Jo Castillo Art Blog - Pastels and More

Skyline Indigo

2026-05-24T00:46:53.090-05:00

It is great when an unplanned sketch fits the Hunts. This is the view from our window in Austin. It fits in Hunt 191 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-191-may-2-2-jun-13.9055/#post-144074

Number 1 Indigo - the night sky was very much indigo. It was cloudy so this was the sunset. The lighted dome is the state capitol and the dark building to the right is the top of the football stadium. I used the app, Bushes, on my iPad.

We are in Austin as Gene is spending time in the hospital. He is better. Some pneumonia and congestion a stomach bleed. He is recovering and should be released in a few days.

Never a dull moment in our lives. I hope to sketch a bit more around here.

Here is a link to another nocturnal in Austin. I did this from another hospital window a few years ago nHave fun

https://jocastilloartblog.blogspot.com/2018/11/nocturnal-sketch.html?m=0

Food Trucks Bastrop Sketch

2026-05-12T21:57:00.000-05:00

Today was my day out. I went to lunch with my friend, Susan, at Anita's. Such a nice lunch. I had a non alcoholic margarita, asked for lemonade and she asked it I wanted frozen. Sure I replied and she brought a mason jar of "lemonade". It tasted just like a margarita so maybe I got margarita mix. It was delicious. Must have had 800 calories, but worth it. I ate a Puffy Taco. I like those a lot.

After lunch I went over to the food truck plaza so I could sketch in the shade. I had a latte and sketched for about an hour. Then got some carnitas at El Fercho to take home for Gene. I asked what Fercho meant and the waitress said it was a nickname for the owner Fernando. Hmmm. They have pretty good food their. The carnitas was more like shredded pork like we put in tamales. Usually carnitas are fried pork. It was good. I will add some red New Mexico chile for the leftovers. Pep it up a little.

For Scavenger Hunt 190 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-190-may-9-22.9023/
Sketched in the older Ohuhu Mix Media sketchbook with Ohuhu pens and watercolors. I put in the red letters with a Prismacolor pen when I got home.

I sketched toward the Moosebelly BBQ trailer (I wrote Mooseberry on the truck, guess I was thinking about the blueberries in their BBQ sauce.) and the Thai food trailer. Neither was open. Tuesday is probably a slow day. The latte trailer shut down shortly after I got mine. I guess they stay open only until lunch time. The stage with the bench is wired with electricity and has small speakers up. It is new to me. It is about 20 x 12 feet, my perspective is off. I added it after I did the trailers. It should have been in first. The back of the Moosebelly trailer is a screened in section and the think sticking out of the orange Thai truck is actually a blue pickup in the parking lot. There were more flowers but I had been sketching about 45 minutes and needed to leave so quickly added the color.

Gene had speech therapy and stayed with Pam, caregiver. He also rode his stationary bike today. Pretty busy, too.

Strange not to have a baseball game tonight. Longhorns have one more regular season series with Missouri on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. After that there will be the conference tournament. After that the Road to Omaha starts with Regionals, Super Regionals and the College World Series. We shall see how the Horns do. They have played well, only losing 12 of their 49 games. One game was rained out. Hook 'em Horns! You can get more info here https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/baseball/

Full Sketch

2026-05-11T23:04:00.000-05:00

Sketching took place today at PT for Gene. I forgot my watercolors and brushes but did remember the sketchbook. It was pretty nice outside but I didn't feel up to the wind and stayed inside.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 190 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-190-may-9-22.9023

Number 1 full - a cup full of plastic flowers. At first I thought they were real. I picked them up to change the angle and realized they were silk/plastic, it was so lightweight. the tag on the cup read, "You are the Berry Best". A gift to the receptionist. Fun.

I sketched in the new Ohuhu smaller sketchbook with an Ohuhu .7 pen. I added the watercolor at home.

Mother's Day was nice. Joanna, Jennie and Brandon came out to visit. Joanna brought pizza for all . Crazy, as we all had different pizzas. Jennie and Brandon brought chocolate covered strawberries. Larry was working out of town and of course David and bunch are in Kentucky.

We played a round of Telefunken (a progressive rummy game I learned in Bolivia) and had some mocktail margaritas, by Top Hat in Austin. (very unimpressive, made with kombucha and lots of other stuff) They have caffeine in the tea. Next time I will try making regular margaritas our way and use non alcoholic wine in place of tequila.

