Downstream

"Downsteam," oil on panel, 9x12

This springtime view of the streambed of Druid Hill Creek was done during the early days when foliage on the honeysuckle undergrowth was just emerging. I set up my pochade box just above, on the bank. The rock in the stream has fallen from rip rap that was used along the banks for erosion control. The stream is maybe six inches deep.

Outdoor Oil

Painting outdoors ("en plein aire" if you want to be fancy) is a great way practice careful observation. A session of studying the world in all its myriad shapes, colors, arrangements and more gives an artist the opportunity to not only see the world but also to translate it, to make it attractive or at least acceptable to the eventual observers. Plein air painting forces the artist to confront the world, as a teacher of mine used to say. 

"Grays Lake North Shore," oil on panel, 12x9

This oil is a good example of my outdoor work. The trees on the opposite bank were lush and very dark green. The challenge for me working outside is the million hue and shade of green, complicated by the infinite variety of tree shapes, leaf shapes, and more. I did this one standing on the northern shore of Grays Lake, near my studio. I've painted there many times, often choosing to focus narrowly on a small portion of the shore. This was late summer so that the surrounding woods and trees are fully leafed.  

Skyline

"Rooflines," wc/ink on paper, 

Last Saturday the sketch group splintered into smaller groups. Some of us went to the Botanical Center, on the east bank of the Des Moines River. Some painted in other spots. I went to the park next to the river, just downstream from the dome of the Botanical Center, where I could sketch the downtown Des Moines skyline, The tallest building houses the home of Principal Insurance, a locally-based firm. The dark brown building is the Ruan Center, named for a trucking firm that built it nearly 50 years ago. The Asian roof is the top of a pavilion in the Robert Ray Park on the river bank. The graceful arch is actually the top of a pedestrian bridge you can take to go to the opposite bank. 

 

Veterans

Although I do watercolors of automobile subjects, they rarely figure in my oil paintings. Nonetheless, over the years I've done quite a few watercolor sketches of pickups and cars. This particular work was done one Friday while I sat in the shade across the street from a local antique car dealer. The two cars in the sketch were both painted and accessorized as police cars. 

"Veterans" wc/ink on paper 5x11

"Veterans" is two late 1950s Chevrolets. One is a '57 and the other a "55. Long ago I actually owned a 1957 BelAir that resembled this one. Antique cars of that vintage now sell for enormous prices, depending on condition. 

 

The Dock

"Grays Lake Dock," wc/ink on paper, ~5x15

Last weekend we selected Grays Lake for a visit from the sketch group. As always, of course, people chose other venues too. I set up on a picnic table near the parking lot, by a floating dock they put out every summer. Two guys were on the dock but weren't fishing. In the distance across the lake you could just see a pedestrian walkway that skirts the opposite shore. 

This began as a graphite sketch, after which I added watercolor. The two fishermen on the dock and the dock itself were accented with ink. 
 

Goldsworthy Group

Andy Goldsworthy has a piece in the garden surrounding the Des Moines Art Center entitled Three Cairns. Materials used in Goldsworthy's art include natural materials, from flowers, leaves, and twigs to stone. This is because of his intense commitment to nature and an intent to work with its entirety. The piece is just south of the Art Center buildings, situated just by rose garden that's currently in full flower.  The three large cairns are perhaps 8 feet tall while a central, pear-shaped cairn is perhaps five feet. The pieces are limestone, carefully dressed and laid without mortar. The Art Center's original building is clad in a similar limestone. There are two other cairns, one in New York and one in San Diego, which with this one form a nation-wide sculptural group. 

"Goldsworthy Group[," wc/ink on paper ~5x14"

Our sketch group elected to stay on the grounds of Greenwood Park, which contains the Art Center, rose garden and a number of outdoor sculptures, including works by Richard Serra and Henry Moore, among others. I sat at the edge of the rose garden on a stone bench to draw Three Cairns in the wooded area they occupy. Built in 2002, these have become popular as backgrounds for wedding photos and other significant events, as happened Saturday. A bride and groom in full dress were posing among the cairns while several of us worked away. 

Because I enjoy a panoramic view I started on the left side of the open sketchbook with a fairly detailed graphite sketch then proceeded directly to full-bodied watercolor, sometimes trying for translucent or transparent effects, sometimes trying for opacity by loading thicker, nearly dry pigment for dark values. After I was mostly satisfied with the colors and values I accentuated parts of the cairns to emphasize the center of interest.

