Thursday, June 28, 2007

Lighthouse in Pastels




Last week we attended the graduation ceremony of our precious granddaughter, Jessica. She had asked me to do a picture of a lighthouse in a storm at night, for her. I did one in pastels. She framed it in a beautiful frame while I was there and is displaying it in her lovely livingroom in Orem, Utah.




I am going to do another lighthouse and this time I'll use my favorites - graphites. Did you realize that each lighthouse in the world has a personality of its own, and has saved many lives? I think that is why we like them.




Today in Boise it is about 100 degrees and the sky is blue and it is a lovely spring.

Friday, June 15, 2007

More Vines


I took pictures of vines that I had sketched. These are the bitterroot vine that grows wild in Idaho and Montana, and the Virginia Creeper vine that is seen on a lot of fences and houses. We had VC growing on the north side of our clinker home here in Boise for over 40 years. It was a fast growing vine and covered the whole side, growing in the shade, and finding easy anchorage on the bricks and clinkers. In the spring it was green, in the summer the huge leaves would pull the vine away from the wall a little, and in the fall the foilage turned amber, purple, and orange. Such a beautiful vine.


The bitterroot has tiny red berries on it and is seen along the highways as it climbs on fences and electrical-line posts.


Today is HOT in Boise. Hot and dry with a mild breeze.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Pastels on Black


I finished the morning glories. It was really fun working with the pastel pencils on the black paper. I used Strathmore 400 series black paper in the Field Sketch. I used General's Pastel Chalk pencils. Pastels are so much fun to work with. They lay down color on the papers so easily, are a dream to rub around on the paper with a brush, and can take layers easily.


Today I'm working on a morning glory graphite sketch. It is my first sketch with the new mechanical pencils I bought a couple days ago. So far, I really, really like them. I'll post that sketch when it is done.


Grandma Barbara in Boise

Friday, June 8, 2007

White Pastel on Black


Yesterday I shopped at Quality Art and bought a sketch book that has black pages. Fun. I used a white pastel pencil to sketch a little critter. Really fun.


Today I'm organizing the RV. The underbed storage will be used for art storage and as a library and linen closet. Nice.

The weather is getting hot. Can't really complain. Better than the cold wind and rain we had a couple days ago.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

RV Park


We are settled into our space at the HiValley RV Park, and we love it here. Our neighbors all seem nice, and we have our own patio and lawn area. Today I shopped at Quality Art Warehouse and bought some graphite mechanical pencils in sizes 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9. I bought a new art book and several sketch books. One of the sketch books has black paper and I'm anxious to use my white pastels and CPs on it to see what I can do. This picture is one I took a couple years ago at the Midway, Utah RV resort in the Wasatch Mountains. Great place for photography and walking.
Today it is 63 and sunny. Yesterday it was 50 and windy and rainy. Typical June.