Looking for God

Venazza, Italy

This was a quick sketch that I did one quiet morning on holiday in Vernazza, Italy. I don't usually do "live" sketches. Normally, I take a picture with my camera, print up a print for myself, and then make the drawing. I had extra time with this sketch and so I thought I would try to do it right there.

This is a reminder that all of us need to find time to be quiet and look to make God-memories. I loved sitting there in the cool morning air, listening to the little waves lapping along the rocks, and enjoying the deep sound of the church bells in the village. Sketching is a very relaxing activity - God meets you there.

Early watercolor

I made this little painting 10 years ago. I did it shortly after a trip we made to England. This little street scene only exists in my mind and was a kind of compilation of images in my head upon our return home. Notice the names of the stores - I used the members of my family for the names. Click on it to see a larger view.

I really loved London, the main city, but also the back streets. Only problem was the high cost of everything.

Notes on Count Zinzendorf

I actually like to take notes this way occasionally. This is a system called "Mind Mapping". I know it looks a bit strange at first, but it is a very logical way of organizing your thoughts. These are notes I made in preparation for a talk I gave recently on the life of Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760).

There is a free computer program that will do this for you on a PC called "freemind". Search for it. I "drew" this mind map in my blank moleskine notebook. I love the heavy smooth paper in this book. Highly recommended.

Walking is good for you

Sandee and me hiking in Adelboden, Switzerland on our 20th anniversary.

"A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world." ~Paul Dudley White

"I have two doctors, my left leg and my right." ~G.M. Trevelyan

"People say that losing weight is no walk in the park. When I hear that I think, yeah, that's the problem." ~Chris Adams

"Walking is good for you." ~ Grandma Shuman

"My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-three today and we don't know where the heck she is." ~Ellen DeGeneres

Hudson, Ohio part 2

Another drawing from Hudson, Ohio. This is the town's bandstand where weekly concerts are held on Sunday nights in the summer.

This one has the names, "Tim", "Sandee", "Luke", and "Tyler" hidden in it. Maybe you can find them by clicking on this picture and looking around.
Heavy stock paper, rapidograph pen, the usual thing. Lots of pen strokes.

Discover God in the world around you.

"Our world is saturated with grace, and the lurking presence of God is revealed not only in spirit but in matter – in a deer leaping across a meadow, in the flight of an eagle, in fire and water, in a rainbow after a summer storm, in a gentle doe streaking through a forest, in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, in a child licking a chocolate ice cream cone, in a woman with windblown hair. God intended for us to discover His loving presence in the world around us."

- The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning

Adelboden, Switzerland

Do you know the name of the Artist who made this scene? I simply took a picture in HIS presence.

I love this town.

Look for this picture to be turned into a "Shuwork" in the near future.

Adelboden, Switzerland

Hudson, Ohio

I drew this picture a number of years ago. This town is just north of my hometown of Stow, Ohio.

I have always liked the views in this town. This clock tower is a well known landmark.

I enjoyed drawing this picture, however, that's a lot of leaves to draw, ain't it?

Pen: Rapidograph technical pen, 0.25 and 0.35, naturally.

Favorite Pens

Three best tools for pen and ink work - .35, .25 Rapidograph, .38 Uni-ball.

Close up of the .25 rapidograph. There is a lot of relaxation in the point of that pen. These pens can be expensive in the store, but you can find great deals of ebay. I did.

Today's Sermon Notes

Here are the sermon notes from this morning at Black Forest Christian Fellowship. Mr. Jerry DeRenzo, a middle school teacher at BFA, spoke on God's love.

Jerry's messages are always full of great word pictures that are easy to draw into notes. Thanks Jerry for the encouragement today.

- Paper: Moleskine blank journal, 5.25x8.25, 13x21cm, what a great book! The paper is heavy and smooth, and takes gel ink perfectly.

- Pen: uni-ball Signo RT GEL 0.38, what a pen! Perfect for fine details and notes - we should expect nothing less than perfect for sermon notes, right? :-)

Barfüsserplatz, Basel, Swizerland

I just finished this watercolor, pen and ink drawing. I am very happy with how this turned out. Click on the picture to see the detail.
The name of this city square is "Barfüsserplatz" and it means the "Bare foot place". Why is it named that? I just learned that it is named after an order of monks who lived here and had made a vow of poverty. We go to this place a lot when we go to Basel, but we have not gone barefoot yet.

I love the old buildings that surround this major tram stop. To see a live webcam picture of Barfüsserplatz go to: http://www.basel.ch/en/virtual_basel/webcam That's a cool shot.

My drawing is pretty large: 13.5 x 7.5 inches or 34x19 cm.