Joanna brought another surprise. She gave me a bluebonnet cup which was special on its own. The real surprise is that it was made by Lou and Toby Baggett in Oklahoma. Lou is Bag Blog here in comments and her blog, link in sidebar and you can find them on Instagram and Facebook or whatever it is now. So unexpected! I love it.

Sketch Pens

2026-05-05T09:32:00.000-05:00

At PT yesterday I wanted to sketch my sketching pens. I had a pack of Ohuhu pens so that was perfect. I held them in my hand but decided not to include my fingers in the sketch.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 189 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-189-apr-27-may-9.8965/

Number 5 used in my art - Ohuhu pens sketched in the Ohuhu Mix Media sketchbook with the Ohuhu 0.7 pen.

Indoor Scene Sketch

2026-04-29T22:12:00.008-05:00

Off to PT as usual today. I sketched in the Ohuhu Mix Media smaller sketchbook with an Ohuhu 0.3 pen. About 20 minutes duration.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 189 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-189-apr-27-may-9.8965/

Number 1 soft - tissue
Number 2 has wheels - chair
Number 3 indoor scene
Number 4 rectangle - tissue box

For the previous Hunt I did #4 rough texture - a pen basket at PT done with the app Brushes on my iPhone.

That's all folks! See ya later.

The Last Purchase

2026-04-25T23:01:00.002-05:00

The Scavenger Hunt list had "the last thing you purchased". Not exciting for me, it was a prescription for Gene. They come in a brown paper bag, so that made it somewhat interesting.

I sketched out on the porch on a gorgeous morning. It got hot and muggy later so had to close up the house. I sketched in the large Canson Mixed Media sketchbook, a full page with the two sketches.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 188 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-188-apr-15-apr-27.8930/page-3#post-143138

Number 2, the last thing you purchased

Number 3, person or persons - a couple of walkers with their dog. You wouldn't be able to pick them out of a group from my sketch. Not even the dog is close. They were walking pretty fast. Really.....

The Longhorns are playing Vanderbilt this weekend. They won Friday night and lost tonight. All the teams in the conference are pretty close. The Longhorns and Aggies had one game canceled for weather. That may hurt them in the standings as other teams have an extra win in their column. Hopefully they will win tomorrow and win the series.

Palette in Watercolor

2026-04-17T22:30:00.000-05:00

My watercolor palette is always a mess. Maybe that is why my watercolors are used mainly for sketching. I sketched while Gene was in PT.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 188, Number 1 - used in my art, watercolor palette

I sketched in the Ohuhu Mix Media sketchbook a full page 10 x 7.6 inches with an Ohuhu .5 pen and watercolors.

The baseball game tonight was interesting. The Horns played the Alabama Crimson Tide in Austin at the Disch. The Longhorns used a different lineup tonight and it seemed to spark them. They lost the series last weekend in College Station against the Texas Aggies. Bummer. Tonight was fun, they won 10 -2 with 4 errors. Yikes! They haven't played Alabama many times over the years. I captured this screen shot from ESPN+ SEC network.

Ink and Watercolor Fun

2026-04-15T23:32:00.002-05:00

Well, as much fun as I can have painting with watercolors. I have to think to paint with them so not an easy feat these days. I'm thinking for two as Dr. Chavez says. I need to save the brain for paperwork and such.

I sketched by the ponds/lakes at the picnic pavilion and down by the new construction close to McCoys. So much going on. Texas Roadhouse, Longhorn Steakhouse, Chuys, Chipotle, Smokey Mo's Barbeque, Jersey Mikes, Firehouse Subs, Sprouts and much more. Bastrop is growing too fast.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 187 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-187-apr-3-apr-15.8897/

Number 4 sand - the dried up lake bed on Easterly lake/pond Only a puddle left
Number 5 heavy machinery - some sort of lift. The workers were on top and no one near the lift. Maybe they had another on the other side of the huge building.

These are in the Ohuhu Mix Media sketchbook with Ohuhu pen and watercolors.

It was beautiful weather for my day out. About 80 degrees F. Soon it will be in the 90s to 100. Enjoying while we can. We have been using the porch.

Spring Break Family Fun

2026-04-13T23:25:00.000-05:00

We had all our family here this past week. It was amazing to have all 19 of us together. We have 2 grandkids and 19 great grandkids. Doesn't seem possible. The first day was just two greats so we sketched. After everyone got here the kids were mostly outside. They had their Easter Egg hunt on Tuesday I think. Went to the playground by the firehouse. Played disc golf with Uncle Larry. We had New Mexico food and brisket. So wonderful to see all the kiddos. We hadn't seen the last two since we aren't traveling.

