take two more pages from my 9x11 sketchbook for testing possible compositions for hot rod paintings using regular pens for lines and brush pens for shading.

1932 Ford Sedan Hot Rod Sketch

1934 Ford Hot Rod Sketch

I think next week I'll take a shot at that 1932 Ford hot rod painting.  

For the last sketch of the week I decided try a little experiment using a new brush pen I bought this week.  The pen is a Pentel Brush Sign Pen.  The brush is very pointy and fairly stiff and the pen is filled with water soluble ink and the ink is very black. It's possible to make very thin lines and strokes up to about 1/8" thick. Since the ink is water soluble it can be manipulated with water after it's put down and create washes of gray from the black lines, I used a water brush for this.

Abandoned GMC Truck Sketch

I can see real possibilities using these tools and techniques, I plan on spending some time attempting a more refined drawing (painting?) this week.

Bottom line, there are many ways in which a regular sketchbook sketching can be helpful in your art practice.

Passing Time While Waiting

 Yesterday I took my car into the shop for new brakes.  I put it off for as long as I could, longer even.  I know, I'm a car guy, I should know better but I'll admit I'm very lazy and procrastinate when it comes to maintenance and repairs on my daily driver, good thing it's a car that's hard to kill.  

Fortunately I found a good shop not far from home and I can even set an appointment and have a brake job done while I wait. However, I was looking at a two hour wait.  I could have walked home, about 1/2 hour there and 1/2 hour back, kind of silly when the wait is two hours.  Luckily the Jordan River Parkway is just around the corner from the shop, so while my brake pads and rotors where being replaced I went for a walk with sketchbook and pens in hand.

The first sketch was a very detailed study of a bush.  Why?  I don't really know, I could see it from the bench I was sitting on and it had an interesting shape and I needed to pass some time.  I don't paint realistically but I still think there is value in doing a little study like this.

The second sketch was from the bank of the Jordan River and obviously not nearly as detailed, I was just trying to quickly get an overall impression of the scene, maybe to use as reference for a future painting.

I also took a few photos of course, here are two of them.

This photo isn't the river but rather a pond at the Kennecot Nature Center near Arrowhead Park.

This is the river at the Little Cottonwood Creek confluence. Notice a gaggle of geese are taking advantage of the little island in the middle. Unfortunately our skies are very hazy and gray right now because of smoke from all the wildfires in the west.

Well, it was a well spent two hours.  My car not stops without making odd noises and I got to spend a couple hours enjoying nature and spending quality time in my sketchbook.

Daily Sketch Challenge May 2020 - Day 3-5

Day 3 - Dilapidated Abandoned Barn - Daily Sketch Challenge May 2020

Prints Available

The day 3 sketch is a graphite pencil sketch of a dilapidated barn based on a photo I took in Ogden Valley, in the town of Eden, Utah.  This one might make a good painting.

Day 4 - Abandoned Ford Deliver Truck - Daily Sketch Challenge May 2020

Prints Available

The day 4 sketch is an abandoned antique Ford delivery truck rusting away in the weeds in pen and watercolor. Based on a photo I took at the Antique Power Show in Wallsburg, Utah.

Day 5 - Rural Farm Landscape - Daily Sketch Challenge May 2020

The day 5 sketch is simple pen sketch of a rural farm scene to test the concept for a painting. Based on a photo I took in Oakley, Utah.