 

Sculpture Park Panorama

"Sculpture Park View," wc/ink on paper, 5x16

Last week I stopped at the Pappajohn Sculpture Park downtown and spent a couple of hours on a view of one of the sculptures and the contemporary buildings across the street. The sculpture is T-8, a huge work (28.6 × 24 × 37 ft.) by Mark di Suvero, an abstract expressionist whose sculptures reside in U.S. collections and worldwide. The artist is well-known for having made cranes and heavy equipment part of his sculptural tools. He takes great pride in making and assembling is art on-site. This particular work was one of the group originally donated to the city by John and Mary Pappajohn. The long building across the street was designed by Renzo Piano (famous for the Pompidou Center in Paris) as headquarters for the Krause Group, based here.  

As ever this watercolor began as a graphite sketch, then watercolor and ink were applied to finish.  

Grays Lake Sketch

"Grays Lake," wc/ink on paper, 5x10

As a personal exercise in keeping sketches loose and not overwork them, I did the sketch above in perhaps forty minutes, sitting a shady parking spot at Grays Lake in the park not far from my studio. It was a wonderful late spring day with a soft south breeze. The lake was smooth, placid, the color of polished pewter. I was drawn by the old, v-shaped tree and the rocky bank. The work was a standard graphite sketch followed by watercolor, then inked details here and there. 

In the Garden

"Lantern," oil on canvas, 20x16

Sometimes a limited perspective is useful. This painting focuses on a metal reproduction of an Asian lantern hanging on a shepherd's crook in one of my gardens. The retaining wall behind and the trees above formed a wonderful backdrop in this shady spot. 

This particular work has been a favorite of mine and remains in my private collection
 

Anthony's Garden Redux

Our Saturday sketch group revisited a favorite spot last weekend--a private garden that welcomed us warmly a couple of weeks ago. The day was delightfully sunny with a faint breeze. Our group scattered through the garden, many finding a place to sketch near the tall central fountain. Although I've drawn this particular feature numerous times, it continues to be a challenge. Giant mature trees and well-maintained hedges and shrubs add to the peaceful atmosphere. Although this is a working fountain and was running at the time I chose to depict it without attempting to render the myriad rivulets and splashes. 

As is my usual practice, I began with a fairly accurate graphite drawing of the fountain. When drawing any vertical object--bottles for example--it's useful to establish a vertical as a center line and draw the symmetrical parts equally distant. In general, when drawing it's useful to draw shapes rather than objects, so I made the bowl shapes match as closely, side to side, as possible. 

After drawing, I added colors in a range of values and chroma. The changing colors of the fountain were the result of reflected sun, since the basin below is painted blue. To bring the fountain forward in the image I added ink lines to show shapes and suggest ornamentation. Distant shapes like the windows were kept looser, with edges considerably less distant. 

 

 

Demo Garden

For the past several years, the gardens downtown that are part of Better Homes and Gardens magazine have been an occasional sketching subject. The gardens are beautiful in concept and execution, and represent outstanding examples of garden design and maintenance. Because the gardens are used for various publications and purposes, they are only open to the public Fridays, noon to 2pm, May through September. 

"Better Homes Test Garden," wc/ink

Last Friday was my first visit to the gardens this year, on a beautiful late spring day. The sun was out and a light breeze played through the branches above. I sat in the central paved area--patio?--at one of several wrought iron tables, next to its central, multi-tier fountain. Others were sitting here and there while more toured the pathways among glowing flower beds. My view was to the north, toward downtown Des Moines but screened by large evergreens and deciduous trees. In front of those were bright red Japanese maples, stuck by mid-day sun and footed by a small green meadow. In front of the green, spiral-trunked crabapples stood like sentinels. The fountain bubbled and frothed just to my left as I tried to capture the multiple layers, colors and textures. This sketch began as a graphite sketch to which watercolor and ink were added.

Plein Air Sketch

This week one of our sketch group members kindly hosted us at her (and her husband's) farm a few dozen miles from Des Moines. Their farm occupies a big patch of rolling prairie east of the city, where they raise cattle and lease much of it to others. Lisa, our host, has a small studio in a converted shed on the farm, which has many subjects for sketching--huge grain bins, barns, farm implements of all sorts (historical and contemporary). They even have a century-old Ford farm truck in running order. 

