The Hummingbird

The Short Story, if you come here only to look at the sketches:

A tiny hummingbird, drawn from real life out in the wild. Woot!

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The Long Story, if you come to read the rambling tales of my mundane life:

I was out Urban Sketching with Miz Dee earlier this week. I was frustrated because my sketches weren't going well. The drawing part was fine, but the painting and composition suckedrealbad.

Decided to take a break and get away for a minute. Went around the corner next to the dumpster to ponder on things. Dumpster pondering is more beneficial than you might think. There are usually lots of interesting things in and around a dumpster. Most times I find something there I want to draw. But I digress.

So, I was sitting on the curb pondering the dumpster environs when I heard a splat a few feet away. Looked over to see a tiny hummingbird had fallen from the sky and landed among the debris.

He was laying on his side, not moving, one unblinking eye staring straight up into the glaring sun. His bill had somehow become wedged under an old pipe. He was pitiful. I took him for a goner. Chances for his survival seemed to be slim to none at this point.

I paused for a minute, wondering if I should intervene. There really wasn't anything I could do to rescue him from his imminent fate. But I couldn't stand seeing him laying there like that. If he was going to die, at least he could die comfortably in a quiet corner in the shade, not being baked in the sun in a pile of trash. No creature should met his end like that.

I picked him up ever so gently, trying not to touch him much or hurt him any further. He was tiny, maybe 2-1/2 inches long. He didn't even flinch when I picked him up. I figured he didn't have long.

I set him in a nearby flowerbed in the shade. I nestled him in the shredded mulch so that he was upright on his belly. He didn't fall over but he wasn't moving either. I left to let nature take its course. I couldn't bear to watch.

When I returned to my sketching spot, my warm tender-hearted side went back into hibernation and my logical analytical side kicked in. Make that my cold evil black-hearted side.

Humm...if the hummingbird is going to be over there dying for a while, he'll be still enough to sketch. When will I ever get another opportunity to sketch a motionless hummingbird in the wild???? Snatched up the sketchbook and off I went. The little devil on my left shoulder was most pleased.

I hunkered down next to the little bird, trying to get a good look at him. I was maybe 18 inches away. He was moving his head from side to side ever so slightly as I got my pen and sketchbook ready. As I drew, his head moved back and forth, a little bit more and a little bit more.

I was almost finished with the sketch when a big natural gas standpipe nearby came to life making a loud whooshing sound. That startled the little bird. He became noticeably agitated and his eyes opened wide. He really started looking around at that point. Suddenly he cranked his head up and looked me square in the eye. Uh oh. I've been spotted.

Then he took flight! Two sides of our spot were brick walls and the third a tall hedge. I closed him in on the fourth side. He rose about a two feet off the ground and hovered about a foot from my nose, giving me a thorough examination. He was sizing me up as friend or foe I suppose.

I remained motionless as he zigged and zagged, checking me out on all sides. He finally decided up was probably the best option for escape. Up he went, but not out into the open sky. He banged against the building a couple of times, then against the big loading dock door. He still wasn't OK obviously, but at least he was off the ground and no longer a potential kitty snack.

I watched as he finally made his way to the top of the wall and into the open southern sky.

Goodbye little bird. Thank you for the few magical moments we spent together. I'll remember this for the rest of my life.

See, I told ya dumpsters were interesting places to hang out. Didn't believe me did ya?

Mel's Seafood

Went to the meat market a little too early this morning so I had to wait for them to open. Did a bat turn in their parking lot so I could face the buildings across the street. A fine time to sketch!

But did I bring my sketchbook? No! I even thought about it walking out the door. "Oh, I won't be gone but five minutes. No need to go back and get it." Wrong.

But luckily I ALWAYS carry my Little Red Emergency Sketchbook (3" x 4") and a Pigma Micron Double-ought Five just for such occasions. Sketched my little sketch, bought my slab o' beast, then came home to paint.

If you're wondering what that red blob is on the front of the building, it's a ginormous crawdad. Mel's is a Cajun seafood place.

Convention Center Atrium

This is a bit of architectural detail from our new convention center. It has a soaring atrium with lots of natural light. The whole place has an E. Fay Jones vibe to it.

Process notes:
I got lost drawing all the support beams. Decided to call it done hoping the viewer would be able to fill in the rest of the story. And yes, two of those main roof beams are close together. That's not a boo-boo.

