Travel Journals

Welcome back to my little home on the internet!

Summer is over and with it my scheduled hiatus. I have not yet determined what my blog posting schedule will be, but I am here for now and I am glad you are too!

Over the summer I was lucky enough to take two vacations with my family.

Whenever we go on vacation, I try to keep a journal of our adventures. It is so much fun to go back and read about the trip, and it is easier to remember the details when you have a framework to start in.

The first time I kept a journal was on a trip to Disney World that we took when my kids were very young. I knew that they were young enough that they probably wouldn't remember the trip on their own, so I wrote a brief summary about each day to capture and preserve the memories.

palm tree sketch from Hawaii

©2010 Stacy L. Rowan

Now that the kids are older, in addition to words, I try and sprinkle in a few sketches. The act of sketching more firmly cements the details in my mind and helps me soak up the vacation mood.

Someday I hope to create enough sketches on trips to be able to accurately refer to my travel journals as travel sketchbooks.

banyan tree sketch from Hawaii

©2010 Stacy L. Rowan

There are many artists in the world who keep wonderful travel sketchbooks. I love looking at the sketches and feeling the essence of a place - especially if it is a location that I may not visit in my lifetime.

If you are interested in learning about travel sketching or in viewing other artists' travel sketchbooks, the best place to start is with Katherine Tyrrell's Travel Sketching Squidoo lens.

As always, Katherine has compiled a wealth of information on the subject and neatly organized it for our benefit. She has included information on how to sketch and sketching tools, as well as links to artists who share their travel sketches in books or online.

My only warning about this site is not to pop in for a "quick" look. There is so much good and interesting information there, you won't be able to be quick.

shark & barracuda sketches from Florida

©2012 Stacy L. Rowan

If you are more interested in viewing images then learning about the craft, here are links to some artists whose travel sketches I enjoy.

Nina Johansson - look for the "Categories" drop down menu in the right hand sidebar of her blog and select "travel" to view her travel sketches. Or click this link.

Lynn Chapman - In December of 2011, Lynn took a trip to Kerala in Southern India. Her descriptions and sketches from that trip are wonderful. Try typing "Kerala" in the search bar at the top left hand side of her blog or click here.

Laura Murphy Frankstone is a prolific traveler and sketcher. You can see a collection of her travel sketches here.

Liz Steel is another prolific sketcher who is also well traveled. To see sketches from some of the places she and her friend Borromini have been, click the location tabs at the top of her blog.

I would love to hear from you if you have a favorite artist who shares sketches from their travels - leave a comment below. Viewing travel journals is a wonderful way to see the world without ever leaving your couch!

Easter Visitors

This year we had a couple of special visitors arrive for Easter. We picked them up on Saturday and they will be staying with us for two weeks. My kids could not be more excited.

sleeping chicks sketch 01

graphite in Moleskine cahier sketchbook

approx. 3" x 4"

Our "guests" are actually two chicks which we "rented" from a local farm. The farm provides bedding, food and a box along with the two chicks and instructions for their care.

Our chicks have been named Ginger and Momo - short for Mozart, because she started singing as soon as she was put into my daughter's hands. They are very cute chickies, all fluffy and round.

Not only are the chicks cute, but they provide me with a unique sketching opportunity, of which I plan to take full advantage. You can see my first three sketches in this post.

sleeping chicks sketch 02

graphite in Moleskine cahier sketchbook

approx. 3" x 4"

I started with some sketches of the chicks sleeping in order to familiarize myself with their forms. When asleep they are relatively still so long as I don't make any noise. Ginger is a curious one and the slightest noise will have her opening her eyes and turning around to see what is happening.

With two sleeping sketches under my belt I tried one of Ginger eating - another activity which keeps her still for at least a few seconds.

sketch of chick eating

graphite in Moleskine cahier sketchbook

approx. 5" x 2"

During my next sketching session I will try for a sketch of Momo. She is a little more shy but seems to be getting braver.
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On a different note, I am super happy to report that the first edition of my email newsletter was very well received. I am currently working on the May edition. If you are interested, you can sign up to receive it here. It will be arriving in inboxes around the world during the first week of May.

