Monthly Archives: January 2013

Sketching and Gratefulness

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Kihei-sketch

Sketching in Hawaii

I love to sketch! I’m more aware of colors and formations that would have gone unnoticed if I had only taken a photograph. It is deeper than “stopping to smell the roses”. It is more like grabbing my guitar and playing in a band…or maybe like dancing. Somehow the process of sketching helps me to connect to my surroundings. I see details in buildings, mountains, people and plants that would ordinarily go unseen. That is where the gratefulness part comes in. I appreciate the creation and the Creator more when I see the beautiful details in a flower or the light and shadows on mountains. I appreciate the building’s architecture, the labor to build it and its history.

Sketching isn’t only about the final drawing, but enjoying the process and the journey. It has been almost a year since I started a regular sketching habit. I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy it and the wonderful people I’ve met through the sketching groups I’ve joined. Here are some of my favorite sketcher’s blogs(the last one is my favorite and you might want to translate French to English with Google, but the images are lovely without translation):

http://earnestward.blogspot.com

http://artistsjournalworkshop.blogspot.com/

http://www.creatingnaturejournals.com/

http://www.lesliefehling.com/

http://www.lizsteel.com/

http://yal.over-blog.com/

Sketching an Alaska Winter Moon

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Winter in Alaska is so unique. It isn’t dark all the time, just most of the time. For a few hours the sun drags itself from southeast to southwest and we see a glow, but not direct sunshine. It isn’t awful and it isn’t miserable; it’s just a little pathetic. I noticed at noon right now it is as light as it is at midnight in June. That’s pretty pathetic.

I stopped to sketch this at about four o’clock in the afternoon facing southeast from Eureka Summit, Alaska. It was -20 degrees Fahrenheit. Lots of blues and purples with an orange glow in the sky.

Winter Eureka Moon at Four O'Clock

Alaska Winter Moon at Four O’Clock/Eureka

Along with many other people, I’ve been thinking about goals and direction at this beginning of a new year. My favorite thing to do is to teach in a way that encourages students. I love to see people “get it”. I want to get some watercolor demonstrations on this blog and I’ll get around to it. I also want to teach more workshops.

I want to use art to help you to encourage others and this is what I have in mind: I’m going to give twenty-five of my art prints away to your friends!  The only charge will be for shipping: $5.00 in the USA./$7.00 everywhere else. (I also had to charge 1% to make it show up as an item)

Here are the rules:

1) I will ship one print to your friend and charge you only shipping, but remember, it is a gift to your friend. You only get one (one print, not one friend). The site will allow you to order more than one, but I’ll only give one print for this offer.

2) You have to tell me something encouraging to write on your choice of print (ie: “To my amazing Cindy from your ever-loving Tom”, “Thank you for being a friend”,  etc)

3) I’m offering this to my blog readers first(that would be you), then over to my Facebook page in a couple of days, but I’m limiting it to twenty-five of my thirteen prints.

Here is the link.  At checkout, use the code: MyFriend for this offer. You will see where to apply it on the right, near the credit card icons in a blue font. Let me know if you can’t find it by making a comment.