Sketchbook Tuesday-Great Lakes

Welcome back to Sketchbook Tuesday!

Last week we visited Sanibel Island and I had plans to take you to Tybee Island Lighthouse but there's been a change in plans and we are heading up to the Great Lakes but don't worry, we'll circle back down to Tybee Island later in the Lighthouse Series.

I thought we'd start the Great Lake Lighthouse tour with a recent trip I took to Michigan to visit my daughter Amanda.  While we were there we visited South Haven Lighthouse on Lake Michigan.

It is a pretty interesting lighthouse located at the end of a concrete pier with steel beam structure that goes the length of the pier. The lighthouse is still active and maintained by the Coast Guard.  The day we were there it had been raining and the temperature was dropping, it was very windy out on the pier! It was a challenge to walk against the chilly wind and we took shelter at the base of the lighthouse to take in the views.

On our walk along the waterfront we took many photos!

  South Haven has a cute marina area with a dock filled with shops, wine tasting shops and a fake lighthouse.

Fake lighthouse.

I love architecture and am always on the "look out" for anything interesting especially features such as arches, cupolas and spires, etc.  I spotted this one on top of a building.

So naturally when I got home I had to paint it.

Well I hope you have enjoyed today's lighthouse tour and along the Great Lake Michigan!  Next week we'll visit another lighthouse along the shore of Lake Superior! Please join me again for Sketchbook Tuesday!

Have a great week! Grab your sketchbook and pencil and go sketch something!

Suzy

LIGHTHOUSE AND REFUGES

HI Everyone!

Growing up on the East Coast of Florida and living in coastal areas most of my life I’ve a great appreciation for lighthouses.  There’s something about lighthouses that grab my imagination and appeal to the romantic side.  I imagine ships at sea and the bright beam from the lighthouses that keep ships from dashing upon the rocks, and I think about the hardy souls who were the light-keepers and what a life that must have been!

One of the first lighthouses I visited was in St. Augustine, Florida.  My best friend Bonnie and I went on a painting adventure and ended up at the lighthouse.  We unpacked our chairs and proceeded to sketch the lighthouse, all was well until people started to stop by and wanted to see our work.  It was too much for me, I closed my book and that was that. 

When I have the opportunity to travel, I’m always on the lookout for lighthouses! Here’s one that’s in my neighborhood so to speak, it isn’t a lighthouse like what you think but a House of Refuge.  There were many shipwrecks along this coastline and the House of Refuge is the only remaining one of ten Refuges built along the East Coast just for that very purpose.  You can read more about it HERE.  

Most lighthouses have great history and stories that go along with them.   I've found most historical lighthouses have a gift shop worth browsing in and the books they carry about the lighthouse and keepers are wonderful reads.  

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon as I will be sharing more lighthouse drawings and photos each week. 

Grab a pencil, get outside and sketch! 

Have fun!

Suzy

SKETCH BOOK MOJO RETURNING

Hi Everyone!

The weather this summer has just been so weird, really. Sweltering heat up north and cooler temps and lots of rain here where I live! That means the water in the pool is cooler than the usual bath water we get this time of year.  So, I've been inside sewing and painting this summer, which is okay with me because I love to be in my studio.  

Yesterday I was cleaning up the "art cart", which is a portable kitchen island on wheels that is used to hold supplies and kiddie craft stuff. The top has a great piece of marble to use for printing paper with the Gelli Plate (sticks to it) and space to spread out your painting supplies.  But I digress, I was cleaning out the cart and found a few old newsprint sketch pads.  Don't you love it when you find stuff like that? I do. It is like a trip down memory lane getting to see the forgotten sketches from a class. I'd like to share a few with you.  

As you might know, I've been participating in a few challenges with multi-media and haven't spent a great deal of time painting or drawing. 

Drawing/sketching is something I'd like to get back into the habit of doing on a regular basis and to be truthful, practice is the only way my skills will improve. 

 I did most of these sketches during a class I took one summer at the local high school, the instructor is a well know artist in our area and she teaches the adult education course in drawing.  She would demo a drawing technique and then we were on our own to find a subject from her pile of magazine pages and draw it.  Then she would critique our drawings individually. 

 It was a fun class with lots of people with various talents from beginners (like me) to advanced.

 Lots of different mediums were used so we had a chance to experiment and learn what medium we liked using the most. I loved pen and ink, charcoal and pastels. 
All the drawings here were done with Ritmo charcoal pencils. 

Finding this sketch pad gave me the boost needed to make me me want to grab the nearest pencil and spend time with my sketch pad.  Quiet time working out a drawing.

I've promised myself to start drawing or sketching something every day. I'll let you know how that works out. 

Happy Sketching and Drawing! 
Suzy

NEW CHALLENGES ON HORIZON

Hello Everyone!

Lately I’ve been reading many blogs on art journaling, drawing and sketching and I got caught up in one that I love, Tammy Garcia’s Daisy Yellow blog. Tammy's hosting a challenge for all you art lovers out there called Index Card A Day (ICAD). The idea is to use an index card and doodle, paint, draw, collage or whatever your little artistic heart enjoys. One card a day for the month of June and July. I think I want to try this out! It sounds simple enough, Tammy will provide optional prompts and that might be fun too! You can read more about ICAD here!

Tammy is one of the most generous artist when it comes to sharing ideas, free tutorials and art classes. I love that about her blog, it is ALWAYS a fun and interesting place to go!

Looking forward to sharing my Index Card A Day art with you in future posts. Maybe you’d like to join the group? Just click on ICAD here or on the button over on the left! The more the merrier!

Another challenge I’ve been longing to join is EveryDayMatters because I’ve recently fallen in love with Danny Gregory’s work! Go check him out: http://dannygregory.com/category/journals/. After finding Danny’s blog I have really come to enjoy his style of journaling. He has inspired me to begin drawing, sketching and painting again. I want to take the challenge of drawing every day and yes, I will use the daily prompts. Please take a moment to go over and visit Danny and check out his incredible travel journals!

Start watching for my ICAD and EDM posts beginning next month. I hope you will be inspired to join one of these groups or just start sketching and working in your art journals! Don’t have an art journal?!? WHAT??? Go GET a sketch book and start today!! You can call it a sketch book, notebook or journal or nothing at all….just start today.

Happy Doodles!

Suzy

Link to: Daisy Yellow; Danny Gregory