On Christmas Day in the Morning

SNOW!!!

It started snowing yesterday afternoon!  This morning there is a good 3 inches of the stuff.  It's been ten years since we had a white Christmas.  Pippin was confused, but then he boldly went out in it. 

It's supposed to melt soon and turn to rain. 

Okay, back to the usual stuff:  art and dogs.  First, here are the sketches and paintings I did this week:

An ink brush experiment, from a photo I took in Discovery Park.

Another experiment using different tones of gray brushes--this is a Japanese garden in Ellensburg.

More practice from photos -- Coldwater Spring in Minneapolis.

On Friday, Tina and Truman and Pippin and I joined the Seattle Urban Sketchers at Swanson's Nursery, where I painted this display.  A customer admired the red display case so much that I feared she would buy it before I could finish.  But I got it done in time (she did buy it afterwards....whew!)

A view of a construction site at a church, drawn from inside the comfort of the car.

On Sunday Tina and Truman and Pippin and I went to Washelli Cemetery again to look for good trees to sketch, again from inside the nice, warm car.  (30 degrees outside!)

Finally, another piece done from a photo -- I decided to try just watercolor for a landscape that had some challenging features.  This is a park in Ketchikan.

And now on to what you really want to see -- more puppy pics!

Truman started playing with Pippin this week!

They are getting along really well now.

We made a visit to the UW campus to visit a friend.  Here we are taking a potty break by the Montlake canal.

And here is Pip resting afterwards as we visited my friend at her office.

We had Winston and Chloe all day Thursday. 

Here is the Swanson's Nursery outing -- I found the perfect seat for them and for me.

This is on a car sketch outing -- they both sat quietly at my feet while I drew.

Another potty break at the cemetery:

Back home.....

 As I look outside at 7:45am it is still snowing....I hope to get out when it's light enough to get some more photos.   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Plenty of Pippin

As you can imagine, the first week of the new puppy was BUSY.  I got out to sketch just one time.  And one day I just drew the view out my front window, when a crow obligingly posed on top of a garden statue:

Nicole and I went out once to the cemetery to draw winter trees from inside the comfort of the car.

Truman and Pippin came along, and sat quietly in the back seat for an hour while we drew.

In between rain showers, we've gotten out to the local parks:

At Meadowbrook Pond Park there were some Hooded Mergansers, one of my favorites.

Pippin doesn't care much for the stroller, and he walks well on a leash.

But the stroller is handy in congested areas, so he'll have to get used to it.  Here we are on the UW campus:

Where we visited with folks, including these office workers who could not get enough of the puppy:

Here we are taking a rest break--I love their expressive faces.  Truman:  Why must I put up with this little scamp?   Pip:  I love being a scamp!

Also this week, Pip got to meet Winston and Chloe, who were both very well-behaved towards him.

Pippin was very curious about the hole Winston and Truman were digging.

Here he is inviting Chloe to join him on the sofa.  Chloe is not too sure about that.

But she did eventually get up there.

We also visited Lyons Creek Watershed park in Lake Forest Park:

And we stopped in at Mud Bay pet supply afterwards.

On Saturday, we were all invited to a Christmas party at Winston and Chloe's home.  Five hours, ten people, four dogs, fun and food and games...it was pretty crazy.  Pip did really well -- he played a bit (and tried to eat the wrapping paper), he got fondled by everyone there, and he slept a lot.  And he went potty outside!

This coming week he gets to visit my vet for the first time.  He had his first vaccinations at the breeder's vet, and is due for his second ones.  Then on Friday we'll be going on another sketch outing where I'll get to find out how well he does in the stroller instead of the car (we'll be at Swanson's Nursery with the Seattle Urban Sketch group).  I'd better bring plenty of treats!

PUPPY!!!

After thinking about it for a good two years, I finally broke down and got Truman a new friend.

The breeder called him Thumper, but after half a day or so, we decided his real name is Pippin.

However, before I post a lot of puppy pics, I did actually get some drawing in this past week -- something that may not happen again for a while.  Puppies take up a lot of time and energy and don't like to be left alone!

Anyway, Nicole and I got out to Richmond Beach and to a cemetery for some cozy sketching from inside the car.

I tried the view of the Olympics across the Sound with both ink drawing first and without.

Nicole found this tree at the cemetery attractive.  We were surprised at how many leaves are still on some of the trees.

On another of the other COLD days here, I practiced a still life drawing using a small selection from my vast dachshund curio collection.

And on two other COLD days, I sat on the sofa and drew everything I could see from it, and then I sat in the armchair and drew everything I could see from there.  Because I draw directly in ink, things turned out a bit wonky here and there, and not everything is in proper proportion, but I rather like that effect.

Okay, now here is what you really want to see--puppy!

Truman is not too sure yet about this little interloper who has invaded his territory.

Pippin adores Truman, however, and follows him everywhere.

Tru is curious, though cautious.  He's not too keen yet on the pup's rambunctious nature and his sharp little puppy teeth.

We went on our first outing in the car, a ten-minute ride to the pet supply store, during which Pip whimpered the entire way.  Oh joy.

Back home, the cautious curiosity continues.

Along with resignation....

Pippin has some favorite toys, including this tug toy:

But his absolute favorite is the chipmunk, which he brutally attacks and conquers:

Someday these two will be best friends.