Hazards of Sketching

daffodil sketch

graphite on paper

We have been having absolutely beautiful weather the last couple of weeks. Yesterday I finally made time to go outside and sketch some of the Spring flowers, trees and the random garden ornament.

Since I was headed outside anyway, I decided to refill my empty bird feeder before I settled in. Perhaps this wasn't the best idea.

What I didn't realize was that there is apparently some sort of "Bat-Signal" in our neighborhood which calls birds to refilled feeders.

sketch of metal garden ornament

graphite on paper

For my first sketch I sat on a small cushion on the patio right in front of a large bunch of daffodils. The daffodils are growing up right next to the hook that holds the bird feeder.

Within minutes a little bird showed up - drawn by the Bat-Signal that is invisible to the human eye - and landed in the dogwood tree behind the daffodils. He was happily hopping around until he spotted me. When he saw me, he froze for a split second, then started wildly flapping his little wings and flew away in what I can only assume was panic.

This scene repeated itself multiple times, including with a pair of woodpeckers. The way they frantically flew away and the sounds of their beating wings started to freak me out a bit. I mean what if in their confusion they flew at me instead of away from me? Or what if they flew at me on purpose with the intent to attack?!

... What? It could happen. It could.

rhododendron sketch

(I know it says azalea buds, but they are rhododendron buds. Honest.)

ink on paper

But I decided that I would not let the savage attack birdies chase me out of my own yard. After all they don't pay the mortgage. They don't even pay for the birdseed! And I should be allowed to sketch freely in my own backyard.

So I stood my ground.

And sketched as quickly as possible!

Then I moved on to other sections of the yard. Ones that were further away from the freshly filled bird feeder!

A Flexible Schedule

Sometimes, much as we might like to be, we are not in control of our own schedules. Take my schedule for instance. Yesterday I found myself here...

sketch of airplane interior

That wasn't really a bad thing, but according to my schedule I was supposed to be on that plane on Wednesday, not Thursday. Which would have meant I was home on Thursday. If I was home on Thursday I would have posted this then.

shark & barracuda sketch

However, since I was not in control of my schedule, it fell victim to mechanical issues which required the cancellation of said Wednesday flight. With no other flights available, my family and I were forced to stay an extra day in a sunny, warm vacation place. Truth be told, I wasn't complaining. And the kids not only weren't complaining, but took it a step further, and were doing a very energetic happy dance.

palm tree sketch

So the Wednesday flight became a Thursday flight and the Thursday blog post became a Friday one. A worthy trade for a few additional hours of sun and a safe flight.

ottoman sketch - random I know but found in our vacation accommodations

I hope you enjoy my vacation sketches as much as I enjoyed the vacation.

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All sketches were created with graphite in a Moleskine cahier sketchbook.

Finished Cardinal Painting

Some paintings flow off the end of the brush as if by magic. After they are finished it almost feels like I painted them in a dream.

Whatcha Lookin' At?

cardinal painting

6" x 4" watercolor on paper

©2012 Stacy L. Rowan

Other paintings need a little more help and hand-holding to get them safely through their adolescent stage. It doesn't make me love them any less. However, it does take a little longer to evaluate those paintings and see if my work is done.

This guy was a bit of a hand-holder.

Several years ago I took a bunch of references as this cardinal snacked on some birdseed outside my kitchen window. The photos have been patiently been waiting in my files until it was time for their turn under the brush.

What I loved about this reference is the quirky turn of his head. I feel like he is eyeing me with curiosity and just a touch of an attitude.

Of course the part I loved was also the part that proved to be most challenging. Why is that so often the case?

We don't often view a cardinal from this angle so I had to make sure I didn't lose the parts that would identify him as a cardinal while I was focused on capturing his attitude.