McWilliams Furniture Building

My intent on this was to do a really quick sketchy-sketch without details. I just can't seem to get that done. I'm in love with architectural details.

1983 Cafe

The last of the sketching adventure sketches. Miz Dee was packing up her stuff just as I started this one, so this is a whip-n-slop kinda sketch.

I usually draw all the little ticky architectural details on buildings because that's what draws my eye to a building in the first place. Instead of drawing each brick in the soldier course here, I just wiggled the pen a little bit. Under that were intricate arches in the brickwork. They ended up being humpy gray blobs. Below that was a dentil detail. Looks like a doctor's signature instead.

Slopped on some paint with a wide waterbrush and called it done.

It looks like a stucco building somewhere in west Texas instead of a historic red brick building in Lower Arkansas.

Oh well. Such is life for the Urban Sketcher.

Royal Phone Booth

From the church to the downtown drinking establishments! Miz Dee and I opted for staying outside to soak up some sunshine and atmosphere.

I've always loved these old-timey phone booths that dot the downtown area. The view I really wanted to draw of this one would have had me sketching in the middle of the street. Phooey. I'm sure the local constabulary would have frowned on that. Plus, I don't have enough life insurance to play in traffic.

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Process notes:

I need to find a different method for rendering tree canopies. Mine look like they were drawn by a second-grader. Sigh.

Pipe Organ

Went out urban sketching with Miz Dee today. Went from the church to the local drinking establishments. We like to get around.

I was speed sketching. I'm so over drawing ticky little details. Just made a squiggle where a squiggle was needed and moved on. Didn't care if anything was whomperjawed. Just ran the pen across the paper, slopped on some paint, and had a good time. Got five sketches finished.

Stay tuned, more to come.

Spiral Staircase

Out on another sketching adventure downtown with intrepid sketching partner Miz Dee. We started rather late in the afternoon to allow the downtown traffic to clear out.

It had been a warm sunny day, but our spot in the parking lot was in the shade. The temperature dropped rapidly with the waning sunlight. The wind was whipping between the buildings. It wasn't the most ideal sketching situation. Adding to the discomfort, we had forgotten to bring folding chairs. We opted to huddle in the car and draw through the open windows.

Our original sketch target was a beautiful Gothic church, but when we got set up I spied the Urban Grunge and spiral staircase in the neighboring back alley. The church was all but forgotten.

Really Tall Piano

Tuesday, December 14, 2010 - Sketching with Miz Dee in the lobby of Rehab. We decided to draw the beautiful grand piano and the Christmas tree beyond.

I got the legs on the piano just a *leetle* bit long. LOL! Oh well, it looks kinda like a stand-up bar piano.

Miz Dee says she's bustin' outta Rehab on Saturday come hell or high water. She's ready to be back home in her own bed surrounded by "her own junk."

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Update 12/23/2010 - Miz Dee finally did get home on Saturday, Dec. 18th; 38 days from when this whole ordeal first started. Needless to say, she is doing the Pink Bunny Slipper Happy Dance!

Triumph TR2 and Crazy Eyes Guy

I'm at a doctor's office, waiting on my sister to have blood drawn for some regular test or something. The waiting room is filled with hacking, coughing, plague-infested people so I think waiting outside on a bench is a better idea.

There's not much to draw out in the industrial parking lot but cars. Ugh. I hate drawing cars. I always make the wheels look like cartoony clown cars. I guess I need the practice. Luckily, this Triumph was parked right in front of the bench. At least I don't have to draw a run-of-the-mill SUV.

So, I'm about halfway through the sketch when I see him...a homeless guy, wandering around as if in a daze, talking to himself or nobody in particular. He weaves unsteadily. Drunk? Stoned? I don't know but he makes me uneasy.

I keep an eye on him. I check on him, look at the car, look down, draw. Check on him, look at the car, look down, draw. I'm calculating the speed of his progress across the parking lot against the speed at which I'm drawing. Can I get this finished before he reaches me?

He gets to a large trash can at the end of the building and starts mining for gold. That keeps him busy for a while. I check him, the car, draw. Him, car, draw. I try not to be too obvious with this staring and am thankful I have on dark glasses. I start the final shading. Oh crap! He's headed right for me!

He ambles past as if I didn't exist for which I am eternally thankful. He stops at the ashtray on the far side of the bench, carefully considering the contents. He selects two or three of the most promising looking butts and pockets them. I expect him to continue further on along the front of the building. Apparently this medical complex is part of his daily rounds.

