SKETCHBOOK: "Family Time at Solomons"

Yesterday, I returned from a wonderful trip out to Solomons, Maryland to visit with family. I had some time to do some sketching, and here's what I ended up with.  The drawings above are at a local hotspot called the "Tiki Bar". The cove full of boats is the view from across the street from the bar. There are lots of giant "Easter Island" heads on the grounds outside with tables and chairs.  The sign and palm trees are out front.

Below are sketches I did on two separate mornings, before the family woke up. We stayed at a gorgeous rental home (owned by a good friend of my sis-in-law) with huge decks and windows all around. A terrific time was had by all!

Maryland Trip (pt.3)

This will be my last post on our trip to Maryland. Sure, sure...I know that "vacation slides" can be pretty boring. But our visit to the newly renovated Museum at the Naval Academy in Annopolis was just too cool not to include a few photos from there. The exhibits cover a wide range of Naval history, but I was captured by the displays of sailing ships the most. Since I'm into making models of strange things, I was amazed at the craftsmanship and beauty of the replicas. The pistol cutlass below was the "real deal" though. Arrgg, matey!!

Maryland Trip (pt.2)

While at the wedding in Maryland, we stayed with my wife's Mom. These are the views from her second floor apartment...front deck, back deck. I limited myself to using brown and gray felt-tip markers on the trip...mistakes can't be corrected, so you just have to keep going. But I like the richness of the contour line drawings with that technique.

Once all the craziness from the wedding activities were done, we had some time to wander around. The top sketch is of a boat yard across the Back Creek in Solomons, from where we sat to soak in the sun. The next view is from the boardwalk at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. The lion over the archway was also at the Academy...Dahlgren Hall.

These images were done at the airports between flights.
And finally, here are a few random doodles done at various times while sitting around in the evening, or while on the planes. I had just recently bought a book on how to draw Celtic knots and border designs, so I did a little practice here and there. Very challenging brain teasers to figure that stuff out!

Maryland Trip (pt.1)

Sorry to have been so long since my last post. My wife and I just got back into town late last night from a trip out to Maryland for a family wedding (Congrats, Chris and Angela!!). Afterward, we took a few days and stayed in Annapolis. I'll be posting more images later, but here's a sampling.

This was my favorite drawing of the trip. It's from Zahniger's Yachting Center in Solomons, where the Back Creek flows into the Patuxent River, then goes into the Chesapeake Bay. It's a short walk from where we stayed with Cat's Mom (and her sister Lin's family). This big boat was hanging in a sling-contraption and I had to draw it. Literally seconds after I finished the sketch, I hear this loud "beep-beep-beep" sound, and the whole thing starts moving towards me! Some guy is at the controls, turns the boat around, and drives off...ha!

That's it for now. More to come.