We did sketch a little with the the first bunch. I post my three first and then the kids. They tried to do items from the Scavenger Hunt with me.

For Scavenger Hunt 187 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-187-apr-3-apr-15.8897/

Number 1 cup - my Christmas cup this year. We think the 4 on it means aisle 4. I want to sketch it in pastel. Maybe one day. In the new Ohuhu smaller sketchbook with Ohuhu pens and watercolor.
Number 2 useful - a plastic basket to hold brochures at PT In the larger Ohuhu Mix Mecia sketchbook with Micron 03 and watercolors.
Number 3 vehicle - in the Ohuhu Mix Media sketchbook with Micron 03 at PT... oh the perspective. Front and back not too bad. Middle is ???

David sketched one of my Kachina dolls in colored pencil.

Christy sketched on paper from the Little Fingers sketchbook.

Lucas sketched in the Little Fingers sketchbook. He draws really well. He did some others but they weren't from life. The hanging basket was a good challenge.

Owen sketched in a Fabriano Masters Touch watercolor sketchbook and tore the pages out to put on the fridge. He did the cutest chicken but it is so light yellow that it wouldn't show in the scan.

They did some chalk art outside, too.

Anyway lots of fun. The house is sooooo quiet now.

Fire Hydrant Watercolor

2026-04-01T08:27:00.006-05:00

Yesterday was my day out. I met Joanna and spent time with her so didn't sketch much. I did stop by the fire hydrant in front of the Super 8 on the way to meet her. It was good to have a daughter and mom time.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life
Number 5 fire hydrant - sketched with pencil in the Ohuhu Mixed Media sketchbook and added color at home. I didn't take a photo. The hydrant was so rusty that I couldn't tell the color. I guess it may not have been painted like the one at the juice place I sketched a few weeks ago. I wondered about them leaving the hydrants unpainted.

It was a nice day. A bit windy. The Longhorns baseball team played Texas State in Austin. Horns won for the first time in a few years. They have been playing two Tuesday games every season, playing one in San Marcos and one in Austin. Horns have been winning in San Marcos and then the Bobcats have been winning in Austin. So the streak was broken. Horns won both games this season.

Markers and Ink Sketches

2026-03-30T00:02:00.003-05:00

Our weather has been between late winter and late spring this week. Cool and then hot with no in-between. Sort of missing regular spring. But ... nice to sit on the porch and watch the folks out walking. We saw a couple on horseback today but no photo or sketch. Gene was having speech therapy also on the porch.

I sketched yesterday in the Marker Sketchbook with Blick gray markers. Number 1 in the new Hunt for "spring flower". I bought a new geranium. It is a bit fuller than my sketch. I'm sure it will be bedraggled like the last one in no time. I ordered it with groceries and they had potting soil on the website. I ordered it too without thinking about size. So I got one small geranium and like a 20 pound sack of soil. Never thought about that.

For Scavenger Hunt 186 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-186-mar-22-apr-3.884

Today I did these three. Number 2 fits in hand, Ohuhu pens

Number 3 statue or figurine - the plastic owl on a pole that is supposed to keep birds away from the windows.

Number 4 building - next door. I have painted the shed in pastel and called it a fishing shed as it is by the water. Seems to actually be a tool shed.

These three are on one page in the large Canson Mixed Media sketchbook.

Another Tree

2026-03-26T10:49:00.003-05:00

I am behind on my sketching so decided to sketch this tree yet another time. I wonder how many sketches of it I have - with leaves or without and in a group or alone. There are two trees close together and I thought I would do both so left room for the other. I got tired of making leaf marks so this is what you get. We also have to go to Austin again to the eye doctor. We went Tuesday to Gene's oncologist. Makes for long days and the traffic is getting so bad.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 186 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-186-mar-22-apr-3.8844/

Number 1 tree - From the porch in the large Canson Mixed Media sketchbook with Micron 03

There aren't many bluebonnets this year but Jennie took photos of the grand-dogs in a little clump at the end of the back porch. Gray doggie is Chewie and the black one is Reese.

Reese in Markers

2026-03-19T22:08:00.001-05:00

We had a visit from Jennie and the grand-dogs today. It was fun with some tidying up paperwork, sitting on porch, having chicken fried steaks from the Roadhouse Paige and visiting and watching movies. Wow, lots accomplished.

Both doggies were standing at the screen trying to see what was going on out in the world. Listening to birds and some dogs in the distance and a few voices trailing in. They had been for a walk out there earlier. I went to get the sketchbook and of course Chewbacca decided to sleep in the sun. So Reese accommodated me by looking out a couple of different times.

