Here's another one I did a while back. Not sure why I never posted. Growing up in Key West, Florida, this was a familiar sight to me. I think shrimp boats are going away though, a friend said they're not building them anymore. Maybe a little Paul Cezanne Influence but mostly Andrew Wyeth.

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I've gone back to doing some life drawing with some friends lately. I think I've found a nice combination of drawing implements that work well together. Here's the final drawing from last nights figure session.

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I've been up in Jupiter, Fl. this week painting with some of the participants in the Plein Air Festival sponsored by the Lighthouse Art Center. A good place to see the state of plein aire painting in America today. Here's a pastel I did at Riverbend Park today.

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It's been a while so let me post this still life of random objects from the studio. This one is pretty straight forward without too much of a creative finish.

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I was looking through some drawings and came across this block study. Definitely owes a debt to Paul Cezanne.

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Well here is an example of the 'keeping tuned' process. This is something most artists don't do enough of. These are notan/value studies I did while watching some safari videos. I think doing these kinds of studies is similar to a musician practicing scales. It helps an artist keep tuned with the most important part of a painting, design and composition.

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Another one I painted over a year ago. I'm not sure why I didn't post it. This is from a lovely public gardens in Palm Beach.

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I did this one over a year ago when I just started doing plein aire work. It's one of my earliest plein aire pastels. I've been told a certain charm came through on it.

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The group met at a beautiful park in Davie this morning. I did one that I think worked out well. I guess it's most influenced by Paul Cezanne and Richard Mckinley.

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I was back home in Key West recently and had a chance to do a pastel at Smathers Beach. It was hot and windy but, I got it done. I don't think I've ever done a pastel in Key West before.

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I'm still out doing pastel drawings/paintings plein aire (onsite). We were at a very nice wildlife preserve called Green Cay in Palm Beach county. It was a beautiful day today but, I know it will keep getting warmer and warmer as we head into summer in South Florida. I'm going to have to come up with clothing strategies to keep painting onsite in the heat.

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I've been outdoors doing pastel drawings/paintings onsite for a few months now. Here's one I did this morning.

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A drawing inspired by my recent visit to the Jupiter, Fl plein air competition. I didn't participate, but I enjoyed meeting some of the artists and seeing their excellent work. This is a scene from Sunday morning.

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I have a question. Is a pastel work a painting or a drawing? I've seen it described both ways. Since this is my drawing blog I'm going to call them drawings for this site. At any rate, here is a recent plein aire pastel drawing I did this week. Plein aire artwork is artwork done outdoors, often in one sitting or day.  This one took about an hour and a half to complete last Tuesday.

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Back to a graphite drawing for old times sake, a good a reason as any. Or is it because I must?

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OK it's been a while. On this one, my dad and stepmom were house sitting a few years ago and I stopped by to visit. In our friends yard was a ceramic native stove and a tiki carving. I found those two objects intriguing and several years later here's a drawing.

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 I did this drawing a while back and can't believe I never posted it. It's from the grounds of West Martello Towers in Key West.

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Artists have been advised since at least Leonard Da Vinci's time to draw the figure, to learn to draw and to keep drawing skills sharp. I haven't posted in a while so here are some new figure drawings.

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Here's the house in Key West where Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote for a time. Many of the locals were acquainted with him, including my grandfather.

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I just posted a video of this blog. Well, at least the drawing a day aspect. I included every drawing from that year in chronological order. I was honored to have the great guitarist and composer Randy Bernsen let me use his music as a soundtrack. Check it out at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNOMR335Dxg

An interesting part of the video are the 3 part drawings. That's where I did 3 versions of the same subject on most of the still lives and figures. To see the same subject click by with 3 different treatments is a kick. I hope you enjoy!

Working on a downtown scene. Trying to bring a little character to the drawing. Here's a sketch of the scene at Duval and Green streets in Key West.

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Time for another drawing post. This one is influenced by my early years growing up in Key West, Florida.

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It's been quite a while. Have been working on other projects. Kind of wondering how to keep this one going.

Another drawing, done recently.

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Ok it;s been several months since I finished the 'drawing a day' aspect of this blog, but since I have continued drawing I may as well post one from time to time. Here's one I did yesterday. I guess the biggest influence on this one would be Paul Cezanne.

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Hello all, I'm now working on a book that compiles all of the drawings as well as some narrative explaining why I did this, what the year was like and what the lasting results were.

It's been a while since I posted the last drawing of the year and I've got to say that I'm reaping the benefits of the hard work. The artwork that I'm doing now is coming much easier than before I began the project. That was the point of it, to improve my skills and work habits. It's a good example of 'practice makes perfect'. Maybe not perfect but much better.

Here it is, the final drawing in my year long quest. I'm thankful nothing disrupted the journey, since we all know how life can bring unexpected challenges and obstacles. There were some challenges but fortunately nothing major. Thanks for following, I hope you enjoyed the journey!
This drawing is the Rialto Bridge replica from the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

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Last figure drawing for the blog, it had to be in color.

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The last still life of the blog. Two more drawings after this one. They'll also be in color.

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