Sketchbook Pages 11-15

Sketchbook pages 10-11-2015

Sketchbook pages, September 2015

Bellefield Gate, Roosevelt National Historic Site

Lone Wolf, Couple with 3 teapots 

Lone Wolf, 2 men, initial sketch

Lone Wolf, 2 Men, reworked with white highlights

Lone Wolf, 2 Women 

Plants and Stakes near Parking Lot

River sketches

Water Color Sketches of Connecticut River 

done from SKETCH PAD-L

SKETCH PAD*L

Kayak with sketching board mounted on swing arm. Can be rotated out of the way for paddling, swung into place for painting or drawing.

Tangelwood - BSO, Yo-Yo Ma, Andris Nelsons, Håkan Hardenberger, Charles Dutoit, Joshua Bell

Pennsylvania - Storm approaching looking east and west

Went down to Pennsylvania for a family reunion last weekend and stayed at my brother-in-law Victor's house. I took a little walk down the road and did a sketch of the view to the east, of distant cliffs that plunge down to the Susquehanna river behind the nearby trees and field. I was working on the crypto-coptic stitched double page spread, and had intended to do a panoramic view, but I forgot  , and started the painting on the left page only. However, at some point I turned around and saw the dark thunderclouds approaching from the west, and quickly sketched them on the facing page. So I have a sort of 180˚ bookend pair instead of a pano.

Drummer's Cove, Wellfleet

The latest iteration of the Montanapolitan Croptic sketchbook. It's similar to the last one (which was built on the earlier Neapolitan, augmented with cryptic stitching, but instead of the Arches 140 lb (300 gsm) I used the 90 lb (185 gsm) The 140 seemed out of scale for such a small format - it took a lot of water to get it primed up and the grain was a bit coarse. The 90 is closer to the Moleskine watercolor book, which I like. I also substituted the Canson Biggie sketch paper with Borden & Riley #234 Paris paper, which has a smooth, Bristol-like finish, but on a lighter, more flexible stock, and added more pages because I go through it faster than the watercolor or toned paper (which is still the same Strathmore Toned Gray). Still not winning any bookbinding prizes but gradually improving my coptic stitchery. I'm hoping to get faster a making these, because although the cost is very little, the time spent making it has a slight chilling effect on using it. In the end I don't begrudge the time, because I like having a sturdy book that will survive weeks in my back pocket and use in all sorts of adverse conditions, but I need to get the steps under my fingers instead having to go back and watch the admittedly delightful Sea Lemon tutorial every time I do it.

montanapolitan croptic sm.jpg



I thought the white on black layout lines for the denim cover looked kind of cool.

layout-sm.jpg