Sheboygan Boardwalk

We were in Sheboygan, Wisconsin with our boat last weekend. We made the 10 hour run across Lake Michigan in the company of my daughter and son-in-law's boat Sisu. It was the first time my wife and I had been in Sheboygan in over 20 years. We did a lot of walking, toured the art museum, and while my wife was shopping I sat in the shade and did this quick sketch of the Sheboygan river walk. The river walk is a great place to walk and is home to lots of places to eat and views to enjoy.

Corner Building in Montague, Michigan

This is the corner of a building located in Montague, Michigan. Montague is kitty corner across the lake from where we keep our boat. The town of Montague, like many Lake Michigan lake shore towns, is a product of Michigan's lumbering era. At one time Montague was home to prosperous lumber mills and loading docks that shipped the output from the mills. Today Montague continues on but more as a quite place for summer tourism.

The corner building is part of a block of old buildings that house shops that survive on the town's summer residents and tourist season. For some reason I'm drawn to these old buildings. Maybe its their links to the past.

Montague/Whitehall Train Station

We've been on our boat for much of the summer so I've time again to do some art work. This is a sketch of the old Montague/Whitehall, Michigan train station. We keep our boat in Whitehall and when we first started spending summers on the boat there, active railroad tracks ran past the station. The track have been gone for years, replaced by a rails-to-trails bike path that is heavily used.

The train station is still in use but now a a chamber of commerce and tourist information hub. The piece was done with pen and watercolor.

Dogwood Harbor

 Following the in-water sailboat show at Annapolis, MD, my wife and I spent a couple of days on the eastern shore where we stayed in Saint Michales, MD. On the second day of our stay we drove up and around to Tilghman Island.

This is a sketch done on the dock at Tilghman Island's Dogwood Harbor. The harbor has been a long time home for one of, the once many, Chesapeake Bay, fishing fleets. Skipjacks and other fishing boats worked out of the harbor to dredge for oysters. Today fishing boats are far fewer but they still sail from the harbor.

This is a view across the harbor toward houses that line part of the harbor's shore.

Creston Iowa

These sketches were done when I was in Iowa with my wife. She grew up in Indianola, Iowa and we were there for her 50th high school class reunion.

The sketches were done near Creston, Iowa on a farm that belonged to my wife's uncle, that now belongs to her cousin. In her uncle's day cattle and hogs were raised on the property. Today the land around the house, barn, and garage is planted with corn and farmed by a farmer who rents the land from my wife's cousin. The buildings are getting tired and as such were interesting to draw. Both pieces were done with a pen and graded grey scale markers.

Drying Out

Drying out is a sketch of a Chicago Mac racing sailboat that limped into Frankfort, Michigan and the marina we were staying at. The boat had suffered a line wrapped 'round its rudder and a furling line ripped from the mast. The damage was the result of very bad weather on Lake Michigan during the night of July 15.

The boat was parked in a slip next to us to do repairs and dry out the crew's foul weather gear. It was one of over 300 boats competing in the annual race up Lake Michigan to Mackinac Island, a distance of 333 miles. The boat was 1 of 5 that limped into Frankfort due to blown out sails, equipment damage, injuries, and illness. The boat also numbered as one of more than 100 boats that dropped from this year's race due to punishing Lake Michigan weather.

As one who periodically takes part in cross Lake Michigan races, my heart goes out to all the crews who took part in this year's Mac race. It was a tough one.

Arcadia House

This is an old house that's a half block up from the marina in Arcadia, Michigan. I did the sketch while we were staying in Arcadia on our boat. I've sketched the house several times over the years. It's falling apart, abandoned, only the lawn is mowed or it would be over grown. I talked to a couple of people about the house, one while I was working on the sketch, both said at one time they thought they'd buy the house and fix it up. Unfortunately the dreams went and the house will soon be beyond repair.

