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Showing posts from February, 2011

Bexar County Courthouse

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This building has always been a beauty.  Completed in 1897, almost 115 years ago, it remains the largest and oldest continuously operating courthouse in Texas.  The architect was James Riely Gordon, who designed a number of Texas' beautiful courthouses.  The style is Richardsonian Romanesque revival, in pink granite and red sandstone.  S.A. has a few other buildings in this style, noteworthy for the heavy proportions (like big fat arches and columns) of the masonry.  A cool building all around.  My grandmother used to work here.

Umpteenth Self-Portrait

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I've done a few, so I'm no longer keeping track.  I feel like my face looks a bit squashed in this one.

Moleskine Update

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Quite a bit to post, yet again.  When last we left my moleskine, it wasn't full.  Now it is, and a new one has been started.  These will be in order not from oldest to newest, or newest to oldest, but a strategy I call "no particular."   Hopefully they're still interesting.

Turner Halle

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Built in 1892, Turner Halle (known as the Bonham Exchange these days)  is a beautiful old building in downtown San Antonio.  There's something very appealing about this old brick mansion with palm trees in front, and I've wanted to sketch it for some time, but there are few vantage points out of the sun or out of the way of tourists streaming down the sidewalks on their way to the Alamo.  Last week I bit the bullet and sat in the sun on the curb (I wore a hat) and got this one done.  on to the next...

Downtown from Starbucks

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The downtown San Antonio Starbucks (one of several, actually) has a second floor with an outdoor patio, but the railings and parapet make it difficult to sketch much of the view while sitting down, so I don't sketch there often.  A few days ago I finally bit the bullet and did a sketch standing up to get a better view.  This is that sketch.  Also, it's a watercolor.  

A little color...

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I'm forcing myself to get out and work in color, if only to get a little more comfortable with water media.  The color itself isn't the problem-- I've painted in oils so long that I'm fairly confident in terms of what I see color-wise.  It's just that watercolors are the exact opposite of oil paint.  Oil is forgiving.  You can add or subtract easily to cover up your mistakes, and you can mix right there on the canvas.  Watercolor requires a lot more discipline, and I just haven't gotten there yet.  We'll see...

Two Years!

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We made it!  Help yourself!