Number 3 yonder - Reese was trying to see what she was hearing over yonder. She is so black that you can't see any shadows or form so I added a bit of gray. She is really just black, black, black. Jennie took some photos of them by our bluebonnets, I will ask to share them with you.

I haven't mentioned much about Longhorn Baseball. The team is doing great with 18 wins and 2 losses so far. They travel to Auburn tomorrow. I will watch on the SEC streaming. Hook 'em Horns!

Tree Sketch Watercolor

2026-03-18T22:00:00.000-05:00

I sketched yesterday on my day out. I wasn't up to par so picked up lunch and found shade at the park to sketch and eat. I didn't wan't to park on the street someplace and eat. My feet were sore and I didn't want to walk to a bench or table. My feet are better after PT. My therapist gave me some stretches for my flat feet and they are better tonight.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 185 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-185-mar-10-mar-22.8801/

I sketched in the Ohuhu Mix Media sketchbook with an Ohuhu pen 0.05 and watercolors.

Number 2 tree or shrub - There were several trees a few in the background were oaks that had leaves and the new spring leaves on the trees nearby. Evidently Crepe Myrtles from the shapes. Big ones though. The bench is right by the trash can. I hate that when I eat at a bench or the tables. Lots of flies. But, I guess if they put the cans far away, people won't put their trash in the bins. So the people eating lose.

It was a pretty day up to about 67º F. We have had a few crazy days. 96º or so on Sunday, 40s on Monday and 67º yesterday. Today was about 74º. I had the door open for a while.

Gene talked to a couple of old buddies today. That is always so good for him. He can't remember but they fill him in. Good guys.

Well, hopefully spring is here. From the forecast we may have skipped directly to summer.

Red Sketch

2026-03-11T12:08:00.000-05:00

I bet you would expect some apples for my red item. Apples are always my fall back subject. Ketchup was on the last Hunt and I wanted to try it with markers but never got it done. So, I put "red" on this list so I could try my hand at sketching with the markers in the new Marker sketchbook.

Number 1, red - ketchup
for Scavenger Hunt from Life 185 (new Hunt) https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-185-mar-10-mar-22.8801/

Markers really don't blend so you need many colors if you are planning to be very realistic or atmospheric. I still prefer Pastels for that. These markers are fun for a quick splash of color.

Zippered Memories Sketch

2026-03-10T11:41:00.008-05:00

An item on Hunt 184 was zipper or other closure. I was at PT waiting for Gene so decided to sketch my art bag. It has both a zipper and velcro on a side pocket. So many memories. It is from the Cumbres-Toltec Railroad between Chama, New Mexico, and Antonio, Colorado. We rode it several times in the Parlor Car with bonus gifts like the bag.

Number 4, zipper or other closure - art bag in my new Ohuhu Mix Media sketchbook 8.5 x 5.5 inches. In ink and watercolor.

We saw our first bluebonnets on Saturday. We went to Brandon's birthday lunch and when we got back he found this bluebonnet growing in the crack in the sidewalk. How had I not seen it? I was even planning to spray something to kill the grass and weeds growing in the crack. Hmmm.

After that we saw a little bunch by the mailbox and one by the driveway gate to the enclosed yard.

We are having a small amount of rain so maybe we will get a few more wildflowers. They are very scarce this year.

Marker Sketching

2026-03-04T00:02:00.001-06:00

I got a new sketchbook from Jennie and Brandon. It is a Marker sketchbook with propylene pages so the marker ink does not soak through the paper. Very nice and smooth. I decided to break it in today.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 184 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-184-feb-26-mar-10.8748/

Number 3 wagon or something with wheels - the firetruck and a Jeep in the Marker Sketchbook with Pentel markers.

You can't blend markers so the colors are what you have. I thought about it tonight and I could hatch with straight lines close together and get a lighter blue for the sky. I didn't take time for that today.

It was respite day and I headed out to vote and then meet my friend, Susan, for lunch. We met at Cedar's Coppice. I hadn't been there. It is a very nice coffee/sandwich place with tables and also couches and easy chairs. (Gluten free bread) They have items for sale and books to read or buy. We stayed a couple of hours plus. The sandwiches and other snacks were very good, I highly recommend it. Beer and wine as well. https://cedarsmill.wixsite.com/my-site-1 Beautiful to sketch next time! We should have gone a couple of doors down to see the sculpture gallery, too. I didn't think about it, we could have visited and looked!