I think I managed that goal. However, I am going to set him aside for a few weeks and then re-evaluate the painting just to make sure it doesn't need any last little tweaks.

If You Do What You've Always Done...

quick sketch of woodpecker

graphite on paper

©2012 Stacy L. Rowan

...you get what you've always got.

Or conversely, if you want a different outcome, try a different approach.

Today mother nature did a wonderful job of reminding me of this saying.

I was relaxing for a few minutes after breakfast by watching the birds feed at my backyard feeder. I typically see a pair of cardinals, many juncos, a few house finches, and the occasional tufted titmouse or chickadee.

At the time that I was watching there were probably a dozen juncos spread around feeding at the feeder, eating the seed that had fallen to the ground or hanging out in the surrounding bushes.

I enjoy watching the juncos and the way they jump and flit about, but I was also wondering how I could attract a wider variety of birds. I was thinking about asking some of the ladies from my Tuesday art group what they would recommend.

Then not thirty seconds later, after grabbing my warmed up coffee from the microwave, I looked outside. And what did I see? A woodpecker!

He was hanging on the suet cage pecking at the suet cake. I had just put it out the day before. Normally I don't buy suet cakes because the one other time I did, the only animal I ended up feeding was a squirrel. The birds didn't seem to like it or else never got a turn.

Earlier in the week when I was grocery shopping I saw suet cakes on sale for a dollar. I figured that for a buck it was worth a try even if I only made the squirrel happy.

But instead, by trying something new I experienced a new outcome -- a visit by a beautiful woodpecker.

I know this is a lesson that I can apply both to creating art and to other areas of life. My standard techniques and practices feel familiar and comfortable. I know what to expect from them. It is all too easy to shy away from trying something new in the name of comfort. Or because of fear of an unknown outcome. But, as today showed me, sometimes the unknown outcome turns out far better than I expect.

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My new friend the woodpecker didn't stick around for a long visit. As soon as I realized what kind of bird he was and got over my shock of having a woodpecker at my feeder, I grabbed my sketchbook. I drew exactly one line and then he flew away. I completed the rest of the sketch from memory as best I could. Then I went and grabbed my kids' bird book and using that and my first sketch I drew a second sketch which you see above.

I am questioning now whether the bird actually had the tuft of feathers at the back of his head, or if I didn't see clearly and it was instead a red triangle of feathers surrounded by darker ones. I will have to keep my eye out for him to visit again to see if I can get a better look.

Decorah Eagles

I am sure if you spend any time on the internet or if you watch the news you have already heard about the Decorah eagles webcam that was set up by the Raptor Resource Project. If you don't know what I am talking about, you can read about the project here.

Earlier today I decided to check in on the eagles and see how their cute little eaglets are doing. When I clicked over to the live feed there was the mama bird sitting on the nest keeping her babies warm. Or maybe it was daddy? I have no idea how to tell them apart.

Anyway, I was watching the adult eagle sitting on the nest and quickly found myself getting impatient, waiting for a glimpse of those cute, fuzzy eaglets. Yes, I realize this is a sad commentary on our society and how we constantly need to be entertained. What can I say... I was supposed to be in my studio and I might have been procrastinating and I might have been feeling guilt. Guilt doesn't feel so good so I shifted it to impatience instead and felt better about myself.

But I digress.

As I watched the streaming video, I realized how incredible it was to be viewing nature up close from the safety of my desk chair. And I realized that I shouldn't be impatient because the whole thing is really pretty amazing.

So I started thinking about how I could pass the time while I waited for mama bird to move. And that's when I decided to sketch while I was watching. (Good-bye guilt. Please don't come back anytime soon.)

sketch of eagle on nest

marker on paper

©2011 Stacy Rowan

But all kidding aside, when else in life am I going to have the opportunity to be this "close" to an eagle? Why not take the opportunity to sketch it from "life".

I couldn't find a pencil anywhere in the desk, so I went with the materials I had at hand, which happened to be a fine line brown Crayola marker and printer paper.  It was a challenging sketch because mama eagle is very serious about her job and is constantly moving her head to keep an eye on everything going on around her.