"At Lisa's Farm," oil on panel, 9x12

When I paint outdoors I'm desperate at first to cover as much of the bright white bareness as I can. For green landscapes--pretty common--I start by washing the surface with burnt sienna or an earth red, thinned to a watery consistency. After that wash-in I sometimes work the red earth monochrome into a relatively detailed underpainting, but sometimes I move on more quickly and loosely. In this case I washed the lower half or so with red earth, leaving the sky area white. Then I laid in the series of conical shapes that constitute the evergreens as simple loose shapes. The shed (her studio) was too red so I wiped out much of the red color with a piece of rag and turp. The brushes I used for those steps were the largest in my roll. 

Next I mixed a series of greens using cerulean blue, sap green, ivory black, cad yellow and y. ochre. and used them to paint the trees and grassland, varying the mixes without premixing, doing all wet-in-wet. The studio building was simplified and horizontals added to suggest distant grassland (left) and tree shadows (right) to provide an illusion of depth. Working with progressively smaller brushes I painted the building carefully to separate values and give it volume and shape. Then working into the foreground I used lighter mixes of green, raising the chroma and enlarging the brush strokes to suggest the more near grassy patches. During the entire painting process I was at pains to keep the vast majority of edges soft and vague, saving sharper shapes for emphasis--note the studio eaves and roof line and the peaks of a limited number of evergreens. The piece is still wet and unsigned, pending a rest and further review. 

Sabasa

"Maria Garcia Perez de Castro, after Goya," oil on gessoed hardboard, 24x18

As I've written in previous posts, copying master paintings has long been a practical way for painters to learn how those masters achieved their effects, particularly with oil paint. Of course copy practice with other media can be very helpful, too. But most of my copying has been oil masterworks, from Goya to Leyendecker to Rembrandt to Rockwell. Recently I unearthed a copy I made more than 20 years ago of a beautiful work by Francisco Goys. It is a portrait of Maria Garcia Perez de Castro, who was known to friends as Sabasa. Goya painted her in 1804, supposedly after he saw her while he was doing her uncle's portrait. Struck by her beauty, he asked permission to portray her as well. The actual portrait was very challenging, particularly, the shawl. If you click the link above you can compare the original to my copy.

Anthony's Garden

"Anthony's Garden," wc/ink on paper

Last weekend the sketchers decided to visit different parts of the city for plein air work. I went to a private garden in the Sherman Hill district of Des Moines, which is an area of houses and apartments dating to a period from the late 19th century to the early 20th, with many fine examples of Victorian architecture. One of the places we sometimes go is this private garden, which Anthony, the owner and gardener, has made into an oasis of green filled with flowers, fountains, any much more. 

It was a warm, sunny day and my companion and I had a wonderful couple of hourse. 

The workflow on this one began as a graphite drawing, then it was painted, then inked.  

Honeysuckle Haze

"Honeysuckle Haze, watercolor on paper, 7x5

This watercolor dates to a few weeks ago, after my post about the hazy green of spring, but before warming temperatures and abundant rain brought the flush of new green to trees and undergrowth. These hardy, brushy plants open tiny yellow-green buds over dark ground and twiggy wood before nearly any other plants. The creek even looks dark this time of year. 

Even two weeks after my first sketch the tiny honeysuckle leaves had opened only a little, their green haze thicker and more obscuring. The other visible greens came from sparse grass along the banks. .

I painted this from my studio window, looking north along Druid Hill Creek. 
 

State Park

The weather last weekend was particularly fine--warmer, sunny, and less wind. The sketch group went to Walnut Wood State Park, which is only five miles or so from where we meet. We had anticipated that a big field of bluebells would be in flower, but warm weather had accelerated their fading, so none could be found. Nonetheless, I sat at a picnic bench and sketched one of the park buildings. I changed it from a rather rustic sanitary facility to a cozy cabin, but otherwise the scene is pretty accurate. The west entrance of the park is at the end of the receding road. The most enjoyable part of this little piece was the dark values. 
 

Courtyard

When the weather moderates in the spring, people come to the Des Moines Art Center courtyard for lunch. A small cafe comprising maybe ten tables expands with outdoor seating. It's a cool, shady spot with a big reflecting pool, views into the galleries and a big bronze sculpture. 