The process went like this...
1. Take a digital photo of the platz - in fact, several.
2. Print up the best one at home on heavier than normal paper.
3. Lay out the drawing on a large sheet of watercolor paper with pencil.
4. Make a full pencil drawing of the subject with all parts: every window, shutter, gable, trams, people, etc..
5. Watercolor all of the buildings, trams, foreground - everything except the sky.
6. Highlight everything with Rapidograph pens - 0.25, + 0.35 in waterproof black ink.
7. Watercolor the sky.
8. Make last accent details with the fine rapidograph pen, making accents of the tiles, shading, etc..
9. Make a digital scan of the drawing for my blog.
10. Put it in a frame. Done.

How much do you think the original could sell for? I am always baffled what to ask for one of drawings if I were to sell them. The truth is I really don't know if I could part with them. An art teacher at Black Forest Academy once told me that in art school a student has to learn how to draw and then throw away their work. This is done in order that the student loses their attachment to their work so that later they can sell their work to others. That would be hard for me to do. I get such an attachment to my drawings that I find it extremely hard to think about giving away or selling my stuff. Any suggestions out there? If somewhere offered me enough money I think I could lose my attachments :-). TS

Kandern Rieglerhof Drawing

I believe this is my favorite building in Kandern, Germany. Formerly, it was a brewery. Today it houses various apartments and the offices of Campus Crusade for Christ Europe. It really is a spectacular building with lots of interesting views.

I enjoyed drawing this building very much. It is quite a complex building with lots of angles, windows, etc. This is another large drawing with the original size being 9.76x7 in., 25x18 cm. This one took quite a long time to draw, but I enjoyed being able to work at it every now and then. Many people ask me how long it takes to draw something like this. I have a hard time answering that question because I take my time and "pick at it" when I am in the mood. So it could take weeks from beginning to end.

Once again, this was drawn with Rotring Rapidograph pens - 0.25, 0.35

Adelboden, Switzerland

I drew this back in 2002. This town is probably my favorite place in the world.

This drawing was quite an undertaking and took a long time, but I was very pleased with the results. Double click on it to take a look at the MANY swiss chalets I had to draw. I had some high quality copies made and have given signed copies to friends as gifts many times.

This view is from the front entry to Pension Hari, a hotel we have visited many times. This village means a lot to us, because this is the town where I asked Sandee to marry me.

Original size: 28x22cm, 11"x8.5"
Pen: Rapidograph .25

An old sermon doodle

Here's a simple drawing done during a sermon 10 years ago. Just to remind you, I started making sermon doodles to help my two little sons (6 and 8 years old at the time) pay better attention during church. There was a time when we did not have sunday school for the children and so the boys had to stay with the adults.

I'm sure the boys would have enjoyed watching me draw this one. And best of all, these little drawings help the boys to get something out of the message and helps them remember the message better.

Second try

This is the second try on this watercolor. Just scroll down to see my first try.

I did this painting a second time because I was not very happy with the first try. I am still not satisfied. I am after a different effect. I'll let you know if and when I achieve it.
This is a scene from Kandern, Germany.

Luke did this one, not me.

My 18 year old son, Luke, did this watercolor the other day. Amazing. He did it all in just one day. I am very proud of him and his talent.

Luke made this as a birthday present for his longtime buddy Billy Reed (center of the picture). This is a portrait of 5 very good friends - Adam, Nathan, Billy, Luke (guitar in hands) and Timo. All of them live on or near Waldeckstrasse in Kandern, Germany, thus "Waldeck". Any of my Kandern/BFA readers would agree that Luke did a fantastic job of capturing each boy's personality.

I am amazed at how easy this sort of thing is for Luke. I would struggle a long time to produce such art. He just sits down and does it with ease. I was stunned when he showed me the finished product after just a couple of hours. And, what a awesome birthday present...original art!

Pen and ink portrait

This drawing was a HUGE challenge for me. I had always avoided drawing people in a realistic way. I finally decided I would push myself and do this portrait of my son Tyler back in 2001 when he was 10. I surprised myself, that this came out so well.

This is actually quite a large drawing. I really liked the realistic effect I achieved with the jeans. I also like the railroad tie in the background. As I drew this, I put off drawing the face until last - I was afraid I couldn't do it. Finally, I started and it worked out pretty well. The good news about this drawing: I did it. The bad news: this was the last portrait I have ever done. I should have done one like this of our other son, Luke, but I never did. Maybe I should do him next.
Paper: heavy weight watercolor paper
Pen: rotring rapidograph
Orginal size: 6.5x9.5 inches, 16.5x24 cm.
Number of pen strokes: 1,256,832

A sermon doodle

Here's simple sermon doodle. My artwork is nothing special, but I thought the idea in Howard's message was profound. What do you think?