Corner House

Ok... it has been awhile. Maybe I’ve been distracted or just not in the flow. Actually I’ve been busy, just not with anything artsy.

I started this piece a few weeks ago. I have lots of details yet to go but it’s a start. It was a friend’s rental turned historic so since I rather am fond of historic buildings, I thought I’d give it a go.

I’ve also been looking back over pictures that were taken several years ago. I’ve been puting them in an app that will be easier to sort through and find particular photos.

This one is a little painting I did today of a special ski slope. It’s called Snowridge and of course it was taken in the summer. My hubby used to ski here when he was in high shcool. Fond memories!
It’s in Turin, New York.

That’s all for now. Enjoy your day!

Freimann Square

The flowers around Freimann Square are really beautiful this time of year. It happened to be a nice morning for a little art. I only did a couple of small pieces. It’s still pretty humid out.

These are in my little 3 1/2 inch square sketch book.

Bye...  k

More Historical Places

Time to pick up and continue drawing my historical places around Allen Co. I’ve been working on them for a couple of years. I like to do on location sketches but some of them are in places with no parking. Today my friend (Barb) encouraged me to find a couple of places for us to try out. One had a huge tree right in front of it so we agreed to come back in the fall when the leaves were gone. Next was  the St Peter’s square which includes several buildings. We picked the church. Probably because it was the hardest. (ha)

Actually the clouds were looking pretty great around it. I need to add those yet.

Lunch at the Oyster Bar. Fish tacos, yum. Then another building... Fairfield Manor. It’s a huge building. This is just the front. It extends back for a good block.

It was a fun day... k

Kekionga Plein Air Event

We had a great weekend for the plein air paint out. Weather was perfect on Thursday. I’ve been wanting to paint the Bass Mansion at St Francis for some time so the time had come. It has been a while since I’ve used my oil paints but I decided to give it a go.

            

I was pleased with it. Rather large for a plein air piece. 16x20.

The next day several of us painted at Lakeside park. I don’t like to haul too mich equipment very far so we parked on the street and painted the flowers that were close by.

 That evening there was a quick draw or better called a quick paint. You have 1 1/2 hours to finish a painting. Then they are judged and prizes are awarded. I decided to just bring my sketch book along and draw and wander around to watch everybody else. My there are some talented artist here.

On Saturday it stormed and rained hard in the morning but cleared off for the afternoon when everyone was to bring their paintings downtown to be judged and put up for sale. It’s all during the Taste Of The Arts festival weekend so there are gobs of people all over the streets around Freimann Square.

Tents and stuff in front of the museum. Need to learn to put people in my drawings. 

I think I’ll start working on that...  k

Ouabache State Park

Sometimes you get up in the morning and have no idea what you might do that day. This was one of those days. We (Barb and I) have visited here before but it has been quite a while. I love to visit the buffalo. When we first arrived the buffalo were no where to be seen so we parked over by the pond to do some skethcing. There was also a family swimimg and picnicing.

This was a quick one because it was looking like rain. The red down the middle is the thread that I use to hand stitch my sketch book.

Before we left the park we decided to check on the buffalo one more time. We saw 2 way back in the distance. Being silly we made some odd sort of noises and what do you know, they began to mosey in our direction. I wanted some close up photos so I waited patiently (🤨) for them.

We also came across some interesting flowers. 

They are called Indian Blankets.

It was a fun day in spite of the rain... k

Fun in the Sun

I found some photos to sketch and put some watercolor on.  It’s what I do when the weather is a bit rainy.

Here’s another one. He got caught napping on the picnic table. I guess when you’re tired, anything works. 💤

That’s it for today...  k

Busy Day

It was a nice cool morning to go plein air painting today. However, due to some electrical workers and construction at our site for today the street parking was closed. I know that construction is necessary but I think we’ve had a great deal of it this summer. Alright, enough crabbing. As it turned out we made the best of it and were able to do some painting, sketching and of course talking. I love this group of gals. We really enjoy being outdoors and doing what we love to do.

I’m not sure whether I will put color on this or not. I guess “not” for now.

After lunch “Taqueria El Ranchito” (one of my favorites) we drove up to Auburn to drop off some art supplies to a friend. As we drove through town my buddy (Barb) said she liked the tower on the building on the corner. I guess it used to be the Auburn City Hall and now it has a “police” sign in one of the windows. Whatever, it has an interesting and unique tower so we pulled over and sat in the car and sketched it.

I’m not used to starting with watercolor but I thought I’d give it a try. Definitely not able to get much detail in. Nothing like the first one of the church from this morning. Just fun and play.

On my way home I happened to spot 3 deer munching grass beside the road. By the time I turned around all I could get was one of the little ones.

Isn’t he cute?     K

Fun

I’ve been looking at this giraffe photo that I took last year when we went to the zoo. It has a lot of shadows and sun from the slatted roof so I tried to get rid of them. What an elegant animal. It was great FUN watching them.

