Month: February 2019

Roosters on the lam

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Out at the barn adjacent to The MIlleridge Inn, a local restaurant, live a flock of roosters. They sneak under the fencing and chicken wire enclosure and have a gay old time strutting their stuff in the parking lot oblivious to vehicles and gawkers. Due to February weather in NY, I painted these in my mobile studio.

I am becoming rather smitten with these feathery fellows as it really allows me to play with my Rosemary &Co. 1/2″ sword in a very calligraphic way. While it is usual for me to not put down pencil first, in these instances it would be a fool’s errand. They scuttle around so quickly that they would long be gone as I was just getting an indication of the back tails in graphite. Laying down instantaneous color on clean paper in a wet on wet and dry brush manner is my only chance.

One actually flew onto my minivan hood and tried to get onto the roof by climbing the front windshield. I felt like I was in a scene of Hitchcock’s, The Birds, until I saw him sliding down the same windshield; then, it was pretty comical.

As the weather permits, I am sure to go back repeatedly as they are equally fun to paint as they are to watch. Stay tuned for more barnyard antics!

The Restaurant Barn

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So there is a restaurant near me that’s on a compound. It has a little village with a cute ice cream parlor and a gift shoppe or two. On the restaurants other side, it is flanked by a small barnyard. There are a couple of donkeys, a pig or two, several pea hens and a peacock and many roosters in all different sizes and shapes. I had a little time midday and stopped by to paint the barn. This was my first go at it and I am not to displeased, which is a polite way of saying it doesn’t suck. It was an very light red barn so getting the values right was a challenge.

I will return in the near future to have another go at it. There are unresolved issues here and I have enough to keep me up at night without worrying about a barn.


The Waiting Game

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Okay, so there I am in another Dr.’s waiting room. It’s only been about 10 minutes and I am almost impatient to the point of no return when I remember I have my sketch kit with me. Oh so saving the day!

It’s my mini carry set: Stillman and Birn Beta book, small repurposed eye shadow case filled with Daniel Smith watercolors from tubes, some water brushes a cut square of Trader Joe’s kitchen counter wipe and some fountain pens. The upper left for the woman was inked with Papier Plume’s Pecan ink, You can see on the subtle washes on her, done by simply adding water to the ink. magnifique! On some papers, the Pecan ink washes turn a pale green and pink depending on how much water you add. The Orange background was something I added at home, I was looking for a way to join all of these ink drawings into a cohesive sketching event. It even worked for the computer I spied while waiting in the examining room for the Dr. ( below)

In the end, the exam went well, I got some great sketches and my test results were negative. What more can you ask for!? ( well, my kids used to get cool stickers when they went to the Drs…….)