Lava at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Today I dug out the maps and bits and pieces I brought home from Hawaii. I want to make pages for some of the park stamps I collected in my sketchbook while we were there. I thought I might be hauling too many brochures and maps home, but now I wish I had packed even more! This page is about the types of lava on the island..the smooth and curvy pahoehoe, and the ouchie a'a. Facinating stuff, how the earth is formed!

Here is a pic of the a'a lava...it's truly next to impossible to walk over! Looks like another world, doesn't it?

 While I was at it I added a Hibiscus to the corner of the page I did awhile back. It looked a little blank there..so it got the state flower.

Pepeekeo on Dwellable

At the Lake

I didn't draw too much up at the lake. I spent most of my time floating on an inner tube. Which is, of course, ideal.

I find that I have trouble drawing this little place. Of course, when I look at the cottage, I see it with all the memories I have of growing up here, and that's hard to capture. I'll just have to keep trying!

Hawaii Book

I had some sketches in one book, and some in another, so I'm moving a few into the book I took with me last year. Now they will all be in one place. I cut this sketch out of the back cover of the old book, and combined it with memories from both trips and a bit of maps and such I picked up.

June Calendar

June does not have 31 days...who'd a thunk it?? Oh well, regardless, June is history after today and I'm on to better months! I was right not to make the calendar anything more taxing than coloring while watching the news this month...too many other crazy things going on. I'm off to dangle my toes in the water and never go inside. I'm taking my sketchbook, so we'll see if I lift a finger during the next week!

Odell Filling Station

I'm having trouble getting a good photo of this one because of the reds and oranges.... fun colors, but apparently not so easy to photograph! I used my drawing of the Odell Station and this time did an image transfer using acrylic medium. This one also has some tissue paper and the Route 66 sign stamp I carved.

I'm trying to pack to spend a few days at the lake, and I'm ending up with more art supplies than clothes. That's OK....lots of room in the trunk...if only my car would get back from the shop!

More Route 66...

This time we have the Gemini Giant from Wilmington, IL and Del Rhea's Chicken Basket from Willowbrook, IL. Since I started drawing Route 66 sights I have really become fond of the signs and advertising gimmicks used along the old road. Creative and fun ways to draw attention!

These are done just like I draw them in my travel journals...wonky, fun little drawings of sights along the way. I used a bit of border from a vintage map around the sides of these two. They are painted on 5x5 inch artist panels that are 3/4 inch deep. You can see the beginnings of these pieces in the previous post.

Here's the Gemini Giant who stands in front of the Launching Pad Restaurant in Wilmington. I carved my first stamp (the Route 66 shield) and used it on this one. I'm sure I'll be carving more stamps. It was fun, and I need to practice a bit more to get control of that knife.

I hear Del Rhea's Chicken Basket has some of the best chicken in Illinois. Next time I'm up that way, I'm going to stop in and check it out. They sure have a great old neon sign!

Working away...

My little studio is uptown at the shop, so I am treated to the traffic noise of Route 66, radios blaring out of peoples cars on a nice night, street lights, and the occasional loud partiers from the bars strolling by.

 All of which is part of being downtown and I like it.

I've just been getting a little work done..playing around with the paints and paper, doing a little drawing.

Travel Journal

...without the journal. This one is to hang on the wall.

That little strip of color is a piece torn from the paper I lay my journals on to paint the backgrounds. I like the way the paint builds up on them, so I save them.

Stamp, stamp, stamp....

Found a clock face that says "Illinois."

When I'm sure I'm through fooling around with this, I'll give it many coats of acrylic poly in a satin finish. I like the depth it gives and how it brings out the colors. I share my work online, and I've gotten more comfortable with that, but I was a little intimidated about doing something that will not get shut in a book...but hey, you have to step out of your comfort zone to stretch, right?

June Calendar Ready to Go

I was so busy on the car that my May calendar went by the wayside. So June is ready to go. Sometimes you just need something soothing and mindless to do, and making flowers like these is just the ticket. I've got lots planned this month, and I figure coloring these in while watching a movie will be an equally soothing activity. The green bits are pieces of color card samples for paint. I like them, but I think I'll use a super fine Sharpie to write on each day. I don't think the India ink I used will ever really dry. It is not blotting off, but if you run your finger across it, it will smear just a bit.

Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

I just needed to take a quick break from Route 66 for a bit...so I went to Hawaii for the afternoon. Yes, I lead a Walter Mitty lifestyle!

 The ferns really are that big and bigger! It's amazing!

New Mexico and Arizona, Route 66

Today I went from New Mexico to Arizona, stopping at the Jackrabbit Trading Post. They have a giant rabbit so of course I had to put that on my car.

The Jackrabbit Trading Post used to have huge signs teasing travelers for hundreds of miles before reaching this store. Now there are just a few left, but they are eyecatching. And I added another Burma Shave slogan  (just because I love them):
To kiss
a mug
that's like a cactus
takes more nerve
than it does practice.
Burma Shave

I put a California attraction up today too...the Wigwam Motel. They say there are two Wigwam Motels left along Route 66, one in California and one in Arizona. In all, there were seven wigwam villages across the USA, and now there are three. You certainly don't see sights like this very often these days!

Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo, Texas

 

Finished Texas and moving into New Mexico! Here is the famous Cadillac Ranch. It's a bit tricky painting over the bumps on the fins of this car...from some angles the caddies look pretty wopper-jawed. I figure those cars look pretty wopper-jawed anyway after all these years of people painting and beating them up! As you can see, my kids, Mike and Jill and Colleen, have been there with their spray paint ;)

The Car is Moving Along...

I've pretty much got the back end done...

So far the blue whale may be my favorite. I may add another Burma Shave slogan going up the road above his tail.

Sights to see in Arcadia, Oklahoma: Pop's and the round barn.

The crazy leaning water tower of Groom Texas and the Silver Spur Motel sign. Route 66 sure has great signs!

 Here's the giant Ku-Ku bird at the Burger joint in Miami, Oklahoma..love all the giants along the old road.

Riding along in my automobile...

Working on the car (yes, still) and humming this Chuck Berry tune:

Riding along in my automobile
My baby beside me at the wheel
I stole a kiss at the turn of a mile
my curiosity running wild
crusin' and playin' the radio
with no particular place to go...

Every Day in May (scene 2)

May 5: Draw scissors
May 6: Draw something tart or sour

May 7: Draw how you get you news (soo sorry, Anderson)
May 8: Draw a light bulb

May 9: Draw a clock at your home (this is at work)
May 10: Draw something with a flame

Every Day in May

I'm following the prompts to make a little sketch every day in May. If you want to join in, the prompt list is here and there is also a flickr group sharing their May sketches. I'm doing mine in a little pocket Moleskine that has just enough pages left to do 31 days. I'm trying to keep them all fast too...a quick and easy way to practice really seeing what's in front of me.

May 1: Draw a bar of soap
May 2: Draw a power cord

May 3: Draw some exercise equipment
May 4: Draw salt and pepper shakers