But suddenly he turns and looks right at me, startled by my presence, as if I had just that moment appeared out of thin air. I look up at him. He has Crazy Eyes. Whoops! I'm through drawing now! I toss the sketchbook back in my purse but hang on to the pen. I'm wondering if a Pigma Micron 005 will make an effective weapon against a crazy man.

He asks to bum a cigarette. "Sorry" I say, and stand up, almost sprinting back into the building. He looked like he was about to start up a conversation. The last thing I want to do is get involved in a conversation with a crazy man in a deserted parking lot. I'll suffer heat, bugs, sun, and uncomfortable perches for a sketch, but I draw the line at crazy people.

Back I go to the plague-infested horde in the waiting room.

I might be able to recover from the plague.

Elm Street Bakery

It's after lunch at Elm Street Bakery and Miz Dee and I are in a quandary again about where to sketch. We discuss several possibilities and none seem appealing.

I go outside to look around to see what I can see. Well! The very restaurant we're in is quite lovely from the other side of the street. We won't have to move the car or nuthin'!

Off we trot to take up a position on a planter with nice shade from a crepe myrtle. We don our Crazy Sketcher Lady hats out there in front of God-n-Everbody. We are some serious sketchers doin' some serious sketchin'.

We attract the attention of a photographer from the local newspaper. Oy. It must have been a slow news day. He jumps out of his car, takes a few shots, asks our names. He goes away for a bit and comes back later on and takes a few more. It's a *very* slow news day.

So, Miz Dee and I make the local paper, somewhere in the back pages, right between continuation headlines declaring Murder! and Bedbugs! I thought that was appropriate since we look kinda like bedbug infested mass murderers in the shot.

I got in a heap o' trouble when Hubby saw the picture in the paper. My Crazy Sketcher Lady hat is actually *his* boonie hat. He ordered it special to wear playing golf. It had gone missing since early spring. It was only missing to him, I knew right where it was: in my sketch kit bag.

He made me give it back. (pout)

Main Street Pizza

Downtown, late afternoon, Miz Dee and I are looking for a good sketching location. We prowl around in front of the buildings and back in the alleys, but nothing is catching our eye.

We plop on a bench rather exasperated. Told Dee I was just going to draw what I could see from here. That would be Main Street Pizza.

I was going to leave out the light poles and just draw the building, but the light poles and wires called to my little sketcher's heart. I luvs me some light poles.

Decided to make the poles transparent ala Gabi Campanario, the Seattle Sketcher. I've always thought his transparent people and vehicles sketches were cool.

As we sat and sketched, people in passing cars would honk and wave yelling, "Dee!" I can't take her anywhere and be anonymous. Maybe she really is everybody's third cousin twice removed on the husband's side. I'll have to ask her about that.

On The Patio

Out on a sketching adventure with Miz Dee today. We were sitting outside the restaurant where we had just eaten lunch and Dee had to make a phone call.

I whipped out the Little Red Emergency Sketchbook while I was waiting and started to draw two ladies lunching on the patio. They, of course, got up and left right in the middle of my sketch. Isn't that always the case when sketching people in the wild???

Harumph! Some people are just so rude! Don't they know they should sit still whilst I'm covertly drawing them without their permission????

Green Wheel Statues

Sep. 14, 2010 - Continuing the story....

The truck blocking the view of the statue finally left and I set to drawing.

Indian music was blaring from a nearby Italian restaurant's outdoor patio. (Yes, I thought that was odd too.) The high nasal whine was like nails on a chalkboard. Then the restaurant behind us started blaring hip-hop music.

The combined noise was deafening and made me nervous and twitchy. It was very hard to sit still and concentrate.

Dee and I were sitting about three feet apart and couldn't carry on a normal conversation. In fact, we couldn't hear ourselves think.

I yelled at Dee, "Are you a drinkin' woman Dee?"

"No!" she yelled back.

I bellowed, "I'm not either! But if I listen to this much longer I'm gonna need a stiff bourbon and Coke!!!"

Oh, the trials and tribulations of the Urban Sketcher life. Thankfully, the bartender came out to chat, realized the music was too loud and turned it down. Thank you dude, you don't know how much we appreciated that gesture of kindness.

These were the oddest statues. They are two guys dressed in work clothes, both kinda hunched over. They aren't holding anything, aren't looking at anything. They're just two random guys in bronze. Very odd.

