Travels from Rome to Paris 2106

My wife, Barbara, and I traveled to Italy in September of 2016. Fortunately, I decided to take my sketchbooks with me and record the trip in pen, ink and watercolor. This was a trip that we had planned for several years, and had postponed once in 2015 because of medical issues. I had another motive in doing this trip, as well, since I've been asked to send my sketchbooks to a gallery in Folsom, CA for an exhibit there. So, it was my goal to make at least one sketch a day for the 27 days that we were traveling. This might not sound like much, but was a lot for me, as I fill up a sketchbook in about 3-4 months, if I'm lucky. Anyway, enjoy these sketches from our trip to Rome, Cinque Terre, Sienna, Florence, Venice and finally Paris, France. These are not all in order so just have fun jumping around, because I'm too chaotic (and lazy) to put everything into a nice orderly progression.

The Piazza del Rotundo, Rome, Italy

Casa di Dante, Florence, Italy

On the Ferry to Porto Venere, Cinque Terre, Italy

Rooftop view #1, Florence, Italy

Rooftop view #2, Florence, Italy

Church spire and the Duomo, Florence, Italy

Mercado Centrale, Florence, Italy

Rooftop view #3, Florence, Italy

Church of Santa Croce, Florence, Italy

The Piazza del Rotundo, Rome, Italy

La Mason Rose restaurant, Paris, France

Where Maurice Utrillo's mother lived and he painted many times

Lions on the Fountain in front the Cathedral of St. Sulpice, Paris, France

Manarola, Cinque Terre, Italy

The Pantheon, Rome, Italy (built in 127AD)

Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Italy

The Church of the Sacre Coeur, Paris, France

Marble statue in the Medici Chapel, Florence, Italy

View of the Il Campo, Siena, Italy

View-2 of the Il Campo, Siena Italy

15th Century fireplace, Siena, Italy (in our hotel room)

St. Sulpice Cathedral, Paris, France

Tickets to various museums/trains, Italy

Tickets/cards to various Museums, restaurants

vignettes of Venice

Canal - Venice

Vernazza - main piazza, Cinque Terre, Italy

Convent or Monastery on the hill overlooking Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy

Barbara sleeping on the sofa in our rented house in Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy

Sketches of Healdsburg and some of Mexico.

Some sketches that I've done in the last year. Including a portrait of myself.

Cougar at night, a drypoint etching I did on copper. I saw a real one about two years ago, it made a profound impression on me. They say that the cougar are rare and are rarely seen in these areas around my house. We live near open space that goes all the way to the Mayacama mountains to the east of Healdsburg.

Happy 91st Birthday Mom

This is a painting that I just finished to celebrate my mother's 91st Birthday. She is still active and going strong in her ninth decade. Her ability to live at home and keep up with her daily chores is amazing. She has help from my stepfather who is 7 years her junior (he's her second husband), and they have professional help from a team of house keepers (Lulu and her daughter Lolita)  and a gardener who mows the lawn every two weeks. I think she still has her drivers license, and drives only on the back streets down to the local stores. For her age she has tenacity and strength just like the Mighty Oak.

January 5, 2011

Well, Happy New Year.
I'm about to send in my Sketchbook for the Sketchbook project. Here are some of the newest sketches.  I'm really happy with the look of these. I'm using a red-brown Micron pen and three Faber-Castell pen brushes that give the sketches an old-world look. I still like the the work of Da Vinci and Michelangelo...

SketchCrawl day Oct. 16th

Today was a Sketch Crawl Day and my friend Richard and I met up with a few fellow sketchers at the Pacific Air Museum at the Santa Rosa Airport. I was a cold and gray day, very unlike the day before, which was warm and sunny. Many of the Rural Sketchers ( a group I belong to)  didn't show this day.

Sikorsky H-34 

Grumman Albatross

Art on the Plaza — Sketchbook Project 2011 Sept and Oct.

This is my first attempt to share my work with a greater audience. I've been sketching for many years now, over 30. My friend Richard said I should blog and join Urban Sketchers. I'm excited to see if this works. I will attempt to place these sketches in the context of where and when I sketched them. I am working on a sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2011. If want to know more, go to the web page www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject.

These are not in order, but I don't think that matters.

Art on the Plaza September,25 2010

This sketch is actually two sketches that sort of merged together, you can see the woman on the left is off the ground a bit. My friend and I were sitting in the shade because the day was hot (90°) and we didn't want to move around too much. We were in the back of some tables, so this is a behind the table view. The tents didn't have flags on the tops, but I put them on because they gave the whole scene a more festive touch. Forgive me for adding a little something that wasn't there. Place: "Art in the Plaza", Healdsburg, CA. September 25th, 2010.

Art on the Plaza September,25 2010

This was a warm-up drawing and a sketch of a woman admiring Richard's sketchbook. Richard is my neighbor and a fellow sketchbook artist.

Art on the Plaza September,25 2010

This was a quick sketch of people at the art on the plaza. She stood there for a second then turned away. I only had time to do the head and arms. I had to remember the rest.

The Guy was sitting looking at his smart phone or PDA device. I think I got a good sketch of him.

 

Art on the Plaza September,25 2010 

This woman was sitting and I thought that I would get a nice long pose... no way she got up and moved almost as soon as I started drawing her.

The guy holding onto the umbrella was there for quite a while. But, he also left before I was finished.

A brillian fall day in the Plaza

This was done about a month later on November 1st, 2010, but It's the bandstand in the park where the Art on the Plaza was held. This drawing sort of fits with this theme. I bought some Faber-Castel brush pens and thought I would see what I could do with it. It's not watercolor, which I like to use , but they are very portable and don't bleed through the thin Mole Skin sketch book.