Sophie

This is Sophie who is clearly, the cutest dog on the planet. She is my best pal and makes me laugh, everyday. When she is really happy, back from a walk or showing off for guests, she grabs one of her many toys, gives it a good hard shake and then runs around the dining room table hoping that someone is running after her. It is amazing how many adults will do this.

It was snowing the other night so I was sitting by the fire sketching Soph. As you can imagine, being the cutest dog on the planet (see above), I have pages and pages of sketches of this dog, most of which I don't post—thank god. As usual her toys were strewn around the room and I started to look closely at what she has done to them in a short time.

This Meercat (I actually have no idea what this is) is not much of a stuffed toy anymore. The squeeker is long gone and so is most of the stuffing. 

This snowman came home with her after we returned from Bali. The eyes are gone now and the hat will be the next to go. She works hard on that nose but it isn't budging.
The chicken is also a new addition. It's squeeker is still intact but makes no noise. There is not much more to say about it, but she loves it and sometimes I find it in my bed...

More snow

The days are getting longer, but it is still very much winter here in Maine. When I started this painting it was not snowing and then as the flakes began, I decided to try to add the snow. White acrylic paint seemed my best option. I guess that makes it fake snow! Now I have to scratch off the white acrylic splatters that are all over my desk, computer and black fleece jacket.

Chickens?

The front page, and continued on the back page, of the Portland Press Herald was quite a long story about allowing people to have chickens in their backyards. I don't know why it made me chuckle to think this was the lead story. Ducky (shown above), a Golden Comet hen, lives in a backyard in the suburbs of Portland. She actually had two color photos including a close-up. I don't know why I think this is so funny...

I couldn't resist a quick sketch of Ducky watching her eggs along with gluing in the headlines. Using the newspaper was inspired by Dee Farnsworth's wonderful weather sketchbooks which are absolutely beautiful and not as ridiculous like this crazy post.

I'm still chuckling...

Up on the roof

A view from our deck over the rooftops in the Old Port in Portland Maine. A balmy 38° but snow is on the way for Thursday—6" to 12"...

February thaw in Portland Maine

We had a brief thaw here yesterday as the temperature rose to 45°. Dirty frozen ice and snow turned into gray puddles of slushy water as we walked up towards City Hall. I try to keep Sophie as clean and dry as possible, but she is happy to jump into a pile of snow, role around, shake it off and look for more.  She has turned into an dingy "urban mutt". 

EDM challenge #207: Draw a shell

It's a balmy 45° today and the sun is shining. Still using this rough watercolor paper for my daily sketching. I keep grabbing from the little stack I have trimmed down to sketchbook size that is sitting at the corner of my table. Maybe it's convenient, maybe it's the challenge or maybe...I like it... 

Another cold, gray day in Portland

I spent years buying paper, paints and all sorts of drawing materials. Intending to draw or paint, only to never even crack open the package. It wasn't until I read "The Creative License" that I started this new life of daily sketching. I am determined not to waste all the papers that I have accumulated over the years. I know nothing about watercolor paper and here I am with a block of 140 lb rough paper. Why did I buy this? I have no idea, but it makes me mad to think I did—ugh. It is a difficult surface for this trained graphic designer to use, but It is good enough for practice. The rest of my rough paper practices are in the building's dumpster.

Surf's up—EDM #209 Draw a shadow

Quick watercolor sketch from a photo of a warm 85° day in Bali. I remember following this young dude wandering along the beach path with his board, waving and chatting it up with the locals. It was 13° here in Portland when I finally wandered back into my studio, feeling a little better and wanting to get back to sketching again.

Happy Birthday little blog

My blog was born a year ago on February 4, 2008. It was a cold day last winter that I finally went onto blogger and posted my first sketch after months of watching all you creative "EDMers" from afar. I wanted to celebrate by eating, drinking and sketching a cupcake and champagne, but I was still down with whatever is still ailing me. So from the couch, I managed to sketch this self portrait of my anniversary celebration complete with lots of mint tea, comfy clothes and Sophie. It's not that good, as I don't feel so good, but I wanted to recognize that "I did it". I love being part of this creative community and want to thank everyone who has visited over this past year—Terima kasih.