I wonder who thought they were worth statutizing???

Process notes:
I goofed up the perspective on the wheel rim. Oh well. There was no eraser on my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.

I couldn't figure out what to do with the background. The actual background was buildings and cars and bushes. That would have been too busy to draw. It would have taken away from the statues. Finally just painted sky down to the ground like a second-grader would have done. I need to work on that.

Light Pole

Sept 14, 2010 - Dee and I were driving around downtown scouting sketching locations. We spied a statue thingy we wanted to draw, so we made the block and parked. By the time we got to our spot, a big ol' work truck had parked right in front of the statue. Dang!

Had to find something else to drawn until the truck left. Our shady spot was fairly small so the options were limited. Turned around and saw this light pole in a small slit of sky between a tree and the side of the building. I liked the tangles of wires and electric lines.

I especially found favor with this light pole because it had such a dichotomy of styles - the uber-modern halogen fixture and the gracefully curvy old-timey streetlamp with the hangy down bulb. It was a succinct history of Our Town all mounted on a pole. What more could an Urban Sketcher ask for in a sketch target?

This is the sketch that needed color fixing that I'm just now getting around to fixing. I had originally painted the wall a solid pale yellow color. That was indeed the actual color of the building in the afternoon sun. However, it didn't look right. Decided darker was better so I made it into a brick wall. Artistic license. :)

Pizza Hut House

Went to play at Miz Dee's house today. I arrived while she was out getting lunch so I sat in her driveway and sketched. Waiting is always an appropriate time to sketch.

I whipped out the little red emergency sketchbook (kept in my purse just for emergent sketching situations) and drew the odd little detached garage across the street. The house has this same roof line. Dee later told me the neighborhood refers to this house as "The Pizza Hut House."

We played in Dee's guest room closet today, cleaning things out in anticipation of swapping her office and guest bedroom. Dee was ripping and snorting, tossing and tossing and tossing. She was ready to be shed of stuff.

She tossed some vintage linens into the yard sale pile, and I, in a rare fit of retentiveness, told her she should probably keep those. Gasp!

Holy Cow! I don't know what came over me. I don't remember ever recommending somebody keep something when they were bound and determined to get rid of it. I must have been getting tired.

I could not, however, convince her to part with the seashell collection or the pile of old curtain rods. Sigh. Ya win some, ya lose some.

Final tally: Almost barren closet, one big bag of trash, HUGE pile to go to a friend's yard sale. Yay!

I started chuckling at one point and Dee asked why. I told her usually you can't beg, borrow or guilt a friend to come over and help clean out closets. I actually *volunteered* to help her do hers and enjoyed every moment immensely.

I ain't right.

Church Window

Last week I was laid low with some kind of fever-inducing microbial critter attack. Was a permanent horizontal fixture on the couch with only enough energy to punch the channel button on the TV remote. Discovered there isn't doodleysquat worth watching on cable TV. Thank goodness for PBS.

Started perking up Sunday night (finally!) and made a sketching date for today with Miz Dee.

The weather was beautiful. A nice breeze was blowing with a heat index less than 100°+. Yay! We found a deep shady spot in a meditation garden beside this fieldstone church. Lots of benches for staring at green stuff. Perhaps green stuff is helpful for meditation, I don't know. I stare at lots of green stuff most days but it doesn't seem to be meditation-inducing, at least not for me.

Anywho, after this sketch I realized I didn't want to draw any more fieldstone. Phew! That's a time eater right there, lemme tell ya what. The green stuff likewise was not attracting my attention, plus I needed to pee (TMI?) and Dee was uncomfortably hot even in the shade with a breeze.

We opted to move locations to downtown where, miraculously, it was much cooler. That doesn't seem logical since it's all asphalt and concrete, but there it was.

Sketched downtown for the next two hours. I need to do some adjusting to those sketches. Went in the weeds with color on both of them - "boffem". Will try to fix and get posted tomorrow.

After we packed it in for the day and were driving home I realized I never did get around to peeing.

Sigh.

High Rise Urban Sketching

Today Miz Dee and I got to sketch from Our Town's only skyscraper. We were at the nosebleed-inducing altitude of the third floor.

This is a view looking west:
From left to right: the hospital, a lime green apartment building, and the funeral parlor. The street doesn't really go under the hospital's portico, I gorfed the perspective on that. Oh well, I still have happiness for this sketch.

