Spring Runoff

This was the day before the international kayak competition on the Wild Mile of the Swan River, Bigfork, MT.  I puzzled how to move the focus away from the white operations building down to the turbulent water and finally settled on subduing everything in the background....about what I'd do in a painting.  If I had darkened the trees next to the house it would have made it more of a bulls eye than it already is.

'V' just wrote me that she thinks there is a comedic component to my marker drawings.  Perhaps she meant 'cartoon' and I'd agree with her.  Marker drawing pulls you to simplify and express the essential caricature of a place, finding more (less and less?) of what is necessary to show the feeling and design.  It's what I'm always working on.  Robin Weiss is constantly aware of this also and it shows in his paintings and drawings.  Check out the drawing and painting of his called 'Flatbed Truck' for a great example.

This drawing will end up in the new edition of my book which I expect to be out in early July in time for my next workshop.   (Yes, I know.  It was due out the end of April...what can I say?)