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.

New (Food) Frontier

I found a 2-day book binding class offered at Print League KC this past weekend. Had to drive in from Topeka to check it out. Also found out about a new donut shop called Donutology, in the Westport area. Before class I stopped by for a pastry and coffee. No time to sketch, so I had to come back after class to sketch. The second day Wilma came along and I had to stop by again before class to show her, and eat more pastry. It's a tough life. They do a great job there.

Fountain pen, watercolor pencil and waterbrush.

Bridge, Castlewood State Park, Ballwin, MO

Everything looks better in watercolor even a dull concrete bridge. In fact, most things look better in sketches and paintings, don't you agree?

Bridge, Kiefer Creek, Castlewood State Park, 10/15/2017, 7"h x 10"w, water color on Canson 140lb cold press, Michael Anderon

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.