Last week I spend an hour there, sketching the contribution of Richard Meier to the architecture of the Art Center. The original building, opened in 1948, was designed by Eliel Saarinen, the renowned Finnish architect who designed many landmark buildings in the 1940s and 1950s. The second building, by I.M. Pei, who also designed the pyramid entrance of the Louvre, enclosed the courtyard on the south. The Meier building is much more than the cafe in the corner of the courtyard; it's about twice the size of the Pei but that part of the three story addition can't be seen inside the courtyard. 

"In the Courtyard," wc/ink on paper

This is a watercolor and ink sketch done similarly to many others. I begin with a graphite drawing, add watercolor, then ink and then more color if needed.  

The Painter

Most artists acknowledge many influences on their work, from their families to their home countries to mentors and masters from the past. In my case, one of mine is J.C. Leyendecker, an exceptional illustrator from a century or so ago. Leyendecker was an outstanding draftsman whose work is immediately recognizable once you know it. Today he is overshadowed by other famous illustrators--Norman Rockwell for example. I've studied Leyendecker's work and done a number of copies of his works, particularly interested in his brushwork and color palette. 

"Studies," J.C. Leyendecker

This is sourced from a Leyendecker illustration that can be found online showing an elderly painter in smock and beret, cooking a sausage over a charcoal stove. The artist is probably poor, surviving on not much. The work seems to have been intended as a wry comment on Thanksgiving and feasting. But the smock, beard, eyebrows and the figure itself were more interesting to me. Instead of an outright copy, I decided to use the master's work as a jumping off point. 

In my painting, the old painter is not cooking but instead is looking directly at us, the viewers, and holding out a loaded paintbrush. The implication intended is that we the viewers are the subject of his painting. As you can see below, my work owes a great deal to Leyendecker's but is an original idea superimposed on his.

"The Painter," oil on panel, 16x12, 2008. Private collection

 

Greening Iowa

The season seems to have turned at last. Days are longer, skies brighter, and crucially the world is greening. In the parks and along waterways, honeysuckle is lush and leafy. The grasses are that deep arresting green of springtime. And now the giants of the woods are greening at their tops. 

"Spring in Waterworks Park," wc/ink

The sketch group, mindful of new flowering in Waterworks Park, elected almost to the person to sketch there last week. The sun was bright but the wind was strong and cold. I sat on a bench in the sun, back to the wind, and drew this sketch in a fair bit of detail using pencil. When I got cold I went back to my car and inked the drawing while I warmed up then went back outside to paint. After that it was again time for the car and a few finishing grace notes with ink and paint. 

 

Mountain Study

"Mountain Study," oil on panel, 6x8

When you live here in the upper Midwest, you don't see mountains. There are big hills, even distant vistans, but no true mountains. Most of Iowa is rolling or flat plains. One of my personal exercises is to imagine other landscapes and other climes. Clearly, either photos or previous travels, or both, have been useful. 

In Mountain Study I was interested not only in the trees and colors but in depth. To suggest distant mountains meant light values and virtually no identifiable edges, with distant colors going bluer and bluer and more and more pale. Studies like this can translate into believable works on a much larger scale. 

Pappajohn Sculpture Park

 

"Sculpture Park View," wc/ink on paper

At the west end of downtown the Pappajohn Sculpture Park occupies almost five acres of parkland reclaimed during around of urban renewal over fifteen years ago. The Park was the brain child of the Pappajohns who also donated their expansive eollection of contemporary sculptures. The park was designed as a kind of outdoor museum, with :"rooms" made by berms and fencing, with serious consideration given to viewing experiences. The landscape architects considered views from cars passing on either side, views from the sidewalks, and views from the interior toward points of importance. 

A group of the Saturday sketchers went to the Sculpture Park last weekend. I sat on a bench and sketched the view toward the downtown skyline to the east, with several sculptures in view (and a few omitted here). The figure on the left is a a hare sitting on a boulder, "Thinker on a Rock" is by Barry Flanagan as an homage to Rodin's famous figure. A duplicate is in the National Gallery. Just it's right is a headless life size figure "Post Balzac," by Judith Shea, a sculptural allusion to Rodin's study for a monument to the famou French writer. And to the right of that is one of Louise Bourgeois' spiders, which is perhaps seven feet tall. The early spring colors are still muted but the grass is turning bright greens. 

