Morning Fog

The weather has been surprisingly warm for November in Ohio. This morning's fog has me thinking things may change soon.

Notecard Sketches 2

Another thing I have been doing with note card sketches is to use a Prismacolor design marker (my favorites are the light grays between 10% and 30%) to loosely define composition. I then go back in with a pen and define shapes a little more. Below is a recent result of some doodling I did to explore a design for a derelict.


I usually work pretty loosely because the sketch is meant only to guide my further illustrations. I use unlined note cards primarily because they are inexpensive and I don't have to worry so much about blank-canvas syndrome. A common problem for artists.

Notecard Sketches

My life goes in several directions at once on a regular basis but I always want to have art supplies handy. To that end I keep a supply of note cards in my back pocket.... Literally! They come in handy when I need to make notes or sketch a quick image such as the one below.

Incidentally, this was the scene Monday the 5th outside the library where I work. Yes, it's a fire truck and they came to rescue the library from a burned out light ballast. (Thankfully that's all it was!) Having nothing to do while we waited outside, I pulled out my trusty note cards and began to sketch. Granted, my pen kept freezing up and it's hard to sketch in gloves but the moment is now recorded. I'm trying to sketch every day so this was sort of a treat. (In a very non-funny way, of course)

That's why I never want to be too far from my art materials.

Bright Sky

I have a fascination with flying vehicles and I find them very interesting during periods where the sky is lit by low-angle sunlight. When I was a teenager, I used to be up early in the morning delivering newspapers. Most mornings I would usually stop to watch an early jetliner coasting through the blue morning with yellow-orange sun glinting off its metallic surfaces.

The other day, I watched a military transport arc across the late afternoon sky in front of a threatening cloud formation. I was reminded of my younger days and felt compelled to create the above image.