Sketchbook: "Fall Dirt-Diggers"

I've been on a long break from sketching, so I'm pushing myself into drawing more. I love drawing construction equipment and machines. The first in line was a sketch at my church, the second sketch is the view from my driveway of the Water Company digging a hole. The last sketch is from the opposite side of the street from the digger.

SKETCHBOOK: "Earth Movers"

I decided to return to where I was sketching last week, on this gorgeous Sunday morning...my church's Youth House lot, which will be torn down in the near future. The church sold the land, so I've enjoyed drawing the earth movers while they've been working. Below is the sketch I did last Sunday, while sitting under the shade of a mimosa tree.

SKETCHBOOK: "Dinos in Smackover"

I suppose it is appropriate that I am posting about dinosaur bones, since I just got back home after attending my 40th HIGH SCHOOL REUNION! I spent several days after the event sketching with my Mom.  Below are the results!

These were taken at the Arkansas Oil and Brine Museum in Smacker, Arkansas. A nice display of a traveling exhibit.

Mom and I drove around El Dorado and sketched from her air-conditioned car. There was a heat advisory most of the time I was there. Love stopping and drawing construction equipment!

Here are a couple of vehicles...a great old restored Chevy truck, and my Mom's new riding lawnmower. 

This last item is a vase that my grandmother gave to Mom years ago. Fun to sketch it!

SKETCHBOOK: "Construction Trio"

I haven't been outside sketching in a while, with so much rain lately. So today I drove over to a construction site nearby to draw some of my favorite things.

UPDATE 5-30-15
I decided to go back over to the same location and draw another.

UPDATE 6-10-15

Here's one more from Church of The Resurrection, looking out of a second story window, in the nice air-conditioning.  I don't attend there, but a friend who works in the office alerted me to the on-going construction.

SKETCHBOOK: "Yep...Summer's Over"

Today I decided to enjoy a nice quiet Saturday morning sketching at nearby Shawnee Mission Lake. I am always sad to see the rental boats all dry-docked for the season, as the fall is still a great time to be on the water.  Since I don't have my canoe anymore, I just have to enjoy the water from the banks.  The colors of the paddleboats all lined up caught my eye and I found a nice spot under a shade tree.

I've been trying to force myself to do quicker sketches, as I can get lost in the details for hours.  So the sketches above of the main dock were done with a looser feel.  Still not super happy with my technique yet...but will keep practicing.  In fact...I had a "total fail" on one sketch...ripped it up and tossed it.

The sketch below was done as I was walking back to my car. I saw the bright colors of a sailboat at the boat ramp.  As I was sketching, the owner appears, backs up his trailer, and loaded up the boat.  I was forced to work even faster than I had planned...but kindof like how this one came out.

Below is a sketch I did last weekend, after church, on my way home.  This is a construction site that I had posted sketches about a few weeks ago, next to a Methodist church.  I suspect that this won't be the last drawing I do from there!

SKETCHBOOK - "Bulldozers in the Sun"

Even though there was a "heat advisory" today, I enjoyed the afternoon drawing one of my favorite things...construction equipment!  Hallmark was nice enough to give us some "Re-Fuel" time after lunch.  So I headed out to a site that has been calling to me everytime I've been on my drive to church each Sunday.  Fortunately there were some trees to sit under...but it was still mighty hot!!

The drawing above was actually done after the one below.  I was grinning like a lttle kid as the crew of bulldozers were busy moving dirt in a huge open field.  You can just see the tiny little "train" of dozers in the background (above the cab of the red truck), making lap after lap over the hill and back into the open spaces.  Just as I finished adding color to the drawing...the guys were finished for the day...and my subject matter drove off!  I had a chance to talk to the crew, which is always fun.  I don't think they see a lot of artists sketching out there on the site.  One of the guys told me, as he was gassing up his dozer, "Dude...I should have you draw my 6!" (which is short for a CATERPILLAR D6R...actually one of my favorite bulldozers!)  If he had stayed put...I WOULD have drawn it.  :)

The drawing above is done in pencil and watercolor washes.  I usually go with ink pens, but started to just lay out this long composition with pencil first.  But I liked where the sketch was going, and just stuck with the pencil.  It is one of my rare "double panel" sketches where I purposely went over the margin.  I like the spiral binders in the middle...lets you know it's in a sketchbook!

