Nice relaxing evening, waiting for the coals to heat up. I found a cheap calligraphy pen at the local art store this afternoon and so decided to try it out, this time using my daughter’s watercolor set — a tiny thing that fits in the palm of your hand and has eight or ten colors! It might be my new favorite combination.
As I was walking to work this morning through our urban/suburban neighborhood I heard a rustling to my right. I turned to see something astonishing: a bird flying away with another bird gripped below it. It looked almost like a big ball of flapping feathers. The next second I realized it was a young, fairly small red tailed hawk lifting a pigeon across the street and up to a nearby tree. Both birds were about the same size, with the hawk having something like a two-foot wing span, about half the size of most adult red tailed hawks in this part of the world. The hawk landed in the tree limbs up about 15 feet above me and started to tear the pigeon apart, eating it. I pulled out my sketchbook and started to draw what I saw. The sketch below it was from memory as it flew past my shoulder on its way to the tree. I was treated to my own personal National Geographic special in the middle of the city.
There was a fundraiser tonight at the local elementary school where my wife teaches art. This is from about an hour ago. Jack took a break to draw something, then I drew him. He got up eventually, leaving me to draw the studio classroom behind him. I may throw some watercolor on this at a later date…
It’s a balmy 73 degrees F (22 C) here in Southern Cal. Lily and her friend having a nice relaxing Sunday.
I was wanting to draw a person, but everyone in my family had gone to bed. Then I turned and saw myself in the mirror in our dining room. I had to stoop to see my face and thought it was an interesting composition. This is the fist time I’ve drawn myself in a long time, like a couple decades or so… I don’t know why or why not, in this case. I’m trying out a Micron 02 pen. I like it because it’s waterproof and the lines are very black.
Every Christmas I try to do a painting for my wife. This year’s painting features our daughter’s tortoise in my wife’s garden. This is the reference sketch I made, which was a huge help.
She’s only ten years old, but loves sitting quietly and making beautiful things for friends and family…
The annual Cookie Bake where just about everyone from my wife’s family comes over to share their Christmas cookies and dividing them up for everyone. Great fun.
Anthony Zierhut 