Just a few minutes into my sketch the adult eagle shifted and two little grey, fluffy heads peeked out from under her. One quickly turned it's face back out of the wind, but the other was more curious and checked out the surroundings a bit.

Day 96 - Ceramic Turtles

There is an interesting story behind this sketch. This set of ceramic turtles belongs to my neighbors. But somehow they ended up on our welcome mat. They weren't there when we turned off the porch light the night before. But when the kids left for school the next morning there they sat. Thank goodness the kids were the first out the front door, because had it been me I would have probably stepped right on the turtles and broken them.

turtle sketch

sepia ink in cahier pocket sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy Rowan

No one is claiming responsibility for relocating the turtles, so they must have come to life and walked themselves over to our porch. The incident is now officially known as "The Great Turtle Mystery".

Days 74 and 75

This radio sits on the top of my shelving unit in my studio. When I look at it I often think it looks like it is smiling. And really, is there a better sketching subject than a smiling radio?

radio sketch

graphite in cahier sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

I'd like you to meet Parsley Pig. He is a terra cotta pig that I bought from a wonderful nursery that we often visit while on vacation at the shore. He was planted with some parsley, which explains how he got his name.

sketch of pig-shaped planter

graphite in cahier pocket sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

When I found him he had been moved to the sale table because the parsley was getting to that "leggy" stage. Now the parsley is long gone, but he still sits on my kitchen window sill and keeps me company. Maybe it's time to plant him with some new parsley.

Days 48 and 49

Day 48 was our first full day in Maui. We decided after breakfast to use the day to drive the Road to Hana. I had visions of stopping at numerous waterfalls and watching the kids splash in the pools while I sketched happily away.

It didn't quite work out that way. The waterfalls were much less impressive than the first time I did this tour (about 14 years ago), possibly because of a drought or because the water is being diverted for farming. Whatever the reason, the kids were only in the water once and it was more standing than swimming.

Sketching while riding along this twisty road seemed like a recipe for motion sickness, so I didn't even try. After many hours of riding, we stopped for a late dinner.

One of the lessons I've learned with this Sketch365 project is that if I don't have a small nugget of interest in a subject and I try to sketch it, the sketch will be garbage. When a sketch feels like garbage to me, I don't want to share it here and inevitably I do another sketch so I do have something to share.

Day 48 I was too tired to do a garbage sketch and there was not one single thing worthy in the restaurant to sketch. So I decided to wait and sketch when we got back to the hotel.

And here is where I keep my word about being honest...
When I got back to the hotel I TOTALLY forgot about my sketch. I went to bed without sketching on Day 48.

The next day I woke up early because I was having a nightmare. As soon as I woke up I realized I had forgotten my sketch. I won't kid you, it was a big disappointment. But there was no going back, I had to go forward.

Both of the sketches below were completed on Day 49. I did two to make up for the one I missed on Day 48. It was the best I could do.

penguin sketch

sepia pen in Cahier pocket sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

I know penguins are the last subject someone would imagine from a trip to Hawaii, which is why I had to sketch one. This penguin lives in the lobby at the Hyatt Regency Maui along with his friends.

Just a few steps away from the penguins, I found a seat and sat down to sketch this hibiscus flower. There are some beautiful flowers around the Hyatt grounds.

hibiscus sketch

sepia ink in cahier pocket sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

Day 45 - Beach Views

We decided for our third day in Hawaii to give the kids their first experience with snorkeling. Kahalu'u Beach was recommended as a good snorkeling beach for families.

