January | 2015 | Just Sketching

Disappointment

Posted on January 31, 2015 by azorch

31 January, 2015. The plan was simple: Head to the Bonefish Grill for an early, light dinner. I’d been thinking about a dozen oysters on the half shell all week long, paired with a cold glass of Guinness. My glass was half drained when one of the servers came over to let me know that they were out of oysters.

“Really?” I exclaimed. “On a Saturday? At 4:00??”

“Yes, we’re so sorry. But we could prepare a plate of Oysters Rockefeller for you instead. They’re great!”

“Are they fresh?” I inquire.

“Oh yes!”

“Well, when were they prepared if you’re all out of oysters?”

There was an awkward, uncomfortable, pregnant pause while that question soaked in. Sheepishly, the server admitted they had been prepared a couple days earlier.

“No thank you.”

Hastily scribbled with a Lamy Medium nib in Parkville, Missouri.

Rural Remnants

Posted on January 22, 2015 by azorch

21 January, 2015. Every now and then I like to capture a sketch in progress. It’s interesting to see how color changes a drawing – whether for the better, or simply different. This one was particularly easy to document: the pencil and ink were done on site a day or so ago, and I saved the color washes to be added as a demo with students this morning.

Lamy medium nib with watercolor washes in Canson watercolor journal, 140#, approximately 14 x 11 inches. (Liberty, Missouri)

Unexpected rain and ice

Posted on January 12, 2015 by azorch

11 January, 2015. Despite the past week of temperatures hovering around zero, the forecast looked marginally better today. I went out hiking with the intention of getting in a lot of sketching along the way. I’ll be darned if it didn’t begin to drop rain and ice on my head while I was at the park. I drew this on the way home from the comfort of my car. (Lamy Safari Medium Nib in Canson sketchbook)

Wasabi!

Posted on January 3, 2015 by azorch

2 January, 2015. Have I ever mentioned that I really love sushi? My youngest son couldn’t care less about it, though he does consider the Japanese grill to be a real treat. “Bob” yells “Wasabi!” at him when we walk through the doors at Fuji. Bob, I think, must own the joint. Regardless, he is a very charismatic chef with a ready laugh and a big grin. He flings shrimp at patrons with an gleeful abandon that would be alarming in any other circumstances, and little kids get frosted cakes catapulted in the general direction of their mouths…well, maybe only marginally close to their mouths.

I love the various rolls, but my draconian dietary restrictions limit the amount of rice I can each, so it’s sashimi for me on this visit – tuna, yellow fin, crab, and octopus, plus a bowl of miso soup. (Lamy medium nib, approximately 7 x 5 inches, in a Canson sketchbook.)

Neighborhood farmhouse

Posted on January 1, 2015 by azorch

1 January, 2015. Strolling through the neighborhood, one occasionally comes upon a little oasis amongst the newer Xerox copies of family dwellings – one of the original farmhouses from when this was an almost entirely rural community. There is character and charm here, much of which the other homes are bereft. (Liberty, Missouri. Lamy medium nib in a Canson sketchbook.)

Cold morning sketches

Posted on January 1, 2015 by azorch

31 December, 2014. Sketches from a cold December morning, a couple days past. (Kansas City, Lamy pen on white index paper.)

Broken tree

Posted on January 1, 2015 by azorch

30 December, 2014. I came upon this broken tree while braving the December cold on one of my recent bicycle excursions. The sky was gray, the wind brisk, yet this sad and forlorn tree remained somehow a stately soldier against the gloom.

Lamy pen in a Canson sketchbook (Liberty, Missouri USA)