Brooks Museum Today

Today I went to the Brooks Museum with the Memphis Urban Sketchers and sketched the Armed + Dangerous exhibit. It was the perfect exhibit for sketching!

My Rocks

This is my last sketch from our Christmas trip in Arkansas, the sixth sketch I made on Christmas day!

These are my rocks. They are giant rocks; this sketch does not really do them justice. They were right outside the big windows on the main floor of the cabin, and we both spent a lot of time just staring at them and watching the waterfall.

Can I go back now?

The end.

The Bushmaster Cabin

This is OUR cabin, The Bushmaster. I almost don't want to tell you about it and keep it our secret place!

This is the front of the cabin, and where I was standing there were giant rocks/rock wall behind me and to my right. To the left is the creek bordered on the other side by the rock wall that you can see from the bedroom windows that I mentioned a few sketches ago.

Longbow Cabin

This is the Longbow Cabin, which is close to the cabin we were in, but it is around a bend in the road. The folks staying there left on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, so I was able to go over there and peek inside on Christmas. It is an amazing, unique space.

The exterior is amazing, too. The cabin is built among the rocks, which are actually incorporated into the structure. The back of it is a natural pool with a waterfall. That's right: a natural pool with a waterfall. It's simply gorgeous, too gorgeous to try to draw ;)

I included a picture of the actual cabin with the sketch below, just to prove that it's real!

Trees in Arkansas

This view is from the wooden bridge that connects the road and parking area with the cabin. I sat on the bridge and sketched the view up the creek to more big rocks in the distance.

I started to feel like I was developing a sketching vocabulary for the main elements of the landscape: vertical lines for trees and close vertical lines for trees in the distance; bits of texture for fallen leaves; horizontal lines for big rocks. I'd love to see how I might expand on that with more time.

Back to Pencil

This is the rock wall on the left from the previous sketch. I tried to capture how water was dripping down over the wall into the pool.

Landscape in Watercolor

On Christmas Day, after a breakfast of bacon and eggs and some chilling-out time, I took another hike up the creek to "Diana's Pool," where the big waterfall flows into a pool between two rock walls. The wall on the right curves in, and you can see how water has shaped it over time. The wall on the left goes back into a cave-like area with giant rocks in it. I found where someone had made a stack of small rocks on one of the giant rocks, and I added my own small stack next to it.

I am trying to use watercolor more. It's a lot easier and more fun with views like this!

Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let's all sketch a lot in 2012!!!