Portland Skyline

Urban sketching today. A perfect location for a Portland city and riverfront view.  

Out for a demo

Yesterday I drove out to Dots N Doodles in Astoria and watched Angela Bandurka demo her technique. Although I don't currently work in acrylics, I found her process very interesting. She puts a lot of thought in to pre-planning her colors, something I don't do a lot of and probably should. I did buy some new pens for sketching while I was there and the birchwood panel that I needed for my prototype. We enjoyed a nice late lunch while we were in Astoria and watched some birds on the water as we commented how Astoria has changed over the years (quite nicely I should add).

My most memorable art quote

I was asked today what my most memorable art quote was. This wasn't spoken for artists but over the years I've found it to be worth repeating in my art practice:

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." -- Winston Churchill

The Morning Veil

I had gotten up at zero dark thirty to drive to view the sunrise at Jonsrud Viewpoint. Admittedly I was initially perturbed that there was fog in the valley that morning but the more I looked at it as the sunrise developed the more I was intrigued by the delicate glimpses of the forest and river below. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting! I will revisit this at a later date. This doesn’t do that morning justice. Fog is a tough bugger but I learned what I needed to learn. 

Sennelier watercolors on 9" x 14" Arches 140# hot press cotton paper.

David's Garden

I didn't post anything about this to preserve the surprise for my friend David. I gave it to him this morning so now I can show everyone else. 

Sennelier watercolors on 8" x 10" Arches hot press watercolor board. 

New cards

New 4” x 9” all occasion note cards printed on sturdy cardstock. These will come with a matching bookmark if ordered in the month of June.  https://squareup.com/store/bonny

St John's Bridge

I had an absolutely fun time urban sketching today under the St Johns bridge. One of the things that is great about sketching is it forces one to slow down and really look at things. I noticed all kinds of details I wasn't aware of before. I'm going to have to come back to this location again. It's a really nice park.