This is Our Town's City Hall:
It's a cool looking art deco building built in 1927. I've always wanted to sneak up and see what's in the tower section.

Cemetery Sketchcrawl

The weather was gorgeous today...75°, overcast, with a nice breeze. It was perfect for sketching outdoors. Met Miz Dee at the old Presbyterian cemetery. It has an awesome collection of wrought iron fences and gates around gravesites.

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RUSTY GATE
Started this first sketch and 20 minutes into it the sky began to spitter rain. Couldn't draw because my waterproof pen wasn't so waterproof as to draw through big raindrops on the page. Dee and I retreated to the shelter of an ancient magnolia tree.

I was happy to abandon this sketch at the time. I had chosen too large a pen to draw such intricate details. Plus the scale was too large so the top got crammed into the sketchbook's gutter, it wasn't symmetrical, and I left out some important bits. It was quickly going into the weeds and I was highly frustrated. Thank you rain for the timely intervention.

I'll talk more about its resurrection in tomorrow's post, "Can This Sketch Be Saved?"

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UNDER THE OAK TREE
Since I had chosen too large a pen for the first sketch, I decided to go with a small pen on the next sketch, back away from the subject so I wouldn't get caught up in the details and do a really sketchy sketch. All that stuff worked out fine. Then I got out the paintbrush. Right into the weeds again. Phooey.

Resurrected this one after I got home. It will be Part Two of "Can This Sketch Be Saved?"

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ESTELLE
This fence surrounded a single grave. The only thing on the stone was "Estelle." No last name, no dates. Since Estelle (the boat) is now a member of our family, I had to draw.

Decided my only hope of creating a decent sketch was to break out The Magic That Is The Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. Actually, I should just throw out all my other pens and use the brush pen exclusively.

When I finished drawing this I realized the pattern of the fence panels didn't line up. Looked at the real thing across the way and that's how it appeared. Got up to investigate. The near panel was off its posts and sitting on the ground. Ohhh...

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UNDER THE VIADUCT
Grew tired of drawing intricate gates so I turned around and drew the viaduct.
Actually I just wanted to draw all the electric lines, but that wouldn't have made sense in a sketch. Not the way I draw anyway.

There was a viaduct over the railroad tracks in my hometown. We always pronounced the word VIE-dock. I have to pause before I say viaduct to remind myself not to call it a viedock.

Showed this sketch to Hubby. He said I made the underneath part look too "park-like." Oh well.

McKinney House

Went out sketching with Miz Dee all day today. We met at the Henry Crawford McKinney House in El Dorado, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a magnificent old mansion built in 1925 just after the South Arkansas oil boom. It has expansive grounds with a carriage house, pool house, reflecting pool, pergola, vineyard and stables.

It sat vacant for decades and was taken over by vegetation. In the last few years it was given to a local historical society and they are slowing bringing it back from near ruin. The grounds are still rather decrepit but I think it makes them more interesting than if it was all newly manicured.

There are still traces of its former glory here and there even though the grass has taken over the tennis courts, the fountain is growing weeds, and the swimming pool has been filled in. There are several huge outdoor tables made from a single slab of flagstone. There are enough flagstone pavers on the property to pave a Wal-Mart parking lot.

The estate must have been magnificent in its heyday with roaring parties until dawn. I can imagine F. Scott Fitzgerald driving up in his yellow Rolls Royce.

So, enough about the history. Here are the sketches:

East wing,view from the reflecting pool
I was quietly sketching away when a big ol' bullfrog croaked right next to me in the reflecting pool. Scared the peedoodle outta me.


Old fountain with vineyard behind.
The only thing growing in the vineyard now is poison oak. That little figure thingy in the top of the fountain is a pudgy little boy holding a goose. The goose's head is broken off.

Miz Dee Painting
The Ninja Sketcher strikes again. After I finished the fountain I turned to talk to Miz Dee who was, as she said, "spraddle-legged" on a bench. She thought I was sketching the pool house behind her. I was, kinda sorta, but that wild looking orange sketching hat was begging to be drawn. It had a personality all its own. I need me one of those.


This is the sketch she was working on. She had just started blocking in the first color washes in this photo.

And here is the final


Off to lunch for an hour to cool down, then one more sketch for the day.

The Pergola
I probably should have sketched this from a different angle to show the striking architecture and shadows, but in the humid Arkansas summertime you have to pick the view from under the big shade tree.

This was a wonderful, wonderful day!