Our visit to Pensacola, Florida, continued…
Since my husband, Fred, is a pilot, we had to keep our priorities straight and visit the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola Naval Air Station our first morning in town. Usually I get bored with airplanes after about fifteen minutes, but this musem was really great. They had a lot of interesting displays and some really amazing restored airplanes.
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| Watercolor, pen & ink, 6″ x 9″ |
I sat in the grass outside, in the 70 degree temps, soaking up the sunshine while I drew and painted the entrance to the museum. That’s Fred sitting under the wing of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. The other two figures are bronze statues of Navy crewmen.
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After sitting and painting for about 20 minutes, I went to stand up and realized that my left leg was completely numb from having it bent under me while I worked. I couldn’t walk! I must have looked like I’d had too much to drink as I tried to make my way over to Fred, who, by the way, had a perfectly comfortable seat on a bench. (I’m sure he was sitting there daydreaming about flying around in that fighter plane instead of the commuter jet he flies.)
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| Watercolor, pen & ink, 6″ x 9″ |
This chubby little biplane that we saw in the museum was just begging to be painted. I love how it turned out. I’m amazed that I actually got the proportions right, and it looks fairly true to life.
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The colors on this next page are softer and more muted. I like the way the two sketches complement each other.
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| Watercolor, pen & ink, 6″ x 9″ |
The Pensacola Lighthouse, on the grounds of the Naval Air Station, is still operational. The lighthouse keeper’s cottage is now a museum. I sketched this scene in pencil while standing up, leaning against a post, balancing my sketchbook on one hand and drawing with the other. I left the ink and watercolor for later, when I had a little more control.
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Even if I don’t have time to complete a sketch while on location, I
like to do a quick drawing to record my impressions. It seems to work
out best for me to do it that way. Otherwise, I’m just drawing from a
photo, and my sketches seem lackluster and lifeless.
We had a late lunch at a restaurant overlooking the harbor in historic Pensacola, and I sketched the view from our table while we waited for our food.
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One Comment
Great sketches of a fun time! I couldn't imagine trying to sketch a biplane! Love the lighthouse sketches.