Winter on the Creek

Although most of my current work is either oil or watercolor, in the past I've explored the use of casein. Casein paint is made using milk protein with oil to make an emulsion. The paint will keep well in sealed tubes and handles rather like oil, though it's water soluble and dries amazingly fast. In the decades before acrylic paint was introduced, casein (and also gouache) were go-to formulations because of convenience and speed. 

"Winter on the Creek," casein on board, 6x8

This particular work is yet another painting of Druid Hill Creek in winter. The view is similar to others posted in the past.  

Saturday

Last weekend was chilly and Saturday was a grey day. Nonetheless, spring is well along here--crocus and narcissi, forsythia all blooming or budding. The sketch group decided on Waterworks Park since the flowering trees in the arboretum are starting to bloom and along the river honeysuckle is almost out. 

"Bridge on the Raccoon," wc/ink, abt 5x10

Two Saturdays ago (March 31) the group went to the same destination. I did a panoramic sketch of the old bridge there that spans the Raccoon River. When we were there this time it occurred to me that doing a different view of the same subject might be instructive. Unlike two weeks ago, there was no one else there. I parked and did the sketch above. As ever, I began with a graphite sketch, laid in color, inked much of the bridge then refined color, value and edges. This took maybe an hour and a half. 

Spring Haze

Along Druid Hill Creek are uncountable wild honeysuckle bushes that often burst into leaf this time of year. They're a principal part of the undergrowth along the banks during summer, when the foliage is so thick and abundant you can't see the creek below. This time of year though, the bare brown-black banks and green-brown water reflect bare trees above. And this time of year the partially-open leaf buds give the woods a spring green haze, just at the tops of their tiny branches. 

"Honeysuckle Haze," wc/ink on paper, 7x5

When I do sketches of the creek, I stand in a north window of my home studio, which gives me a view straight downstream. The creek swings from a northeasterly to a northern course just under my window. This is a small watercolor painting, not in a sketchbook. The dark skies and near monochromatic landscape are both common in early April, but the honeysuckle haze means spring is truly here.

Waterworks Bridge

Last Saturday our sketch group decided it was time to check out any early budding and spring flowers in Waterworks Park, the enormous park along the Raccoon River, not far from my home studio. The weather has been warming so that there is a faint glow of green and here and there pink-red halos, but no outright flowers and no fully=leafed trees. But the sun was bright in the cold spring air. 

"Waterworks Bridge," wc on paper, 5x14

I sat in my car and sketched this view of an old bridge across the Raccoon River that now carries pedestrians and cyclists into deeper woods, eventually leading to Greenwood Park, a mile or two north, where the Des Moines Art Center is located. This old steel truss bridge probably dates back a century, and it's appropriately rusted and worn. In order to get as much of the approach and a bit of the river into the image I adopted a wide panorama for this one. I sketched the main structure of the bridge but omitted parts that would have been confusing, in favor of the overall image. The trees at either end were actually present, but the near bushes and distant tree line were invented. As many landscape painters do, I "pushed" the chroma of the near bushes and distant trees as well as the blue of the water. In reality the Raccoon is often muddy=brown in spring.  

Druid Hill Gouache

"Aftermath," gouache on gesso panel, 6x8

Although it's one of the art media I've tried, gouache isn't a big part of my practice. Over the years I've done portraits, landscapes and even still life in gouache, but watercolor and oil paintings far outnumber those. Still, there is a silky feel to the paint, a little like oils, and gouache is water soluble like watercolor and acrylic, but opaque. Some call gouache opaque watercolor, actually. 

This work was done looking out my studio window one very snowy day in the middle of February 2020. The weather as I remember it was frigid but sunny, as is often the case following a big storm. 
 

Iowa Pagoda

"Midwestern Pagoda,? wc/ink on paper

Although Des Moines is a medium-size city in the upper Midwest, we have an Asian garden along the river front, a monument to one of Iowa's great governors, Robert Ray. During the era of war in Southeast Asia, Governor Ray was instrumental in saving many Southeast Asian peoples from starvation and/or political oppression. He was the first public official anywhere in the nation to offer safe haven (Iowa) to Vietnamese boat people; and he welcomed Laotian and Cambodian refugees as well, many of whom still live here. The garden not only memorializes the governor but emphasizes to the nation that diversity and inclusion are crucial parts of an open society.  

