Traveling around Petoskey

Bob and I went on a short trip to Petoskey, Charlevoix, and Harbor Springs a few weeks ago. It was a very pleasant time with good weather. One highlight of the trip for me was photographing a Common Merganser with chicks resting on a rock along Lake Erie. We saw them at Fisherman's Island State Park.

 The scenery was very peaceful and the towns very clean and inviting for tourists. The area also boasts many, many miles of biking trails.

I spent a bit of time on a small watercolor study at a roadside park just north of Petoskey.

Sterling Storm

 A few weeks ago we had a really stormy and windy day. I drove out to Sterling State Park to see the waves and ended up staying to do a small watercolor study. I got thoroughly soaked and cold, but it was still fun. The waves were probably at about 5 feet with very strong wind and driving rain. I was able to sit under one of the shelters to do the watercolor. Good thing or I would have had no artwork at all.

 Sterling Storm study, watercolor, about 6x8"

Great Egret sheltering on a stormy day.
I also took some of the best egret photos to date: the storm brought a couple of them into a small pond with more shelter and with the gloomy day I was able to get the brilliant white with a dark background. Perfect for scratchboard and with several really nice poses. Then I almost lost them all by accidentally hitting the delete button on my computer. I found a good 'restore' program after a few tries and was able to retrieve them from the camera card. So I learned a new trick and also got the images back. Whew!!

Owen Finished

This is 2 7x5 black Ampersand boards photoshopped together. I got so used to seeing them side by side like this I like it now. Maybe if I get the 3rd one finished it will go on here too.

The first one has a very light watercolor tint on it. Neither have been sprayed with the finish coats of fixative yet, but both have 2 light layers of Blair workable fixative on them. That is what is causing the mottling right now. I don't have enough of the Blair to finish these and other scratchboard artists have cautioned me not to mix brands or types of fixative. I guess I'll hunt a bit harder for the Blair. Too much work in these to want to ruin them.

I'm pretty happy with them even though his daddy doesn't think the likeness is good enough. I'm still learning so I'll keep practicing. I've already found a variation of the skin technique that I like better for smoother skin that involves going over the skin in every direction with very small light scratches. It gives almost an etched quality to it.