SKETCHBOOK: "Ditch Diggin'!"

I took the day off from work and enjoyed a lunch chat with some friends who were visiting from out of town.  On the way home, my eye caught this "Ditch Witch" and I had to draw it.  I struck up a friendly conversation with the road crew, and started sketching.  About mid-way through the drawing, they politely asked if they could borrow the machines to work, with a promise to put them right back when they were done!  Ha!!  They were true to their word and I was able to finish!   Thanks, fellas!! (See the action below!)

Here's a little sketch I did back in March 2012..."Scooters on the Plaza".

It's been a while since I've posted a robot sketch...so, here ya go!  These were started while waiting for my daughter at the airport, but finished after a couple of other "waiting for something" situations.

SKETCHBOOK: Waitin' and Sketchin'

Many of the drawings I've done in my sketchbooks are created while waiting for something else to happen. It helps pass the time, and I often get so caught up in the process, that I forget what I was supposed to be doing instead of sketching. Today, after church, I was waiting for a store to open, and saw this little construction site in the parking lot. As has happened before, someone came up at the end, looked over my shoulder and asked, "Are you an artist?" I try to be polite when I answer "Yes", but it always amuses me. Kind of like watching someone swimming laps in a pool, and asking, "Are you a swimmer?"

In keeping with the "waiting theme", the sketch of the guy above, and the series below, were done while waiting to get my oil changed back in May. I've posted similar "oil change" sketches, and you'll probably see more...just a great spot to people-watch.

Here's one I drew way back in 2008, but haven't posted before. This was done while waiting at an Art Fair in downtown Kansas City. "Cliff" was selling CDs of his music while playing live...some nice jazz tunes, if I recall.

SKETCHBOOK - Road Construction

Went out sketching twice today. Been ages since I've taken some time to just sit and draw. Seems like the stretch of highway near my house is always under construction. One of the exits is getting a make-over...which means on the weekends, I have some fun stuff to look at. I went out early in the morning to catch the sketch above...it's a gigantic asphalt loader, with some little bobcat loaders nearby. The drawing I did later this evening, below, is of the muddy dozer that is barely showing in the first drawing (on the far right). Nice to get outside...Spring is nearly here!!!

SKETCHBOOK - "Trip To El Dorado"

I recently spent an enjoyable weekend visit to my hometown in Arkansas. My Mom has become a recent convert to the joys of sketchbook journaling. We spent a couple of days wandering around town, drawing whatever looked interesting at the time. These are the pages I ended up with...I was using my trusty "Moleskin" brand sketchbook, with pages made from watercolor paper. The lines are done with a "small" point Faber-Castell sepia artist pen. The washes were done with a KOI pocket field sketch box watercolor set.

SKETCHBOOK - "More Dozers"

Okay, here's the closest to driving one of these bad boys that I've been able to manage so far. This was taken the day after the demolition of a friend's store that was unfortunately gutted by a fire. Truth is, I probably wasn't supposed to be on the thing...but, hey, it was rented by someone I know.


Here are a few of my sketches of some loaders, dozers, diggers, etc. The one below, I drew yesterday while waiting for my wife who was taking a metal-smithing class. It's the front view of a fork lift that has an extending arm to put things a couple of stories up in the air.


This next one sparked a fun conversation with one of the rig operators on the worksite...he told me all about what kind of specific dozer it was (which I have since forgotten), and encouraged me to keep my nice job out of the weather.


This next one was taking a nap during a lunch break.


The rest of these sketches were done in various locations. The "contour line" drawings are always a fun approach for me. I don't erase and correct as I go...I just start drawing with a finepoint pen...I like the looser quality in the linework.





That does it for today.
-W

PAINTINGS - "Dozers and Dirt Movers"

For a long time, I've had a love of construction equipment...bulldozers being my favorite. Anytime I see a bunch of guys driving the big rigs, I say to myself, "What a great job that would be!" A few years back, I started painting these machines. Some day, I'm gonna find a way to drive one myself! And by posting these, I'm reminding myself that it's been too long since I got out there and painted some dozers.


Later, I'll include some sketches of these machines.
-W