J. Nagem

This is J. Nagem, an all steel, home built, trawler/tug that's currently residing in a corner of the yard at our marina. The boat is about ready to launch for the season so Sunday afternoon I pulled out my sketch book, sat under a tree and sketched away.

Abandoned

This abandoned, overgrown, farm house sits on the same property as the barn sketch I posted under the title "Last Legs." The house is up and around the drive that passes the barn. The place hasn't been lived in for years and is now mostly obscured by the brush, trees, and tall grass that have grown up around the old house. Like the barn it will soon be gone.

I'd intended to go back and sketch the house the day after I did the barn but wasn't able to for a couple of weeks. When I went back this past Friday, to do the sketch, the sun was shining brightly but as I worked on the sky darkened to the west and by the time I headed back to the boat it had started to rain.

Last Legs

I've driven past this old barn, that's just outside of Whitehall, Michigan, for years. Saturday afternoon with boat launch chores at least under control, I decided to have a go a sketching the old barn that sits, ready to fall down, on one of many of Michigan's used to be farms. I've no idea how old the barn is but I did note the large beams in the structure are hand hewn.

I was almost done with the drawing when the gentleman who lives across the street from the old farm stopped by to see what I was up to. He told me it was a good thing I was drawing the barn now as the property has been sold and the barn will soon be torn down.

Spring...Rockford, Michigan

It's finally warming up here in Michigan. So this afternoon I got out my art bag and took my portable chair and the dog for a short walk to the entrance of the condo association where my wife and I live. I sketched this scene of the mini farm that's directly across the street from us. The person who owns the place has goats, a couple of horses, and chickens...we hear the rooster in the morning.

It was a great afternoon to be out and was fun to do some art work again. It's also quite beautiful here, now, in Rockford where we live. The flowering trees are blossoming and the forests that surround us are taking on tinges of greens and yellows as the leaves begin to poke out as we head into spring. One of the great things about Rockford is that you don't have to go far to be out in the country.

Newport and Vermont

My wife and I are just back from a two week trip to the east coast. We were in Annapolis, MD for the in-water sail show, Newport for the sights, and Vermont so I could get new ski boots. I didn't have much time to sketch but did manage to put these two pieces down on paper.

The first sketch is of the basement window that was in the breakfast area of the Yankee Peddler inn where we stayed in Newport. The inn was built in the 1830s and is reported to be haunted...no ghostly encounters however. The basement walls are stone and are quite thick.

The second sketch was done on a rainy afternoon in Rutland, Vermont. While my wife was out in the rain shopping I stayed in the car and sketched this old bank building. Post the shopping trip we went back to the inn where we stayed and enjoyed fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.

USS Silversides - Muskegon, Michigan

This past Saturday was a rainy and dreary day at the boat. So, my wife and I drove down to Muskegon, Michigan to tour and visit two WWII museum ships. We toured the LST (Landing Ship Tank) 393 which is a veteran of the D Day landing in France. Today the ship houses an museum and hosts an enjoyable self guided tour. By the time we were done with the LST the rain had gone and the sun was out. So we headed over to the Muskegon channel into Lake Michigan to where the USS Silversides is docked.

The Silversides is a decorated WWII veteran that is docked on the channel wall. You can tour the ship and on shore there is an excellent museum that informs visitors about the Silversides and the the US Navy's WWII silent service. We've toured the museum and boat before so I found a spot to sketch from and did this sketch of the USS Silversides's conning tower structure. The sketch was done with a Pigma Micron Pen and a set of cool grey grey scale Prisma Color marking pens.

Grand Haven and Saugatuck

My wife and I took a short trip down to Grand Haven in our boat last week. On the way south, I did this quick sketch of the dunes that are south of White Lake and Whitehall...our boat's home port.

The town of Grand Haven sits next to the Grand River which exits into Lake Michigan through a wide west facing pier head. The town itself is overloaded with tourists throughout the summer months. While there, we stayed at the municipal marina and had a slip that was conveniently located next to an ice cream store (the banana split I had was excellent). There's also a board walk that runs past the marina and heads west along the river bank to the Grand Haven pier. The second day in town, I unloaded my folding bike from the boat and took the board walk all the way to the pier to do some sketching.

