Portrait of a remarkable man

Spent this past weekend visiting my dad. He lives in an assisted living facility and has been slowing down quite a bit lately - although at the age of 92, that should surprise no one. Anyway, we had a gorgeous day and spent much of the afternoon sitting outside his apartment in the sunshine, where I got a chance to sketch this. 

A remarkable man who's lived a remarkable life. 

Love you, dad!

Apricots and happiness

An exercise from my watercolor class led to this. We were working on values and shading. I'm not sure I captured values and shading, but I was happy with the way the colors came out. I don't want to overreach - being happy with just one thing when I draw is plenty.

This sunflower was another sketching exercise, this time working on water and translucency. I was happy with the flower. The water, not so much.

Also need to get better at shooting these with my iphone and uploading them. 

Sometimes all it takes

... is a little flourish to make your day. This little bit of artistry on a quick coffee I grabbed at lunch was just the thing. Even more special was that the guy who created it took real pride in it.

A good lesson there. Embrace the flourishes!

Home sweet home

After nearly two weeks away from home, it was good to be back. Judging from Jackson's nearly-instant coma, I think our dogs agreed. They had to stay in the kennel over the Christmas weekend, which always wears them out. I was able to get this sketch done because he was pretty much dead to the world the minute he got in the door. What this doesn't capture was that he was stretched out over most of our bed.

I think he was hoping we'd sleep on his new dog bed.

And to all a good night!

More sketches from Taos

A couple more quick sketches from our trip. There is so much beauty to capture here - mountains, rivers, desert, that vast, beautiful sky that seems to go on forever. It's hard to know where to start, or when to stop. These can't begin to capture the breathtaking beauty or awesome scope of the land here. But it was fun trying.

Sure can't wait to get back to it, some day soon...

Ken in happy mode

I sketched my fisherman along the Cimarron River outside of Eagle's Nest, New Mexico. It was a glorious day, with incredibly blue skies, sunshine and perfect temperatures. A great day for hiking, sketching, basking in the sun - but for fishing, not so much.  I had fun anyway. So did Ken. And so did the fish, since none of them got caught that day.  

A magical place

This was the view we woke up to every morning from our room at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, just at the edge of Taos, New Mexico. A remarkable place, built by a woman way ahead of her time.  It backs up to the Taos pueblo, with views of the mountains and desert from nearly every room. It seems to be imbued with the spirit of the many artists who spent time here as Mabel's friends and guests. It has a truly magical feel.

A native American woman I met told me that the reason it feels so magical here is that the land is inhabited by the spirits of all those who have walked it before. Her people -  a mix of Pueblo, Cree and Apache - believe that the spirits of their ancestors enter you as you walk, and for that reason the land is sacred.

I loved hearing that. It was just one of many amazing and beautiful things I learned in this visit to Taos.