They stayed out there long enough to do a quick color study. If they had picked up and left it would have made it much more difficult. Lately I’ve been addicted to color for some reason.
Typically, to my memory, the hottest time of the year in Southern California is early September. It got so hot last month that the heat, coupled with the overuse of electricity (air conditioning) actually melted the wires on the pole in the backyard. The guys from the Department of Water and Power came right out, thankfully, and I sketched them as they worked. They were quite friendly and were amused by my sketching one of them up on the pole, and their equipment on our lawn.
I had Saturday to prime and pencil, Sunday to paint. Here’s how they turned out, life-sized. My daughter Lily and my neighbor and his son helped on the ring-toss and shuffle board. It wouldn’t have gotten done without them! Many thanks. It really helped making the little sketch beforehand.
Joan took this “painting in progress” pic. The actual Harvest Festival is tomorrow. Hopefully the paint will hold up. If not, just more touch up I guess… It was a fun way to spend a weekend.
This weekend I’ve taken on the responsibility of painting some simple but fun games to be used at our kid’s annual Harvest Festival. These are some crazy paint job ideas I sketched today. Clockwise from upper left: sponge-throwing game — in which a person puts his / her head through the hole in the board and people pay to throw wet sponges at them; shuffleboard game; ring toss game. I may have gone overboard on this, since I have only tomorrow to paint it all (I spent today priming and penciling). We’ll see how it turns out by the end of the day Sunday. Some of this might be vastly simpler. Ha.
I say “Summer ’07” because there may be a chance we go back there this November, and, of course, there will be sketching!
Clockwise from the top: The ever-present folding chair (I think we have eight or so) scattered around the campsite, Stacy the snake, brother-in-law Chris reading a Harry Potter book on a hammock overlooking the stream below the campsite.
This was an outdoor concert at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur. A great venue to see some great music. My wife was a huge fan of the LA punk band X, back in the 1980s. John Doe was the lead singer and bass player. Anyway, it was a lot of fun, very personal. I sketched this in ink and then went back to the campsite, while it was still fresh in my mind, and added the watercolor. There was great late afternoon light filtered through the tall trees above and around us. Before John Doe went on, he sat behind us as we watched the amazing Peter Case who was up before him. Then after the concert, Mr. Doe posed for a picture with my wife Joan. Our 11-year-old daughter came along. We told him that it was her first concert and he told her, “The first of many, I hope.” Very fun.
This is the view from our tent. We always get the same campsite, year to year, with the river just behind the tent. Joan and the kids were there for two weeks. I was there for the last week. A wonderful, relaxing time.
And, just like last year, car trouble! I think this is the last big trip for the venerable ’95 Escort. I did a few sketches, most of them in color, as seems to be my habit of late.
Anthony Zierhut 