Incarcerated

On the way back from the airport, I stopped at Harbor Park in Rockland. I was going to sketch the Lobster Trap Christmas tree but this scene caught my eye instead. A grouping of boats snug in their white uniforms next to the police station. This is on 12x24 Fluid watercolor paper. Ink, pencil and watercolor.

Camden Center

10"x22" watercolor on Twinrocker paper. Ink, pencil, watercolor

Winter Boats - Take 2

Winter Boats - Take 2, a photo by Camden Sketcher on Flickr.

This is the non-digital version. The digital version I posted earlier was pretty helpful in allowing me to discover how I wanted to finish off this "sketching" (my new term for something between a painting and a sketch). 10"x22" Twinrocker paper. Pencil, Ink & stick, watercolor.

Winter Boats

Winter Boat, a photo by Camden Sketcher on Flickr.

Rockport Harbor - the boats have been put up for Winter. I sketched this over a couple of days on site. The weather has been in the thirties so the watercolor is taking a little longer to dry and I am getting colder quicker. I photographed the unfinished image with my iphone then opened it up in my tablet and worked on it in Photoshop Touch. 10"x22" Twinrocker paper. Pencil, Ink & stick, watercolor with marks and tones added in PS touch.

Harbor Rocks

Harbor Rocks, a photo by Camden Sketcher on Flickr.

I sketched these rocks down by the harbor on a cold afternoon late in the day. My paints started freezing and making some interesting effects . This is on Fluid watercolor paper 8"x20". Pencil and watercolor with some marks and tones added in PS Touch.

The Backyard

The Backyard, a photo by Camden Sketcher on Flickr.

A very quick sketch at the end of the day. Added some marks and tones in Photoshop Touch later. This is in my 12"x8" Moleskine watercolor journal.

The Prophets Bike

The Prophets Bike, a photo by Camden Sketcher on Flickr.

Down at the harbor this morning with Alex I sketched this bike. This is on 12x24 Fluid watercolor paper. Pencil, Ink, and watercolor.

Wayfarers Marine

This is my 3rd day in a row down at the harbor. I was looking for a different subject matter but this scene sort of captured me. 8"x20" Fluid watercolor paper. Pencil, Ink and stick, watercolor

Winter Coats

Winter Coats, a photo by Camden Sketcher on Flickr.

Camden Harbor on November 20th. 12x24 Watercolor with pen and pencil

Passion and Poetry

The other night I was in a semi-awake dream place and four words were rolling around in my mind - Passion. Poetry. Color. Line. They all have a relationship to my art but it wasn't until I was sketching this morning that they pulled together for me. The color is the passion. Bold, loose and free. The line is the poetry. Each stroke, shade, smudge, variation in weight have meaning. I love it.

Life Drawing

I just started drawing and painting on Tuesday nights in Rockland with a Life Drawing Group. The figure is one of my weaknesses so I really want to work on this area. Most of the people in this group work pretty large. I may try that next week but for the longer poses I really want to keep with watercolor. I'm working in a 9x12 Strathmore Visual Journal..

President Barack Obama

10"x14" Watercolor on handmade Twinrocker paper

Halloween Orange

I painted a few pumpkins this October. This one is from an outing with Ron Frontin's watercolor class. 11x17

King Eiders Pub

In Damariscotta to see Pat Metheny's latest film project. I arrived at sunset and sat in my car to sketch this in the fading light.

Malala

Malala, a photo by Camden Sketcher on Flickr.

An amazing young girl. Sketched on a Samsung Note 10.1

Mick

Mick, a photo by Camden Sketcher on Flickr.

17"x11" Watercolor in Paynes Gray

Pumpkin Color

It's still summer but Autumn is in the air. The leaves are changing, the nights are cooler, and today Ron brought 3 pumpkins to class and asked us to paint quick sketches using some different brushwork and immediate color. I did 3 and this is my favorite.

Lights and Love

In Boston last month for a small renovation project. At Ole' restaurant on the left and at The Independence restaurant in Union Square on the right page. In both sketches, I was most interested in the light fixtures but the young couple on the left also caught my eye. I imagine it was their first date.