I parked across Chestnut facing the fire station again. An item on the Hunt was "wagon or something with wheels". The firetruck and Jeep qualified. I sketched in the car (mobile studio) with the windows down. It was warm but breezy so very comfortable. I sketched before lunch and finished it after lunch.

The Texas Longhorn baseball team played Houston Christian this evening and won 16-3 with the ten run rule. They are 12 wins and 0 losses to start the year. It has been a while since that has happened. Hook 'em Horns!

The sketchbook has a hard cover and the pages are about 7 x 8 inches.

Something new to practice -- sketching with markers.

Shop and Trees Sletches

2026-02-26T22:29:00.001-06:00

I sketched while Gene did his PT today. It was pretty warm so I sat in the car (mobile studio) with the windows open to catch a breeze. Pretty nice actually.

New Hunt 184 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-184-feb-26-mar-10.8748/

Number 1 market or shop - James Avery corner next to PT. It is brown/tan rocks with aluminum windows and brown wood trim and awnings. I used the Ohuhu 0.3 pen in the small 5.5 x 8.5 inches plain paper Canson travel sketchbook. This was the last sketch in that book ... finished! Always fun to complete a sketchbook.

Number 2 tree or shrub - next to the Avery store, the brown/tan rocks continue on the back wall. I sketched with the Ohuhu 0.3 pen in the Ohuhu Mix Media sketchbook 10 x 7.6 inches. There are about 7 pages left in that sketchbook. I like the paper in this sketchbook so I bought another one. It is a little smaller 8.5 x 5.5 inches. I will start it soon.

Lime Sketching

2026-02-24T10:03:00.000-06:00

It is always fun on the Scavenger Hunts to see what the different artists come up with. Fletch drew a regular lemon as the item was lemon or lime. I saw the brightest electric lime green pickup yesterday, but it was driving by. That would have been a good find. I didn't have any fresh limes or lemons in the house so here is my take on lime.

Number 4 lime - a bottle of lime juice that is very green. The lid is probably the closest to lime green.

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 183 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-183-feb-14-feb-26.8716/

It looks like the Hunts will be changing location again. Creativespark.art is going to go away by March 6 unless a miracle happens and someone wants to take over the management and ownership. It would be very time consuming to keep up with spam, ai, and all the rest.

The Scavenger Hunts will probably go back to wetcanvas.com as that site didn't close but also isn't kept very up to date. It is a little difficult to navigate but has quite a few artists still. So until we find something better. I will not go to facebook since I was banned a few years ago and I hate all the ads. I just hope we can keep our group going. We have been sketching as Scavengers since 2006. Some had been on wetcanvas even longer but this group started then.

Funky Sketch Plus

2026-02-19T23:33:00.004-06:00

Today was my day out. It was a lovely one. I sketched in the mobile studio. It was about 84º and no shade so just sat in the car for the first two. That big pine tree is near the house so was in the shade.

Number 1 building - a new County office building I hadn't even noticed. Off the main road, I've been driving and Gene thinks all buildings are new with his vision. (Smiling) in the Ohuhu Mix Media sketchbook - almost finished - with Ohuhu 03 and watercolors

Number 2 nature - trees right near the house where I found shade.

Number 3 outdoors - trailer park and Number 4 funky - a silver fire hydrant, I thought they had to be red or yellow or bright blue. Hmmm.

For Scavenger Hunt 183 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-183-feb-14-feb-26.8716/

The trailer park is catty corner from the Bastrop Roadhouse. Another addition I hadn't noticed. It is right on the turn from Loop 150/Hwy 21. We usually don't turn that way and we hadn't noticed. What caught my eye was a little building that advertised coffee and juices. A latte was calling my name. I had to go all the way to Hwy 71 and back by Buc-ee's to get there. A tiny little place which really specializes in fruit smoothies with protein powder in them. Bagels and avocado toast were on the menu as well. I ordered a coffee with cream as there was no special coffees or latte. They were out of coffee except for cold brew. I went ahead and ordered that. Iced coffee is just not the same to me as a good "cup of Joe". Nice lady and a little table in the shade to sketch the trailer park behind the building.

I got some Subway items for our dinner. BMT sandwich for Gene and tuna salad for me which I ate on a rice cake to get the sandwich feeling. Pretty good now after years of eating rice cakes. Good crunch! I do not care for flavored ones, just the lightly salted plain ones. I don't care for flavored chips or odd candy or crackers. Give me the old standards.

