introducing my new travel palette for car & porch sketching. altoid tins are too small for my bear mitts. and i need a larger mixing area. i am messsssssy. i'm trying out the colors to see what i don't use and what i don't have that i might need in here. instead of black i have hematite genuine – a granulating daniel smith. the piemontite genuine is deep dark & delicious. mahogony on steroids that is easily turned into a rich black. shadow violet makes pretty shadows right out of the tube. mixed with a drop of this or that it's intoxicating.
i'm back to car sketching. i returned to a former home i lived in for 6 years another lifetime ago. i parked under a dome of tall trees. my windows open. shafts of morning light beamed down. leaves fell from the camphor trees. a green time machine. where will i go next?
joyce and i had a car sketching episode this morning in montecito. we drew old adobe walls and cactus and palm trees and ladders and shadows.
once you get the sketching bug you sort of don't want to stop. and you don't have to either.
How I love that house where your artistic journey began…what prompted it? Had you ever considered drawing/painting earlier in your life? Was one of your roomies artistic and encouraged you to give it go? Inquiring minds want to know…
I live in a city where most of the neighborhoods (planned communities ) are not older than 20 years. The oldest bldg. is the old Mormon Fort downtown, the former Post Office, now the Mob Museum. There are older homes that have been converted into offices so changes have been made that changed the character of the whole neighborhood. There are few places on The Strip that are of Old Las Vegas…everything has been imploded. The subdivisions all look the same: Tile roofs, faux mediterranean style ricky tacky. UGH!
I’m left with the natural beauty which is in abundance here. So that’s what I’ll have to draw/paint
I too was moved by your comment, “Where my artistic life began” – makes one think of a series of sketches that one could do of windows into other worlds of our own creation. I like this very much indeed.
Adored your trip down memory lane so much Mary Ann. It was pretty cool seeing where all this began. Thanks for sharing. Your paint descriptions are making me thirsty for such awesome colors…they look look yummy. I’ve been creating a little corner paint and sketch area for myself. I tell ya, you are soooo delightfully good at nudging the ‘gotta sketch’ bug…I’ve been setting up all kinds of still life arrangements….so much FUN!!!!!!
I love seeing where your “artistic life” began! Lovely sketch and a wonderful idea to revisit past homes and document them by sketching. Your passion is addictive and I love how you encourage all your readers to join in the fun.
XO
Love the Attic. What fun to go back there and sketch! I feel like I’m missing all the action, however I need to stay focused. If you drop into my blog, the Galeria where I display my work is having an exhibition tomorrow night – my theme is “Animals and Angels”. Did I tell you my dear ‘pookie’ and companion, Habibi, passed away at the age of 5! So sad. Miss him terribly. I guess our babies are waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge. I am rambling. Rock on – the course looks like so much fun. Enjoy! xoDonna
I second Pam re: your color descriptions – DS better be stocking up NOW …. also just have to add that I love this nostalgia infused journal page about your old house ( tugs at my heart strings on so many levels ). Your caption ” the attic where my artistic life began ” is so simple yet at the same time profound, so evocative, so ripe with inspiration for further artistic exploration of the sketchbookery kind.
That house is the same era as mine but without all the additions. My husband has his office in the attic. No sketching but a lot of MicroOffice. Not quite the same.
Damn you and your color descriptions! You know I’m going to have to get that now…you enabler of the best kind. Off to check out Daniel Smith again…