Sketching Sunday at the RR Station

I was delighted to find "my" railway station had only been moved, not torn down.  It's restored as a museum, near the National Frontier Trails Museum in Independence now!

This is what it looked like when I was a kid...a bit over a half block from my house...

The station agent lived next door to me...he taught me Morse Code when I was just a kid.  This is his desk in the station...

Yep, we ALL had phones like this once upon a time...

And since it's a museum now, it was all decorated for Christmas...the baggage cart you can see in the old photo was all tarted up with greenery and big red bows and looked kind of ridiculous...I left it and the wreaths out of my sketch.  Not how it was when I was a kid...

And for a complete change of pace, we ran by Costco and I sketched in the parking lot with my vintage Sheaffer calligraphy pen.  That was fun, too...

Urban landscape, Forest Park, St. Louis

Soon sketching outdoors with watercolors is not going to work. Today though temps reached 50 degrees F and when the sun was shining it was very comfortable. This small sketch was inspired by the view looking north from the Old Stable Bridge in Forest Park. There are several spots in the park where the foliage and dense undergrowth are not "maintained". At first glance it is difficult to remember that one is in the city with mass transit lines, interstate highways and urban development just a few blocks away.

"Urban Landscape, Forest Park, St. Louis, 11/25/2012", Michael Anderson, 4" x 7", watercolor on Canson Montval, 140lb cold press.

Out and About, Home and Abroad

Sometimes I think I live in parking lots!

Trying out a new Pilot Penmanship pen from JetPens, in the neighborhood.  It came with water-soluble ink cartridges, so I went with that!

From the same window, again and again

Early this morning, before the wonderful craziness of cooking, eating and sharing that is Thanksgiving Day, I painted two watercolor versions of the same view--the morning sky over the rooftops--from my second floor bedroom window.

I worked in tandem on 2 individual sheets of watercolor paper--the top one on cold press and the bottom on hot press. I've been experimenting with water soluble graphite, applied with a brush, for quick, out-and-about sketches. This time I used watercolor and the water soluble graphite on larger works.

I've done other drawings from this window. I guess it's one of my favorite perches to look out on the world from. 

One in summer and another in winter, both including the rooftops you might identify in the above: 

Air Zoo C-47

This sketch was done yesterday morning at one of my favorite spots...Kalamazoo, Michigan's Air Zoo aircraft museum.

The Air Zoo houses a wide variety of aircraft but I particularly enjoy their WW II aircraft. This piece is of the Zoo's C-47. The aircraft shows the colors and markings that it would have displayed during the June, 1944 D-Day invasion of Europe. At that point in time the aircraft would have been carrying paratroopers headed for various invasion drop zones.

The C-47, the military version of the venerable Douglas DC-3, was flown by the Army Air Corps throughout Europe and the Pacific during the war. The aircraft continued service with the Air Force post the war and was still flying combat missions during the Vietnam conflict. Pretty amazing considering the DC-3 design first took to the air in 1935. The airplane is considered by many to be one of the most reliable ever built.

I have to pass on my thanks to the Air Zoo. They've kindly given me permission to work inside the barriers that surround the aircraft. Being able to get close is a big help with details and it's great to be able to bring along a chair that I can sit in while I'm working!

Forest Park Skyline, St. Louis

Several buildings along Kingshighway stand above the dense treeline at the edge of Forest Park including the venerable art deco Chase Park Plaza and the Barnes Jewish Hospital complex. It was a beautiful autumn day for water color sketching.

"Skyline, Forest Park", Michael Anderson, 11/18/2012, watercolor on Canson 140lb cold press.

A Bridge of Madison County

Finally had time to finish what I started in Iowa last weekend...adding the color to my morning sketch.

While my wife and her sister spent time shopping near DesMoines, I spent last Saturday morning driving down some very dusty Iowa roads finding the various covered bridges of Madison County, Iowa. This one, the Roseman, is located in a hollow about 10 miles west of Winterset, Iowa. Apparently the bridge builders of Madison County all used the same set of bridge plans 'cause each one I found was pretty much like its siblings. In common too with the other bridges I found on my tour, this one, courtesy of a very dry summer, spanned a pretty much dry creek bed. Once I was done with my bridge quest I headed off to my wife's home town of Indianola, Iowa. The sketch from Indianola was posted earlier in the week.