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Roof Vehicle Sketch

2026-02-12T22:16:00.002-06:00

Gene had a dentist appointment today. We went on the right day! I sketched out the window for the Hunt. It was another beautiful day. The crown took about 1.5 hours. Amazing. Start to finish: prepare and measure, make tooth, bake it, put the tooth in permanently.

For Scavenger Hunt 182 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-182-feb-2-feb-14.8680/

Number 5 roof - the Bastrop City Hall Building and Number 6 vehicle - a white panel truck. It must be the dog catcher which now is called animal control I imagine.

I sketched in the small Canson sketchbook with plain paper and an Ohuhu 0.2 pen.

Our sunset tonight.

Houseplant Sketch

2026-02-08T13:16:00.000-06:00

The Christmas cactus called for sketching a houseplant. It has one bloom left that hasn't quite opened. They were pretty this year. Very white! The sketch covers about 1/3 of the page of the large Canson Mixed Media sketchbook. That makes it about 5 x 7 inches. Drawn with graphite and colored with watercolor. A few strokes of ink with a Micron 03 ended it all.

For Scavenger Hunt 182 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-182-feb-2-feb-14.8680/

Number 5 houseplant - Christmas Cactus

Before getting out the watercolors I sketched at my computer desk with a Micron'02 in the same sketchbook under the sketch of Gene so about 1/2 page. Number 3, elephant and Number 4, hand

The elephants are made of rock maybe. They say made in Kenya. Sort of heavy in a dark gray material. I don't remember where they came from. I know they were a gift so I feel bad that I don't remember. Maybe it is in my blog. I have sketched them before. I found the sketch. I didn't post about the gifter.

Also the baseball games I mentioned previously are next weekend. Two things I had the wrong date in my mind, almost the same day. Yikes. Baseball and dentist so no connection.

Home Sweet Home

2026-02-05T23:54:00.003-06:00

I sketched out on the porch! No this isn't an old post. It was such a beautiful day today and one of the prompts/items on the Hunt was "outdoors". We were on the porch for lunch so I decided to get the Canson Mixed Media large sketchbook and do the scene I have done so many times. Then we came in and Gene rode his bike. I skipped riding mine to get another item for the Hunt "person".

For Scavenger Hunt from Life 182 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-182-feb-2-feb-14.8680/

Number 1 outdoors - the scene off the porch minus water in the lakes.
Number 2 person - a bad sketch of Gene. In self defense I will say he was moving at the time! He is always a good sport about it!

We went on Tuesday and had our teeth cleaned. The dentist found that Gene needs a crown where an old filling is loose. Fine come back on Thursday. We went today for a 12:00 noon appointment. They prepare the tooth and make a crown all the same appointment. It takes 2 hours or so. We got in the office and the young gentleman, Kendrick, that always takes good care of us said .... "oops, maybe I said Thursday without the date, I meant next Thursday, February 12." I think maybe I just got it wrong and he said that to make me feel better. At any rate we came home and went out on the porch for lunch and stayed a while before going back in for Gene to get his exercise. We had the door open for quite some time. I really like that.

UT Longhorn baseball starts tomorrow. They will play UC Davis in Austin at the Disch. Looks like the weather will be super for the weekend. Unusual, Hook 'em Horns! I'm sure that there will be some cold weekends before long, but we will take this good weather. Joanna and I have been in the stands when it is 45º or so. Long handles, hoodies, and blankets. Brrrrr.

Keys Plastic Wood Sketches

2026-01-28T22:02:00.002-06:00

I sketched yesterday and then never got around to posting. Out of sight, out of mind.

Number 3 set of keys - for garage inside doors, laminated plastic marker. Number 4 plastic - a white gel pen and Number 5 wood - some coasters from Peru I think. Wooden with glass over the paintings.

These are in the large Canson Mixed Media sketchbook done with a Micron 03.

Not much going on with the cold spell. All OK here. Looks like another cold weekend coming but no moisture involved.

What is this?

2026-01-23T16:26:00.003-06:00

What is this? I guess if you can read my small writing you will see it is a jar opener. It is complicated both to sketch and to use. When you get it on the jar correctly, the jar opens with very minimal pressure. I works well!

For Scavenger Hunt From Life 181 https://creativespark.art/threads/scavenger-hunt-from-life-181-jan-21-feb-2.8642/

I sketched in the large Canson Mixed Media sketchbook with a Micron 02 black and Micron 005 red.

I think Joanna gave us this opener.

Stay warm, hope all goes well during the predicted storms. We are ready.