They are talking about Urban Sketching

This week I came across an artist’s work that I wasn’t familiar with. Her name is Pat Southern-Pearce and she is from the United Kingdom. I love her work. Prolific as can be with really beautiful drawings and all of them decorated with her fantastic calligraphy as well. She works with the Urban Sketcher organization and does workshops on Sketching around the globe. Pat Southern-Pearce has her stuff here on Pinterest.

Urban Sketchers are a group of artists around the world that work from life instead of from photographic reference. You work with chapters that are available across the country to record using visual storytelling, what you actually see at your location. If something is beaten up – you draw it as it appears. If you were working Plein Air you might edit and leave out powerlines, etc. With Urban Sketching, you record it as you see without alteration. Each artist’s viewpoint and hand are different so you will still get some very different images. 

I’m an illustrator, not an Urban Sketcher yet, but with their philosophy, I drew the image with the palm trees out my back apartment window. Rooves looking down Dodge – just past the intersection with East Second Street. It was a grey day following rain this morning. I took my sketchbook and refueled the rapidograph and started drawing. It’s a bit stiff but as I do this sort of drawing more and more often I’d hope that my personal drawing shorthand and tools will improve. 

Inspired by what I saw, I look forward to hopefully locating some other artists to go draw with. Out of the elements… The intense Summer heat. We’ll see.

Listened to an older song. Identity? You decide

Haven’t listened to any Crash Test Dummies music for more than a year. Listened to it last night and I’m still struck by how much the lead singer, Brad Roberts, sounds like Mister Ed. Coincidence? Conspiracy? You decide. Worth comparing the two for sure. The actor Alan Young, who played Wilbur Post, sadly succumbed to old age just this year. Rest in peace Wilbur.

Seems to me that Ed however is still doing Vegas and clubs in the West. Lots of opportunities present themselves to the enterprising Palomino. No doubt who you’re hearing is there? “Oh Wilbur…”

A Complication of Digital Art… visibility

When you work digitally you have a piece that naps on your hard drive or storage device until called for. People don’t get to discover the actual piece of artwork that you can hold in your hands. The piece here is a drawing that I did in 2016 but has never been output. A friend is going to try to get it reproduced for me. I’d love to have it kicking around. Somebody might even see it and buy one. How about that? Someone might figure out that I can draw you anything that you might want. Commission work is awesome. Always ready to hear from you. I’m as far away as your phone or your computer and looking for work.

Last week a nice fellow from Norway contacted me to obtain rights to use a drawing that he had seen on FineArtAmerica. We came to an agreement and it will be used for commercial purposes overseas. When the usage is in fact underway I’ll let those of you following my blog know where they can see it or even buy it.

I’m pretty enthused about seeing the Tractor reproduced large. The original was about 60 inches wide at my working resolution of 300 dpi. I’m looking for an Illustrator’s Representative in New York City. If you’d like to sell my work to magazines, newspapers and the like… Get in touch with me at the BucksArtist Gmail address. And just a reminder that my drawings are available at Fine Art America by clicking here. Nothing will happen except you’ll be able to see how my art might look on your wall. A good friend of mine, Bill Oakes – also in Tucson, has requested that I head SouthWest in my drawing topics and I do plan to do just that. Spanish Missions, rattlesnakes, horses, native american imagery, Chiricahuas… More Geronimo, more Cochise. Pima Indians. While I have no plans to switch to 100% one way or another… I’m going to do a lot more reflective art originals. Framing costs a bundle though. It will all even out. Strathmore 100% cotton plate finish Illustration board and a rapidograph are my favorite things. Scritch, scritch, scritch…

 

I’m moving this week?

Seems as though I’ll be moving here to a new location in Tucson this week. Sure looking forward to it. I appreciate efforts by Primavera Org, and Alissa Zetlmaier at El Rio Health – Cherrybell to get me housing. I wish that everyone was as effective in doing their job. Saw my friend Christeen out and about and enjoyed telling her about my good news. All that I need is a place to work on my art and I’ll be quite productive again.

