Puffs of pink and rusty dust

pop up and billow in the light

and lowly floating breeze.

Easing into a steady gait,

horse & rider trot along as

sinews glide—dust & hide

release their odors—

thick & musty mixed with

light & chalky motes of

citrus, creosote, and every so often

a whiff of flower-flung pollen.

Pink & Burgundy dominate this scene

—both in sight and in scent—though

ebony gives way to deepest caramel as

flanks fade into haunches.  A hare

hops tentatively by my chair—

keeping a sharp eye on me—

though I am the least of his worries

with beasts of this stature so close.

The thoroughbred shivers & shudders

occasionally as his rider releases him

from martingale, bridle, reins, saddle, bit;

and at last the pure and unladen creature

stands tall and tosses his mane in the wind.

As always, thank you for stopping by.  I’ll see you again soon.

Cheers,

W

The media are soft pastels and india ink on paper.  The view is of a recent sunset seen from the bank of a lovely little lake just up the street from my house.  Pardon the image quality: the paper was too big for my scanner, so I took a photo with my phone

This was a really quick sketch, as I arrived just as the yellow was beginning to show.  The progression of colors—not to mention the red rain in the foreground—were much more beautiful than I managed to capture.  By the time I finished, it was already twilight; and I felt drained, yet happy.  I learned a whole lot about pastels with this study, like making sure to lay down a base color underneath everything before adding specifics.  You can still see patches of white space where I waited to add color until later in the process (which, I discovered, can be confusing to the eye when trying to approximate perspective and such).  I really want to go back and work more on my water texturing; because the strong winds made lovely little waves all across the surface which caught all the colors of the sky.  My “waves” ended up a bit more broad and scattered; but, like I said, I’ve learned a lot for next time

I can’t yet say what my next creation will be; but I have a whole new set of tools to work with, so stay tuned for more studies and experiments in the days to come.  I’m aiming for at least a post a week nowadays, so I should be back by Thursday at the latest.  Here’s hoping I’ll be back sooner.

Ciao for now,

W

today’s creation started out as my first attempt at drawing a celtic knot; and it soon became an engrossing color study that has left me drained, yet fulfilled at the same time.  that being said, I leave it to my picture to do the talking.

“starburst thru the rivers infinite”

india ink & colored pencils

watercolor paper

Good night to you all,

willIam

orange rain falling thru the trees

party in the sky

leaves & wisps

playful clouds above the parking lot

the last gasp begins

that bloom of blush

the misty wisps join in the fun

and all fades slowly into night

Thanks for visiting.

See you around,

W

tree branch silhouettes

tall tall sky w/low-hanging clouds

ripples & reflections

reddish light playing off the tree's trunk

the slow retreat of Sun's corona

sky w/birds & foliage

a plethora of plant-life silhouettes

call it... poetic license

Thanks for stopping by.

See you soon,

W

When first the fire of somnolent Sun
cascaded ‘cross the azure pool of Sky
—redshifting steadily warmer ’til
the inky sheet of Night spread out
to cover and to tuck Day in to bed—
that twilight tinge of first sunset’s blush
burst out with one last stretch of flame,
igniting the sky in a billion billion points of
light that to & fro flew flickering & twinkling the length
& breadth of Night’s soft blanket
—keeping a watchful eye on the world while
Sun slept soundly ’round the bend.

Of course, these lights had not yet names;
and neither did the Sun, nor Moon.
Nor Day nor Night was callèd thus
—for this was long before we roamed this Earth
—dispensing here & there with signs
—conveniently replacing each thing with “thing,”
each this with “this” & that with “that,” until
a Day was just “a day,” lit up by that circadian “sun”
& vanquished every eventide by “night”‘s so heavy indigo sword.

But ‘ere our ears had lived to hear
—our mouths yet dumb of speech—
that sunset first was watched with awe by
Spirits humming each to each:

their song was as the waves of light, which,
playing soft in counterpoint,
crescendoed to a ringing chord of
Blue, Magenta, Cadmium!
and Indigo & Purple softly murmured mezzo-piano
underneath the fragile twinkling of the Stars
who chimed just slightly out of tune.

Thanks for stopping by,
W

This is a sketch I made from the top of some rocks in the southern section of Papago Park.  The view over the rooftops was just wonderful; and I was lucky enough to be able to see all the way to the peaks.  The media are: Prismacolor Verithin colored pencils, and Faber-Castell PITT Artist pens.  I really love the way the hard black lines of the pens contain and define the areas of more or less solid color.  I enjoy looking back on this drawing, because it shows me how far I’ve come with my coloring skills (for instance: I now know more techniques for creating washes thru which I can avoid harsh, obvious lines and instead fill large areas with solid color).

Thanks for visiting.

See you tomorrow,

W