After we showed up we walked around to check out the beach. We found a turtle sunning on the rocks at the edge of the water. I stood behind a chest high wall to sketch him. It wasn't the most comfortable sketching spot, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to sketch this guy.

turtle sketches

sepia pen in cahier pocket sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

Later in the day I did this sketch of the life guard stand and it's surroundings. It ended up being one of my favorite sketches from the trip
.

sketch Kahalu'u Beach Hawaii

sepia pen in cahier pocket sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

Day 21 - Birds

For day 21 I decided to try to sketch the birds that come to my feeder. One thing I realized pretty quickly is that the birds don't stay still for more than a second or two. So sketching them required studying the repeated movements and then trying to get them down on paper.  It was quite a challenge!

bird sketches

graphite and watercolor

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

The dark gray and white birds are juncos. There were several flitting around taking turns at the feeder.

The brown and red bird, to the best of my knowledge, is a house finch. It flew in and out pretty quickly. It was gone so quick that I only really noticed the red on its head. I looked it up in a bird book later and followed the coloring I found there.

All sketches were done with mechanical pencil. The watercolor was added later. 

Day 10 - Brass Bird

brass bird sketch

sepia pen in cahier pocket sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

This is a little brass bird that sits on a table in my family room. I would have liked to sketch the birds outside at my feeder, but by the time I sat down by the window with my pen they were gone. I'll have to try again another day.

Vultures

Today was a lovely autumn day - sunny skies, temperatures hovering around 70 degrees, leaves starting to change. I decided to take advantage of the weather and go for a walk around my neighborhood. I took my camera with me with the intention of capturing images of fall in my neighborhood. I imagined pictures of colorful leaves and mums in bloom. I never imaged this...

Best I can tell, this is a turkey vulture. He was hanging out in the top of my neighbor's tree. He doesn't look like much here, but let me assure you that when he took off in flight...

he was HUGE! At first there were just two, but later there were as many as six flying around.

I found myself hoping that they weren't very hungry. I felt a little outnumbered. The other birds in the neighborhood didn't seem very happy to have the turkey vultures around and were making quite a lot of noise. The vultures didn't seem to care as they slowly glided on the air currents.

I'm not sure where the vultures came from, because I promise they are not a common sight in our suburban development. I do know that they are on the list of birds which can be seen at near-by Hawk Mountain. According to their website 40 turkey vultures were counted there today and a comment was posted that said "turkey vultures on the move today". I guess that's as good an explanation for my sighting as any.

I did manage to get images of colorful leaves and fall mums as I expected, but they seemed a little sedate compared to these.

Faber-Castell Pitt Pen

I recently purchased a Faber-Castell Pitt Artist pen with a brush nib. I like sketching in pen because it forces me to try to get my marks right the first time. And it forces me to live with them when I get them wrong. When I sketch with pencil I am too tempted to erase marks that aren't correct.

sketches with new Pitt brush tip pen

On the other hand, I like how I can change the quality of a pencil line. I feel like my sketches done with a Micron pen don't have the same expressiveness as my pencil sketches. (Or at least the pencil sketches where I don't allow myself to erase and constantly correct.)

sketches with new Pitt brush tip pen

The solution -- a Pitt pen with a flexible brush tip. With the brush tip I can draw a very fine line or a broad one just by changing the angle of the tip to the paper. And it allows for looser movements originating in my wrist or arm instead of just the tighter movements originating with my fingers.

sketches with new Pitt brush tip pen

I haven't done many sketches with my brush pen yet, mostly just some preliminary play, but I'm looking forward to improving the feel of my sketches. And I hope if I improve my mark making in my sketches, it will carry over into my watercolor painting.

Graphite House Finch - March VSD

This little graphite drawing is my entry for the March Virtual Sketch Date. I drew it in my Moleskine sketch book using a 2B pencil while I waited for my kids.

I supplied the reference this month, so I am quite familiar with this bird. He comes to a bird feeder in my back yard. I tried a few times to take his picture, but he always seemed to fly off as soon as I went to get my camera. I think he is shy.

Finally he showed up with his lady friend one day when I already had my camera out, and I managed a few quick shots of their romantic meal. Now I know what it feels like to be the paparazzi. Minus the big paycheck, of course.

