My drawing students are used to me telling them, “You can be fast or you can be good; I get to be both.” The braggadocio recently got tested. Someone had an art emergency, and gave me about 5 drawing days to complete a commissioned pencil drawing. There were more calendar days than just five, but […]
August is my Worst Favorite Month
My longest running drawing student Mae borrowed a photo of this cabin from me and drew it when she was brand new to drawing (but experienced at watercolor painting). She put in in an art show where local history buff and old friend Alan George insisted that it had been drawn by me, despite her […]
Iconic Three Rivers Business Drawing Inching forward
No time for jibber-jabber. There’s a big drawing that needs a ton of time! So much measuring.* Oooh, those tiny letters. See you tomorrow. *OF COURSE I MEASURE! If it took tools to build it, it takes tools to draw it.
Drawing an Iconic Business in Three Rivers
Reimer’s Candies and Ice Cream is a destination and a landmark in Three Rivers, California. It is now on its fourth owner in my lifetime, and it is just as busy as ever, just as popular, just as magnetic. I drew it for the second owners, people with the name of Reimer, who bought it […]
Two in the Wild
A faraway friend got a thrill and texted me about it. She was in the downtown area of her town, went into a gift shop, and was floored to see two pencil drawings of Mineral King. Upon recognizing them, she took some photos and texted me. These were reproduction prints which used to be my […]
Beach Birds or Shore Birds?
I got to know someone from New Jersey when I attended college in San Diego. Most of us said “beach”, but our New Jersey suite mate said “shore”. Actually I think she said “sho-ah”. The owners of my pier drawing asked me to draw some “shore birds”, but I think they are both native Californians. […]
July is Here!
I don’t remember what pier this is. It is somewhere on the Central California coast. I might be at jury duty today. After I got the summons, I sent in the excuse form which said that I am unavailable most months of the year except July, August, and December, when I am not teaching drawing […]
Eager to Draw
Last year some fine folks of impeccable taste bought this pencil drawing. A few months later, they saw this drawing on my blog and decided it would be a nice companion to the pier. It would, but whoever owns it would likely disagree. Fortunately for these fine folks of impeccable taste, I accept commissions; fortunately […]
A Day of Pencil | Three Drawings
On a recent hot day, as I was preparing to go down the hill to teach drawing lessons, the gallery curator texted me to say the A/C wasn’t working. So, I immediately texted (almost) all my students* and cancelled. We had some chitchat, and one of my most motivated students said she had started a […]
It’s June
This is Hume Lake as seen from the footbridge that crosses Ten-Mile Creek on the end of the lake toward the dam. For the past eight summers, I’ve had an idyllic reunion with a childhood friend at her Hume cabin. It is modest and rustic, and our times there are a real bright spot in […]