This is a line illustration I did to illustrate one of my son’s limericks he wrote when he was younger and being home-schooled. It was quite funny and I decided to illustrate the theme of it just for kicks. This is what came out.
Boy Kicking Cheese
When visiting Spain in March 2008, I was visually reminded of how many cathedrals there are in that country and in the rest of Europe. This was a sketch of just one of the many we visited while in Barcelona, Valencia and Granada. The most impressive and memorable was the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, by architect Antoni Gaudi.
This sketch was done at La Lonja, a castle from the 15th century that housed the silk merchant trade in Valencia, Spain. The design is definitely organic, and carved from stone. It appears on the side of an 8-sided star shaped fountain, pictured below.
Here are some additional sketches I did while in Spain last month. The first is a window detail on the side of the place of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain.
This next one is a sketch of one of the older parts of the Alhambra… the castle or fortress section used to defend the original old city.
And this sketch done in Granada is of a new hotel built on the side of a mountain that mimics the style of some of the Alhambra Palace which is further up the mountain.
Another sketch is of the cathedral or chapel built on the Alhambra after the Europeans took Granada back from the Moors. The site was originally a mosque.
Sorry for the recent silence. I took a trip to Spain, and was almost completely off-line and unplugged from most technology and the Internet! I spent 1-hour online between March 20, and 31st. It’s amazing what happens when you do this. Life slows down. You can actually think about things and reflect. I read two and a half books: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (this must be about my 6th or 7th read of that), The End of Christendom by Malcolm Muggeridge, and Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas. I have a few more chapters to go in Amazing Grace on the life of William Wilberforce. All are good and highly recommended.
We left Chicago on March 20th and traveled to Barcelona via London. There we met our college age son who is studying in Valencia this semester. We spent about three days in the Barcelona area, visiting many historic sites, staying with our fabulous guides, a missionary couple who are friends of ours and have lived in Spain for 25 years. We then traveled to Valencia and spent about three days in that area with our son as guide. Finally we all traveled by overnight sleeper train to Granada, exploring that ancient town that dates back to the Roman empire.
Finally, we said our “good byes” and split apart, us traveling to Madrid to return home via London, and our son traveling back to Valencia to finish his semester.
We must have walked a hundred miles over that 10 days… my legs are so tired! But it was worth it. Also took hundreds of digital photos, and even had time to do some sketching along the way. Pictured above is one I did in Granada while visiting the historic Alhambra palace site.
I love the Spanish coffee! They make a “café con leche” that is one half espresso, and one half steamed hot milk, and I add sugar. Muy Bueno!
I think I was looking through some Pen and Ink drawing books I have, and decided to try my hand at a pen and ink sketch of a guy in one of the books. This was probably 20 to 25 years ago. It probably took me about 2-3 minutes to sketch. That’s the whole idea… quick, sketchy, loose, free. Just do it. Then know when to stop. I think the original was sepia ink on white “trash” paper.
I think I was looking through some Pen and Ink drawing books I have, and decided to try my hand at a pen and ink sketch of a guy in one of the books. This was probably 20 to 25 years ago. It probably took me about 2-3 minutes to sketch. That’s the whole idea… quick, sketchy, loose, free. Just do it. Then know when to stop. I think the original was sepia ink on white “trash” paper.
I sketched this image of a crazy cartoony car while flying from Chicago to Denver. Not sure what it means. Got any ideas?
This morning I heard a sermon by Dr. Greg Waybright, at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park. It was based upon the Gospel of Luke chapter 19, verses 1-10. It was the story of a Jew named Zachaeus, and how he met Jesus, basically one week before Jesus’ death.
Here are my sermon notes in case you missed it. If you’d like to hear the sermon yourself, you can get in on iTunes here.
We made it to Costa Rica – safe and sound!
3:45AM
The day started at 3:45 AM, getting up and packing the van. Deb drove me to pick up two other guys, Eddie Alexander and Pat Italia. We met the rest of the team at 5:30 AM at the U.S. Airways ticketing area of Terminal 2. After checking in and going through security, we boarded the plane and left Chicago O’hare Airport at 7:30 AM.
10:30 AM
First stop was Charlotte, N.C. with a 1-hour layover. Next flight left Charlotte around 10:30 AM and we arrived in San José, Costa Rica at around 2:30 PM.
The process through baggage claim and Immigration went smoothly. We all piled into a smallish red van for the trip to the Multiplication Center in San Isidro – about an hour away.
3:30 PM
Arriving at the center, we had a chance to greet our hosts, check into our rooms, and take a tour of the facility, led by Brian Claus. After a short free time, we headed to the Casa Grande for dinner around 5:30 PM, and a time of orientation and fellowship afterward.
7:00 PM
At our evening Crew meeting, Mark Edwards shared how God had brought him to be serving in Costa Rica with his family, as well as what the vision and purpose of the ministry of Sonlife is in Latin America.
8:00 PM
We shared some good “Tres Leche” cake provided by Karen Edwards, along with coffee (decaf) before heading off to catch up on some needed sleep.
The highlights of the day for me were some good conversations with Mark Dodgson, Bob Boerman, as well as seeing Mark & Karen Edwards, and Brian & Stephanie Claus.
I look forward to sharing more with you all here each day.
Watercolor of a 1960's Chevy Impala
Anybody who knows me knows I like old cars. I took a photo of this junked 1967 Chevy Impala back in the 70′s on a downtown Chicago street. Later on in the 1980′s, I used that photo as a foundation drawing/sketch for this watercolor study, done as an assignment for my watercolor class at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. My instructor, Irving Shapiro, a well-known American watercolorist, asked if he could use it as an example in one of his painting books. So, this is a published work of art!
If anybody out there has a copy of the book that this image is in, I’d love to know, and maybe buy it from you!