Munjoy Hill

This is a quick sketch of the Portland Observatory in the neighborhood of Munjoy Hill in Portland, ME in my Moleskine Journal.

Restaurant Row II

Long Grain, Zoots, Cafe Mediterranean in my Moleskine watercolor journal

Restaurant Row

This chain of buildings is one of my favorites in downtown Camden. They're shacks really. Restaurants seem to come and go through these 3 buildings. I like the current lineup. On the far left is Long Grain, a wonderful Thai restaurant that is small but hugely popular with both tourists and locals. Next door in the middle is Zoots, a coffee shop/bakery/internet hangout that has had some staying power - it's been here for 6 years now. And to the right is Cafe Mediterranean, the place to go if you want hummus or falafel. I chose drawing tools that suited the buildings - a stick and ink.

Bayview Cinema

Saturday afternoon I walked downtown and sketched this view of the old Bayview Cinema. I really miss this cinema. Until a few years ago it was a pretty active theater showing lots of interesting films. The place next to the doors where movie posters used to announce the current feature and the movie to come are now filled with flyers. But the movie stars still  live in the 2nd floor windows overlooking Bayview Street. That's W.C. Fields over the front door. I used to come here with my mom when she was alive. One of the last movies we saw here together was The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

Lake Camp

A larger format watercolor sketch - about 8"x22"

SDQ

Sketching people at the airport is interesting. Sometimes I get "caught" drawing them and then they become sort of self conscious about being drawn. These folks were right in front of me so they caught me sketching them pretty early on but they played along. I love the body language going on here.

Deep Blue

Alex and I just got back from the 3rd International Urban Sketching Symposium in Santo Domingo. This was my first sketch of the trip. We flew from Portland to New York and had some time to grab a bite to eat at Deep Blue Sushi restaurant. This sketch looks like Alex is deeply blue about his empty bowl of miso soup. Actually, he is playing a game on his iphone...

Monster Steeple

Alex and I went down by the harbor the other day to sketch the boats but instead we ended up and sketching the church steeple across from the harbor. I got the proportions dreadfully wrong. Tomorrow we head off to Santo Domingo to the Urban Sketchers Symposium. Should be lots of fun.

Across the Lake

Not my usual technique - it's a bit dark and loose for me but I'm not completely put off by it. I do like parts of it. This is the view across the lake from our house.

Village Restaurant

The view out to Camden Harbor through these two buildings caught my eye the other day. This one went into my 3.5"x5.5" Handbook Journal

Still Life

Camden Soldiers Monument

Friday was a beautiful evening in Camden. I sketched this to the sounds of the Earth Maiden performance in the amphitheater nearby. 

Megunticook Camp

Alex and I kayaked out to an Island the other day and sketched. This little house tucked into the woods caught my eye.

Key West Street Art

While waiting for a table, I walked around the corner and sketched this scene. A woman in the house across the street came out to see what I was doing. She offered me an appetizer and proceeded to tell me that black slaves were hung in the building I was sketching. I'm not sure if this is true but it gave new meaning to the experience of sketching that night.

Key West

This is the start of a new journal. This time a little 3.5"x5.5" Handbook Journal. These were done in Key West and they're pretty quick little sketches. I'm filling this book up pretty fast. This is near Blue Heaven - a great restaurant with lots of cool history. If you want to get a feel for it, check out this little video.

Gate B35

In Boston waiting for my flight to Miami, I sketched this blue American Airlines vehicle from above. These kinds of things are so much fun - I had never seen a vehicle quite like this so it's fun to draw something completely new. The light on it was great and I liked the shadow it cast on the pavement. And I knew about how much time I had before boarding so I paced myself pretty well. This worked out to be a 30 minute sketch and it's about 9"x8" in my large watercolor Handbook Journal.

4.20.12

On the airplane from Rockland to Boston I sat in the copilots seat and drew the instrument panel.

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Sketched from one of my Galapagos photos of a Marine Iguana in my 5x8 Handbook Journal.

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