Waking up to the first rays of sun is one of the best parts of camping.
My brother loves the trees on his 80 acres, and today I sketched one of his favorites. It sits in a ponderosa grove on the mesa and, with its split trunk, coloring, and heights, is particularly striking. I did not include the other trees, instead choosing the view beyond the trees, thinking it shows this favored tree better this way.
The very youngest member of our group is wild about swinging under the pine trees, especially when pushed by his Granny. I like this quick sketch because it eliminates all the business going on nearby and focuses on the most important- swinging under the pines with Granny.
Family reunions are so much fun, especially ones with twenty-some people aged from 1 to 76. Here is a composite sketch showing some of the people and camping setups at our annual family reunion. Imagine twice the number of people and trailers, tons of food, lots of hiking, chatting, games, and art, and you will have a pretty good idea of what it is like here in the four-corner area of Colorado this week. This is a double spread from a 13-inch square sketchbook. The individual pages are shown below.
These wildflowers were too beautiful not to paint.
It is unusually green here at my brother’s place in Colorado for early July, and it seems that with each step we take, another flower is waiting for its portrait to be taken.
Our family reunion is off to a good start. Today I sketched with a few of my sibs as we chatted the morning away.
Deliberate Sketching 