Last night I was written up for having a water bottle in the dorm where I’m staying.  I apologized but I broke rules and I could go to another orientation as I did last Thursday evening and have the “write-up” removed. This fellow here does not do “remedial water bottle”. Will have to go on being an H₂O Outlaw. I have been told to carry a water bottle with me all the times as my kidneys produce lots of calcium oxalate stones in the dry desert. Surgical intervention on those stones was in January. I would direct those who issue the write-ups to kindly notice the mistletoe attached to my coattails.

I’ll keep working on my Marcel Marceau Impression and stay out of trouble. shhh.

High winds… keep drawing anyway

Had a couple hours to kill this morning so I got my stuff and went out to draw. Incredible wind gusts here. Some of the wind was up around 30+ mph and I could feel the lift that my sketchbook had. Anything that weighed less than 10 pounds was moving about. Debris was getting in my eyes. Bits were coming off the tree above me. I’d sat down in the park across from the old courthouse and started making marks. People came around while I was working and I got over being watched. I’m a bit shy and haven’t worked in the open for a couple of years. I’ve worked on the spot with landscape and the like but not where I’d be open to observation. Dealt with it fine I think. Just a little stage fright. No problem.

On the other hand – got pooped on twice by sparrows overhead in the Mesquite tree. None of it landed on my paper. Birds are nasty critics or so it seems. So I felt a warmth of doing what I do best out where it could be seen. Will continue on with that drawing and go to other spots here in Tucson to draw what I like. Major concern at this point is having my complexion in this intense sunlight. I can wear a hat but it always is a worry in this latitude. The burn. I see lots of sun damage. Today a hat would have gone flying for sure.

Trip to the Art Supply store…

Needed to go get a couple art things this morning. Did a search on all the Art Supply stores in Tucson, AZ on Easter and finally got around to going this morning. Went to Arizona Art Supply up on North Oracle between Wetmore & Limberlost. Blond lady with pink hair helped me. Very pleasant. Grabbed a three pen set of Black Sakura – Micron Drawing Pens. Sizes – 01 (.25MM), 03 (.35MM), .05 (45MM). For fair balance I also bought a Uchida – LePen Drawing – Black 0.03 Technical Drawing Pen. I’ve made many miles of lines with earlier versions of LePen in the advertising agencies back East. Bought a Canson Sketchbook 9 x 12 inches for drawing on a smooth surface. Sixty sheets in that book. Looking forward to sliding that pen around and losing myself in my work here in Tucson.

Going through cycles with the drawings. Started by doing Scrimshaw on Whale’s Teeth. Went to a Crow Quill dip pen. Adopted technical pens of all sorts before, during and after Art School at Parsons. Always drew on Strathmore Illustration that was all rag with a nice plate finish. I the past few years I’ve enjoyed drawing on a Wacom graphics tablet – using a program called Painter. It feels totally right compared to working with a Faber Castell Technical Pen. I even rolled the barrel every so often to clean the tip of the pen. I drew with a Fountain Pen for a while and liked it. I didn’t commit to it though as the manufacturer/distributor in NJ wouldn’t answer my emails about the ink properties and how to obtain more. Stainless Steel Fountain Pens with two refills under $5. Model V301.

Now I’m going back to a Micron pen on real paper and seeing how I like it. Looks good to me. Things that I’m looking for – a dense black, no smearing, no offsetting onto my hand. Not so thin an ink that runs into paper fibers too quickly. Still waiting to move into an apartment… and once I do I plan on going back into genuine technical pens with FW ink. An awesome combination.

tomorrow

I think I’ll be moving this weekend to a spot in South Tucson. I’ve heard of it before and prior to voicing an opinion I’ll have to give it some time to see how it really is there. It is along Old Benson Highway.  I’ve been well taken care of since last September and have mentioned some of my “sheltered existence” in earlier writings. It was fortunate I was there when I took some big hits healthwise. Could have been pretty serious (for me at least) if I just went to sleep. I had friends around me that looked out for me – like Bill and Charlie. I owe them a debt. My Caseworker, Stephanie Robles, did a fine job in getting my SPDAT info where it needed to be and that was the key to this Rapid Re-Housing opportunity with Primavera.org.  God bless them all.

