Somewhere in the Rockies II

 "When going back makes sense, you are going ahead."

~ W. Berry

I sketched this scene in pencil and watercolor wash

over ten years ago, back on August 28, 2008.

I used reference from two different Colorado photos, taken while

visiting there the month before. I didn't copy either picture, 

merely used them for inspiration, while adding a healthy,

heaping helping of Artistic License to the mix.

This value sketch is a useful road map and inspiration for a future painting.

I am publicly announcing that I will be sketching everyday again this year

from June 1 - August 31, 2019! Maybe you'd even like to give it a try!

Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits. Twyla Tharp
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/search_results?q=habit+quote

"While most people in the arts think they have to be constantly looking forward to be

edgy and creative .... the real secret of creativity is to go back and remember."

~ Twyla Tharp

Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits. Twyla Tharp
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/search_results?q=habit+quotes

Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits. Twyla Tharp
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/search_results?q=habit+quotes

Wild, Free and Spontaneous

"Earth laughs in flowers."  

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"For myself I hold no preferences among flowers, 

so long as they are wild, free and spontaneous."

  ~Edward Abbey

A Forest Wilderness

“The clearest way into the Universe 

is through a forest wilderness.” 
~ John Muir

“In every walk with Nature, 
one receives far more than he seeks.”
  ~  John Muir

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. John Muir
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_muir.html

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. John Muir
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_muir.html

New Inspiration and Vigor

"Travel and change of place 

impart new vigor to the mind." 

~ Seneca

Rocky Mountain High

"Traveling helps you grow because it forces you to take risks. 

The subject matter and atmosphere are different." 

~ Marilyn Simandle

Celebrating Life

"To paint... to travel...  

to combine the two...  

is to celebrate life." 

~ J. R. Brouwer

Alpine Survivor

"One's destination is never a place, 

 but rather a new way of looking at things." 

~ Henry Miller

Mountain Top Pine Trees

Here's my interpretation of my last challenge photo. I can't believe we only have three weeks left of SketchingEveryday 2010. Between sketching, hosing horses, watering outside plants and filling hummingbird feeders, the summer has really flown by. Since there has not been much interest, this will be my last sketching challenge photo. I hope someone will give it a try.


A high resolution photo of this is available for license through iStockPhoto.

Upside-Down Drawing Exercise

In Betty Edwards' book, "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain", the next exercise she has students do is draw a few pictures upside-down. This frees up the Right Brain to do its' thing without a whole lot of interference from the Left Brain. According to Betty, "The right brain perceives and processes visual information, in the way one needs to see in order to draw, and the left brain perceives in ways that seem to interfere with drawing. An individual's ability to draw is... the ability to shift to a different-from-ordinary way of processing visual information - to shift from verbal, analytic processing to spatial, global processing."

I did this quick sketch of last week's drawing challenge in less than five minutes, copying it from the photo upside-down. It probably would have taken me longer had I approached it right-side-up. This approach made it easier than ever to see the shapes and forget about what it actually was that I was drawing.

Tip Of The Day: There's no need to print these photos out. Just draw them from your computer screen. I rotated the image 180 degrees for this exercise with my image editing software.

Here also is this week's challenge photo. I hope a few of you will give it a try!



Have a great 4th Of July holiday. Thanks for reading, drawing and for your feedback!

Outhouse With A Breathtaking View

Here's my drawing from last week's sketching challenge photo. I've simplified the scene and used some artistic license with the colors of the outhouse.

Like all my sketches, it was done on regular drawing paper. I like an 11" x 14" or 9" x 12" Strathmore 300 series drawing pad. You can see the one I recommend on my brand new page "Sketching On Location".


Tip Of The Day: I have just started putting a piece of watercolor paper behind the sheet that I'm working on. It prevents the wrinkling of the sheets underneath from the moisture.

For our New Sketching Challenge, I'm posting another photo taken last July while on vacation in Crested Butte Colorado.

Rushing Mountain Stream

I spent a good part of the day going through some photos of Colorado that I took last July, so I decided to draw from one of my favorites for you tonight. Here's the first two steps of my sketching system done in pencil. I'll add the wash tomorrow. I'm thinking of posting a Colorado shot for our next challenge. Anybody interested?

Home Again

I'm posting yesterday's sketch (steps 1 + 2) tonight as well as today's finish on my Gothic Mountain drawing.



It's good to be home, but I'm missing the mountains again already. Look for the new challenge drawing tomorrow with my sketch of last week's photo.

Bleeding Hearts in Colorado

Here's another sketch done from photos of the flowers in Crested Butte. Also Laura DiFrancesco just sent in this lovely challenge sketch of the Smokey Mountains. Thanks Laura, great job!

Brilliant Poppies

This sketch was inspired by a shot I took in Crested Butte yesterday. See pictures from Colorado on my web log.

Just published - Read My Interview by Ralph Serpe On CREATIVE SPOTLIGHT's Art Instruction Blog.

Rufous Hummingbird

It's a beautiful morning here in Gunnison Colorado. The birds are very active. I've seen several Rufous hummers here. Jerry says our birds at home are doing well and he's busy filling our seven feeders 3 times a day!

Colorado Rockies

Here's today's sketch from Colorado and our new challenge photo taken a while back in the Smoky Mountains. I hope some of you will try this sketching challenge. I think it's an easy one! :-D

4th OF JULY Drawing

Here's yesterday's drawing which I did on the plane from Philadelphia to Denver. I couldn't get internet connection here yesterday, so this morning here is my 4th of July post.



I'm here with my folks at Estes Park, Colorado. My mom showed me several of my drawing challenge sketches, but never sent them in, so here is my favorite from our 2nd challenge.

Colorado Bull Elk

I'm getting excited about my upcoming Colorado trip, so this bull elk was the perfect subject for me this afternoon. See the photo I drew from here.