Agnes Marie

Thought I'd provide a touch of sunshine with this post. I found Agnes Marie on Tybee Island, Georgia after we'd been to the beach for the afternoon. The boat hadn't been in very long and the crew were busy unloading their catch. The sea gulls were happy to see the boat as were dolphins that we spotted  swimming close to the boat looking for hand outs.

This was from a trip my wife and I took in October, part of which was spent in Savannah, Georgia visiting my wife's niece and her husband.

Yo Yo Ma -Chicago Symphony Orchestra open rehearsal

What a way to beat the cold! Yesterday Bob and I braved the cold and walked over to Symphony Hall to hear Muti conduct a rehearsal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (they have a great logo BTW). YoYo Ma and Giovanni Sollima were the featured cellists. What a treat!

I scribbled this sketch on the back of my program before I got totally lost in the music. I dropped in the color at home. I'm not sure about the color but nothing could spoil my day!

Precious metal: St. Louis Auto Show 2014

There were hundreds of new cars on the floor of the auto show but this 1934 Auburn convertible at the Horseless Carriage Club booth attracted lots of visitors. A HCC member told me that it is valued at $175K.

This Lamborghini, a study in lime green, was displayed in the Million Dollar Mile portion of the show. Other models shown included the usual suspects: Bentley, Maserati, Lotus and a Rolls Royce convertible with suicide doors and a stainless steel hood or bonnet as it is called by the British. The cars were spectacular but their presentation was underwhelming. All were simply placed on the floor behind rope and drape.

Other car makers such as VW, Chevrolet, Ford, Lincoln and Toyota surrounded theirs cars with dramatic architectural elements.

The Chevrolet and Ford exhibits featured jumbotron screens that played loops of product and lifestyle video. Although the attendance was large and finding a comfortable place to work somewhat determined my views there was no shortage of interesting subjects for urban sketching. At the end of the day I just ran out of gas, pun intended. m
All images were sketched with Brushes for iPad, Michael Anderson, 2014.

Been cold where you are?

It's been a music kind of weekend...

Friday Night was Art Crawl...

Our friend Shawna makes instruments out of the oddest things...cigar boxes, sure, but also cookie tins, ammo boxes, and whatever she can find with a hollow body!

Copper Creek Band was playing Friday night, and I sketched quickly with a bent-nib calligraphy pen...love the brushlike marks.

Switched to a Black Cherry Prismacolor pencil on CP watercolor paper for the closeup...

Saturday night we hit the big city to hear our godchild Molly Hammer play at the Broadway Jazz Club...

Back to that fun bent-nib pen!

Added color and a little collage the next day at home...

Love that jazz face on Brian Baggett, the guitarist...

Last sketch of the evening, quick pencil drawings...

Snowbound, St. Louis

One good thing about the weekend's paralyzing blizzard, 14" of snow and zero degree for high temp, is the opportunity to sketch at home without any distractions. In fact while gusty winds twirl the snow around outside the dining room window just sketching the furniture is a great way to pass the time and an antidote to "cabin fever."

Red Chairs, 01/05/2014, created with Sketchbook Pro app for iPad.