4th of July Campout

Usually, by this time of year our extended family has had two camp-outs, but not in a COVID-19 year. We finally make it out for our July 4 traditional camp-out. Bathrooms were open this time but labeled "Use At Own Risk". We use the one in our trailer. Most of our regulars were here but, as we are all growing older, fewer are still active campers. I had the chance to get jamming in with Ed to entertain the clan by fireside. This is a high point for me! It's the perfect setting.

On the second night Ed was busy with other family obligations.  We had a fire at our camper and some others came over but left early. I had some time by our fireside to do some solo playing. However, it was into the Quiet Hours (10 p.m.-6 a.m.), and a park ranger came over to shut me down after a half hour. A regular occurrence for me. I'm always amazed that playing and singing is considered illegal behavior. It's acoustic! The sound doesn't travel that far and I may not be professional but I can hold a tune, but we are still breaking the law.

Trivia - it's never too hot for a fire! We sweat through the day but we love the fire at night. And my wife and I had Smores one night. Timeless!

A New Routine

I think this place will be seeing a lot of me in the following months. It is the Cancer Center. Today is just a bone scan to assess any possible spread of the cancer. The radioactive injection is three hours before the actual scan, and I'm on my own for that time. So - SKETCH! I set up my lawn chair out in the parking lot and bought a high-end coffee from the Roasterie kiosk and immersed myself in the process. It's been too long since I've sketched. It's like meeting an old friend to spend time.

Trivia - this building does not have a blue roof on the middle section. I felt that the grey on brick color scheme needed to be spruced up. Seeing the finished sketch I don't think blue was the correct accent color, but it's still better than grey on brick. I'm always amazed at how hard cars are to sketch. I have long realized I just need to go out and sketch them more often, like my need to sketch people. Just don't seem to get it done, though.

Patience

As you can see from my posting rate, I've been very quiet. This COVID-19 has me in an artistic funk. I could easily be sketching around the house, but I'm not in the mood. Other things on my mind, and the post elude to. But I'll always be sketching. I can't walk away from this form of expression. I suspect I may have lost all my viewership, but I'll still post. Hope somebody is out there.

I found this wicker ball in an antique store and couldn't stop looking at it. It's the type of object that would take forever to sketch in detail but still called out to be sketched, so I bought it. Some time has passed since I bought it, as I was looking for the right time to sketch it. Today is the day. It's Father's Day and our kids live out of state. So, it's quiet, just Wilma and I, and a COVID-19 isolation weekend. It will be a treat to myself to do it today! I had planned on doing a full pencil rendering in 100% detail and then inking it in, but it just grates me wrong to spend that much time on one drawing. The drawing would look great but I don't have the mindset to spend that length of time on one drawing. I'm a sketcher of daily life, not a formal artist. So, I did the old some detail-some implied method, and I like it.

If you read far enough you'll see I included some gloomy news, too. I did not start this sketch to be about cancer, but as I was writing the text, it just came to me. I saw how it all tied together, so to speak. It's been heavy on my mind since the diagnosis last week. And, good or bad, this journal is about daily life, so it had to be said.