The green fire hydrant.

Pen&ink and watercolor on HP watercolor paper, 10 in x 7 in

The Fire Department in the neighborhood of San Marco in Jacksonville, Florida was one the sights I wanted to sketch. Today I did it from the comfort of my studio. This building is more beautiful than other fire departments I’ve seen in other places. It is located across the Balis Park. The location of elements is quite symmetrical, the building itself, the palmetto  trees framing the red door, and the  flag pole and the hydrant are located right in the middle. I liked how the two fire trucks are placed differently, one inside and other outside, and the tree in the right side of the sketch is darker in value than the wall in the left side, this adds interest to the sketch. However the man in dark blue balances the right side of the sketch. I didn’t  take the artistic liberty to change the color of the fire hydrant, I thought all fire hydrants were red, yellow and even orange, but this one was green blue-ish. That’s a nice change, so I let it be in my sketchbook.

Camping tent

 

Ink, pencil and watercolor on HP watercolor paper sketcbook 10 in x 7 in

It’s raining, and from the interior of our tent I’m posting this sketch done yesterday, before the rain. The first night I couldn’t sleep, all but unfamiliar noises, but last night I slept very well, the sound of the trees’ leaves was an excellent white noise to mask other sounds. This morning  the sound of the rain on our tent was so soothing. The smell of coffee made this morning quite enjoyable. It was however, the sight of a couple of deers, inked in white in the background of this sketch, the sight of a red head woodpecker, which we heard the soft sounds of it working day and night (how lucky!) and the visit of my sister in law were the highlights of our camping experience.