Beech Hill 2

Another Beech Hill painting. It's about 30x15.

Searsmont Village

Motorcycle Diaries. Searsmont village sketches on 7/20. Watercolor and pencil in my sketchbook.

Jack

This is Jack. He's an architect that lives and works out in the sticks.

When I first moved to Maine, I worked as a draftsman in Jack's office. It was there, with Jack, that I really learned how to draw. Not the computer kind of drawing that most architects were doing but drawing by hand - pencil in hand to large sheets of vellum. We drew buildings, of course - but these buildings and houses Jack conceived of and designed were like fine furniture or sculptures that you could live in - beautifully thoughtful, inspiring and magical places. These buildings and the landscapes they were situated in demanded that they be drawn beautifully to communicate their stature and sense of place. Jack does this better than anyone I know. He taught and inspired me to put "life" into the drawings we produced and I carry that intention with me to this day. Thank you Jack.

22x15 pencil and watercolor. #202

Sarah

This is Sarah. She's an architect friend. I met her when I moved to Maine about 15 years ago. We were in a small study group made up of architects, designers, builders, and a writer. We were reading "The Nature of Order", a series of 4 books by Christopher Alexander - almost two thousand pages - that attempts to unite the art of building with the nature of the universe.We met for over 3 years, once a month, and we still didn't finish the books.

15x20 acrylic on handmade watercolor paper. #198

Ronda and Grazalema

The last part of our trip to Spain was a bike trip through the mountains of Andalucia near Ronda and Grazalema. Here are a few sketches from that part of the trip.

Seville

In Seville, I met up with fellow urban sketchers JoseMaria Lerdo de Tejada,Alfonso Garcia Garcia, and Deborah Ordonez Torres and spent an afternoon walking, sketching, drinking cervezas and eating tapas.

Alhambra

Two sketches from our recent trip to Spain. These are from Granada where we visited the Alhambra.

Charlotte Church

A church on S. Brevard St. near 4th.in downtown Charlotte. I guess that would make this a Charlotte Church. :) In my 8x10 Handbook journal.

Divorce Court

This is about my divorce in 2007 but it's also about my marriage. If you read it from left to right it starts with the Toyota T100 truck I bought when we first moved to Maine. Simpler architecture transitioning to more complex. Two buildings that are so architecturally different but connected. The actual divorce decree is printed on the parking lot and was presented to me behind the large grid work of windows in the center reflecting blue skies. And that's my little Mini that I currently drive on the far right.

Ecuadorian Church

Divorced

I had this idea when I was working on the Courthouse painting to make it about my divorce in 2007. It is the site of the finalization and when I see this building it is what I remember. 

Longfellow Square

This is Longfellow Square in Portland, Maine - the intersection of State Street and Congress. The statue on the left is of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - one of America's most popular poets and much loved in Portland. I sat here last Sunday and sketched this scene. Many people walked by me as I was drawing - most of the ones that stopped appeared to be homeless. My experience with the homeless is limited to mostly seeing them when I'm in my car at busy intersections with signs asking for money. I would say, in the course of the hour and a half I spent sketching this out, maybe 15 or so stopped to see what I was doing. Nobody asked me for money - they just wanted to see the drawing. Some would chat for awhile. Others would toss out a compliment and move on. One guy offered to pay me to do a painting of his church. Now I know this is sad, but for the first time in my life, I didn't feel like I was on the other side of them. They weren't asking me for my money or help - we were just relating on equal terms - human to human. Isn't Art (and poetry) great at bringing us all together?

Boulder

These sketches are in my 8x10 Handbook watercolor journal. Pencil, Pitt Brush pen and watercolor

LOVE

The color version...

Rockland Sketches

The Knox County Courthouse New vs. Old.

Belfast

Sketching at Boynton McKay

I sketch here at lunch often. Going after Alvaro's feeling. 

Alvaro!

I was in a workshop last week with Alvaro Castagnet - amazing painter from Uruguay. I like the atmosphere, mood, passion, and mystery in his paintings and I wanted to see how he comes to it and get a better sense of where he paints from.He did 2 demos every day and we usually painted for a couple of hours each day. This is one I did that he performed some "surgery" on. I found it isn't easy to paint like Alvaro - he is a master of what he does. 

Frontin #4

Down in Rockland near the grain silos, this Coast Guard ship is having some work done on it. This a 10"x22" watercolor but I brought it into Artrage when I got back to repair a mistake I made with drawing the changes in the tide while I was painting. So it's kind of a hybrid watercolor/digital sketch.

Lunchtime Sketch

One of these days I'm going to collect up all the sketches I have made at Boynton McKay and make a book.This is in my 9x11 IBOW sketchbook.