15May

Three bands, four sketches.

A few weekends ago I went to see my friends Curlew’s Call perform, and I drew a truly horrible sketch of them. It made me think about what I’d post on this blog. I’m happy to share my sketches and art process warts-and-all, but I’ve decided to draw the line at sharing things that make […]
  • On 2018-05-15
  • 1 Comments
  • crayon, Derek Gripper, musicians, Open the Door for Three, pen and ink, pencil, Tannahill Weavers
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29Sep

Sketches, week of September 18

A few little sketches this week. The first two are from memory, which is something I’d like to get better at. I saw the little girl at the Olympia Farmer’s Market while Pinniped Music was setting up for our gig there and was struck by what a perfect storybook urchin she made. She could’ve walked […]
01Sep

Bass at the Market

Bass player Matthew Autry (who is also the skilled fellow who built my beautiful tenor guitar) played with Mudcat down at the Olympia Farmers Market today. I caught the tale end of their set. Perfect music for a hot afternoon.
04Aug

Taking the ‘gris’ out of ‘grisaille’

The last month and a half has been busy with non-visual art things like guests and cleaning and music gigs, but I did manage to start another painting. This one is on an old panel that I painted over with a titanium white/cad yellow mixture, and like the other fiddle painting, I started with a […]
  • On 2017-08-04
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  • color palette, Fancy Art Terms, musicians, oils, painting
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03Jul

Ink Sketches: John and Maggie Carty, Fort Worden

I went to a marvelous house concert Thursday by John Carty and his daughter Maggie, and sketched while they played. John, Maggie, and John’s son James are teaching this week at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington, at Fort Worden. I’m unfortunately not participating this year, so I don’t get to […]
  • On 2017-07-03
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  • musicians, pen and ink, Port Townsend WA
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20Jun

‘Real’ colors at last

I’m always slow to abandon the freedom of under-painting and commit to working on the layers people will consciously look at, but I have to take the plunge eventually. With this painting I had some extra motivation: I was starting a second painting, and before I used the crazy yellow/purple underpainting scheme a second time, I […]
  • On 2017-06-20
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  • color palette, musicians, oils, painting
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16Jan

Paintings start out ugly

It’s been over eight years since I last used oil paints. Yesterday, after a year in my new studio, I finally got brave enough to get them back out. I like to paint on panel, rather than canvas, and I usually make my own. It’s cheap, but it adds a significant delay to starting any […]
  • On 2017-01-16
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  • acrylics, musicians, oils, painting
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18Nov

three minutes here, four minutes there

I sketched this in snatches, between playing Quebecois tunes. The Olympia French Canadian session moves around between members’ houses, and Charles’ house is particularly interesting to draw. The two musicians moved right after I outlined their hair, naturally.
  • On 2016-11-18
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  • architectural, musicians, pen and ink
  • 3 likes
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