Next to Last Stop...Michigan

It is now coming to mid-August, so I will be sending out one more message after this, which will be of my return to Ohio.

I witnessed this great cloud subject, shortly upon entering Michigan. As most of you know, I am not a 'cloud' painter, however, I have painted more skies on this journey than I can ever remember. This cloud was going to be the 'grand' cloud of the trip!... and it was a delight to see it develop!... some. Wet-into-wet made it happen, to my satisfaction.

I had to shift things around some, to make this composition work, but that is where your 'artist's license' comes into play!

Passing through Holland, Michigan, I spotted this windmill at a Dutch settlement and I felt that it had to be included in my journal number eleven.

ne gentleman in my Manistee workshop is a barn painter (one of his journals was nothing but sketches of barns, so I decided to find a barn for our last class project. The evening prior to the last day, I scoured the local countryside and found this one just on the outskirts of town. Well, he only painted the barn structure, ignoring the adjoining structure, but it was a nice sketch. I went further, as I believe that the setting is vital...

 made a double spread, including the 'back forty' and added a sugar camp for good measure... 'artist's license' again coming onto play...

t's been awhile, since I sketched those fabulous rock formations of the Southwest, so I again pulled out my 'artist's license' and a reference photo for this reminder... I surely do like rock structures... in fact, cannot remember one I didn't like!  One more final entry will be coming in another week - it  HAS been a great journey - far beyond any of my thoughts!!

Next stop, an old farm tractor in Wisconsin ... again, I like old tin. ...

I really liked this old restored building, but not the dull gray colors , so I performed some  alterations  with a tin roof...hope the owners see this...

Onward East... Aboard the car ferry out of  Waunakee, Wisconsin to Ludington, MI.   Next blog: two stops in Michigan and arrival back home in northeast Ohio!... over v18,000 miles to date.

On the backroads to Ohio, I stopped at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners -yes, that's the nearest cross roads with a U.S. Post Office - and managed this brief sketch of a Classic Duesenberg. Get to Gilmore, as they have done great things, five new buildings and more under construction!

Near Saugatuck , but a very likeness to camps in the Adirondacks which I simply had to draw... a good portion of the buildings were hidden by foliage... again, I used my 'artist's license'!

A very busy vacation town, I took the class to this quiet cove for the morning  project. As much as I would like to believe,  a typical day was one sketch in the morning; possibly two after lunch , as we often sketched until 5pm. ... Too much comraderie.....

Hearing about an old steam tractor meet in northern Michigan, I hit the road, after the second session in Manistee was finished, to sketch some of the action - which was plentiful ! ... 16 steam tractors and over 200 farm tractors of all vintage.  At  7am there were 16 steam whistles sounding off, one after another! Time to get to work... Great stuff! 

The old train depot. made a good subject.

Back in Manistee  - second workshop there - I liked this old building in the town center, but I wanted to concentrate on just a part of it... note that I did not  include a border which I felt was not needed.

I somehow managed the time to pull off the pavement and do this sky study - which might well be the first ever for me... It was just too great to pass up. Yes, it was almost dark by the time I laid in the color washes.

I drove up to northern Michigan, to sketch the old Mission Lighthouse, getting there late in the afternoon, so I had to work fast, before I lost the sun... Didn't change a thing... Even the three barrels -imagine they represented whale oil storage (or booze?)...