Mostly I Do Art...

Happy New Year, my friends! This 11X14 PITT Graphite Drawing on 10lb cold press paper is of an old Allis-Chalmers B series tractor, circa 1947, I believe. This particular tractor belonged to my grandfather and sits in a barn behind his house. He had quite a few sitting around, but this one was one of his favorites.  This model doesn't come with headlights. He added those himself so he could keep on plowing when it started to get dark. The jug next to the driver seat? It was full of water, because the beast had a habit of overheating. I recall many a season following behind this machine, whether chunking rocks or picking up potatoes. Back then, I hated every minute of it. Isn't it funny how, when you get old, you wish you could do again the things you hated as a kid? I really like the way this one turned out. It was drawn from a photo I took myself. I took only a few liberties with it, just to make the background less cluttered. A lot of the details I filled in from m

Happy Holidays, my friends! This entry in the December sketchbook is another piece of our Christmas village - my own rendition of Bob Cratchit's house from A Christmas Carol . I've been choosing these complex buildings and complicated textures because I'm trying to get in some practice with pen and ink techniques. Here I've selectively used hatching to accentuate some of the features of the house, like the partially exposed brick, rickety roof shingles, unfinished add-on, and "bullseye" glass window panes. After all, Bob Cratchit was a poor man who could only barely afford to keep his family of 8, so it would stand to reason that his house might look a bit run down, but he does the best he can on his 15 bob a week. I had originally thought to do this one in color, but after it was finished, I liked the way it looked in black and white better. I was worried that colored pencils would hide the delicate details and watercolor would smear the ink, and thi

Hello, holiday revelers! Today's sketchbook feature is the old Scrooge & Marley Counting House. I've seen lots of different versions of this particular building, but I tend more toward the one I saw by Department 56 , from the Dicken's Village set. It more closely resembles the building described by Dickens himself, and is the one that matches the building shown in the Robert Zemeckis adaptation of A Christmas Carol  (2009). I've taken a few liberties with the architecture, just for simplicity's sake, but it does not change the overall impression that the building gives. I have to say that even though Ebenezer Scrooge was voiced by comedian Jim Carrey in the 2009 CGI version, it was a fine dramatic performance that showed the true range of his ability as an actor. Also, many people don't realize that the voice actor who portrays old Fezziwig and the second-hand merchant Joe is none other than Bob Hoskins - Eddie Valiant of Who Framed Roger Rabbit , anot

I know that, personally, one of the best things about visiting the family home is that feeling you get when you finally see the front gate. If you lived on a farm, this is especially true. This is the time of year when that shabby wooden gate becomes the grand entrance to a magical world full of laughter and cheer. There's an old saying that everyone is a kid at Christmas. I definitely believe that to be true. I mean, doesn't looking at holiday displays in the department store make you feel all giddy inside? It's just like back when you were that one kid who could barely see over the window ledge, standing on your dad's feet to catch a glimpse of Santa's Train roaring through a snowy model landscape in the window of J.C. Penny. Or what about the sight of Santa at the mall? Do you still have to resist the urge to run up to him with arms flung wide, a fanatical smile on your face as you spout about how good you've been all year? If not, then maybe you've

Deep in the moonlit wood, a black bear comes upon a lone, snow-dusted hemlock aglow with the light of dozens of fireflies. Birds gather in the branches like flashy ornaments, their song proclaiming joyously, "It's Christmas in the Smokies..." To those who lost everything during the Gatlinburg and Wear's Valley fires, we're still with you. This is our home, the beautiful place we love so much, and we will never leave it. Outsiders could never understand the connection we feel to this place - it will forever reside in our hearts and in our memories. Please feel free to download, save, and reshare. This one's on me. #christmasart #christmasdrawing #christmas2016 #digitalpainting #Gatlinburg #christmascard #christmaswallpaper

The holidays are supposed to be a time of thanks for all we've received and a time of hope for what the future will bring, In spite of his unfortunate circumstances, this resident of our Christmas Village has still gone out of his way to publicly demonstrate his holiday cheer. It saddens me when I hear people expressing the idea of the holiday in dollar signs. You don't have to be rich to be happy, and you don't have to live in a mansion of gold to be thankful. Happiness and contentment come from within. I think Dr. Seuss hit the mark pretty well in his book,  How the Grinch Stole Christmas . In the tale, a mean, unhappy creature called the Grinch despises the contented little people of Whoville and their bright, noisy Christmas, so he makes up his mind to "steal Christmas" so that he doesn't have to listen to it any more. He goes through a lot of trouble to steal every last thing he can find that's even remotely associated with the holiday, and the

A Festive Facility This month's theme sounds more like a topic on Family Feud, and that is, things you might see in a Christmas Village.   Now, I'm going to say up front that I won't be doing any Nativity sort of things. I'm not anti-Christian, before you get any ideas. I'm just trying not to put anything too denominational on my blog. I don't want to offend my Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Wiccan, or Jewish friends. No, when I say Christmas village, I mean a traditional, Norman Rockwell style village with the skating pond and all of that. Nothing overtly religious, the minimal amount of decorated trees, and no blatant images of Santa. Fair enough? (Hey, if you were doing this as a paid contract, you'd get the same sort of requirements, so don't gripe.) Those of you who follow me, you're welcome to sketch along with me. You can post your sketches and drawings if you like. I'm always happy to meet other artists. And just so you know, we're a