The weather was beautiful. I sat on a block of stone and sketched the upper roof-lines of the main structure in the garden, a traditional Chinese pagoda, its upturned corners a sharp contrast with contemporary architecture looming on the opposite bank of the river. These tiered roofs are a constant architectural element of pagodas, which traditionally symbolize the Buddhist journey towards enlightenment. Each tier is a different stage of spiritual development. Pagodas are also symbolic of traditional elements fire, air, earth, water; and are revered places of peace and contemplation.

 

 

Uprstream, Spring

"On the Creek Bank, April," mixed media on paper, ~5x8

It won't be long until this image will match the changes along Druid Hill Creek. This particular sketch actually looks upstream toward a small bluff over the eroded channel to the south. The water turns a rusty red-brown when sediment from the uprstream golf course starts to wash down in spring. 

This was done on the spot, in a small sketchbook, but unlike other works this is not only watercolor and ink but there are touches of gouache as well, hence the "mixed media"label. 

Old Favorite

Like most, there are favorites from my past that I sometimes like to see. This one is a small ink and watercolor sketch done around sunrise in Redmond, Washington. We were visiting relatives and the low angle of the sunlight was attractive. This sketch is roughly 6x3 in a pocket sketchbook. I had seen the sunrise behind the nearby pines and above distant evergreens a number of times before doing this small piece. I've often thought it would be a great reference for a larger oil. 

On the Shelf

Of all the subjects I've done in watercolor, still life is the least common. Over the years most of my watercolors have been plein air sketching outdoors, with a sprinkling of interiors done when weather wasn't hospitable for outdoor work.But this subject--three figurines of mine that I see every day--has been on my mind for a while. 

The three figures are quite diverse. There is a netsuke figure, a reproduction of a famous buddha figure, and a reproduction of a gargoyle from Notre Dame. Netsuke are very small, an art form that evolved from a more utilitarian purpose into exquisite works. The buddha is a copy of the Kamakura daibutusu--an enormous bronze statute of Amitabha, a prominent buddha of East Asia. The statue is hollow, nearly 45 feet tall, built about 1252. 

Chandelier

Last weekend the weather was grey and windy. The cold wasn't bad but the lack of shadows and blustery conditions chased the sketchers indoors, mostly (one went out the the river). We went to West End Salvage, one of the places we often choose in such times. It's an architectural salvage concern in an ancient multistory brick warehouse. 

"Chandelier," wc/ink on paper

Attracted by the complex, overlapping shapes, I sat in their coffee bar, sipping a latte, and sketched. The crisscrossing set of heavy beams was one challenge and an antique chandelier that was hung from one of them was another. The only curved shape is the fixture. Getting the perspective and all the triangles and rhombi right was a challenge. 

Shoal

One of the more challenging subjects for me is water. Water is transparent, can be colorless, yet reflects light and refracts (bends) light too. Water can look like a smooth pond surface or an incredibly rough ocean. And besides all of that, water does much of it at the same time. 

"Shoal," oil on panel, 16x20 

This painting was my attempt to render in oil paint what I could see in a still reference of moving water. In this case the subject is a shallow river with a stony bottom. There are small, widely lapping waves that come to the foreground of the image. The water is clear and colorless, revealing smooth, water-shaped stones on the bottom. Light shines through and makes bright lines and spots on the rocks and pebbles. The water is less transparent and more reflective as our line of sight goes upward and rightward, showing us a slight green tinge or reflection on its surface. The slight movement of water also distorts shapes and provides cast shadows here and there. 

"Shoal" was accepted into the Salmagundi Members Spring Auction, an annual show and auction that happens both in person and online. Our club also holds a similar event in fall. This year the auctions take place on March 19 and March 26, online facilitated by an international auction webcasting worldwide. The member works offered will be visible shortly online at the club link above.

Near the River

Des Moines was founded in the early 19th century at the confluence of the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers. Today the site is just south of downtown, next to the Iowa Cubs baseball stadium. Last Saturday the group decided to take advantage of the wide open parking lot to sketch, To the east is the Des Moines, to the north and northwest is downtown, The river confluence is just south. And along the new expressway stands a log cabin at the place where Fort Des Moines was established. I found an angle that gave a view of the cabin, with the bridge over the rive and a distant view of the state capitol.  

"Fort Des Moines Cabin," wc.ink on paper

This is about 14 inches wide and 5 inches tall, across two pages in my sketchbook. The drawing was first, in graphite, then watercolors, then ink. 
 

