Seeing Mesa Verde has been on my bucket list for more than 25 years. Just last week, I returned from a great road trip to the Four Corners area which included Mesa Verde. Amazing sites to see, especially when the actual history behind these sites is taken into consideration.
We've been enjoying road trips in our converted camper/van for more than 4 years now and I think this one was the best yet. Part of that is definitely due to getting used to life in the camper. Husband, one very laid-back hound dog, one Jack Russell (just to balance out that laid-back hound) and me. Deciding which art supplies to take usually consumes hours of my time before we leave. Sometimes I take everything I need to paint with oil paints. That involves paint tubes, brushes, a palette, a tripod, and surfaces to paint on. For this trip, I decided to take only a sketchbook, pencil, ink pen, and a small watercolor set. And a plan to sketch every day.
Pretty quickly, I discovered that my pencil lines were smearing in my sketchbook. I'll confess to a bit of OCD. I don't like smeared pencil lines. My solution was to go over the pencil lines with ink. Good solution. I use my kneaded eraser after the ink has a good chance to dry so that I can remove the pencil lines and smudges. The photo below is from my sketchbook. This is a sketch from a view of the Cliff Palace:
This sketch is probably my favorite from the trip. Most of my sketches are tiny little memories. I did all my sketching at night, after supper. So most all of them were done from memory (not one of my best skills!)
Today, after a month of being away, I made it back to my studio. After being away from the studio for about a month, it was wonderful to be back. I spent part of this morning working on a new baseboard mouse. Then, I started prepping several canvases for paintings that are accumulating in my head. (And I should confess upfront that I spent about 2 hours yesterday re-organizing and cleaning so that I wouldn't be tempted to do that this morning, when I planned to paint!)
I'm planning on sharing more photos from my trip - and maybe a few more sketches from my sketchbook - so please be sure to come back soon!!
Thank so much for stopping by....
susan
www.susangarriques.com
susan@susangarriques.com
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| Cliff Palace |
Pretty quickly, I discovered that my pencil lines were smearing in my sketchbook. I'll confess to a bit of OCD. I don't like smeared pencil lines. My solution was to go over the pencil lines with ink. Good solution. I use my kneaded eraser after the ink has a good chance to dry so that I can remove the pencil lines and smudges. The photo below is from my sketchbook. This is a sketch from a view of the Cliff Palace:
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| Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde |
This sketch is probably my favorite from the trip. Most of my sketches are tiny little memories. I did all my sketching at night, after supper. So most all of them were done from memory (not one of my best skills!)
Today, after a month of being away, I made it back to my studio. After being away from the studio for about a month, it was wonderful to be back. I spent part of this morning working on a new baseboard mouse. Then, I started prepping several canvases for paintings that are accumulating in my head. (And I should confess upfront that I spent about 2 hours yesterday re-organizing and cleaning so that I wouldn't be tempted to do that this morning, when I planned to paint!)
I'm planning on sharing more photos from my trip - and maybe a few more sketches from my sketchbook - so please be sure to come back soon!!
Thank so much for stopping by....
susan
www.susangarriques.com
susan@susangarriques.com
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