Plein Air Coincidences

I went to see my parents yesterday, mostly so I could see my mother for her birthday today (happy birthday again, Mom!) but also to support their fire department's fund raising barbeque.  While on my way I was going over in my mind what I wanted to try and paint.  There's a great giant old tree by their house that I want to document as one enormous limb after another keep falling off.  I thought I might paint the firefighters sitting around the barbeque pit.  Finally though I decided to paint the old chicken house that I grew up working in.

I got to the house and spent an hour or so talking to my mother and brother.  At one point my mom asked me if I "knew what I was doing 35 years ago today?"  I did not.  I was 7.  I barely know what I was doing last week.  "We were waiting on our first batch of chickens."  Weird...did I subconsciously remember what the date was and THAT was why I had decided to paint the chicken house?

No, it's probably just a coincidence.

Also...I got some pencils I ordered in the mail.

So, I sketched one of our dogs while we watched a movie. A good day for art practice.

Life In A Waiting Area

They had come to get their dependable old car serviced.  They sat in the waiting area much the way they sat around the house...each engrossed in their own pursuits and thoughts.  He, reading the daily paper and for her, a comically oversized (for her, anyways) book.  The only interaction was when something caught his interest in the paper and he would lean over and point it out to her.  She would lean to him, making the appropriate comment, and then go back to her book.

They never looked up, so they never noticed me standing at the edge of the waiting area sketching the minimal beauty that was their relationship built by a lifetime together.

New Beginnings and Farewells...

All of today's offerings are toon-based. It's been a toon-tastic kind of week.

First off, I did a"thank you" piece for an old college buddy.  He and his friends do a weekly podcast called Dinner 4 Geeks.  It is a fantastic little podcast going over all aspects of geekly pursuits.  Comic books, tv shows, movies...everything.  However, I noticed that they don't really have photos of themselves so you can't get a mental picture of them while they're talking.  So I did this for them:

I liked it.

And second we come to the "farewell" portion of the title.  This week I am losing two of my cashiers from the day job.  So I thought I would do each of them an individual card.

(The second card is for the "Walking Dead" fan who is moving to California.)

I wish them both well but I'm gonna miss them.  Such is the world of not paying good help enough money.