Book 41

New sketchbook, this one portrait orientation and different paper.  it is a Hahnemuhle 'Nostalgie Sketch Book' withe 90 lbs paper.  This paper is very smooth, the fountain pen just glides over this paper.  Not so sure it'll be that great for watercolor, I'm thinking colored pencils will like it a lot too.

Nov13Art

Rained all day today, first rain we've had since Hurricane Matthew over a month ago.  We did the weekly grocery shopping and other errands today. It was really cold today too, half way thru November so I guess it is time for cold weather now.

Nov12Art

I do not like Starbuck's Coffee, and frankly I don't know what a Latte is, or why people drink them.  Today at McDonald's for breakfast a woman bought a Latte (who knew Mickie D's had Lattes).. that was all she got and her total was almost $4... when they handed her the cup, it was like a normal cup of coffee size.  I can't believe someone pays $4 for a drink that size and there is no alcohol in it.

Nov11Art

Found a 4 TB external backup drive today, fairly easy to set up, so I'm good to go.  Stopped by the Harley Shop for their Veteran's Day celebration while there picked up some parts for my motorcycle.

Nov10Art

Tech issues today, my external hard drive crashed, so I lost all my backups... sigh.  Tried to stop by Staples at lunch to pick up a new one, but they didn't have what I needed.  I have the day off tomorrow I'll see if I can find one then.

Nov09Art

My family called these Soda Crackers, even though the box they come in is labeled 'Saltines'.   In other news, Donald J. Trump will be the 45th President of the United States.   I do believe there is more drama on Facebook today than before the election, and that says a lot.  A large number of people paid no attention to the media who hated him, nor to the political elitists in both parties that hated him, they voted for a man they hope will 'drain the swamp' that is Washington DC of the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.  It will be a big, ugly job and he may just be the man to get it done.

Nov08Art

My favorite Senator Tim Scott won handily tonight, I may not be able to stay up to see who finally wins.  My grand daughter Ashton voted in her first election today... so proud of her doing her civic duty as a citizen of the United States. Good night, sleep tight.

Nov07Art

Tomorrow the madness ends, the election will be over and the sun will come up on November 9th and a great many people will be really disappointed and another great many will be glad. Whichever group you end up in, be thankful we live in a country gives us the chance to participate.  Some people have never had a choice, they have always lived under the boots of tyrants.

Nov06Art

I really hate when it is dark at 5pm... sigh.  Hockey game today, ended in a surprise overtime win for the Rays.  They are struggling to meld as a team right now, which happens every season, hopefully they'll get it together soon.

Nov05Art

Slept very late today, then went to the Harley Shop for the Chili cookoff, saw some friends we haven't seen in a while.  Almost convinced a friend to buy a new bike, it was a beauty and fit him like a glove.  Rode around a little and did some retail therapy.  The Urban Sketchers announced their dates for next Summer July 26 to July 29... no conflict with my Women's Freedom Ride in June... so my Summer is BOOKED for 2017.

Nov04Art

Just another attempt at drawing the sea shell that sits on my desk and mocks me.  Weekend coming soon looking forward to it.

Nov03Art

Warm colors vs cool colors for the same scene part of today's homework.  I decided to keep the scene pretty simple and limited my colors to 3   Warm:  Quin Gold, New Gamboge (by Daniel Smith) and Translucent Orange (by Schmincke).
I used 4 Cool: Mineral Violet, Verditer Blue (by Holbein), French Ultramarine Blue and Cobalt Teal (by Daniel Smith).  

Nov02Art

Moonshine Hwy28 NC, this is a conglomerate of several photos I took at overlooks on Hwy28 last weekend.  I'm taking Vinita Pappas Fall class and this week's lesson was about watercolor journal paintings, quick and juicy and loose...  back to watching the Cubs and Indians... I don't even LIKE baseball usually, but this is history and I want to see what happens.

Nov01Art

Tried something different today, took an old book and used matte gel medium on the paper, then drew the leaves and colored with my Tombow markers, the markers blurred the black and didn't want to blend... but I liked the effect and it was fun to do.