Snow Day on Sherman Hill

This is one of my larger watercolor sketches, started last weekend outdoors but finished in the studio. This is Hoyt Sherman Place, which houses an art gallery and a large performance space that hosts many different musical acts and other touring events. 

"Snow Day, Sherman Hill," wc/ink on paper, 8x10

I sat in my car to do this--just too cold--and stopped when I began to feel a bit stale. This started with my usual graphite sketch, then watercolor, then ink, but then I added a color to the wonderfully complicated building, especially the left side, and painted in trees and shadows on the extreme left. I also darkened the values of the shadows on the left and across in front of the auditorium on the right side. 

Although I don't often add to an outdoor sketch I think the added colors and touches completed and enriched the painting.  

Sledding

Less than a week ago the high temperature was above 60. The sun was warm and the air felt like spring. Today the morning temperature was less than 10 and four inches of snow covers everything. Actually, the warm days were a real anomaly. Traditionally this month and next are snowy and cold. 

"Sledding," wc/ink on papeer

The Saturday group didn't mind the snow--they relished it in fact. That was because for the first time in a few days the sun was out, the light was brilliant, and the weather tolerable. There is a slope near the parking area where we meet, and a group of kids and parents were sledding. Most of the group stayed put in their cars and sketched the scene. 

 

Five Years Ago

"After the Big Snow," wc/ink on paper

This has been an oddly dry winter. Although we have had around a foot of snowfall, the ground outside my studio is bare and the temperature today will top sixty, Fahrenheit. Thinking about the current weather led me to look back at work from years past. To my surprise the majority show very snowy days in mid- to late February. Certainly that's not the case this year. 

This small sketch, like many done this time of year, including 2025, was done from a window in my home studio. Although it looks cold you can see spring coming in the warm ochres and faint rust colors of the distant trees. This was likely done in the morning a day or two after a heavy, wet snowfall. 
 

Not Saturday

"Grays Lake Park," wc/ink on paper, 8x10

Many times I post a watercolor from our Saturday group on Tuesdays but last weekend I had another commitment and missed the outing. Knowing that was going to happen I decided to steal a march on it and went out alone on Friday afternoon. The day was sunny and very warm for February. I spent a couple of hours in the Grays Lake Park in the area near its entrance. 

This is in an 8x10 sketchbook, showing the park near its entrance, which is across from Waterworks Park. In the far distance is the park sign and toward the left center are a couple of utility poles along the street. I left out cars grouped here and there. Like most watercolors I drew a moderately detailed image then painted and inked the result.  

Uncatalogued

"Snowy Day, December" wc/ink on paper

This small watercolor wasn't catalogued among last year's work because it was done on a separate piece of paper, about 5x7, stuck in the back of a sketchbook. Now that it has resurfaced I decided to post it for the contrast between now and two months ago. This is one of many views of Druid Hill Creek painted from a window in my home studio. The day in mid-December was cold and grey and the heavy snowfall of a week or more earlier was still thick ans smothering. In contrast the past few days have had high temps in the 50s.

As ever this began with a graphite sketch, finished with watercolor and ink.

Last Saturday

Anyone who reads these posts knows that my sketch group heads inside when the weather is inclement. But on sunny days, even if it's cold, we long for the bright light and contrasts of working outside. Last weekend it was that sort of day. Nobody wanted to be inside, even though the high that day was mid-30s. After some discussion we decided to go to Ray Drive, which runs along the eastern shore of the Des Moines Rive, giving great views of the city skyline, riverside parks, and the Botanical Center. 

"Botanical Center," wc/ink on paper, 5x9.2

This is the geodesic dome of the Botanical Center, which is sited east of the river. I thought the near evergreens (left) and the thinner ones to the east of the dome made an interesting composition. I parked in the lot and stood alongside my car to sketch the scene in graphite in one of my sketchbooks. The bright sun was just over my left shoulder. The dome's dark but transparent panels make a repetitive patter that seems to swirl around its circumference, and in the lower center enough light is reflected back to us to give a sense of the interior below. 

After I did a reasonably detailed drawing, trying to give the sense of those curved panels, I jumped in the car to paint. The dark values were particularly important, requiring several layers to achieve the right depth.  

 

Druid Hil Creek

"On Druid Hill Creek," oil on panel, 11x14

Not far from my studio, Druid Hill Creek drains into Grays Lake. Between them is a relatively wild area that I've painted a few times. There is a rocky ford and beyond that (in the far background of this painting) is a street bridge. This view is actually looking south, which is toward my studio. 

