More Tulips, with Stool

I think this is the last of that same batch of tulips. I like sun and shadow and the edges between them. That's really what this sketch is about. The tulips just happened to be there. I left out pieces of the stool possibly because they reminded me of telephone poles and I instinctively passed over them.

I've been "throwing up" these little sketches for a while and I thought maybe people are wondering what they are about. More likely is that I am the only one here.

These color pieces are chalk pastel on 5 x 7 inch acid-free matboard. The black and white work in previous posts all came out of my current sketchbook; they were drawn with graphite pencil or ballpoint pen, and are about 8 x 11 inches.

All of them fall into the category of sketches or studies, usually done in one sitting, sometimes going back once or several times, as in some of the graphite pencil and the traffic drawings.

I've found that in putting these drawings up on this site I've begun to think of this activity as a regular part of my practice, and in fact it is becoming so. Therefore, I'm setting as a personal goal posting a new image every day or almost every day, not because I think the world desperately needs them but because it helps me in my growth as an artist. I like the exercise of making a small picture. It allows me to try out ideas in content, subject, color, technique, composition, etc.

Finally, a note about my main website. I am currently unable to edit and update my main site. As soon as I can I will show new work there. For the time being, this blog is the only site I can access, so my current work will be displayed here. I will periodically put up larger pieces. Currently I'm working on a couple landscape commissions and am also finishing up a larger landscape. When they're done and photographed I'll show them.

Thanks for looking.

Many Tulips

Here's the whole tulip family, when they were still somewhat fresh. Add a few oranges in a dish, and see how the merest suggestion of a microwave completes the elegy to spring?

Sproing?

In the supermarkets here one can see various signs of spring: tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, azaleas, and also displays of lawn furniture, barbeque equipment, picnic supplies, and horsefly repellent.

Wilderness

I long for wilderness. Or to be driving down highway 50 as it cuts through the basin and range landscape of Nevada. Better yet let me be in some amazing place in Utah or Arizona with red rocks, blue sky and white clouds. But, I am here, so I will happily draw pavement, curb cuts and strips of grass.

On The Road Again

The nice snow is gone. We're back in the car. The car ahead is signalling to make a left turn. This is a beautiful scene indeed.

Anderson StudioWork:

Where the Customer Is Job One. Where When the Customer Speaks, We Ask HOW HIGH? Where Nothing Is Too Much to Ask, Even Having A Car Towed.

Snow!

The house across the street after our recent snowfall. It's the ultimate cosmetic: even a parking lot looks beautiful covered with a blanket of snow. I like how it blurs the distinctions between street, sidewalk, and yard. The serenity is short lived, however. Within a few hours the soft quiet is shattered by the chugging of snowblowers and roar of all-terrain-vehicles.

Mr. George Barnyard will appreciate the absence of any telephone poles or wires in this image. I hope he undestands that these poor people are now without electricity, telephone service, or cable.