A CONFESSION AND SKETCHES

I've been SLOWLY going through the book "Mastering Sketching--A complete course in 40 lessons" by Judy Martin.  When I bought the book I thought, "Forty lessons, let's see I can finish that in a couple of months".  NOT. I really have a problem messing up a nice sketch book with scribbles and dabbles and untidy shambles.  I save those for a cheap tablet of paper I can toss when it gets too hashed.  I know I need to loosen up but I'm kind of a compulsive tight-wad.  So I'm still going through the lessons.  Here are a few sketches I'm willing to show off.

This is a study from the painting, "In Love," by Marcus Stone.  

It was done for the lesson--Sketching from Reproductions.

A combination of ink and watercolor pencils done of an old freight wagon.

Part of a small version of "Morning Echo Bay" which resulted in a finished painting I sold through my Etsy shop.  This is a sketch of the view from the motor vessel David B.  We spent five enjoyable and unforgettable days aboard on a tour of the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound this summer.

Another one done from the David B.

This I call, "Before the Feast."  It's done from a photo I took before we covered this table and another one for our family Thanksgiving in November.  It was sketched for Lesson 18, Light and Shade.

I started on these lessons in July and I'm almost half-way through.  Not exactly finishing in two months.

WORDLESS CLOSEUPS

DEER HUNTING

It’s hunting season, the time of year when people gather and get gear to outfit themselves to stalk the animals of the forest and bush.  I would estimate most game brought home costs many times more per pound than the price of a nice beef steak.  But it’s the quest, right?  The bragging rights that legends are made of.

My deer hunting expedition was a little less elaborate.

I was seeking a shot at a mule deer like this one I got in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  The size of the antlers was not a priority.  I just wanted to catch one in the view finder of my camera so I could come back and boast.

Within a half-hour walk of our house is a tree-lined river 

far enough away from houses where all kinds of animals hang out.

It was a little before dawn on an icy, overcast morning 

when I took my camera and went deer hunting.

Even before sunrise the dog-walkers and joggers had gotten there ahead of me.

The birds were the only creatures who hadn’t taken cover.

There is a fence with a big “No Trespassing” sign put up to keep four-wheelers and similar vandals off property owned by a good friend.  I didn’t think that applied to me.

Neither did the deer.  

One of them had left behind a hunk of hair when he slid between the wires.

There were tracks in the mud along the road.

Plenty of deer tracks.

The Canada geese flew up from the pond, honking and calling.

One left behind a feather.

There were ducks on the pond so I shot them with my camera.  But I had to go home without getting a deer.  At least there are no rules against photographing deer out of season and the only carcass I had to drag back was my own.