Happy Birthday James

A quick pencil sketch of my brother who is four years younger than I am. I still see him as that little kid with a "butch haircut" (yes, it was the early sixties) sleeping with all his toy trucks piled on his bed. So here he is, last summer at our family reunion in Maine. We were both having  a Monster drink (a weird family habit) before a walk along the waterfront in Portland. 

Happy Birthday, James.

View of Portland's Old Port

I'm still laying low with the same thing that has been ailing me for several days. Sketched while sitting on the couch, in front of the fire with mint tea and my dog. I had no energy to even decide what more to paint and the light was changing because the sun was going away. So off it went to the scanner. Oh boy, more snow...

Winter blahs?

I have not been feeling very well lately. Not sure what is wrong with me, but I am not my energetic self even with my new haircut. Still managing to drag myself to the gym, but that's about it. Right now, I think I will walk my dog and crawl into bed.

Morning walk

Sophie and I walk three times a day. She runs ahead barking and showing her mighty stuff. When something really gets her attention she stops, stands on her hinds legs and pumps her front paws up and down. It is quite comical and sometimes a little embarrassing. We vary our route slightly, but she has her favorite places and will hold out until we get there. When it is -5° we head straight for her spot. There is no dawdling.

Confusing

A quick contour sketch looking out my studio window waiting for the computer guy. Not a very interesting subject, but I kept staring and drawing while thinking what a confusing tangled system exists on the telephone pole. It's hard to know what to do in the  last page in a sketch, so this is it. As I am writing, it is all disappearing in another blinding 14" snowstorm.

Sketching in my new neighborhood

We have gone from hot, humid, tropical Bali to frigid Portland, Maine. 85°-100° difference in temperature as it 

went to -15° the other night. Too cold to be outside, except for walking Sophie, so I draw from the inside looking out or from photos. 

The oldest hammer on the planet

Too cold to go outside so it is a good time to hang some art. It is not easy at our age to combine households, especially when it comes to the very subjective and personal choices in art...

Maruman X "A Taste of Home"

This is the view from our home in Portland, Maine. Over the rooftops we can see the comings and goings in Portland Harbor. This is peak of the 10 pages I did in Anita Davies' Maruman titled "A taste of Home".  At this point Anita, Margaret and Nina had all filled their pages and I was left with wrestling this very long folded sketch book onto my desk to tackle my pages. I must admit it tumbled to the ground several times. You can see the progression of these sketch books at the Maruman X blog HERE.

A very long day...

4 PM Saturday afternoon on our way to Hong Kong. Settled in with champagne, Perrier and my small take everywhere sketch journal. It was 85° when we left Bali.

4 hour layover in Hong Kong. We did not take off until way after midnight. I had no idea what the temperature was there, but people are wearing parkas and I was still in my flip-flops. 

This was the 10 hour leg of our trip home—Hong Kong to Vancouver. It was very late and most people were asleep. By this time, I had lost all control of the time of day and meals, which gets brushing my teeth all mixed up, so I brushed a lot. It was quite dark in the cabin so it was hard for me to see the paint colors. That's why my hands and knees are orange...

After a two hour lay over in Vancouver it was another 4 1/2 hours to JFK...

We arrive d at JFK at 6 AM to find snow, cancelations and long lines at the airline counters. After a few calls, we eventually got on a plane to Maine. 32 hours later we were back in Portland where it was 15° and the temperature was falling.

The last day in Bali

A last minute quick scribble while the last of our things are boxed up for storage and packed in our luggage. It was raining, so slugs and toads were in the garden with my cat as he ate his last meal of Friskies next to this giant mushroom. He's back on the Bali gecko mouse diet and what ever they will toss him from the kitchen at the restaurant across the street.

"They say it's your birthday"

"Happy birthday to you."

This watercolor mess is suppose to be a delicious looking happy birthday cupcake for my good friend and dog-sitter extraordinaire, Patti. I lost control early on working directly with paint and no pencil lines. I then tried to save the sweet treat with added pen lines. In the end the only thing left to do was to walk outside and fling wet paint at it. Ugh— what a mess! Have a wonderful birthday, Patti. See you in a few days.