I suppose you could say these are my favorite items... ice cream, coffee, and flowers. I actually have a coffee cup with a loon on it. That will have to be the next coffee cup I draw.

Grace and peace...k

Play Is Good

I just tagged along with hubby this morning on his trip to Auburn. He had a meeting at the Cupbearer Cafe so I could sit at a table, coffee at hand, and do whatever I wanted.

There happened to be a group of guys sitting fairly close by in front of me so... you guessed it. I had to try a little direct watercolor. I need to practice that more often but it was fun to play and try it out.

I found I had some more time so I did a small piece of one of my favorite flowers.

God bless...k

Plein air

Today our plein air group met downtown on Berry street to do either the History Center or the McCulloch/Weatherhogg house. I’m still working on my historical homes in Allen County so I chose the McCulloch/Weatherhogg house.

My view was of the south and east side. Not the front. As we were finishing up one of the employees came out to offer us water or anything else we might need. She also mentioned that if we wanted we could come in for a little tour of the building.

We, of course, got to see some of the original pieces of architecture that was still displayed in the house. However, much of it had been restored with several offices to accommodate its current tenants. We were very appreciative to have been able to check out the inside of this old restored building.

There are still a few details I’d like to add. It was a very difficult building to get all the angles going in the right direction. More practice will help. Anyway it was a good morning and good company.

Grace and peace...k

Lakeside

Yesterday BY and I had a picnic lunch at Lakeside park. It seems to be in full bloom with beautiful flowers everywhere you look. It was also a very nice day to sit in the shade and do a bit of sketching.

This was kind of an interesting plant with flowers all over it... and then one of the maintenance guys came along to clean the shallow pools of water.

Another interesting plant. I have no idea what the name of it is?

And this is one of a dozen or more that sit all around the reflection pools. It’s a very peaceful place to hang out.

Peace and blessings...k

Demo at Castle

Fred Deloresco was doing a demo at the Castle gallery tonight. What a privilege it is to watch him paint. He does such a great job explaining as he goes along as well as reminding us of some basic mantras he adheres to. What are those you say?

I took a workshop with him several years ago and this was a reminder of them. It occurred to me how easy it is to forget unless you use and practice them often.

5 things to think about as you start any painting.
Concept, Composition, Values, Color, Paint application

As your painting goes into the distance it gets... lighter, cooler, grayer, bluer.
It’s good to put shadows in the sunlight and sunlight in the shadows.

Horizontal brush strokes give you a higher value than a vertical brush stroke.
Counterpoint is painting lights against darks and darks against light. And of course there were a few more that I didn’t get written down.

Here are a couple of sketches that I did before and during the demo.
The first is 3 of his paintings that were hanging in the room.
The second is just a goofy sketch of him. Not a good likeness, but fun.

Good night...k

The Deck

I guess I’ve been catching up on my reading and watching. That would be blogs and YouTube. I often get inspired from what I see other people doing and sometimes pick up little tips along the way.

Hubby and I went out to lunch today. We usually have a date lunch each week. Today we went downtown to the “Deck”. It was very crowded so we decided to sit at the bar. No matter how warm it seems to be, there is a bit of a breeze there. Maybe it’s because it’s next to the river.

I’ve been playing around sketching some figures and heads. Proportions seem to get the best of me. Probably because I get discouraged and quit doing them. However, I find myself returning every so often and I know it’s a matter of practice. So.... here is my atempt for today.

Also lunch was very good. This is what hubby had. I think I’ll have that next time.
Ahi tuna. YUM!

Keep sketching... that’s what I keep telling myself....k

Lake Day

Going to the lake is always a special treat especially when the weather is perfect. Lots of sun, warmish water, picnic lunch and time for art is all in the mix. Yesterday BY and I did just that.

On those days my art takes a playful turn. I try things out that perhaps don’t always turn out the way I expected. For instance, the clouds yesterday were quite beautiful and plentiful. I tried lots of different blues and grays and reds. Most of them got to be messy rather suddenly and found themselves in the trash.

I had with me this interesting pencil. It’s a multi-colored pencil. So I did a quick sketch of the neighbor’s boat and pier. You can see the pencil at the top.

The next one is with a water soluble graphite pencil. I added a small bit of water in a few places after I finished.

Anyway it was a great way to remember a fun and special day with a friend.

Bye...k

Historical homes

I have been working on a project for the last couple of years. I got interested in the historical homes that are located in and around Fort Wayne so I started a sketchbook dedicated to sketching these  places. Of course not just Fort Wayne but all of Allen county soon became a goal. I keep working at it and I have accumulated quite a few BUT there are many more to go. 

One of these places is the Chief Richardville house down off Bluffton road. Once a month they have an open house and give tours.  So my friend and I took a tour last Saturday. I came away with a few pictures and have been doing some sketches.