About to reboot my Artistic self that has been hard aground since last September. When you are sitting proud on top of the world – working nearly 24 hours a day, living for the weekend, paying dues for being married and raising a couple of children, you never imagine that they’ll all attack you and drain the blood from your veins someday. You’d expect someone to have your back – not be planning the most damaging shot into it. My family is like a Cicada shell jettisoned onto heavily traveled cement years back. Ground daily into fine dust that even a forensic detective would have a hard time finding with a microscope. (Like my love for them). Those people? They have to see themselves in the mirror every single day. Perpetuate a lie from Mommy that they apparently believe. Inbreeding on the Ex-Wife’s side. Check that DNA. (Theme from Deliverance) Hey, please… Prove me wrong. Not my problem. Not at all. I miss my late brother and my parents but it stops there. Even my friend in New Jersey has gone silent. Lots of dead people there in the East. I miss the paintings in the Brandywine River Museum. Wish I had one of those paintings. I will. I really will. Starting fresh in the Sonoran Desert. Ready to enjoy most minutes of most days without guilt or remorse. Done the best a man can. Hand me my pen. Thank you.

Wearable William Beauchamp Art

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Thank You so very much! Patronage…Yay…

An Angel bought one of my drawings of the Sunflower from FineArtAmerica/Pixels.com on Sunday. I appreciate the purchase and hope that you like it a lot. Brightened my week for sure. Thanks. Going to see a whole lot more as soon as I get my new place. I promise you. The compulsion is certainly there. Pens, paper, pencils, and a drawing board. Can’t wait. Looking for an apartment in Tucson. Desperately. A view maybe. Not too particular – just clean and in working order.

Second Chance Rentals disappeared? Apartment hunting in Tucson, Arizona

I was looking forward to seeing some listings with eviction “forgiveness” in Tucson. I was taken to the hospital last weekend with a major diverticular bleed. Was on standby for transfusion, endoscopy with cautery. Thank goodness I stopped bleeding. A doctor thought I lost about four pints of blood. My level of exhaustion is indescribable. My heart is racing and I nearly pass out when rising from a chair. Orthostatic hypotension due to volume loss. Last Friday morning I was hitting a BP of 75/60 and holding onto the walls… My knees were buckling. I didn’t like that at all. Tucson Fire/Rescue brought me to the Banner UMC hospital on Campbell. They are very good and professional. Whether the construction crew in the parking lot lets the ambulances in or not… Lots of IV fluids over the weekend brought up the blood pressure but it is up and down

When I checked my email, second chance said that they weren’t doing business in the area any longer. Strange. I wasn’t in good standing when I left my last Apartment due to my heart attack and blood clots.

Still in search of that Apartment to get settled into and start my drawings again. I desperately want to draw every single day. Please send me an email or text message if you know of a clean one bedroom place that is available for immediate occupancy here in Tucson. Thanks very much. Either write BucksArtist@gmail.com or text me at 5203385609. Appreciatively, Bill

 

On the Move in Tucson – An Artist hunting for a new Apartment. Maybe with a view. Want a quiet neighbor?

Good Afternoon everyone. Moving in an upward direction. Kidney surgery is behind me and I’m feeling so much better now. Need to locate an Apartment in the next week or so and get in before the extreme heat gets here. Probably a one BR to separate sleeping from the work area. I’d look at a 3 BR or Studio to see it though. Maybe with free WIFI? 24/7 Blues music and Art. Ready to go find a drawing board and chair for traditional work and maybe upgrade my digital as well. Ready for comfort and quiet as I bring out the best in me. Bumpy fall & winter but I’ve made it through this far and I’m in search of an Agent from Manhattan to represent me and my drawings.

Need a comfy leather chair or two and hassock with a love seat and sofa. A place with some nice light and the ability to look outside without some creep looking back in at me. Know a place like that in Tucson? Write me or call me. (bucksartist@gmail.com) or leave me a message on my cell. 520 338-5609. Coffeemaker and a coffee table.

I am getting back to normal after last July’s health crisis. The Bill that you know and like has returned after Heart Attack, Clots, Kidney Stones and a general reformatting. I feel quite good. Much stronger. Been reading lots of James Patterson books and have gotten my stuff together. Nicer out by the day with good things to look forward to. Yes.

