It’s an interesting question of how I began drawing in this plein air line drawing style. It all began in design school in 1976, with the idea of always keeping a sketchbook at hand. Lawrence Halprin, a great California Landscape Architect, inspired me while I was in design school, to always keep a sketchbook, record your ideas and thoughts, and draw what inspires you. I took that to heart, and after years of design and art school, I found my career as a Landscape Architect, rock climber, and being a Dad to a family who enjoyed adventure and travel, was providing me with the opportunity to enjoy drawing in some amazing places around the world.
Winston Churchill once said that “painting is a companion with whom one may hope to walk a great part of life’s journey”. I find my sketch book has been a wonderful traveling companion, one who I have shared many an adventure with, and fortunately had the opportunity to capture many an adventure and interesting place within.
Line drawing captures the essence, in just a few lines. It allows the imagination to fill in the detail, and draw ones own self into the drawing. I simply love drawing in this style, and have refined it over many years. My drawings are created plein air style, meaning, that wherever I am, and the inspiration strikes, I create that drawing right there in that moment. They are not created from photographs, but right there in the wind and the sun, people walking by, cows mooing, rain on the horizon, its all part of that moment. From the original drawing in my sketch book, I then create a hand drawn copy in my Studio, which is then signed and sold or exhibited. My ink line drawings have been in juried competitions, exhibited in gallery shows, and are in private collections within the United States, Mexico, and Asia.