Virtual Sketch Date - Tripod

This week I participated in a Virtual Sketch Date with several fellow bloggers. A virtual sketch date is when a group of artists all draw from the same reference, in this case a photograph of Jeanette's cat Tripod.

Tripod has quite a band of admirers thanks to frequent appearances on Jeanette's blog. So the pressure was on to create a flattering reproduction or risk the scorn of his fans. Below is my version of Tripod. So am I safe or do I need to fear flying hairballs?

Tripod
approx. 5" x 6"
2B graphite in Canson Field Sketchbook

The other participants on this sketch date are Jeanette Jobson and Rose Welty (who started this group challenge), Katherine Tyrrell, Belinda Lindhart, Jennifer Rose Phillips, Gayle Mason, Jeanne Grant, Paulette and Teresa (Teresa's image is posted on Rose's blog). Please go see everyone's drawings, because the best thing about having a bunch of artists work from a single image is seeing how they all handled the image in their own style.

This was a fun exercise and challenged me to draw a subject I wouldn't have chosen on my own. It also had me drawing during a week when I might otherwise have been "too busy". Having a deadline and commitment to someone else is always a great motivator. It has been awhile since I've done a full blown drawing in graphite. I had forgotten how slow that first layer of graphite can go down and the associate "Holy Cow! At this rate I'll never get done!" panic. However, I was lucky to start this in my spiral bound sketchbook because the paper texture really helped with the fur.

I'm up for a June sketch date if anyone else is.

Places You Can Find My Art - April 2008

For anyone who happens to be in or around the Lehigh Valley, I thought I would fill you in on where you can currently find my art. That way, if you are interested in viewing it in person, you know where to look.

Starting tomorrow, April 19th, the two pieces at the right are in a juried show at The Garden Of Easton located at 249 Northampton Street in downtown Easton, PA. The show is titled "All Walks of Life". It opens tomorrow and there is an artist reception tomorrow night. Unfortunately, I have a conflict of schedule and won't be able to attend the opening. The reception is from 5pm - 7pm, Saturday April 19th. The store hours are Wednesday through Saturday 11am until 5 pm and Sunday noon until 5pm. The show runs through May 17th.

Also tomorrow, at the Miller Heights Elementary School Tricky Tray Raffle, prize number 52 is a print of my Bethlehem Waterworks painting (Guardians). The school is located at 3605 Allen Street in Bethlehem Township, PA. Hours are from 10am until 4pm with the prize ticket drawing starting at 4:15pm. You do not need to be present to win. All winners not present are notified by phone.

And lastly, for anyone visiting the Moravian Hall Square retirement community in Nazareth, PA, I have 11 paintings on display in their main building through the end of the month. Down the hall from the reception desk, take a right into the next hallway and you will see a lovely picture rail on the left side of the hallway displaying my watercolor paintings.

Early Preferences

graphite cat sketch approx. 5" x 5"

Stacy L. Rowan

I am already developing some preferences with my sketching. This sketch was done with a 4B graphite pencil. I feel it isn't as loose and expressive as my previous sketch which was done in charcoal. Since I am still trying to figure out how to achieve quick shading in graphite, I chose not to add any shading to this sketch. I am very slow with cross-hatching and not entirely comfortable with it yet. For these two reasons, I currently enjoy sketching in charcoal more than sketching in graphite. It will be interesting to see if that changes during my sketching journey.

This was another "in the car sketch" so I did it from a photo. I found sketching from a photo to be far less enjoyable than sketching from life. But it did save me from sketching sunglasses again or the side of a rather dull building.

One thing I am itching to try is sketching with pen and watercolor. I have the materials, I just haven't had the right set up yet. No way am I using watercolors in my car!! I can just imagine how that would go.

Merry Christmas!

10.5" x 7.75" watercolor

Stacy L. Rowan

May this holiday season bring you everything you've been wishing for. May you find yourself surrounded by loved ones, enjoying the warmth of their company. And may you find happiness, joy and peace in your celebrations.

Merry Christmas!