Tall, Tall Trees!

I love the really tall trees in my neighborhood - firs, pines, even a couple of redwoods.  I finally thought of this format to try showing the real scale of these trees. First, I made an accordian sketchook using 140# watercolor paper.  Then, I sketched in a couple of trees and the houses under them using pen and ink.  I've just started - after adding some more detail in pen, I'll add in some color.  The sketchbook is 30" x 8".  The reverse panels will have sketches of spring flowers and flowering trees.

First day of 2012 over 60 degrees F!

Enjoying the sun and a latte, and, of course, sketching . . . .

Jack, the yellow lab had a hard time sitting still.  My technique for animals is to rough in the body shape, which, if you're lucky, will be still.  Then, just sketch several versions of the head in different positions.  The end result looks a bit like "Fluffy", the 3-headed dog in Harry Potter, but I find that most dogs will have 2 or 3 different head positions that will re-occur enough to sketch them in.

When I'm looking for a parking space, the parked cars look like they're never going to move.  So, I was somewhat surprised by how often the cars I was trying to sketch moved on.  I'm trying to practice getting a whole street into one small sketch, also, I find cars very difficult to portray - so, it's always good to practice them.

A simpler scene.  I love drawing bikes and their shadows.  Alas, this bike was retrieved and ridden off before I got very far.