My Sketchbook
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During the busier times of my life when I have to balance teaching and family, it´s very hard to continue painting.  Thus, my sketchbook has come to be a finished product in itself.  I use my sketchbook as a journal recording dreams, ideas for future paintings, project ideas for my students, and thumb-nails of people, places, and nature on trips. 

Crosshatch Study of Gran Gran I crosshatched this sketch of my grandmother, Marie Reddick Hardison, as she was watching television a couple of years ago.  She passed away this past fall.  I miss her greatly and treasure this sketch since it was the only time I´ve ever just looked at her for over an hour.   Study of a Tree Stump I sketched this tree stump at Smith Mountain Lake on a family reunion outside of our tent.  On our trip, I photographed and even painted "plein air´ the beautiful scenes around the lake with the lush mountains in the background but this one gesture sketch of a gnarly old uprooted tree is my favorite from the trip.  Sometimes, it is more interesting to depict something normally seen as ugly or ordinary than a beautiful view everyone already appreciates. Contour Studies of Hand Both this sketch and the Tree Stump were exercises from one of my favorite books "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards.  The sketch includes three hand blind contour drawings.  I drew each hand slowly with one continuous line without looking at the paper.  The idea to is look at what you´re drawing so closely that you develop hand/eye coordination. Coming soon: I plan to publish the process of doing one of my paintings from preliminary sketches to the finished painting.

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Visit the sketchbook assignment page for my students.