YEAR CONSTRUCTED: 1827. Construction of this home was subsidized by the 1826 Treaty of Mississinwas, which compensated the Miami tribe with money for land for settlement. Chief Jean Baptiste de Richardville, the primary chief of the Miami from 1812 to 1841, was awarded $600 by the U.S. government to help fund a house along the St. Mary's River. The structure reflects both Greek Revival and Federal styles. The History Center is the current steward of the property, which sits off Bluffton Road.

This is the rear of the house. There is a driveway that pretty much circles the house.

And this is the back porch. 

It was a fun project.

Bye for now...k

Syracuse Lake

These are from our paint out over to Wawasee and Syracuse. It was a very hot 2 days but we were able to find a nice shady area at a park where boats are able to put in just off Syracuse Lake. I always enjoy seeing the variety of activity that goes on there. We brought our lunch with us both days and then sketched and took photos.

Fortunately we were able to spend Friday night with a friend that has a place close by. On Saturday morning we took a nice drive all the way around Lake Wawasee. It was fun to remember lots of the places we had visited before on our days around there.

It’s always good when a model or two come along!

A little Sweet Gum tree over head.

Lots of kayaks and more models.

Guess that’s it for now...k

Plein air

Went to Eagle Marsh this morning to paint. I haven’t had oils out for some time and it was a bit strange for a while. Unfortunately my painting was in the sun so it was very dark when I viewed it inside. Bummer. I’ll have to remember the next time and get myself in the shade or paint it much lighter.

Of course the photo I took sort of corrected it a bit.

We (BY & I) are off to a paint out this weekend at Lake Wawasee. I’m hoping it’s not terribly hot or it will be just morning paint or some sketching. It’s nice to get out of town for a couple days. We are staying overnight with a friend nearby.


Enjoy...k

Ice

Yesterday as I was sitting outside Planet Fitness getting ready to go in, I happened to spot the little shaved ice place that resides in part of the parking lot. It had all sorts of purple stuff all around it. As I looked down I realized my shirt matched all that purple color. So I quick took a picture thinking I might like to do a sketch.

This little sketch book has been waiting for me to finish the last few blank pages. The sketch went ok and the ink was ok too. However, as I began to add some watercolor I realized why I had been so slow to finish the book. This paper takes pencil and pen just fine but watercolor just sinks into the thin paper so fast that it becomes hard to work with. 

I really have come to like the thicker watercolor paper and I’ve been doing a bit more with color.

The bluejays are liking our bird bath this year and I have enjoyed watching them.

AND... this little guy paid me a visit tonight.

Too fun...k

Lunch

I belong to a group of gals that go out to lunch every month. We usually find a different place each time. We call ourselves “Starving Artists”. Of course none of us are starving but we are all artists. Each of us preferring differing mediums. Today was our lunch date. My friend and I arrived a bit early so of course I pulled out my sketchbook. Bet you can guess where we went...

Yep! That’s us sitting in the front window. It’s fun to catch up with everybody’s summer. We often get together once a week through the winter but take the summer off because everyone is busy. We also have a plein air group that meets every week during the summer months.

Keep drawing...k

Zesto

My friend and I were driving past Zesto’s the other day and she made the remark that it was one of her favorites and it had been there a very long time. On our way back, I took some pictures.

This is the results...

I decided to check out just how long it had been there. Here is what I found.

That was fun...k

Saturday Fun

My friend and I have this favorite little restaurant that we go to very often. However, they have been closed for about a month while they returned to the country where they are from and to visit family.

It was great to go back today and have our special “spring rolls”. In fact they are the best spring rolls in all of Fort Wayne (my opinion).

This was one of their customers that happened to catch my eye. A little boy about 4.  I took a quick picture and sat down to sketch it out this afternoon. I started with pencil and was going to ink it in when I changed my mind and decided to go right in with watercolor. I actually liked the way it turned out.

Tonight we went to a musical comedy at Concordia High school called “The Drowsy Chaperone”. A couple of the cast are friends. By the way it was a great show. I’m not one who usually likes musicals but I really enjoyed this one. 

Of course while we waited for it to start I had my pencil out, then put some ink to it. It was part of the scene throughout the whole play.

Bye...

Plein Air

Today we met at the Bass Mansion. The weather is still really hot and humid. We found a shady spot under some trees and set up our chairs and equipment. I decided to walk around and take some photos to see what else might catch my eye.

I am still interested in trying this direct watercolor method that Marc talks about. However, it does not come easy. I was not happy with this try but I did learn a few helpful things. I guess that makes it ok. Maybe I’ll go back to pencil and pen drawing.

Anyway after lunch we headed for the Mall. There are always interesting subjects to sketch. Even if you don’t find anything to sketch the people and outfits are worth a good laugh. I won’t go into any details except to say the Starbucks coffee is yummy. 

Here is a small taste of what drew my eye.

Bye...k