Recent Sketches

When I was up visiting my sisters in Washington I did some sketches . I started with the grid and added the made up green vines. The dragon fly, sunflower plaque and bird or in this case the "squirrel" feeder were from her yard. I added the pussy willows to bring the whole design together. Artistic license I guess.
Lynette has some great Christmas cacti which were still blooming in April. It was a fun sketch with all the sections and blossoms. I started on the left side and soon realized I didn't have room for the largest bloom so I decided to add a box and move the bloom into view.
While I was drawing my nephew, Case got out his sketchbook and we worked on some contour drawings to help his skills. It was a pencil drawing so after I got back home I added the grid and then the flowers and beads to fill up the page.
My friend, Nancy and I sat one afternoon to play in our sketchbooks. Nancy sketched some of the plants out of my kitchen windows. I set up a still life with a couple of silk tulips and a ceramic tea pot. It was dark by the time we were finished. Time can pass so quickly when you are having fun with a friend.

Robert Bateman 5" x 7" Sketchbook
Ink and Watercolor

Columbia River Take Two

These are rest of my sketches from the Columbia River cruise with my mom. Man made Stonehenge in Oregon. In Astoria there are these brillant green pilings in the water. They are covered with algae or moss and are beautiful in the sunlight.
Always ask if they have a stamp. I like the addition they make to my pages. This page is bits and pieces at the Museum of the Columbia River Gorge. The wooden carved sturgeon was about 10 ft. long. Yikes!
At the Maryhill Museum there were two rooms of chess sets. They were very stunning, eveything from art deco, golds and silvers to ivory and wooden carved sets.
The last day of touring was at Fort Clatsop and the Maritime Museum in Astoria. I tied all my sketches together with strands of coloful glass trading beads. It was a fun trip. I will definately plan a cruise with Cruise West in Alaska.

Robert Bateman Sketchbook 6"x 10"
Pen and Watercolor

Columbia River Cruise

My mom and I took a riverboat cruise on the Columbia River with Cruise West. We had a great time and met some wonderful new friends. The cruise was based on the history of the area, the river, the native tribes, Lewis and Clark and the flora and fona. I had a great time finding lots to sketch on our many stops. There are four locks on the Columbia and four more on the Snake.
I really like the way this page turned out. I don't plan out a whole page when I start sketching but continue on until the page is full. The sketch of the fish was copied out of Clark's journal.

The chains and ropes were for the gangplank and were tied up outside our cabin. I liked the design that they formed and had to sketch them. We got to see many petroglyphs, which are carved and pictographs, which are painted. The figures and animals have so much character.

After the gangplank was used the ropes and chains were tied differently and so I sketched them again.

More petroglyphs and pictographs. We took a jet boat ride on the Snake River and at one of the stops there was a cold or root cellar. As I was sketching a very cold wind was blowing and I was shaking which added the roughness to the stone wall.

Robert Bateman Sketchbook 6" x 9"

Pen and Watercolor