Quick Charcoals

[Jeff Fuchs]

Oh, now I can't help myself.

This is a picture of me on my second boat, "Saint Somewhere". If any of you are Parrotheads, you'll understand the name.

After my hip replacement surgery a few years ago, I finally could get around well enough to have some fun outdoors. So, at the age of 40, I took up my first sport, sailing.

Between sailing and my monster house restoration project, I have made little time for art in past years. I'm now trying to achieve a balance of all three (along with other things). Total elimination of television has really helped .

[Steven Sweeney]

You know, I

[Michele Rushworth]

Monet had a studio boat. Now that's a great merger of my two favorite pastimes!

[Steven Sweeney]

If any of you are Parrotheads,

Am, but I'll e-mail you my story sometime. I don't suppose that suggesting that I drew any portraits in Key West would keep the thread on topic. I didn't, anyway, but I do have the shirt. (I actually stayed in Buffett's house, believe it or not, though of course he was long gone, but his gold records and a painted pick-up tailgate still decorate the walls, along with some pretty big but old fish. As you might imagine, there was also other curious but fun decor.)

Wasted away again in Margaritaville, and so on...

BTW, all the "sand" in Key West was trucked in. Don't go there for the beaches . . . but I'll bet there are some fantastic portrait-sketch opportunities. Not to mention the Hemingway House. The six-toed cats are still there.

Outta here now.

Cheers

[Michele Rushworth]

Since we're way off topic, (portrait) and talking about Parrotheads (portrait), I was once involved in a sword fight on Mallory Pier in Key West a long time ago ... If I meet up with any of you at a workshop somewhere I'll regale you with the tale over a tall cold one after class sometime.

[Steven Sweeney]

Since we're way off topic

We do our best, though, pencil-thin moustaches and all. A lot of pirates-turned-50 around here, perhaps.

By the way, keep up the work on those portraits, folks.

[John Zeissig]

Hi gang,

I was very pumped up Wednesday going into this drawing session,.but events conspired against me. The whole thing was very frustrating. This is the last pose that we got. Twenty minutes, plenty of time. The rest of the session was a bunch of poses from the rear, from the side with face obscured, poses with hands in front of the face. Almost all of the poses were reclining, after twenty one-and-two-minute-warm-up poses. One of the other artists suggested "one where we can see your face" for the last pose. This was it. I worked on this and figured I had it pretty much down, when her timer beeped and she said "five minutes". I thought " I'll clean it up and fix a few things". I should have quit while I was ahead. In the last five minutes I blew a lot of the line work and wound up with what you see here. Good lesson in a way!

It's fun seeing all you shellbacks popping up on the forum. I've had lots of experience sailing, and I'm fond of sailboats as well. Nice boat, Jeff! Looks like she'll take you pretty much anywhere you'd want to go. I figure that our departure from Sausalito with Mike safely aboard might require a little bit of haste, though. We'll want to get out of bottle throwing and buckshot range within about 30 sec., and that's gonna take some horsepower if there's a flood tide coming into Richardson Bay. Quickie portraits at Sturgis! That's brilliant, Steven! You're right, somebody's going to steal that idea.

[Lon Haverly]

Nice work, John! Charcoal is such great fun. I love it. I did nothing but charcoal sketches for ten years, all day, every day. It is fast, forgiving, expressive, and deep. But lately, I mostly paint. I lost my lease at the mall, and moved to a new fancy new Courtyard in the yuppy side of town. We will see how it goes.

Got approved for my TV show on Oregon Public Broadcasting, John! Airs in about 6 months.

[Jean Kelly]

Do you think there is any way us Wisconsinites will get to see it?

Jean

[Lon Haverly]

Well, I have the go ahead. I need to get the thing in the can. Its chances of going PBS (nationwide) are very good, I have been told.