"Doodles" pen

This is what I am best at- doodling.

"Falcon Face" pencil

This is just a sketch for our school mascot.

"Yellow Lily" pen

Day 90- This is a sketch of some flowers my wife had bought. I am not really sure what kind of a lily they are. The petals are a brilliant yellow with faint spots towards the center of the flower. The stamens are an ochre brown upheld by a a thin filament.

"Want-a-be Angel" pen

This sketch may be a bit to much James Christensen-esque.

"The Actress" photograph

Today has been a day of theatrics. My children have been in a play this week. Most of our day was spent "behind the scenes" with them.

"Dancing Frog" pencil
















Here is one happy frog.

"Girl Sketch" digital painting from a pencil drawing

I wanted to play with color with this sketch I did. The textures of the crosshatching against the flat warm colors create a juxtapose feeling.

"The Rasta Man" pencil on gessoed board

This drawing is done on an old piece of watercolor board that a student had left behind. You can still see the lettering that was left on the board. I painted gesso over it and sketched out the king of reggae with a No. 2 pencil.

"Buzz" pen

This drawing is really quite small. The crosshatching adds to the furry nature that is not so obvious to see on insects.

"Red Tail Hawk" calligraphy pen

I used a calligraphy pen to vary the line width, just as I have done with some of my other drawings. I like how the shapes of the feathers are emphasised by the calligraphic lines used.

"Today's Doodle" pen

This is a small doodle of an "unknown" that I made while scratching in my sketchbook.

"Oh Well" pencil















Our "oh well" was named by a neighbor boy, who was curious with what I was doing. I sketched this somewhat stylized version with a 6B pencil.

-part of a roster sketch- watercolor











Made it to day 80. The birds keep coming back. The old rooster is always one who likes to come by.

"Smudge" oil pastel and pen

It is a scramble to make a post like this everyday. Some people can just flow with words with every post they make. I run around and gather what ever can make a mark on paper and try to come up with something. Today was like this. I had some paper smudged with oil pastel and decided to wrap a form around it. I ended up with a hybrid starling and parrot.

"The Old Goat" pen

Here is another animal drawing (no I don't live in a zoo).

"Bella Sketch" pen

My dog, Bella, drove me crazy today while I was playing catch with my son, Luc. You had to be sure to catch the ball or Bella would grab it before you could even see it land. It kept us moving, but we outlasted her. Eventually she wanted to go back inside. We couldn't believe that we could outlast a dog who has torn through a more basketballs than the Utah Jazz has this whole season.

"The Brain" pencil

Here is a five minute sketch of the smartest student in 6th period.

"The face in the shadow" pencil

Sometimes people want to hide in the shadows, but if if others can look in they can find subtle grace and beauty.

"Crayola Sparrow" crayon

Me and my daughter, Genevieve, spent some time coloring this afternoon. I think that she she should start making the posts.

"Barn Owl" pen









Computer problems made today's post problematic.

"Intentions" acrylic and pen

This is one ugly bird.

"Figure Sketch" acrylic, pen and color pencil

"Crow Field" acrylic and pen on board

This is another small study that I had fun with.

"The Rooster and his Bouncy Ball" acrylic paint and pen

I am still playing around with the animal themes. This is a sketch done with acrylic paint. Most of these kind of sketches are actually quite small. When you click on the picture it opens up to a larger picture. It makes it easier to see the beautiful accidents or the ugly blemishes, depending on who you are.

"Chapel-Chateau de Montreal" pencil

I pulled out some old photo's from France. This is a sketch from a photo taken in an old chateau in the Perigueux region of France.

"A Dancing Crocodile" pen

This crocodile is much more agile out of water as compared to in water.

"Book of Le Fou- cover" altered book, mixed media

I worked on my altered book some more today. I had to give it the title of Le Fou (the fool) because it is a little bit crazy and only a madman could come up with it's bits of randomness. I also found it appropriate to add quotes from Alice in Wonderland. Of course my favorite is "Twinkle twinkle little bat"

"She's on top of the world" pencil and pen

Chalk another one up to the animal on a sphere series.

You might notice a change in the blog title. I am still trying to figure out what this blog is really about.

"R" altered book-mixed media

When I was away at my conference I took an altered book workshop. I saw how it was used with troubled teens. These are students who are normally closed off and suspicious of any thing a teacher would ask them to do. Through creating this very personal and intimate journal of ideas, these students opened up and confronted many of their demons head on.

I have done altered books before, and I have seen the amazing thought processes to alter and change an object into something new and personal. I decided to try this with a group of my students today. This is what I came up with. The students jumped on the assignment. Even those who normally are not inclined to jump on in.

"The Gated Windows" digital photo from an iphone.

Tonight I was over at the old tabernacle building in Kaysville. When you are inside the building on a sunny day, you first notice the kaleidoscope of colors in the stained glass windows. But tonight, viewing it from the outside with only the porch light, it became something new and different.

"The Green Rabbit" color pencil

Tonight's post is another rabbit. I did a stylized rabbit a week or two back. This is a realistic study. Meaning more observing and coping what I see. Work that is more abstract is less about observing what I see and more about what I think I can see.

As Picasso said "Art is a lie that helps us see the truth."