Hiking in Cheyenne Canon

Sandee and I went on another hike today. This time we hit Cheyenne Canon and took the Columbine Trail. It was way too cold and windy to stay still and do a sketch on site, so I took a photo and make my sketch at home. I loaded the photo on to my laptop and then did my sketch as if I were standing on location.

Even though it was cold, we really enjoyed this hike. Hiking is a great way to stay in shape, marvel at God's beauty, and enjoy the company of my wife.

Sketch of Lincoln's Face

I am trying to figure out how to draw faces. The face of Lincoln is extremely interesting to draw. Not a bad start. I love the shadows in this picture.

I have very pleasant memories from elementary school of Lincoln's framed face looking down on all of us in our classroom.

I'm almost done with the sketch below.

What a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving Day Morning - watching the football game and making a sketch. I used a photo of Lincoln taken by my friend Bill when we visited the Lincoln memorial the other day.

Lincoln Memorial Drawing

This week I was able to visit the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Wow. It's a very moving thing to be in that hall. The sculpture is stunning. Thanks to Bill and Debbie Bateman for taking me there. I took this picture with my iphone.

Of course, I had to do a sketch. It was a great way to relax after attending and speaking at a two-day teacher conference.

Inking the pencil sketch made the time on my flight from DC to Colorado go by quickly. It's a great thing to find a creative release through sketching. Have you found your creative release? I have a brother who uses golf to unstring the bow. One of my other brothers raises work horses as his hobby.

I'm getting quite comfortable with drawing on airplanes. It's fun to talk with seat-mates who are curious about what I'm doing. The other day, one guy blurted out, "Are you an architect?!?" I wish I was.

This was fun to draw. I had no problem with Lincoln's body and the folds of his clothes. Faces still illude me. I need to practice drawing faces. Any suggestions how I can learn this skill?

Anaheim Convention Center Sketch

I was able to do a sketch of the cool Anaheim Arena. Making this sketch was a good way to unstring the bow after two days at an ACSI teacher convention.

As usual I made a quick pencil sketch - I had to work fast because it was getting dark and chilly.

I applied ink to the drawing on my flight from Anaheim to Philadelphia. Thankfully, I got an upgrade to United First so I had lots of room to myself.

Almost finished on the flight.

Sketching Crowell Hall at Moody

This is the finished product. It was fun to be in Chicago on the campus of Moody Bible Institute for the day. I had to sneak outside and make a sketch of the front of Crowell Hall. I love the look at that entrance.

See my drawing process below.

I always start with a pencil sketch. I try to work as quickly as I can - getting as much detail as I can. It was cold in Chicago this day so I worked extra fast.

Then I start to darken the sketch with my gel pen - inside the warm building!

I was able to finish the pen work on my flight from Chicago to Anaheim today. Thankfully, it was a smooth flight. Drawing made my four hour flight speed by.

Do you have a thing that you do where you lose track of time? It's good that you find that "place" - the "zone". I also call it "unstringing the bow".

Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ

I was able to fit in a few moments to make an "unstring the bow" sketch in Arizona this week.

I'm not used to seeing palm trees. Wow. Those things are magnificent.

The weather wasn't bad either. It was in the 90s and its November!

It was great to meet old friends at Malee's Thai Bistro - man I LOVE Thai food.