Doodles in the Sketchbook, Hoop Lake

For the past few weeks, my family has been on vacation.  Consequently, I haven't done any envelopes for the past little while.  However, it was refreshing to carry along the sketchbook while up in the mountains and doodle in the shade.  There is something intensely peaceful being surrounded only by wilderness, listening to the breeze rush through the pines and the aspen all around you, and doodling until your heart is content.
We spend a few days up in the Uintah Mountains at a place called Hoop Lake.  Although it was hotter than I expected, it was enjoyable to sit in the shade and look at all of the things around me.

Here are a couple of the sketches I was able to knock out while there:

This was a little doodle of the fire pit at our campsite, and you can see Sadie, our Beagle, waiting patiently for the rest of the family to come back from their hike on this particular afternoon.

Just past our tent in a little grove of trees, I parked the camp chair and sketched the surroundings.  There were lots of deer, lots of beautiful trees, and plenty of sun too.

Now that I'm back in town, I thought I would scan and post a couple of the doodles.

These were done in pen and ink, and some watercolor.

Trees, Trees and More Trees.....

Last week, a very kind couple in our neighborhood faced some challenges as the wife found that she had a blood clot in her head, rendering them both very preoccupied with health, life, etc.  This week's envelope and encouraging note went out to them.  I've been enjoying doodling trees, and playing with greens, so this was a refreshing project.  I particularly enjoyed playing with the trees in the background, and the suggestion of shape by introducing different tones and colors.

When I was a young man, and now on into my "golden years," I have learned that being in the deep of nature, especially in the heavily wooded shadows of nature brings a deep, peaceful, opportunity to reflect on life, the meaning behind it, my place in it, and just to appreciate the good things in the world....unless there are a lot of mosquitoes, and then the situation turns to other feelings of the "not so peaceful" sort.

Nonetheless, I hope you get out and enjoy nature this holiday weekend...and be sure to take your pen and pad to sketch up.

Old Black Tree

Recently, I was up at my father-in-law's house.  His backyard is full of of trees and bushes that surround his pool, but there is a wonderfully twisted, old, black-barked, tree that rises behind the pool and captures my attention every time I am there.  I drew it a couple of years ago during a previous visit, as can be seen here.
While relaxing in the backyard during this trip, I had to pull out the sketchbook, once again, and scratch out what I could.  It started to get dark, so I wasn't able to capture much, just the bark on the tree and a few limbs.

Once I got home, I wanted to continue to play with it, and embellish it a bit more...so I continued to add the fence, a neighboring pine and a couple other embellishments...

All in pen and ink.