The sketch below is of the two lights, pier, and cat walk that makes up Grand Haven's south pier head.

Turning to face north from where I was sitting you take in the view of Grand Haven's north pier and beach houses which dot the dunes and shoreline. The day I was out sketching the clouds were enormous and towered over town and the shore the entire day.

We headed back to Whitehall mid week and on Friday afternoon we drove down to Saugatuck, Michigan to meet a friend for dinner. While my wife wandered through the stores, I sat in a park by the river and enjoyed the afternoon doing this sketch of an old tree that anchors one corner of the park.

Fish Town - Leland, Michigan

While we sat in Leland, Michigan waiting for the wind and Lake Michigan to calm down (I've become a fair weather traveler with the boat), I got out the sketchbook and spent the morning in Fishtown making this sketch. Fishtown is located right next to the marina where our boat was parked and is what used to be a fishing village along the river that runs into Lake Michigan. Today Fishtown, which is about a block long, is inhabited by old buildings and lots of tourists. The buildings host t-shirts shops and the usual collection of tourist trinkets. Fishtown also has a commercial fishing operation and several charter boats that take anglers out to try their luck on Lake Michigan.

Free Boat Wash

My wife and I are out on our boat for a month plus. This sketch was done this past Sunday morning while I was sitting in the cockpit of our boat. It's a look south out of the mouth of the Leland, Michigan harbor as thunderstorm worked its way in from Lake Michigan. If you look between the pier heads you'll see a fishing boat that came roaring in off the lake to out run the storm. Once the rain started it lasted several hours and did a great job of washing off the boat. We stayed in Leland for a couple of days until the wind and Lake Michigan calmed down.

Hanging Out

This is a sketch I did Sunday afternoon while sitting in the cockpit of my boat. The sketch is of the aft end of a 33 foot Cape Dory that's, for the time being, hanging out in a slip directly behind my boat. I got to meet the new owner of the boat, know the old one, and applaud the new owner's efforts at polishing, cleaning, and re-doing the boat's wood. She's now in great shape and ready to be a part of the new owner's daughter's wedding this summer.

The sketch was done with ink and Prismacolor graded grey scale cool grey markers. Love the effect you get when you start using the pens to provide shadows. Suddenly the flat paper takes on depth and dimension. Fun to work with.

To Windy to Sail...

Sunday afternoon it was way to windy to venture out of the slip to go sailing so I got out the art supplies and went to work.

This is a sketch of one of the marina buildings at Crosswinds where we keep our boat. Right to the left are a couple of boats that are still waiting to go in the water. If you look closely, between the boats, is a guy on a ladder waxing and polishing, trying to get his boat ready for launch. Doing the sketch was a great way to relax the afternoon away.

Hay Fever

It's been a while since I posted. That's 'cause it's been cold up here and I spend the winter skiing. Well, it's finally warming up, the boat's in the water, and I finally felt like getting out and working with the sketch pad.

This is a sketch of a tree that's in our front yard. It has lots of twists and turns and is interesting to draw. It was also a bit of a hazard since I have spring hay fever. Oh well' finished the drawing and am thanking Zyrtec for keeping the sneezing under control.

Waco Bi-plane

When my wife an I were in Maine last month we spent a rainy afternoon at the Owls Head Transportation museum, located in Owls Head, Maine. The museum is home to vintage cars, trucks, and an collection of old bi-planes. What's especially interesting about the museum is that each of its inhabitants still runs and flies. During weekends the old vehicles are out and about on the museum's grounds and the planes take to the air.

Being an aviation buff, this beautifully maintained 1923 Waco caught my eye. So I borrowed a place to sit (actually a large plastic bucket), sat down, and give this sketch a go.