Argo Mine (Idaho Springs, CO)

Driving the I-70 corridor, you can see several old mines. This is the Argo Mine in Idaho Springs. 

I was coming home from a trip to my cabin and wasn't quite ready to return to 'real life.' This wasn't the first time I stopped to do a sketch before going home from a quiet weekend on my own.

There's a little rest stop in Idaho Springs which gives you a view of the mine. I've stopped at this rest stop several times since it has a bathroom and the fishing in the middle of town isn't bad. When there is traffic, this is a great spot if you have young kids or just need to stretch your legs. 

 

Casa Bonita (Denver, CO)

Wife had to get an endoscopy during Covid, so I had to wait nearby. Why not do an iconic structure.

 

Tombow - Not So Sure About These (Arvada, CO)

Tried some Tombow markers. As much as I love bold colors, these are not forgiving like watercolor.

 

BNSF (Denver, CO)

Looking to kill time one day and did this sitting in my truck (not sure I was legally supposed to be there since it's a private rail yard...). I was experimenting with a steering wheel desk that worked well. 

Definitely had a hard time with the tower. However, this was great practice to do a future piece I did with cranes. So many angles and so much detail. 

 

Hey this is a Farmhouse (Arvada, CO)

There's still a little farm country near Ralston Valley High School. Cold day, but got to use my steering wheel desk. 

My new steering wheel desk even fits in my Mini!

 

Grainery and Gauche? (Denver, CO)

 

Decided to try guache today. Had an argument with my eldest, but she had to come with me to practice driving. Not sure I'm a fan of guache. 

Pearce Helps Cabin (Golden CO)

My kids go to school in Golden, CO. There's a little park off Washington Street (the downtown drag) that has these cool historic buildings. My wife and I were killing time one day. We got coffee at the Windy Saddle and set up shop by this cabin. There were lots of people taking their family photos for their holiday cards. 

This was an interesting piece because I hadn't done one of a chinked log cabin. So one of the difficulties was protecting the white space.

Lots of texture on this cabin that I had to forego to not make it too detailed!

 

Fraser Snowcat (Fraser, CO)

Another case of not wanting to go home right away after a quiet weekend on my own. I was on a zoom call in town (not enough signal at "My Happy Place") and decided to do a sketch of this snowcat. I'm sure this thing hasn't run in many, many years. However, this landmark is really neat. Some towns have a "Welcome to <insert town name>" while ski towns like Fraser have something like this!

 

Chamberlain Observatory (Denver, CO)

A fun day with USK Denver. People used a few different mediums including a friend (Mahdu) who did a full oil painting. My friend Michael did a piece where I was in the scene (see below)

This was a great learning experience because I had to think through that dome really carefully. I learned that looking up to a curve is like looking at a cup upside down. So the U shape underneath is actually more of an 'n'. If you look down on a cup, it's more of a U. Think about that one.

My own criticism (and that of my Dad) is that the shadows from the tree on the right is kind of confusing. However, I like the way this one turned out. It really shows my loose style well.

This was one of my last times doing a large sketch with crappy paper! 

Madhu working on her oil painting

Michael and Kayla

Michael's peice with me painting as a subject

 

St. Andrews Episcopal Church (Denver, CO)

This was done at a USK/ICAA crossover event. This is a very old Denver church. We started the evening with a lecture from a church historian. 

Amongst the group were a couple friends, new and old. There were USK'ers, architects and photographers present, each approaching the scene differently. 

The sun was going down rapidly, but I wanted to capture the muted scene with a red side door. Most people hardly noticed this side entrance, but I thought it was incredible, especially before it got too dark.

Always fun to use just a couple small highlights of color!

 

Lakeside Amusement Park (Denver, CO)

I shouldn't share this one. Never liked how it came out. The top looks so confused. But, it's a landmark people recognize.

 

Arvada Tavern (Arvada, CO)

One of my favorites from my home town. When I moved to Arvada, it was this sleepy little town with a rundown downtown. Our first year living here, we voted on bringing the light rail to town. Over the years, thanks of course to my patronage, the town grew and started becoming really hip. 

The building on the left is the Army Navy Surplus store. The Arvada Tavern used to be this hole-in-the-wall dumpy bar that I would meet friends once in a while to have a cocktail with. Then it became super trendy and pricy. It has a speakeasy upstairs that you access through an old phone booth. The speakeasy is a great venue for listening to music. 

I love the way this one turned out.

 

Wheeler-Griebling House, Auraria Campus (Denver, CO)

This was from one of our USK Denver meetups. I did a few versions of this house from different angles, but never finished any other ones.

What was so cool about doing this shot was sitting next to the famous Paul Heaston (who I've been following for years and enjoy hanging out with after getting over my star-struck-ness). Paul did a similar sketch in his traditional fashion of a lot of detail and his master-use of cross hatching. What was so cool was chatting with Paul and when we weren't talking listening to him humming Led Zepplin (Paul and I are about the same age and share a love of music and basketball). 

 

Spirit of Christ (Arvada, CO)

 

This Jewish guy finds churches to be some of the nicest architecture around. I run by this church often and when you catch it in the afternoon sun, just before sunset, it glows. My parents must think I'm crazy for painting so many churches!

Masonic Lodge (Denver, CO)

This sketch was done August 13, 2020. It was part of an event with the ICAA Rocky Mountain Chapter's Emerging Professional series and cross marketed with the Denver Urban Sketchers. We started the evening discussing the landmark Frank Milton House before walking up to the Highlands Masonic Temple. 

My daughter Talia (at the time was 13) joined me as she has a few times at these events. We brought lawn chairs to the dismay of the Masons who were upset we were on their lawn and hadn't gotten prior permission to be on their property. 

The sky was very overcast that day. I loved the way the monochrome looked and since there wasn't a ton of color to the building, so I left this one as is.

I had gone past there a few days earlier to get my thumbnail done. You can see I was playing with the framing and angles.