 

Change in the phase. Change of scene. Reason to be happy. Planets align and who knows what?

Spent last weekend out where I could see the horizons in the Desert. It was nice for sure. Played with dogs and they played with me too. Sipped a little bourbon and listened to Coyotes. No way to describe it but a bit of magic. Good for the soul. More down and dirty video in Premiere. Shooting stills in RAW format and drawing …of course! Of course. Got to draw.

 

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Added more images last weekend while looking at the night sky in Marana, AZ

Shot these time exposures in Marana last weekend. Using noise reduction mode that looks for static and corrects it, I shot with an exposure of 60 seconds at F 2.0 and then the noise reduction process cleaned it up. It is interesting that the earth rotation for only a minute shows trails from each of the stars and planets. We’re spinning at 22,500 mph. Listening to distant coyotes and dogs and that rotation speed doesn’t produce a clear thought wave. I’ll go bulb setting on the shots next time and go at least 160 seconds. I can go to a smaller aperture and get more critical focus. Back in New Jersey I shot at night and saw squirrels out for a bite in the dark sitting on tree limbs with little or no motion. Digital versus film – apparently my camera also sees infrared and I used to get red flowers on the Cherry tree in color despite only a bit of light pollution and starlight as the lighting source. All good fun in the experimentation. Enjoyable. But… what if I do this? Or that? – yep.

 

Beats the hell out of wondering if the Winter Flounder metabolism had warmed up enough for them to bite on the outgoing slack tide tomorrow…

Purple ©2018 WBeauchamp

Sun Grid ©2018 WBeauchamp

Took some shots waiting for the sun to go down last night. I enjoy the product and will shoot some new ones today. Dust is off the capture device now so I will escalate the activity in my available time. Got a haircut yesterday and I feel more like myself today.

Image making is heating up… Went through the first week of my new work schedule at C3. Very tired. Concentrated on getting reference together and doing some Portraiture this weekend. Digital tune up.

Today I got up and cleared some old images from my memory cards and charged the rechargeable batteries for my camera. It was supposed to be overcast with showers this morning but it really couldn’t seem to make up its mind. While I couldn’t see the sun it was apparently there anyway. We had a wide rainbow under cloud cover. The sun broke through occasionally and I talked my friend Will Henderson into letting me shoot some simple portraits of him. I shot Olympus RAW format ORFs and some are below this text. I didn’t want anything too fancy – just reference images. They turned out alright.

Beauchamp Sunflower Drawing – Prints

 

Renewal. Happens every year. Rhythm.

 

Seasonal shift is happening here in Southern Arizona and I’m seeing more atmospheric effect lately. There was a fresh snow on the Catalina Mountains and Mount Lemmon last week and it is gone. Just passing through. Could be thunderstorms just about any day. Or… we could see snow showers again. Volatile, unstable, air mass.

Meanwhile – some of the Mesquite trees are blooming and the recent rains have the desert greening up and leaves coming out. Mockingbirds are joining the Hummingbirds that have been a little agitated for maybe a month. Temperatures could be up – cooking out there again… a reminder that we are in the Sonoran Desert.  I even used my Weber grill Sunday night and cooked up some hamburgers.

I think that our skies need to remind the F-22 fighters that they are only borrowing a little real estate… We do indeed know who is really in charge. It is awesome.

Further East the whole area is waking up and soon the tornadoes will be numerous in the clash between seasons. Along the East Coast, Winter Storm Warnings have been posted for a second round of strong weather following last week’s Nor’Easter.

Drawing at a reduced rate… but drawing…

Been going to training from lunchtime to 11:00 PM and I’m running tired. But I still draw. Trying to draw daily.  Got off track when I was working and I need to just keep it up. There is really nothing that I’d rather do. But I have to pay the rent first. Yep. Have a number of pieces started. Thinking about the better options in WordPress. I really like WordPress.

Started an Account on DeviantArt. MilesOfLines.deviantart.com. Concerned about people taking my artwork though.

Working on a couple of fish this weekend…

©2017 William C Beauchamp

more to come…

 

Drones – It’s all about point of view

 

This is way beyond cool. Awesome doesn’t even begin to describe it. Technology at its finest. It thinks and flies. Check this video out.