This particular painting began as a study for a larger work, later abandoned. This study retains an excellent flavor of the creek and woods.  

 

Rural Autumn

"Rural Autumn," wc/ink on paper, 7x9

Some years ago I made the watercolor above of a country road flanked by blazing autumn trees. The road is actually imaginary and based on streets near my studio. Autumn is perhaps my favorite time of year for painting outdoors. The weather is generally good to at least decent and there is a lot of color to study. 

Texaco

"Service Truck," wc/ink on paper

There is an auto dealership in downtown Des Moines that specializes in classic cars and other vehicles. They often leave some of their inventory in the parking lot next to the showroom. Sometimes these classics are still in their commercial garb, like this Texaco service pickup. I was attracted by the color scheme as well as the preservation. 

This watercolor went like most: graphite layin, careful attention to color and value and then in to accent certain passages.
 

Warm Refuge

"Inside the Dome," wc/ink

This another Saturday sketch. The weather here in Iowa continues to be mostly bitterly cold with lows in single digits to negative. But our intrepid group continues to sketch on Saturday afternoons. 

This is a small sketchbook work showing a small fraction of the interior of our Botanical Center, much of which is inside a geodesic dome. I sat in a chair on one of the walkways between beds of tropical plants, trees, and the like. 

During the cold months the Center is a welcome and warm refuge.  

Serene

"Serene," oil on panel, 14x11 (private collection)

In these dead of winter days it's useful to me to think about summer and warm sunny days. It doesn't make me warmer physically but certainly improves my mood and makes me smile. 

This painting was done outdoors in Virginia a while back. The big sycamore stood guard on the river bank as I tried to capture the light reflected onto the underside of the huge overhanging branches.   

Saturday

"The Art Center, Snow," wc/ink on paper, about 5x15

Despite bitter cold my sketch group again assembled last Saturday for a couple of hours. Most of us opted for a snug and warm indoor venue, but I decided to stay outside. I drove to the Des Moines Art Center and found a place to park near the main entrance. Snow was blowing in a sharp wind and the temperatures were around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Because of where I was parked I needed to get out, observe the subject and sketch quickly. When the cold seeped in I would jump back in my warm car for a while, then go back out and resume. In a way it was good practice--observe closely, remember as well as possible, draw (or paint) and then repeat. 

 

Breezing Up

"Breezing Up," acrylic on paper on board, 4x8

Although acrylic is perhaps my least favorite medium, I've done a few works using acrylic paint. A long while ago I knew an artist who painted images of sailboats and power yachts on nautical charts. A neat idea but in the end it was a limited one. Still, I gave it a try with a few things, including the small painting above. For these I fitted a snippet of nautical chart, glued it to a piece of hardboard, then painted a monochromatic sailing image. This one was probably the best of the bunch. 

Saturday

"Lamp, West End Salvage," wc/ink

The stalwarts of the Saturday sketch group gathered at a local architectural salvage concern and sketched indoors, owing to the weather. Snow was blowing and the temps were low, so we opted for a snug harbor. 

This lamp was shining just near where I sat so I sipped my latte and tried to imply the illumination behind the stained glass. As is always the case, this watercolor is considerably more dull than the original subject. 
 

Diego

"Velazquez Self Portrait (copy)," oil on board, 8x6, 2008

An important influence in my work as a painter has been the immortal Diego Velazquez (1599-1660), the Spanish artist who served as court painter to King Felipe III. His masterpieces are the core of the Museo del Prado, in Madrid. Many years ago while in the military I had several occasions to visit that museum and spent many hours studying not only Velazquez but Goya and other Spanish masters. 

This small painting is an exceptionally rapid sketch of an oil attributed to Velazquez as a self portrait done nearly twenty years ago. I was interested in capturing the expression and main shapes of the figure. It was also interesting to use a very limited palette--basically cad red, yellow ochre, flake white and ivory black. Although the limitation of colors is severe, it is possible to achieve a wide range of colors and values with only those four. 

Sketch

This watercolor and ink sketch is from last Saturday's outing with the group. The brick building in the background is Brown Camp Lofts, one of the first industrial buildings converted to condominiums in Des Moines. The yellow building to the right is a minor league baseball stadium. As usual I began this with a graphite lay-in to establish the composition, then used watercolor and ink to complete the painting.