three letter word for art

Winter in Denver is not quite what I expected. Yes, it will be very cold sometimes. It will snow. But then it will be sunny and 60 degrees. Montana had plenty of sunshine in the winter, but the temps still made it difficult to attempt an outdoor sketch. I've even been thwarted more than a few times in San Antonio on a blustery day.  Yet here in Denver I've had so many opportunities its ridiculous. Here's a few recent drawings of the non-moleskine variety. Broadway, near 'The Hornet,' a favorite restaurant of Linda's and mine. A neat white building near Union Station. A building I only recently noticed downtown.  It used to house cable cars, I surmise, but know it's home to 'The Old Spaghetti Factory.' This building is around the corner from where Linda works in the LoHi (Lower Highlands) neighborhood. I'll post more new stuff soon.

From the past week.

A busy week for me, drawing-wise.  Did quite a few treks into downtown from LoHi with my sketching stool and supplies.  Here's what I got: City Hall, during a concert in the park. Chamberlin Observatory, near the University of Denver campus. The Brown Palace and environs.  Such a cool building. A view from 16th street mall of two beautiful Richardsonian Romanesque buildings.  Reminds me of San Antonio's Bexar County Courthouse . Just a moleskine sketch from the 16th street mall. A meh sketch of Union Station.  Will have to go back and give it the proper treatment.

So on a weekend back in April (?!) I accompanied my sweetie to the Dallas Fiber Arts Festival, where she taught some classes and had a book signing, etc.  Because I knew she'd be busy I was able to find some time to drive into both Dallas and Fort Worth (we stayed in Grapevine, about midway betwixt the two) for some sketcherating.    I still wish I'd done more, but we were also museuming it up, taking in the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, the Modern, and the Kimbell twice.   Without further ado, here are the results of a couple days' sketching. The Adolphus Hotel in downtown Dallas.  I was inspired to tackle this one after seeing a fantastic Richard Haas litho of this building.  Of course, Richard had access to a higher point of view (and he works from photos). In progress: The gorgeous Tarrant County Courthouse in Fort Worth, right up there with Bexar and Victoria County courthouses.  A police officer approached me while I was taking p...

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.