Brush in Hand

I was privileged to spend most of this day ensconced in my cozy studio, brush in hand.

  I warmed up with a very quick charcoal sketch of this morning's walk...

and a poem I came up with yesterday morning.

Then I opened the door into my new 8.5x11 sketchbook with watercolor and Pigma pen.

  I added a bit of detail to my imaginary furniture with Prismacolor pencils.

 Mother always accused cats of being snake-like, until Chester B. Good came to live with us.

Albert Pynkham Ryder

In the corpse light of this morning's half-dead moon

further paled

by thin veil

of quick cloud

Albert Pynkham Ryder walked beside me.

Holiday Walks

We have been on Christmas Holiday here since Thursday afternoon, spending lots of time at home and taking long walks every afternoon while dinner cooks.  The thermometer hovers right below freezing, making for good footing.  6" of snow fell last night.

Crystal Mountain, wrapped in clouds.

 The wintry view this afternoon from Hungry Point.

The high tide obliterated any possibility of walking the beach.

 Lots of lights add color to our black and white world.

At the mouth of the Narrows, looking at Petersburg Mountain.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Cold and Clear

The thermometer has dropped the past week as is typical here in winter when cloudless skies turn clear as crystal.  I got super chilled walking the beach.  My feet felt cold as this bulb kelp.

Looking north up the Narrows toward town, the last of the short day sunlight fades on Kupreanof Island.

On Foot in the Snow

This eagle landed in a nearby tree to watch Flossy run around on the beach, kept clean of snow by the tide.

 The half-moon floating at 3pm.

Seattle Girl is visiting this week - we got locked out of my car and had a great walk while we waited for the Sailor to rescue us.

Alpine-glow mountain peaking above a foot of snow on the muskeg...

as the sun goes down another day closer to Solstice.

Sketchbook Project II

The past couple of weeks I have been working away on Christmas gifts for people - my family - who may drop by this blog occasionally.  So instead of posting images of these projects and possibly blowing the surprise, I will show you some recent pages drawn in my Sketchbook Project. 

These images are ramblings from my subconscious, as un-edited by my Left Brain Judge as is possible. 

As I wrote in a previous post, I am using the transparent properties of the sketchbook pages to let each new image spring from the previous one.

 Sometimes it's ok to not have any color...

 ...or only a very little...

...but I do love my Prismacolor pencils.

 Last evening it got too late and I had to go to bed before I finished the drawing below.  I want way more color here, but have a drafting job to get out tonight, so the Sketchbook must wait, for now.

Hope your new week is filled with brightness in this darkest time of year here in the Northern latitudes. 

Out at the Slough the ice is starting to form flows that get caught on shore in the outgoing tide.

Flossy and the Sailor, attempting to give a sense of scale.

Interesting how the reflected clouds are more vivid than those in the sky. 

Winter Sunset Walk

I left the studio at about 2:30 this afternoon to go home and walk the beach before it got dark (which happens by 4pm these days). 

Looking south toward Crystal Mountain, 3:20 pm.

Looking across the Narrows to Kupreanof Island, the fragile color of sunset - temperature was right around 30 degrees Fahrenheit.